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Ki-Isu Japanese Restaurant
Category: Restaurants Japanese Japanese [Edit]
1275 Pacific BlvdVancouver, BC V6Z 2R6
Neighbourhoods: Downtown, Yaletown
(604) 899-0366
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Has TV:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
30 reviews for Ki-Isu Japanese Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"The sushi has been solid everytime I've come." In 18 reviews -
"...the spot and their signature Crunch Crunch Roll is divine." In 1 review -
"My favourite neighbourhood sushi joint." In 3 reviews
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30 reviews in English
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Review from Allen W.
4/10/2012 2 Check-ins Here
Visited a few times now and really like it. A small place but worth the wait to get a table. Staff are quick and friendly.
You'll find your usual sushi fare but also a few extra surprises like the 'salmon cake'. It's a brown rice mixture layered with avocado salad, something crunchy, and topped with melt in your mouth salmon. It comes in an order of five large pieces and I absolutely love it.
They have some visually decadent sushi rolls that will make a sushi purist's blood pressure rise, but it's all so tasty! -
Review from Hipster C.
Vancouver, BC
4/7/2012
Ordered the veggie combo and Buddha's Favourite Roll, and for $8-9 dollars, the rolls were nicely made and tasty. The yam tempura in the roll was still warm! The avocado and asparagus roll was very good. The Buddha roll contained red rice, a reduced sweet vinegar type sauce and contained shitake mushrooms, peppers, pickled carrots and asparagus. Different but in a good way!
I like how their sushi rolls aren't huge and contain massive amounts of rice.
Recommended! -
Review from Christine C.
Vancouver, BC
12/15/2011
I had lunch at Ki Isu yesterday (and many times before) - they are consistently busy, and consistently good.
I only ever get the spicy roll combo $8.95 (spicy dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll, spicy salmon roll, and miso soup) but I can recommend it as solid. They also serve wild salmon (but you have to ask for it - delish).
Skip the salads, I'm normally a big wakame and gomae salad fan, but here, they start at $4 and are TINY.
If you stick to the sushi and sashimi, you will be pleased! -
Review from Meana k.
11/20/2011
I am definitely a snob, and I've become a bit of a purist. However, I live 1 block away form Ki-Isu which factors in to my perspective as well. It's a convenient take-out spot for me to grab dinner from.
I typically order sashimi, maybe I'll get some nigiri, but it's rare that I get a sushi roll anymore. Except at Ki-Isu. Their rolls are fantastic, and sadly, their sashimi is not. I thought at first it was just a bad day and the fish wasn't as fresh as it should be. But on subsequent visits, I found the same situation. The sashimi is a little hit or miss. The nigiri fish isn't cut perfectly clean so you end up getting just a bit of stringiness. That's unappealing.
The service here isn't the best, but it's not the type of place where I care too much. Except for this one waitress who was so oblivious as she walked into my chair and knocks my purse onto the ground, not once, but twice. There's another who is friendly but frazzled. They do come around to refill your tea, and the food comes out pretty quickly. When I leave at night, they tell me to have a safe walk home -- very sweet.
Lunchbox D is a great deal -- almost too much food, in fact. Spicy Combo Roll is great, and also, almost too much food.
Brownrice Salmon Cake -- not on their take-out menu but they'll happily serve it if you order. It's Brown rice stacked with crunch, avocado salad, and tangy jalapeno Salmon and garnished with kizami nori. Love this. $11.50, but great for sharing.
Caterpillar Roll -- wrapped with avocado on the outside. Very nice, has a bit of crunch.
Perhaps it's that I don't eat a ton of rice anymore, but for some reason, I fill up quickly when I eat anything from Ki-Isu. It's not a complaint, although I end up forcing myself to finish food for fear of wasting it! Overall, prices here are great. Having moved to Vancouver from DC, it's still amazing to me how cheap sushi can be.
Points lost on the sashimi -- that's just too important to get wrong. Especially here in Vancouver. -
Review from Tee D.
5/30/2011
Ki-Isu is a decent sushi spot in Yaletown. The decor is no frills, and the food is straightforward and reasonably priced.
We ordered the salmon, tuna and toro sashimi as well as the negitoro and caterpillar rolls. The sushi was good quality and fresh, although, not as flavorful as it could have been.
Service was sketchy, for sure. There was only one server for the whole restaurant and she was frazzled. We had to ask for everything: napkins, dishes, chopsticks, water, soy sauce, and each item was brought out one at a time and painfully slow. I'm not one to usually dock stars for service (unless it is terrible), and this isn't an exception.
Three stars for decent sushi. Not bad at all. -
Review from Casey S.
Vancouver, BC
1/26/2012
We've only done take-out from these guys, but it's been great. Always ready when they say it will be (15-20 mins), always exactly what you ordered. They don't skimp on the extras either, lots of soya sauce, wasabi, ginger, and chop sticks.
Great to bring home after work on those busy nights when you just don't want to do dishes! -
Review from Shannon B.
Coquitlam, BC
Updated - 7/24/2011
I tried this place again today because A) I was harsh craving some sushi B) it's directly across the street from my work C) When I'm hungover (like I was today) my standards for food decrease greatly and all I could think about all day at work was how much I wanted to shove some sweet, sweet sushi into my mouth hole.
Same cute restaurant and friendly staff. Today I got a salmon and tuna maki roll. They were both good and this time I didn't get sick! Perhaps that was just a one off experience. I will probably go back here again just to give them a best two out of three and make my final decision.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/18/2011
This is a cute little sushi restaurant with wonderful staff but the food itself is kind of lacking.… Read more »
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Review from Erin H.
Toronto, ON
5/8/2011
When I worked in the area, I ate lunch here a few times a week. It's that good! Consistently fresh, inexpensive and satisfying, it makes my tummy happy. A nice cozy atmosphere if you're dining in and perfect for take-out. It's packed during the lunch rush but you never have to wait too long to get seated. Super friendly staff who actually remember their regulars is the icing on the cake.
My vegetarian fave is the Vegetable Combo - 3 different rolls plus a miso soup for only $7.95. -
Review from Ash J.
Vancouver, BC
12/28/2011
Great lunch boxes!
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Review from Justin L.
6/7/2011
To all of the people talking about their "great quality of fresh fish" you do realize that it's farmed salmon here, correct?
Food was okay, but I doubt i would ever go back -
Review from Cyndi H.
Vancouver, BC
10/24/2010
The sushi has been solid everytime I've come. It's the bf's favourite place so we get takeout here a lot. Our fave is the spicy tuna combo which is a whole lot of spicy goodness. It's not lifechangingly good, but it's never been bad... in fact, I'm craving it right now! Ahhh...
THe service is great and super friendly.
The only drawback is that sometimes it's insanely hot in there. I feel bad for the cooks with their full-on outfits when it's smokin in here because they're stuck in there for hours. Don't know how they do it.
Some fun creative rolls here too, though I usually stick with the boring old faves because Ty is so in love with it! -
Review from Ainsley D.
Vancouver, BC
11/2/2010
You know the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbour, but then again they gave us the transistor radio, Japanese game shows and sushi...ahh sushi....
Daisuke, Yamamoto-sahn, Yukiko...I officially forgive you, officially.
Now, speaking of the last point, finding good sushi in Vancouver is like trying to find a grain of sand in a desert, a monkey in a rain forest or a douchebag at a Nickelback concert. They're just too numerous to count and too easy to find.
However, once in a while you find a place that stand out, ever so slightly, that makes it a unique gem in a sea of regular gems.
The dinner bentos we had were about $14 each but the amount of food was insane. There were about 4-5 dishes in the bento plus soup, rice and tempura.
Speaking of which, this is the first Japanese place I've seen that actually accentuated it's sweet potato tempura with an ever so faint dusting of cinnamon. Ditto with the chicken teriyaki (while not overwhelming on their own, it was a bit redundant over the meal).
Now I like a place that dares to be different, and this place is; not much, but enough to get this gaigin's attention.
Aregato gozai maseta, Ki-isu, aregato gozai maseta... -
Review from Melissa K.
Vancouver, BC
10/24/2011
This is probably one of the better sushi places in downtown. My friends told me about it so I went to get take out. It's quite fresh and the consistency of the rice is good. However, it doesn't compare to Ajisai or Tokyo Thyme. It's definitely a place I will go back to because it's close to home. It wasn't amazing, but it was good. I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could. 4 would be overdoing it, and 3 is too low. It's way better than Honjin across the street; no idea why people hype that place up so much. People here are very nice and polite. Will recommend to anyone who lives downtown and wants a go-to sushi place.
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Review from Patricia L.
Vancouver, BC
9/18/2011
One of the better cheapee Japanese restaurants in the Downtown/Yaletown area. Good service, good eats and good prices. Their Spicy Chicken Don always hits the spot and their signature Crunch Crunch Roll is divine! Great spot for both lunch and dinner. They also have delivery. Pretty epic wins here on all counts. Definitely go check it out!
Listed in: I HEART Food!
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Review from Cory J.
Vancouver, BC
1/18/2011
My favourite downtown sushi restaurant!
I've only ever gone to Ki-Isu for lunch, and each time the food has been great (my sushi snob friends agree), and the service is fast and friendly. Everything on the menu is well priced, lunch usually runs about $6 - $12 depending on how hungry you are.
I find myself constantly recommending this restaurant to friends. -
Review from Kirk C.
Vancouver, BC
10/9/2011
Decent food, but limited veggie selection.
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Review from Marc D.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 8/26/2009
* Renovating *
Passed by today and they are closed with a big sign saying that there will be a 20% discount after they re-open. The work crew looked mighty busy inside doing the renovations. Hopefully it will be a nice reno job, and the food will be the same when they re-open!Listed in: Vancouver Japanese Food, Something fishy (hopefully…
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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11/5/2008 First to Review
Korean owned and operated sushi bar. The head chef was trained in Kansai, Japan. For a mid-range… Read more »
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Review from Crystal H.
Vancouver, BC
6/12/2009
I'm really beginning to think that I'm a sushi-snob! I settled in on a wimpy sushi combo for some sustenance. I was humming and hawing over the special rolls, but they lacked adequate descriptions on the menu and my adventurous meter was turned to low key.
Flavourful and unexpected miso soup arrived-- I didn't know it came with the meal --gotta love that little surprise in the form of tasty broth!
The California Roll was on the soggy side but it did have lots of yummy, crunchy roe on it. There was no wild salmon on the menu (as far as I could see) but the salmon nigiri was decent and the tuna was melt in my mouth, which always wins in my books! I was really surprised how much I liked the dynamite roll! Tempura was perfectly crispy and the prawn wasn't dry and overcooked. Even the mayo had the right amount of tang!
The looks of the el cheapo take-away special listed on their sandwich board has me thinking I'll be stopping in for some of that action again soon!Listed in: Yaletown's Open for Business
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Review from Alaina S.
Victoria, BC
7/23/2010
Delicious, fresh, quick! Very friendly service. My favourite neighbourhood sushi joint!
They also deliver after 5:00 pm. -
Review from C A.
Vancouver, BC
4/7/2010
This cute, little sushi restaurant is in Yaletown and right at the corner of Davie and Pacific. I've dined in and used their delivery service quite frequently as their food is usually very consistent and good. Never had anything to complain about and they do have some specialty rolls on the menu that are worth checking out.
Also, I think it was sometime last year they renovated and made the place into a little more upscale but the actual size of the place remained the same.
Great value and price and definitely worth going back to. They are also open on Sundays and till around 9 or 10pm during the week. -
Review from Ilona E.
Vancouver, BC
Updated - 10/14/2011
Since we can't reply to other's reviews. To Justin in San Diego. I've lived in Southern California for YEARS and farmed salmon is all you can find in markets there! I managed to go out for sushi once in SoCal and it was so terrible I never ventured out for japanese again! So farmed salmon is the least of an issue. I definitely have to amend my original review as my thoughts on Ki Isu have changed. I now don't get charged any extra for substituting wild salmon for the farmed but I am increasingly losing my patience for consistent slow service. I still am a regular here but tend to go later in the afternoon to avoid the lunch time rush where it feels like I'm in the thick of a war zone.
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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4/30/2010
All I have to say is LUNCH BOX D! Incredible value, incredible freshness. You get the freshest… Read more »
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Review from Adam K.
Vancouver, BC
4/21/2009
Came here after reading good yelp reviews. I'm a really big fan and will be returning.
The outside of the place is non-descript and the inside is somewhat stuffy but otherwise fine. They had some cute artwork on the walls and were playing Bill Evans / Miles Davis which I guess goes well with sushi. They have a standard menu which has all the usual suspects and combos and is reasonably priced and a separate spring menu with some more creative items.
Miso soup was standard, california combo was good and reasonably priced. The California roll was good (rice was cooked/seasoned nice), shrimp and salmon sushi were fresh, particularly the shrimp which was really plump and juicy, but the tuna sushi were absolutely fantastic. They have the right proportion of fish to rice and it was some of the fattiest tuna I've had.
My dinner partner ordered something called the Healthy Spicy Chicken Ricebowl. This dish was absolutely fantastic and I'll probably be back tomorrow to order it. Its not healthy per-se, but its a rice bowl topped with mixed green salad, mushrooms and bean sprouts sauteed in sesame oil, broiled chicken, and it comes with some korean spicy paste. Its not Japanese by any means but reminds me of this favorite korean dish which is the same thing but with fish instead of chicken and raw vegetables, not cooked. it was absolutely delicious and I can't wait to come back and try it. -
Review from Luisa D.
6/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
I found the miso too salty and the wasabi lacking in zing. The sushi and sashimi were ok but I have better choices in Yaletown.
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Review from Yunn A.
8/16/2010
If you sit on the patio tables (not enclosed patio) on a nice day, you can sit in the shade of the trees and have yourself a bit of people watching entertainment. Fresh tasting sushi, friendly service, and good selection of rolls.
I had a lunch box, which was very tasty; only problem was I ordered it with Teriyaki Chicken, and there was not Teriyaki flavor at all, even though the chicken was very tender and tasty. Nevertheless, I'd come by again if I wanted a quick bite with well presented budget sushi. -
Review from Paul D.
Vancouver, BC
6/21/2009
There are lots of decent sushi options in Vancouver but I am lucky to have such a great one just steps from my house. While their fresh sheet has some more adventurous options, I tend to stick with the various house combos and specials.
The quality is consistently excellent, especially in their modest price range. The fish is of very good quality and they don't kill the rolls with mayo or lots of rice. The service is unerringly friendly and fast and they have table outside to enjoy the weather . . . when it's worth enjoying.
I eat here at least a couple of times a week and am never disappointed. -
Review from annik l.
Vancouver, BC
2/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
yay i found another brown rice sushi place :)
i had a yam roll and it was great. friendly staff too. -
Review from Rachael T.
Toronto, ON
5/4/2009
Lots of people rave about this place... so maybe I came in with high expecatations... well I came out smelling like the dish of tempura I ordered. The food was decent...but it didn't WOW me... the prices were a little above average.. but that's what you get in downtown. Overall, not bad, but nothing special either.
Listed in: Extra Wasabi Please
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Review from Chris H.
Vancouver, BC
2/19/2011
This is a great little sushi place, and pretty cheap too! The staff is super friendly and the food is darned tasty. Doesn't get better than that!
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Review from Erin P.
Vancouver, BC
1/5/2011
We order delivery once a week. The quality is AMAZING, the price is right and they deliver!!!! What more can you ask for???? We have never had a bad experience. Except once when they might have forgot about us, but hey, it's a busy place and once out of a hundred is forgivable:) Authentic and perfect.
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Review from Dennis P.
Vancouver, BC
11/16/2009
After the renovation the place looks fabulous! The food is still the same, great taste at resonable price. I recommand chicken karage, which is the best out of any other restaurant in all of Vancouver combined! My next fav is toro sashimi which is always fresh, like other sashimis. Service is generally great, but try to avoid busy times.
