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Taiko on Denman - CLOSED
Categories: Restaurants Japanese Restaurants Sushi Bars Japanese, Sushi Bars [Edit]
689 Denman StVancouver, BC V6G
Neighbourhood: West End
(604) 638-5418
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Wi-Fi:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Ambience:
- Touristy, Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
24 reviews for Taiko on Denman
Review Highlights
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"it is AYCE Japanese but the quality of each dish was..." In 11 reviews -
"But it's right next to Stanley Park." In 6 reviews -
"The sashimi was sooo fresh." In 13 reviews
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24 reviews in English
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Review from Alvin L.
Vancouver, BC
12/28/2011 3 photos
Taiko Sushi is definitely one of the best AYCE options in Vancouver in terms of both price and quality. For $14.95, you can order a huge selection of sushi and kitchen items with restrictions placed only on sashimi.
Due to the sheer volume of sushi that these establishments churn out daily, quality is often the first aspect to suffer. It is surprisingly to note that Taiko manages to output restaurant level sushi at an astonishing speed. I daresay their sushi is even superior to many non-AYCE places in Vancouver. The sushi rice is quite fresh without that stale, hard taste found in some sushi buffets. From what I could tell, the scallops, prawns, crab meat etc. were all very fresh and fragrant. My only dislike was the California Roll which has some strange tasting paste inside which made it a bit hard to swallow.
Lastly were the kitchen items. As good as the sushi was, I would say the kitchen items were even better. I only managed to order a select sample of items but everything I ordered was freshly prepared, hot and delicious. The spring rolls, chicken katsu, karaage, tofu and tempura were all perfectly presented and quite tasty. After eating the sushi, I was already quite full but still managed to find space for everything else.
In terms of service, the waiter came to check on me a few times and was quite polite and helpful. Some AYCE staff tend to forget about you which can quite irritating but I was quite well tended which was very appreciated. The manager even came by to ask me how my meal was which was very considerate.
Overall, I was very pleased with Taiko. I felt they put in a considerable effort to distinguish themselves from other Japanese AYCE's by preparing high quality dishes with fresh ingredients. I swear I almost forgot I was at a buffet several times as the food was restaurant quality. Many restaurants charge $5.95 for simple appetizers like tempura or spring rolls but here, you can order literally $20 worth of sushi and get all the kitchen items essentially for free! This is the main strength of Taiko, the phenomenal choice, quality and value.
Although lunch is fairly reasonably priced at $14.95, dinner is almost double the price for a slightly expanded menu. I have not tried the dinner session however having reviewed the additional options, I do not feel the dinner option holds any great value. I will highly recommend Taiko for lunch but for dinner, there is significantly better value elsewhere. -
Review from Kenneth E.
Vancouver, BC
4/24/2012
Not surprised--even w/ its glorious view of Stanley Park and spiffy decor, these ACYE...well, what more can one say lol
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Review from Kea C.
2/14/2012
Excellent sushi, great service. Highly recommend!
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Review from Craig M.
Burnaby, BC
2/12/2012
This restaurant is now, sadly, closed.
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Review from Jee M.
Vancouver, BC
2/10/2012
Nothing special other then all you can eat service is a bit slow but hey if you want some semi ok sushi check it out
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Review from Kim L.
Vancouver, BC
5/20/2011
We decided to try this AYCE Japanese, partly because we were starving from a light breakfast and because they had an open patio (it was a beautiful day) with a view of Stanley Park, the mountains, and water.
Warning:
*Each person is limited to 6 pieces of sashimi. (Can someone help me understand AYCE, again? Uh hum...)
*You will be penalized full price for any uneaten dishes.
*They are currently undergoing price changes and updates, so what you see on online does not reflect the current prices in the restaurant.
Service is at a medium pace to slow pace, although polite. Often times, we had to sit and wait and call over a waitress, even for a water refill. The selection was pretty straight forward and simple.
Nothing was exceptionally good, but we were pleasantly surprised that the spicy agedashi tofu and both the tempura and bbq smelts were well prepared (if you're into small fish filled with roe). The spicy tuna or salmon, roll or cone were pretty standard. The salmon sashimi we had was fresh and reasonably sized, but somehow lacked flavor.
This wouldn't be the first place I would think of coming back to for AYCE. I suppose the only scenario I would be back is if a friend wanted to go for lunch on the patio for some light eats AND she offered to treat. -
Review from Lisa N.
Vancouver, BC
4/11/2011
By far, my favourite AYCE place. The menu is large, no limits, and you actually get quality seafood. No jokes!
Anyways, I've been coming here for sushi since a few months ago. This place isn't that popular, maybe cause of the location? But it's right next to Stanley Park. I only come in for lunch, which is when it's not so busy. I've spoken to the owner, who is very hospitable and sweet.
All the things I have ordered have been very fresh, good portioned, and great quality. Even though it's all you can eat, this restaurant doesn't limit you on sashimi. They also have these deep fried scallops with this sauce on top, very yummy. Unfortunately, they don't have oysters on their lunch menu, only for dinner. I'm not going to go into further details of the food or else I will never stop.
This place is a MUST TRY if you cannot seem to find your perfect AYCE restaurant. I've lived in Vancouver all my life, and most places just suck, limits on what you can order, old fish, frozen sashimi, rubbery agedashi tofu, the list is endless. Compare this to Samurai? Not a chance. Yes, Samurai has very big portions, but it isn't quality food, I guess it's what you get for what you pay for. But seriously, this place is awesome. This is the place I recommend to anyone for AYCE. -
Review from Hahaha M.
Vancouver, BC
8/17/2011
This place is probably the best all-you-can-eat in Vancouver. It has an amazingly huge selection. Most of the food is great. However, when we went, the seaweed in the cones was noticeably chewy and difficult to eat. Though that's my only gripe with the food, it's pretty significant.
I have to mention that the mango pudding was really flavorful. It tasted like they used real mango.
The food came quite quickly, considering that apparently they make it on order and never pre-make or freeze it. Servers were good, refilling water and taking empty plates without much delay. Pretty good service.
The atmosphere was strange. It was a fancy-looking restaurant for the most part, BUT there were two TVs in front of the kitchen, which lessened the Japanese feel. Also, the restaurant was huge, and though there were at least 25 patrons when we were there, it looked mostly empty. Even the parking lot was mostly empty. After the good things I heard about this restaurant, I was surprised to see a lot of empty seats on a Friday.
I'd go back to the restaurant again, but only once in a while. The price was about $33 a person (after tax and tip). Though it is better than other all-you-can-eat places in Vancouver, one must question whether it is twice as good (as the price is twice as much as many places). -
Review from Matt N.
3/1/2011
I went with a friend on a Monday at 11:00 AM. There were only 3 customers there, 2 being my friend and I. I was greeted quickly and politely by the waitress there. She made a couple of suggestions on what kind of rolls we should get. I ended up ordering the california roll, chopped scallop roll, and the dynamite roll.
Interms of sashimi, they limit you to 6 pieces per person. I'm usually a big fan of the salmon, but I felt like their tuna was better here. It was super fatty and it felt like it was melting in my mouth. I think they cut the salmon the wrong way. The other food they had there was pretty good. I had the chicken hearts, and chicken katsu.
I felt overall the service is great, the food was delish, and the price was very reasonable. I would come back again for $13.95 -
Review from Stevie C.
11/12/2011
After looking at all the reviews on Yelp, my dad decided to check this place out. We went for lunch and it came out to be about $15 per person before tax. There is a limit of 6 sashimi per person so we made sure to max that out. I think they are the only restaurant that limits sashimi! I've only been to one other AYCE place in Vancouver which is BC Sushi. I think the quality is much higher here. Does it have to do with Japanese chefs? Maybe. The presentation of the food looks a lot nicer and portions a bit bigger. Service is pretty good here too. I didn't stuff myself full but everyone at the table was quite happy. I'll be back.
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Review from Jennifer M.
5/1/2011
I chose this spot after reading a lot of good reviews on Yelp - thank you Yelpers for not leading me astray!!
All in all, it was pretty good sushi for the money. It's no Katsu-Ya, (which I'm a huge fan of the original Katsu-ya in Studio City, CA., so that's the bar to which I measure every sushi restaurant.)
We did the AYCE lunch sushi ... very, very fresh, but they give you little bits at a time, so when you order more, it takes a while, and you get full pretty quickly. *Note: order a lot all at once, and hope that it comes all at once. **Also note: The dynamite roll & the spicy tuna roll are really delish!
My toddler, who isn't a sushi fan, (yet,) didn't have much to choose from, but they were wonderful and let us order some Udon noodles for him, free of charge. (Think they said that if a kid is under 2, they could eat for free.)
Customer service was good. The place was clean, and easily located, parking was a breeze - free, underground in the back.
My suggestion to people visiting Vancouver: this was a lovely lunch after spending the morning at Stanley Park! -
Review from Mashed P.
Vancouver, BC
7/10/2011
Probably the worst $30 lunch I've ever had. The food was as bad as the service and the service was the worst that I've ever experienced at an AYCE place.
The place was basically empty when I got there (and now I know why), there were as many waitress' as there were occupied tables and still my food took forever, my water never got refilled without me having to ask, and I sat for very long periods of time between ordering because nobody could come by to give me another order form. About 20% of what I ordered never arrived at the table, even after I told the waitress what I was waiting on. On top of all of this the quality of the sushi was worse than most premade sushi you can buy at the grocery store (hands down the worst Unagi I have ever had).
This place sucks and if the hostess wasn't extremely hot I probably wouldn't have left a tip. -
Review from P M.
Vancouver, BC
3/23/2011
Came here after not being a fan of Shabusen Burrard (and Shabusen Granville closed!).
Went on Sunday at 12:15 p.m. and it was busy but not packed.
The restaurant is very nice, extremely clean, and everyone was VERY nice.
The service was near perfect! Only once did I ask for water and they forgot to bring it, but when I asked again, they brought water right away and kept refilling it without us asking!
The food came out promptly and steadily. They only forgot to bring us one dish, but at that point we were so full we didn't want more!
There was several dishes to choose from and everything was very fresh and prepared well. Nothing overcooked, nothing soggy, etc.
Favorites: dynamite roll, chicken and ton katsu, and beef teriyaki.
The view is spectacular! It's a great place to go for AYCE (13.95 for lunch) and then go for a walk in Stanley Park!
I definitely recommend this place! There is free underground parking and the elevator goes right up to the restaurant!
The only thing I would say is be careful when driving downtown. It can be super busy and very frustrating--try and find other means of transportation! -
Review from Zee K.
Vancouver, BC
4/15/2011
Came here for lunch after reading all the great reviews. We were seated quickly and our order was taken promptly. I had expected an unprecedented variety of selections and in this regard I was disappointed, though perhaps there are more items available on the dinner AYCE menu. In fact, two of the items on their menu were not available at the time that we were there.
Food quality was pretty high, and (at least at lunch) sashimi quantity was limited to 6 pieces, which were about average in size, and quite delicious.
I think they forgot a few items, but that was ok, because we were stuffed. During our meal, service was good, tea was regularly topped up, but it took us some effort to get the bill.
I will probably try them for dinner sometime, to see how much sushi $25 will get.
Summary: good quality food, decent selection, good service. 3.5 stars, but downgraded to 3 because everyone else has 4 or 5 stars. -
Review from Kevin T.
If I were Lebron James, I'd take my talents to Vancouver just for Taiko on Denman! Nevermind that Vancouver doesn't have an NBA team anymore. Wow, the quality of the food here is unlike other Japanese buffets. There's so much that you can order on their buffet menu. And everything tasted good. My girlfriend and I stumbled upon this place as we were walking back to our hotel from Stanley Park.
You can try a little bit of everything for one set price (I think it was ~ $25 for the dinner buffet). I tried the Spider rolls, chicken katsu, shrimp robata, shrimp tempura, fried lobster balls, clam miso soup (only other place I had this was in Tokyo) and I even tried the chicken heart robata! I don't know what came over me. Andrew Zimmern is such a bad influence! I blame him that I ate the chicken hearts.
They have a regular menu also if the all you can eat is not your thing. That is what my girlfriend did, but the quality of both are the same. One complaint is that it did take quite some time for some items to come out (tempura, spider rolls). I don't know why, but when I asked again, they came out in a few minutes. Maybe they just forgot, but the gentleman (who I think is the manager) apologized. Just a minor issue during my visit there.
If you're hungry and you want sushi, go to Taiko on Denman! -
Review from John L.
7/6/2011 1 Check-in Here
review is for lunch: loved this place so much that we came here twice! it is AYCE Japanese but the quality of each dish was excellent. sushi and sashimi were very fresh - spicy salmon and spicy tuna sashimi were excellent. food is made to order but you can always add more items during your meal. one side note: drinks are charged per glass, so no free refills on soda.
free parking available in the building, lots of tables, nice views including patio deck seating. service was pleasant. kid friendly. given the food quality and the pricing (for lunch), I give 5 stars. -
Review from James C.
I admit I have been here for lunch 4 times and dinner 2 times in 8 days. If you have followed my check-ins, you know that I eat sushi like there is no tomorrow.
About Taiko on Denman, this is NOT your run of the mill sushi buffet. As the first reviewer said, it is fresh. The rolls come in 2 pieces (such as the standard California Roll, the House roll (with Tamago and several fish selections, etc), spicy tuna/salmon rolls, to name a few). The sashimi (including sockeye salmon, atlantic salmon, and tuna) and nigiri sushi are in 1 piece increments. They have a quite a selection on the buffet menu such as chicken and salmon teriyaki, deep fried scallops, beef short-ribs, miso soup, several types of sunomono, and a house salad (you get the general idea). My most favorite dish currently is... the tuna tataki. It is so fresh and tender. My mouth is watering remembering that I just had is 17.5 hours ago (at the time of this review).
Through the middle of September 2010, you get 10% off (which covers 10% of the 12.5% HST) but even without the discount, the quality of this buffet triumphs any buffet such as Tan Po-po (Denman), Robson Sushi (Robson), BC Sushi (Broadway), or Kisha Poppo (Davie). Admittedly, it is a few dollars more but for the quality and selection, it is an UPGRADE.
In addition to very high quality, the restaurant is on the 2nd floor so depending on where you sit (inside/outside or north side (which has the outside patio)), you will have a nice view of Stanley Park and West/North Vancouver in the distance. They also have several large screen monitors so you can keep up with your favorite sports.
Add to that, the staff are simply amazing. They are very friendly and always keep your table stocked (based on what you order); your drinks never run dry. They are also quick to point out any specials.
I also grabbed a copy of the take-out menu and will scan/upload it in a few hours. I am going to try that as well since the buffet is such high quality; I can only imagine the ala carte selections!
I'll be back in 2 weeks to Vancouver and cannot wait to visit Taiko on Denman again. -
Review from julie l.
North Vancouver, BC
10/19/2011
Not Worth It
We love all you can eat sushi and try out all the places ! Went to this place a few times and both of the times they cut orders ! after having a second order they said they dont have any more of the GOOD items we ordered -they ran out of it (although we came when the place just opened!!!!!) , They put way tooo much rice on sushi - on some rolls we didnt even have the shrimp it was just salad and rice ( GROSS)!! for lunch the charge something like $15 bux which is a bit more than other places and the service isnt worth it!
At first we didnt understand why the place is soo empty but now we know why !
Food (not that we had much choice) -3/10
service (they cut you off and lie to you) -1/10
value( I wanted a discount I didnt get much)- 0/10
Ambience - ( THE PLACE WAS EMPTY)
DONT TRY THIS you will have better value going to a not AYCE -
Review from Sheryl D.
8/1/2011
After climbing up and down (that's a 1000 steps people!!) the stairs to get to and back from Wreck Beach, it was only appropriate to recuperate at an AYCE sushi place. We got there an hour before closing but everybody was totally friendly and welcoming. In fact, we were the absolute last table to leave and at no point did we feel rushed.
I could say the food was so-so at best; the seafood/oyster motoyaki was very eggy (and therefore funky tasting to me, like they scrimped on the cheese/mayo and substituted with eggs) but everything was great. The only thing that stood out was the very fresh spicy tuna cone (yes, even at closing time!). I should add that it's the first AYCE Japanese place I've gone to where I've ordered cooked food (e.g., yam tempura, chicken/beef teriyaki, yakisoba, tonkatsu etc.) because the three other people on the table did not eat seafood. To this day, I still wonder why we went to an AYCE sushi place, but for the price I'm not complaining. As a tip, to get your money's worth at these places, only go if you're eating sushi and sashimi. That's the expensive stuff (I'm so Chinese it's not even funny). I was not impressed with the 6 piece sashimi limitation, which is retarded. This is why I came to your joint! For this, Tomokazu is still my go-to place.
If I was only rating the food, it would be 2.5 stars for taste but for service, the amount of food for the price we paid (worked out to about $14.99/person), it's not bad. -
Review from Alice L.
2/20/2011
I know it looks bad that I'm only giving this place 3 stars and that everyone else seems to love it. But I'm really just telling you what i think and that I'm comparing it to my past experience with all you can eat sushi at shabusen and certain dishes Ive had better elsewhere. Shabusen to me is a 4 star.
I went to taiko for dinner. Which may have been my mistake, and probably should have stuck to lunch. For dinner the price for a person is $23ish canadian. And they've got lots of stuff from the raw to the rolls, nigiri, robata, and deep fried.
My bf and I am sashimi tycoons and we really enjoy fresh and tasty sashimi. So were ordered salmon sashimi, toro nigiri, beef sashimi, tuna tataki, miso soup for me, lobster balls, chopped scallop rolls and cones, spider rolls, agedashi tofu, chicken karaage, oyster motoyaki, bbq salmon belly. Not all at once but as we were dining.
So i'll tell you right now the tuna tataki wasn't amazing. I was thinking i was going to get something like tuna poke. but it wasn't. the beef sashimi was cold and actually some parts of the beef came out frozen when i bit into it...I don't know if thats supposed to be served that way. The scallop rolls were so tiny, most of it was rice.
the salmon sashimi was good and fresh and cut nicely and thick enough. The miso was salty but it was alright. The agedashi tofu was good. The bbq salmon belly was delicious! it was soft and tender and fatty. The chopped scallop cones were way better than the rolls so get that one if you like the scallop mix with mayo and little tobiko. although they still packed it with a ton of rice at the end of the cone. The spider rolls were decent. and so was the oyster motoyaki.
The weirdest thing about this place is that you order a certain number of what you'd like and they like don't record the number or decide that themselves whether if they'll give you that number of pieces or just give you half of the pieces you ask for...and it happened multiply times while we ordered 3 times. So for the toro nigiri the first time we ordered 12 pieces and they gave us 6, then the second time we asked for 10 and they gave us 5. then by the LAST time we asked for 10 and they actually gave us 10. I was super surprised since me and the bf were betting on how much we were going to receive judging from how they have been doing. The toro was supposed to be the reason why we came here to eat for dinner since they don't have it for lunch. from my experience with toro, i'm looking for a really buttery melt in my mouth taste with each chew. But this toro they gave me left me unsatisfied...I've even had escolar that was better than this and even the toro form sushiland tasted way fattier than this. But by the last plate it did get better, but it wasn't good enough for us. The toro had a hint of that butter taste but it didn't follow through with the whole piece of fish. how sad...
anyway I won't be back here for dinner, and if shabusen for any reason is too busy or closed for lunch I would try this place for lunch. it would be a better deal and since the toro isn't great anyway i'm not losing out.
SO too much rice packed into everythingt nook and cranny, giving us less amount of pieces than we asked for, the $25 per person and the unsatisfying toro is the reason why I'm giving this place a 3 star rating. Also to conclude that the owners are not japanese, they spoke cantonese so they are chinese people, although they did hire one japanese waitress because I heard her speak japanese. And who am i to jugde this too much because alot of japanese establishments are not japanese owned but from another asian ethnicity. I know the shabusen on granville is also owned by chinese people but I do like that place. But I might just try this place for lunch one day and I bet my experience will be better just because this time i was expecting alot more than what i received. -
Review from Jeffrey W.
9/12/2011
If the first words out of your mouth are not," Wow" then stop eating and just go home. You obviously have no idea that what you are consuming so just go get a burger and call it a night. Now for the other 99% of you please enjoy one of the best sushi restaurants that Vancouver has to offer. I really had a good meal even if the service was a little spotty. I think our girl seemed a little new. The menu is rather large and really does not give many description of what you're eating so we asked a lot of question to the newbie. We all wanted to try as many things as many possible. This had to be some of the freshest fish I have ever had. To tell you everything that went into my pie hole (mouth) would take more typing than I want to do, so I will give you the top three things I had. No matter what you do try the sashimi, especially the Toro (Fatty Tuna) Oh so good! Next, try the Salmon with avocado and Tuna with avocado both are simple and done perfectly. Lastly try as many things as you can from the Robata Grill. A Robata is a charcoal grill used to prepare Japanese food to customers and boy is there a large number of things to choose from. Chicken to fish and all done suburbly. So next time your in Vancouver make sure you stop in.
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Review from Tom D.
Vancouver, BC
9/10/2010 1 photo
A nice japanese buffet. They never frown when you order several times unlike fish on rice. Sashimi is unlimited. Just order the grilled stuff ahead as they take time to cook them. I just wish they add more dessert options. Dont forget to ask other stuff as there are nice things not on the menu but included in the buffet! We'll go back when we can.
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Review from Beth L.
8/15/2010
This place is new (it used to be Yoshi on Denman). They offer a $13.95 (all you can eat) sushi, etc. lunch. Now, usually all you can eat sushi entails sushi that's been pre-made sitting there laid out for the taking. This is totally different. It's made to order and served in small portions (e.g., one order of sashimi is one piece, one order of maki is two pieces) which is great for two reasons...one, it's fresh and two you don't waste food. If you want two pieces of gyoza, one serving of goma-ae, six pieces of sashimi, two pieces of nigiri, and 12 pieces of maki, you're good to go. The sashimi was sooo fresh. They do have a somewhat-limited menu but the value is unbelievable considering the quality of the fish. We had so much delicious tuna and salmon sashimi and some other items that were great, but really the sashimi was what stood out. Super-friendly service and a beautiful atmosphere. If I lived here I'd be here at least once a week!
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Review from Ethel T.
Richmond, BC
8/31/2011
We went here to try their late night all you can eat sushi. We arrived at 9:30 and were told that we had until 10:15 till last orders were taken. Being especially greedy, we ordered a LOT of food at once. All of the dishes we got were fantastic. The sashimi was fresh, the various robata items were hot and recently cooked, and the sushi rolls were quite good. I especially liked their pork katsu and their dynamite rolls. Furthermore, Taiko has food items that are usually not offered at AYCE sushi joints, such as lobster balls, spicy tuna and salmon sashimi, and ebi wontons. The one dish that didn't really do it for me were the gyozas, which were bloated and oily. I liked the oyster and seafood motoyaki but would have liked a little bit more oyster/seafood, and a little bit less sauce. The servers were also extremely attentive. I didn't need to flag them down to get a water or tea refill once, and they were friendly but not overbearing. Overall, though, Taiko is perhaps the best AYCE sushi joints I've gone to in Vancouver. In fact, I'm surprised that people keep going to Robson Sushi (shudder). For just a little bit more, you get more food and better service.
