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Octopus Garden
Category: Restaurants Japanese Japanese [Edit]
1995 Cornwall AveVancouver, BC V6J 1C9
Neighbourhood: Kitsilano
(604) 734-8971
- Hours:
Mon-Tue, Thu-Fri 12 pm - 3 pm
Mon-Tue, Thu 5 pm - 9 pm
Fri 5 pm - 9:30 pm
Sat 3 pm - 9:30 pm
Sun 3 pm - 9 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Dogs Allowed:
- No
31 reviews for Octopus Garden
Review Highlights
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"We each got eight pieces of delicious spicy tuna roll." In 7 reviews -
"The omakase was perfectly paced and layered." In 8 reviews -
"Black Sesame Gelato- a nice dessert to end the meal." In 3 reviews
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31 reviews in English
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Review from Gary M.
2/15/2012
Happy Valentine's Dinner!
Last night we went to OG for our special romantic dinner. We had the 5PM seating by the sushi bar in front of the sushi chef, Mr Sada-san. What a fun spot to enjoy our creations being crafted! The restaurant was full of cute couples.
The thing that really shone last night was the Nigiri sushi. It is the real deal. The fish is cut like they do in Japan, the rice tastes like in Japan and it has the same finesse as one finds there. Sada-san custom made me my favorite: aburi salmon with mayonaise. (aburi means slightly grilled on top) I would come back just to order pairs of my favorite sushi until I was full!
From the kitchen we had salad, chicken karaage. Fresh salad with secret OG dressing, tidy tender juicy nuggets that were hot and paired perfectly with kewpie mayo and chili sauce.
The OG special rolls we had were the "super negi toro", the dragon roll and the famous "mr. beans roll". Oh my, this is a lot of food. The rolls here are on the pricey side, but be fore warned that they are double sized rolls. 8-12 pieces.
The service was graceful and hospitable in that Japanese way. The beer and nigori sake were fresh and did the trick.
I find that my taste of late has changed and as mentioned before I seem to like the lighter items on Japanese menus these days. If you want a real, authentic Japanese Nigiri sushi experience come to OG. Let Sada-san take you on a sushi journey.
Go easier on the maki, and you will feel great when you finish your meal!
Although it is pricey, you really get your money's worth!
gListed in: My absolute best favorites
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Review from Allen W.
3/18/2012 2 Check-ins Here
SLOW and overpriced.
Don't get me wrong, food is high quality and tastes good but for such a small room (maybe seats 20, I waited 25 minutes at the sushi bar to receive a couple rolls. And it took another 15 minutes or so to receive the yam tempura which essentially was dessert since we had finished all of our other dishes already. Did I mention the restaurant was only half full at the time? They also brought food to the people next to us first even though we ordered before they did which never makes me happy.
As for the food, it's fresh and flavourful but not out of this world. I can't think of any memorable aspect of it, other than how slowly it was made. -
Review from James W.
Vancouver, BC
12/22/2011 1 Check-in Here
I really wanted to like this place better than I did. It's just not worth how much it costs, at least not the night we went.
Two of us got the o-makase (chef's choice) course, for $65 each. It came with some great sashimi and all sorts of other dishes, like very yummy uni (sea urchin) shooters. The yuba (soy milk skin) soup was too bland. The sushi was fine, but nothing special. There was a dish with perfectly cooked gindara (black cod) and so-so yam and sweet potato tempura. So it was a mix of excellent and pretty good. But the desert--a giant sundae of banana tempura with supermarket discount brand vanilla ice cream, whip cream, and chocolate sauce--was so mediocre and so uninspired neither of us could believe it came from a restaurant with a great reputation like OG. Whatever happened to a tiny dish of very nice sorbet?
All that said, it was the last night before a two-week holiday break so maybe they weren't at their best and I want to give them a second chance--if I can afford it again. -
Review from Jodie M.
Vancouver, BC
1/21/2012
I haven't actually ordered a whole meal from here, I used to live next door and became addicted to the ingenious idea of Sushi Pocket. A sushi pocket is where they take a sushi ingredient of your choosing and envelope it in rice and nori. They have an assortment of flavours, and at $3.50 ($3.75 with tax) it's a healthy, tasty treat and can be eaten quite civilly on the go! They also have great lunchtime specials where you can have a sushi pocket and another great invention, Japa Pho! I love the interior of the restaurant too with little octopus chopstick holders and the giant octopus looking exhaust fan. Well worth a visit!
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Review from Joanne W.
7/12/2011 4 photos
What an adorable little place! I don't think I would've ever went here if it wasn't through the recommendation of my brother's best friend.
Tiny little sushi restaurant near Kitsilano.
Great service! We had a very lovely talk with the waitress there (who's soon to due in the fall! Congrats!)
The food was great. I think I was going to cry when eating the sushi and sashimi there. Basically melt in your mouth. However, I wouldn't recommend the japa-pho though -- I thought that it was just trying too hard.
I need to come back here.Listed in: OMNOMNOMs in Vancouver!
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Review from Cody B.
Vancouver, BC
6/28/2011
Expensive place, but very affordable lunch special ($9.99 for lunch combo with ramen and a side).
The ramen was made with seafood base stock (I guess not 100% vegetarian). The broth was the milky kind, and extremely flavourful. Reminded me of ramen back in Japan. The ramen looked simple and wasn't over done with many other ingredients, nonetheless was very tasty, and probably the best ramen I had in Vancouver.
The side I had was takoyaki (octapus balls). I generally think of these as street food. They were a bit cold when they arrived, and not decorated as well as they normally are. They tasted fine though and were delicious.Listed in: Best Veggy Ramen or (other)…
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Review from Mars K.
Vancouver, BC
1/25/2011
You probably already know that this is a high-end Japanese restaurant, and it is on the expensive side, and that every item is well-crafted. So I'd like to keep this short by mentioning just 2 things.
1) They have 2 life-changing items: Foie gras sushi, and Gintaro sushi (braised black cod). I would like to suggest that you order just one of each. This way you won't overdo it and you'll be thinking about them long after your leave there, until your craving draws you back for another piece.
2) If you go with just 1 other person, the speed of your service should be reasonable. If you go as a group of 4 or more, you should expect to wait a long time in between courses. -
Review from Nicolb T.
2/25/2011
I count myself as lucky to have had a chance to eat at Octopus Garden. Sure, when we talk about "Japanese food", there are a million and one pseudo-sushi places that we can choose from that offer passable satisfaction. But if I want true authenticity, one-of-a-kind service and food that will make me melt in my seat with every bite, I will choose Octopus Garden, hands down.
Though it is pricer than your typical izakaya, I feel that it is a fair price to pay for such an intimate space, the quality of food and, well, it's not loud. Thank god it's not a typical izakaya, for it is more like the hidden gem you'd randomly walk into in Osaka, that only the locals who really know food, would go. Seeing Sato-san's sheer passion for the food he serves will be enough of an impression for anyone. And because of this, I always opt for sitting at the bar. Sato-san has an a charm that kept me sitting there for 3 hours, until close, when we then shared a bottle of sake. If I were to say it brought me back to my time in Japan, it didn't. It was better.
Definitely go for an omakaze; Sato-san will take care of you, and you will not be disappointed.
Two things I will continue to order: foie gras nigiri (foie gras with mango) and lobster sashimi. Incredibly indulgent and worth every penny.
Sit at the bar, say hi to Sato-san, and prepare to have one of the best food experiences Vancouver has to offer.Listed in: Oysters & Pearls & Tabasco!
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Review from Tee D.
4/15/2010
In the middle of the restaurant, there is a love boat for two.
How romantic.
"I'm on a boat" jokes ensue.
And by jokes, I really mean bad rapping.
Anyway, I was really looking forward to eating at Octopus Garden. I had heard good things about it for awhile, but had not had the chance to eat there.
I was also really looking forward to eating Toro.
The restaurant is quite small. By my calculations (and I'm not mathematician), it fits less than 25 people. There's a sushi bar area that seats about 6 people, the love boat table, and maybe 4 other tables.
We decided to order a la carte instead of going with the omakase.
We ordered toro, sablefish, salmon, scallop, unagi, and my new favorite gin toro (black cod belly) sushi, as well as oysters and the spicy tuna roll others have raved about on here.
Everything was good, although, the toro was not as buttery tender as I would liked, and the spicy tuna roll was also not as flavorful as I expected.
Octopus Garden is definitely a solid choice for sushi: their sushi is fresh, their service is solid, and the ambiance makes it pretty special. -
Review from Cheri L.
5/8/2009 3 photos
As you take a stroll in Kitsilano, you may miss this neighborhood gem, as its simple, black-and-bamboo exterior adjacent to a corner convenience store on Cornwall calls little attention to itself. Inside, however, you stumble upon a cozy restaurant with tables, a sushi bar, and a "special" wooden boat in the center of the restaurant (I write that word in quotes because both the kind hostess and server referred to this boat-turned-table as special).
Fortunately, we got to sit in this boat, and kicked off our shoes and plopped down on flat pillows. Above us was a huge paper lantern-like concoction of octopus tentacles draped along the ceiling, while "netting" hung around our table.
While the menu is on the pricey side, the fish is quite fresh. I was a big fan of the spicy tuna roll, which was actually one of the cheaper items we ordered ($12). The ninja roll, filled with deep fried soft shell crab ($18), was pretty good as well (on the menu, it's actually referred to as a "deep friend soft shell crab," which I thought was amusing). (Some of the other rolls go for $25, which I didn't try.)
The "Rocky," the prawn tempura appetizer, was deliciously crunchy, while the slabs of salmon sashimi were fresh and tasty. My cute, elegant glass of sangria, filled with tiny cubes of strawberries and other fruit bits, was sweet, refreshing, and slightly syrupy.
While I've tried some damn good sushi throughout Vancouver -- from Yuji's to Hapa Izakaya to Guu with Garlic -- the food, presentation, and atmosphere at the Octopus Garden is top-notch. -
Review from Johnson C.
Vancouver, BC
4/29/2010 7 photos
I've been on a hunt to find a place in town to drop some dough on an omakase meal because... I'm so awesome that I *deserve* it. However, not being as wealthy as I would like to be, I have to be extremely careful with who I picked.
After some research, one of the front runners for me was Octopus Garden (I've heard too much mixed reviews about Tojo's and while I like Miku's nigiri, I'm not a fan of the setting). Seeing Octopus Garden was in Dine Out Vancouver with wagyu beef on the menu, I was allured in to give it a trial run. An audition, if you will.
They didn't accept reservations for DOV, but we walked in to a half-full restaurant on a Wednesday night and were seated at the sushi bar immediately. The restaurant is pretty small and quaint but felt warm and inviting. The waitresses were in yukatas, but I instantly felt at home when the chef, Sada, rocking a hockey jersey and a cabbie hat gave me a nod. This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
The DOV online menu was kind of confusing and I went in expecting a three-course meal. But when we were given the menu - it was actually 5-course meal. We started with an amuse-bouche shooter of layered rice and potatoes, topped with uni and a raw egg - with a side of tea with cherry blossoms and ohitashi. I shot all the smooth richness in one mouthful as suggested - great layering of smooth textures. I picked the chawanmushi (seafood in soymilk pudding, topped with prawn tempura) for the appetizer. The prawn tempura was perfect - I'm not a fan of soymilk, but I enjoyed it. The presentation in the crabshell was dope.
For the main event, we got the wagyu steak. For the record, I think anybody that hasn't had wagyu beef leads a life of joyless ignorance and despair - so I was excited to say the least. And I was pretty surprised at the decently-sized steak served to the DOV unwashed masses. However, I was a bit disappointed with this - I worked fast but some of beef was over-cooked on the sizzling plate. While I experienced absolute bliss with some rare-ish pieces slowly melting in my mouth with fatty, beefy goodness, other pieces were chewy. Nothing makes me sadder than ruining a good morsel of meat or beer. I wanted to cry. As a steak, it's good - but on a sizzling plate is not my first choice to enjoy wagyu beef.
If the meal stopped there, I would have left sorely unsatisfied. But the Sada really won me back with the last few courses. It wasn't on the menu, but we have a small sampling of some of the maki rolls (with the house soya sauce), which were delicious bonus. The show-stopper was the 'maki sooba' at the end - like a maki roll, but the rice replaced with buckwheat soba, wrapped around crab, topped with enoki - deep-fried and swimming in soba sauce. This course hit all points for me - creative, hearty, crunchy and yet somehow light. To finish it all off, we had black sesame gelato - which was rich and one my favourite childhood flavours.
It fell just short of 5-stars since I wasn't blown away with the wagyu steak. Overall, I thought the meal was a steal for the $38 DOV price - left fully satisfied in quality and course portions (I expected leave hungry - but didn't). The pacing and flavours were spot-on and I look forward to coming back to do their full-monty omakase set when I scrape together enough change like crack-fiend looking for the next fix. -
Review from Theresa W.
Vancouver, BC
7/12/2011 10 photos
I came here a few months ago to treat two of my lady besties to an omakase delight. I had done my research, read the reviews and was fairly confident with my pick. And Octopus Garden did not disappoint. When we got there, the server said that the omakase would be six dishes, but we ended up with TEN (if you could the dish that came out with three different things as one) and were absolutely stuffed by the 5th one. For $65 per person, this is a heck of a deal!
The best dishes by far were the tempura black cod and shiitake mushroom (the mushroom was the most delicious thing I've ever had), and the sashimi which is so fresh and so flavourful. Service was fantastic, the chefs and servers were extremely nice and came by to say hi and make sure we were enjoying our meal. I would gladly throw down another $65 for the meal again. For pictures of the food, check out the photos section.
It would've been 5 stars if I didn't come back recently for a lunch date and was completely bummed with the food and the price. Service was extremely slow, which made us grumpy since we were pretty hungry already. The three of us ordered the same "Chef's Choice" lunch menu item that included 8 rolls and 4 nigiri, and then proceeded to wait. And wait and wait and wait. And the only other people who were seated after us and ordered after us got their food before us. And when our rolls came, they were all the same. We each got eight pieces of delicious spicy tuna roll. Which we inhaled. And then we waited and waited and waited. And the only other people had received their next two dishes. And we finally received the yellow submarine roll, which we also inhaled (it's delicious by the way, it's got a yummy shiso leaf tucked away in there and it adds a fantastic kick). And then waited and waited for our nigiri.
We left $30 dollars poorer and two hours later. One of the longest lunches I've ever had for such a small amount of food.
I think I'll stick to this place for dinner. But again - their omakase is awesome, and if you're looking for an omakase experience at a decent price, I would highly suggest Octopus Garden!Listed in: Sushi!, 2011 Best Of
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Review from Chuck N.
Vancouver, BC
2/9/2010
Slightly disappointed with all the hype. Didn't blow me away considering the price.
Prefer black sesame ice cream from Hapa Kits which is not as sweet.
Room a little too warm, they open until 1am during the Olympic games so good for late night sake. -
Review from Dee B.
9/21/2010
I found the fare offered at Octopus garden to be:
- bland
- boring
- overpriced
Although everything was fresh and the service pleasant, I won't be returning. -
Review from graham r.
3/23/2009
When Tasos M. writes in his review, "Octopus Garden is a serious contender for the best sushi in Vancouver," he is not jive talking you. I just got back from eating there and my experience was excellent. It is certainly the best quality sushi I have had in Vancouver (Sorry Yuji's, you are now in second place).
While walking past I made an impulse decision to try a few menu items when it was close to closing time. I ordered salmon sashimi and a spicy tuna roll at $10 each. The chef threw a couple extra pieces of tuna on the sashimi plate, and for the roll I was asked if I wanted avocado, mango, or more tuna on top (I chose the latter). You could tell that the fish was really fresh and the texture was perfect. I watched the chef searing something and he told me it was sablefish. It was nice of him to put a slab of seared sablefish on top of the spicy tuna roll.
The interior is pretty neat. I sat at the bar and there is a small fountain that runs down the length of it. The ceiling has crazy tangled ventilation tubes that are decorated to look like an octopus. The staff was really friendly and accommodating.
You might find that it is a little pricey, but the quality and attention to detail make it worthwhile. I am going to go back soon and I can hopefully take some pictures. Then I will update my review with what I try.Listed in: Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC
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Review from Vincci L.
12/1/2009 7 photos
"We would be so happy you and me
No one there to tell us what to do
I'd like to be under the sea
In an octopus' garden with you."~ The Beatles.
I don't know if this restaurant actually got the name from this song, but I think the theme of this restaurant fits the song quite well.
I had always wanted to come here, so when J gave me a semi suprise and we came here for my birthday, I was ecstatic!
We arrived early, 5:30pm or so,and greeted by the hostess in a elaborate golden kimono. We were able to get seats at the bar. We had the option of sitting in a boat, but J is tall and he wouldn't have fit in there. This is a small restaurant; it seats no more then 30 people.
I love the atmosphere of the place, simple wood accents, with cute Japanese decor around. Navy blue is also another accent. It has a warm feel, with fresh flowers around. The bar is on a elevated platform, and the rest of the tables are on the lower level.
Tea was served in an elegant teapot, with blue floral accents. I also got a drink with Giffard grapefruit and sake. It came with a huge slice of grapefruit on the rim of my cup. Innovative. The drink was delicious.
We opted not to go for the omakase menu, and ordered a la carte instead. Starting off with the Organic Garden, which is essentially a green salad with their house dressing. Vegetables were fresh, the dressing was perfect-not too sour, not too heavy, just the right amount to garnish the salad. There were also small cubes of avocado added to this. Avocado makes everything better.
Next was the Spicy Tuna roll, in which you can choose to have avocado, mango, or tuna on top. We opted for the mango. Albacore tuna, mayo and tempura bits, with mango on top. This was good.
The proceeding dish was the Dragon Roll-Unagi (BBQ eel) roll with avocado and roast red pepper. This was specially presented in an S-Shaped dish. There was an actual dragon head in the front. They also used thin slices of avocado and made it look like scales on the dragon. I almost didn't want to eat it because I didn't want to ruin the dragon. There was even a tail and eyes for the dragon, all exquistely put together. A creative work of art! I was very impressed. (Refer to my pictures for the awesomeness of this roll.) This was another delicious roll.
Going with the Beatles theme, they had the famous "Yellow Submarine" roll. This was a $25.00 roll. Yellowtail, oba leaf, mango, green beans, tobiko, tempura bits. This was very yummy. The tempura bits added texture to the roll, and the yellotail was very fresh. Worth $25? Maybe not, but it's worth a try.
Attention to detail is everything here. Every little piece of ingredient is placed perfectly, with care. The ingredients are fresh. Tea was refilled, and the service was excellent. Abolsutely one of the best Japanese places I've been to. Going to try the Omakase next!! -
Review from Allan H.
9/6/2009 9 photos
OMG...
This was one of THE best meal of my life... 10 different dishes - sushi, sashimi, grilled items - all topped off with ice cream at the end!
We arrived about 10 mintues early so we had to wait outside in the cold until the restaurant opened. Thankfully the time passed quickly. Once inside, they asked us if we wanted to sit at the bar, a table, or at the center 'boat' thing. I was going to say at the bar, but I guess the GF wanted to sit at the 'boat' thing. So we sat down there and then proceeded to look over the menu.
Apparently they were participating in the Dine Out Vancouver too so they had a separate menu for that. We decided that we wanted to try the Omakase (Chef's Choice) menu. Shar went with the $40CAD Umi menu and I went with the $60CAD Shiki menu since it said "Enough is never enough? Let me know you 'ENOUGH'"
However, after the second course, the GF decides she wanted to upgrade to the $60CAD menu too. Here is a list of the items we ordered (pictures are also uploaded):
1. Fresh Oyster topped with ponzu jelly, chili radish & green onions
2. Amberjack sashimi marinated in sesame oil on top of alfalfa sprouts
3. Ahi tuna salad
4. White miso & soy milk soup with mussels
5. Layers of mountain potato & rice with special "dashi" sauce, topped with uni, egg, mint & wasabi
6. Sashimi platter consisting of Amberjack, Sockeye salmon, Octopus, Ahi tuna & Spot prawn with side of real wasabi
7. Grilled Halibut filets & Salmon belly
8. Dynamite roll (Deep fried shrimp, mango, sundried tomato & red pepper) topped with cheese which was crisped up with a blowtorch at our table with a side of salmon skin
9. Jericho Beach Sunset roll (Avocado, Mango & Strawberries on top of a spicy tuna roll)
10. Tempura bananas with vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate sauce & whipped cream
The total for this meal came out to $150CAD but unfortunately neither of us had taken out enough money to cover this, so I just paid with my credit card. Once we got back to the States, I looked at the charge and after converting back to USD, I only paid about $120 for this meal. DEFINITELY worth it in my opinion.
I definitely know where I'm going for my Japanese fix next time I'm in Vancouver!! -
Review from Maria W.
Vancouver, BC
8/21/2010
Dedicating my first yelp review to an awesome friend :-) She treated me to a fabulous dinner at Octopus Garden. Their prices are higher and I felt lucky to have a friend with such good taste in foods. It's my first time here and I absolutely love it! Everything was great!
Awesome presentation and I truly enjoyed every dish ordered. Service was good for us, perhaps it's because we went on a weeknight so we didn't find the service to be slow. The place is tiny and cozy so may not be optimal place of choice for huge parties.
Dishes we tried:
sea bass sashimi - melts in my mouth.
grilled mackeral sushi - good.
prawn tempura - delicious
One of my favorite dish that evening was the beef dish where the waitress cooks it on the hot stone plate right at our table. She grills the raw beef then piles it up neatly on a onion on the hot stone plate so the beef doesn't overcook. Their homemade black sesame gelato is a must try for all who love black sesame flavour.
This place is definitely on my top places to enjoy Japanese foods in YVR! I would be back again to try other items on the menu.Listed in: YVR - Yummy Vancouver…
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Review from Rhiannon A.
8/26/2011
I'm not a sushi fan, and I have not enjoyed either of the two non-sushi meals i've eaten here. My companions thought that their sushi was acceptable but not outstanding. I found the food pricey for what you get. Service was alarmingly slow on one occasion.
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Review from Gersham M.
Vancouver, BC
11/3/2009
Nice, high-end sushi restaurant in Kits.
Went here the other night and had their $100 chef menu. They were quite nice, taking down things we didn't like (mushrooms, yuck!) and noting various preferences.
The meal had around 8 quite varied courses. Unfortunately for the reputation of this place and the price of the meal I was prepared to be blown away. I wasn't. It was quite good with excellent, fresh ingredients. However the flavours were a bit bland. Not too much sashimi, but the texture of the sashimi that was presented was exquisite. I felt that the expense of the meal was more an excuse to use a lot of lobster which is always nice but I feel is overrated.
Next time I'll try the al-a-carte menu and see what the individual dishes are like. I can't quite suggest the chef menu. -
Review from Q B.
Vancouver, BC
8/13/2010
Good but quite expensive for what you get.
If you have money to blow and have already been to Miku, Sushi Hachi and Ajisai.. then come here.
Everything is good (except for the sushi roll with cheese on it. I forget what it is called).
Make sure to have the black sesame ice cream for dessert. -
Review from Tasos M.
Vancouver, BC
2/10/2009
Octopus Garden is a serious contender for the best sushi in Vancouver. The most beautiful fish is served here in such a lovely way. Everything on the menu is great and if you've been a long time customer you can order items from their previous menus (if you can remember. If not, try the Mr. Beans roll).
I recommend the Omakase courses, particularly the Taiyo. In all likelihood chef Sada will prepare the best sushi you have ever tasted. The fresh handmade wasabi could be a course on its own. Absolutely wonderful.
IMHO this is the best sushi in town. -
Review from Diana D.
Vancouver, BC
6/1/2011
I love Japanese food and Octopus Garden was one of the very few restaurants that I had not yet been to.
I have to say that after my visit yesterday, it's been filed under the "probably not going to return" category.
PROs : Foie gras roll. Pleasant service. Laid back ambiance.
CONs : Food is OK. Not great, not horrible. Painstakingly slow service for a restaurant that only seats 15-20 people.
My Recommended "MUST EAT" if you go : Foie gras roll.
The food is good - not the best thing you'll ever have, or very creative, or unexpected. Not phenominal in any sense really.
Not much of the menu was a surprise, with the exception of the foie gras roll. I admit at $15 for two pieces, it's a little pricy but it's also the only item on the menu worth the price.
We had several of their specialty rolls and beef tataki and other dishes, all were alright. Maybe I had gone in with too high an expectation.
For a rainy tuesday the service was excrutiatingly slow, but the waitresses were pleasant so I didn't make a fuss.
To be honest, if someone said they didn't mind spending a little extra for good food and asked for a Japanese place to go to, I would recommend Yuji's over Octopus Garden. -
Review from danno m.
North Vancouver, BC
5/16/2011
DISAPPOINTING!!!!
It's a sign of desperation when a Sushi Restaurant has to charge for tea. Octopus Garden was once high on my list for a neat sushi experience ago but on my latest experience last week - I was underwhelmed!!!!
Expect to pay $3.50 for tea!!!!
Expect very meager portions of fish on your sushi.
Expect to be overcharged.
I was embarrassed and had to apologize for dragging a friend out for this inferior experience.
There are so many more places I would goto before I end up here again. -
Review from Stephen K.
Vancouver, BC
10/1/2009
SLOWEST SERVICE I HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED
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It appears that even great restaurants have off days. From reading the other reviews here, I'm going to assume that my experience was one of these.
My girlfriend and I arrived at this restaurant pretty hungry on a Tuesday evening and were anxious to hear if everything we've heard was true. The restaurant was about half full with two behind the sushi bar, and two servers on the floor.
I had not read the reviews here in advance and if I had, I would have ordered the Omakase. We had asked the server what we could expect with the Omakase and she described it as a soup, a salad, a warm course from the kitchen, a dish from the sushi bar and then some dessert. At 5 courses where 3 were soup, salad and dessert, that did not sound like a good value (especially at $60). It would appear that other Yelp reviewers received a lot more than we were told we would. Logically, we felt that we could better spend our $120 a la carte. We were wrong.
We ordered some avocado and yam tempura, an order each of hamachi, salmon and sablefish sashimi, a spicy scallop roll and finished off with a ninja roll (soft shell crab). The avocado tempura was a bit strange to me and any flavour from the avocado was lost to oil and batter. The sashimi was very fresh and I had no complaints. Both rolls were very well put together and tasted great. Our total bill, including a tea and diet coke came out to over $100. Certainly not great value given how hungry I still was.
What ultimately ruined our experience in the end was not the food. Our problem with our dinner was that the service. On top of the issue with our server (who completely misled on what to expect with the Omakase), the food came out much too slow. Our tempura came out after 10 minutes. Our sashimi platter came out after another *TWENTY* minutes. Each of the following two rolls took another *TWENTY* minutes *EACH* to come out. That is completely unacceptable. The restaurant was not that busy. There is absolutely no reason why it should take twenty minutes to serve approximately 16 slices of cold fish. There is no cooking involved. What gives?! Another twenty minutes for each roll?
There were customers sitting at the sushi bar and I believe the chefs were spending a bit too much time talking with the customers than working. That's great for the four people at the bar, and unfair to every other patron in the restaurant.
I might give this place another chance. I'll order the Omakase, and I'll make sure not to go there when I'm really hungry. -
Review from Aaron M.
8/8/2008 1 photo
Great sushi! They had a spicy tuna roll here that was amazing, orgasmic even. The atmosphere is nice, the restaurant is not huge but cozy, which I think adds to the Japanese feel. The sushi is expensive but you get high quality perfectly prepared and presented sushi.
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Review from David R.
Vancouver, BC
8/25/2011
Expensive for what it is, and service was slow and somewhat odd--they brought our sashimi before our appetizer for some reason. The food was amazing, though.
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Review from Alissa P.
Vancouver, BC
9/15/2009
BEST.OMAKASE.EVER.HANDS.DOWN
BETTER.THAN.TOJO'S.
WAY.BETTER.
Octopus Garden is as charming as the food is delicious. The omakase was perfectly paced and layered. Each course was better than the next. When I opted to go there for my birthday dinner, I had a few skeptical family members. The restaurant really doesn't seem like anything special. That is, until you start eating. The food is absolutely wonderful. There was not one miss in the bunch. The omakase ranged from fresh oysters and beautiful sashimi, to a soymilk fish broth, salmon belly, squid ink pasta with salmon roe, tuna belly tataki and more. We couldn't even pick a favorite. Everyone is our party was stunned by the food quality. Also the portions are really nicely sized which is in stark contrast to a lot of omakase meals that leave you hungry . Of course, as a couple of other people mentioned, we were absolutely delighted to receive the tempura banana split at the end of the meal. So decadent and delicious. Can I say we licked the bowls?
The real clincher, however, is the value: $60/person for this amazing, 2.5 hour omakase experience! At Tojo's, the $60 omakase includes about 6 teeny tiny courses, and doesn't leave you feeling very satisfied. When I got the bill, I literally couldn't believe how affordable it was. The quality far exceeds the cost here.
This is the best sushi place in the city hands down. Remind me of the old Tojo's - oh, those were the days... -
Review from Betty L.
8/21/2010
Had a really nice dinner at Octopus Garden with my friend. To the best of my knowledge it was just as good as my first visit there. Don't be fooled by the name, they serve good serious Japanese food. For starters, the place is on the cozy side and don't have good signage so it's easy to miss it. Service took a little time to warm up because I waited awhile to get beverages and the food menu. After that initial little bump, service picked up quickly and was more efficient.
My friend and I started the evening with plum wine on the rocks. There was even a little plum inside the glass. Very thoughtful. For me, the drink really got my appetite going. As usual we ordered two rounds of food. Highlights from our meal:
Assorted sashimi - seafood were very fresh and the presentation was like art work. It had a good portion of radish and seaweed so when you eat it along with the fish it provided more texture and refreshes the palate at the same time. The geoduck was nice and cold thus offered a good bite.
Wagyu Beef - the server served it on a sizzling platter and used a blow torch to cook the meat. A very good way to taste the natural flavours of the beef.
Seabass sashimi- the fish was really fresh and the sauce was slightly salty and tangy thus didn't overwhelm the taste of the fish.
Grilled Marinated Mackeral Sushi in Pressed Form- the server once again used the blow torch to slightly cook the fish. Correct ratio of fish and rice.
Black Sesame Gelato- a nice dessert to end the meal. I could really taste the black sesame in this icecream and it wasn't too sweet. Simple yet delicious
We had a really nice dinner. I'm up for round three. -
Review from Julie L.
Vancouver, BC
1/9/2011
Overpriced, but tasty. They have a number of rolls with cooked meat in them. Service is rather slow (one item brought at a time), but some people probably like the chance to eat slowly -- just come with someone you like to talk to! You have to request wasabi and the tea is $3.50 with unlimited refills. They bring a cute octopus candy for dessert!
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Review from sammona g.
Vancouver, BC
11/19/2010
Very fresh and I love the ambiance! The chef is interactive which I love. the Sashimi is sooo good, so are their rolls. Very fresh I can't stress that enough:)
