Went to Kazu for dinner based on a recommendation from a colleague. Food and service were excellent. The sushi was very fresh and authentically prepared. It’s a nice cosy space. Staff are cheerful and efficient.
Kazu Japanese Restaurant is a small but busy restaurant located on the Hastings corridor in Burnaby. The interior isn’t much to look at and the walls are plastered with various special menu items but you shouldn’t let that detract you from visiting. While looking for some Japanese eats in late September, we stopped by this place for a quick lunch. The food came out fairly quick and most items turned out pretty good. We started with an order of Gomae ($3.95) which is a serving of boiled spinach that’s been mixed with a sesame dressing. While generally served chilled, I found this dish to be just a bit too cold for me. Honestly, that’s probably the worst thing that I have to say about this place.
Kazu「和」日本料理於2014年開業，店名源自其日籍老闆兼壽司師傅Kazuhisa Tanimoto。餐館由星期二至星期日都只做晚市，只有五、六、日三天才有午市服務，而星期一更是全天休館啊！其實我也光顧過其他由日本人經營的家庭式傳統小餐館，這類小店都很有性格，不會只顧賺錢就拼命延長營業時間，從而影響自家的食物出品及服務質素。Kazu提供的都是最基本和傳統日式料理，這裡找不到什麼Volcano或Monster等淋滿七彩醬汁的新派壽司卷，牆壁上貼滿很多店家推介餐點，極具日式小餐館的風味。特別一讚是店家使用性價比高的鮮磨日本芥末奉客，足見對傳統食物的堅持！
Ten-Zaru Soba $9.50 ~ 簥麥冷麵軟硬適中，配搭香脆的天婦羅和蘸上混入鮮磨日本芥末蔥粒的淡醬油，食材簡單但吃得非常舒服
Woah time flies! Before I knew it, somehow two years have passed since I’ve been to Kazu! Kazu is one of the Japanese-owned restaurants along the Heights. When it first opened, it would be impossible to get a seat on even a weeknight and they often had lines out the door. The limited seating inside definitely didn’t help their cause but when people are willing to wait outside in the cold to be seated, you know it’ll probably be worth the wait
Bottom line: As my dad says, there's something really special about everything Kazu does. From the rice to the wasabi, it's authentic. If you want the spiciest wasabi, you need to make it from scratch by grinding that root. Seriously one of the best chirashi don's in Burnaby and perhaps even in Vancouver. Also the Saba... geez, mouth salivating.
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This place is quality- not like Sushi Town or Garden which are good bangs for your buck with a high chance of food poisoning. They don't overdo the rice and give you lots of fresh fish.
The ambiance is really nice and it is super authentic. My favorite part is their fresh wasabi! It really does make a difference overall. It's also a lot easier to eat in my opinion than the fake stuff). You don't come here for fusion Japanese, it's real good stuff. Be prepared and keep an open mind that your rolls aren't being doused in mayonnaise.
If you are going to come here be sure to get their raw fish options such as the sashimi plate - it is well worth the money! All the fish is fresh and melts in your mouth. If you have a lot of people in your party, the party trays are a great deal and give you a lot of food! A good mix of everything they have that's good in my opinion. Their nigiri is definitely some of the best around the area with their fresh ingredients and just the amount of rice that doesn't fall apart, it's quite a bite of happiness.
Parking is tough since it's on the street, but it's not the worst. The restaurant is cute and service is great! Will be back again!
This place was highly recommended to us. Authentic Ja@panese sushi in a small mom and pop shop. Smaller portions but delicious nonetheless. Came in on a weekday with no reservations and we got the last table. This place books up fast.. keep in mind there's only about 7-8 tables plus bar seating. Sable fish is soft and flaky. Also good items are chicken Karagge and negitoro. Service is good but if you come during busy times server might have her hands full.
Kazu sushi is a Japanese owned small restaurant. Their fish is very fresh!! And their beer is Sapporo beer from the tap! I prefer to order their sashimi~ very friendly nice service as well.
Definitely my favourite place for Japanese in Burnaby. The sushi is excellent as well. Sometimes we go in groups of 5 or more and it's a little harder to arrange space because the place is small, but it's clean. When I have Japanese in Burnaby this is one of the first places I think of.
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Kazu is an authentic Japanese run restaurant located in North Burnaby. Everyone from the waiters to the sushi chefs are Japanese. Their service and care for food is definitely different than what you would find at your local 'sushi joints'.
We arrived just past 6:00PM on a Friday night. The place was pretty packed with a couple of reserved tables left empty. We were greeted immediately upon entering and asked how many we had in our party. There was a group ahead of us when we arrived but we were both seated fairly quickly (within 5 mins). The restaurant itself is relatively small that seats about 30-35 people at maximum occupancy so there is likely going to be a wait during peak hours.
After being seated, we were served with our menus and green tea. The first thing we noticed was that the tea is not your typical powdered green tea. It had a fully body to it and tasted great. The staff are really attentive and as soon as we shut our menus, there was a staff eager to take our order. We ordered the Kazu Maki, Yam Tempura Roll, and Tonkatsu.
The food came relatively quickly (about 10 mins for the Kazu Maki and everything else within 15 mins). The presentation was great but the best thing was the absolute clean taste of each dish. It is seldom that you get the opportunity to really taste the different flavours stand out individually in each dish. Nothing mushed together in a mess and everything tasted awesome. The Kazu Maki was tasted fresh. The ingredients that went into it were all high quality and this was evident in the taste. The Yam Tempura Roll is lightly battered and lightly fried before they put in the roll (along with sprouts and mayo). The yam had a nice bite and wasn't mushy at all. The Tonkatsu was absolutely amazing. The pork cutlet was fried to a perfect crisp but left the meat inside tender and juicy. Best of all, it was not greasy and was thick. Seldom can you really taste what you're eating when you order tonkatsu as it is generally all pretty thin and fried to oblivion but this was not the case. The pork taste was evident and it was phenomenal. It came with the tonkatsu sauce that was nice and thick as well as some vegetables that provided a change in texture and cleaned your palette.
Something that we noticed midway through the meal. The wasabi that is given looks to be hand grated (not the stuff you get from a tube). When we tried it, it was much different to the tubed wasabi. It didn't have that overpowering spice and was nice addition to the Kazu Maki.
Overall, this place is a great choice for authentic Japanese cuisine that you can find locally. We would highly recommend this restaurant to any friends or family.
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Kazu is truly a gem in our neighbourhood. There are so many Japanese restaurants popping up but this is definitely one of my favourites. Their ingredients are always incredibly fresh and the food prepared with great care. It's a small location but it feels very warm and comfortable.
Kazu has a great location and the Japanese food served is very good. Two things that need improving are: 1. The cleanliness of the restaurant needs a lot of improvement. The tiled floors are greasy and slippery because they are not cleaned properly and 2. The restaurant is too small and noisy.
These two reasons are why Kazu did not get a 5 star rating
Kazu is run by Japanese, and you can usually tell from how delicately the food is prepared. It is a small cozy restaurant with warm and welcoming service. The grilled wild salmon belly was cooked perfectly without being too dry. It came out steaming hot and with the fatty taste, we finished it in 2 mins. The chopped scallop roll had fresh bits of scallops while the rice had the right amount of vinegar. Hamachi sashimi had a little bit of fishy taste but still with the buttery snap. The tempura soba was bland and didn't have much seasoning in the broth. The portion was huge tho with lots of noodles. I don't recommend ordering this dish given the tasteless broth. Chicken karaage was a bit oily but the meat was tender and marinated just right. The price is reasonable with the quality. It's worth a try.
Kazu is an authentic Japanese restaurant in the Burnaby area. The daily special selection is quite diverted. Sashimi is fresh and my favourite is chicken karage.
It was very crunchy on the outside, it was different from the typical chicken karaage batter you get from other places. the inside was pretty juicy, but could have been more flavourful. lacked seasoning. Negihama roll (yellowtail, green onion). Tasted very fresh. The yellowtail practically melted in my mouth and it felt like heaven
Looking through Kazu’s menu, you won’t find anything particularly special. It’s all quite generic in its approach, giving you a basic range of nigiri, standard maki rolls, vegetable and prawn tempura, and a handful of appetizers
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Why can't this be in vancouver?. We, my family, live in marpole, we used to live near shiro's and that restaurant became our goto sushi place. It was the restauarant that regulars did not tell others about in fear that it would get too busy, heck during the olympics the short track skating team ate there most nights. Alas all good things come to an end and shiro sold, down hill it went. When we saw shiro's second in command opened his own restaurant we had to make a pilgrimage. We have found another shushi place but after our meal at Kazu we realized we have been fooling ourselves. So much is dependent on two things at a sushi restaurant; the chef and his abilities (and it is almost always his);and the buying and the relationships the chef has with the fish mongers. It is obvious that the relationships and the talent was still there. Shiro made by far the best bc roll, kazu has repeated it. The tuna,OMG, melt in your mouth, the salmon, , we ordered a plum sauce oshinko roll, WOW, avocado and tuna, simple but stupendous. I will do my best to make the trek but the distance will be hard to go often. Congrats on your new venture.
Friendly service. I ordered the nabeyaki udon along with a spicy scallop roll, and an order of tuna and salmon sashimi (for takeout). The food has a very home-style cooking flavour to it and I'm sure that has helped to attract a lot of customers! The small place was packed for Friday lunch and most were eating their lunch bento specials.
Next time I'll have to return and try. Their sashimi is very fresh and tasty -the portions are not humongous like from sushi town or sushi garden but I felt the freshness made up for that.
I am hooked!. Authentic Japanese in the heart of North Burnaby. I have been coming here a few times a week since we found out about it. Everything is so fresh and made with love! Highly recommended!
Finally... a truly authentic Japanese restaurant in the hood!!!. This is our regular go-to place now for lunch & dinner. Service is awesome and the food is always fresh! Would recommend sushi and sashimi over hot kitchen items though... but nonetheless, the feeling of real Japanese stuff and their attention to detail will get more people repeating time after time!
The menu seems a bit familiar as they also do the usual rolls... hope someday in future when their business is on track they will introduce more exotic, yummy Japanese tapas!
Cozy, fresh and authentic. It's a little authentic Japanese restaurant in a very nice local environment. Fantastic atmosphere. Salmon sashimi was more unique compared to the bigger more populated sushi restaurants. The salmon is wild, and also from BC! Huge plus there. You really notice the care they put into their food in the little details, contrasting the assembly line" feel in larger restaurants. The wasabi is fresh and made in house from a secret recipe, not some green paste with food colouring. I would highly recommend to others who appreciate quality and authenticity.
Very Authentic. Kazu Japanese restaurant might just be one of the best I had, is comparable to restaurant in Japan. The waiters are sweet and friendly also the place is really clean and tide. Chef/owner Kasuhisa Tanimoto had 25 years of training from Japan and the salmon is from the Campbell river and are hand picked for the best quality!I really like the roll especially the negitoro roll and the special scallop roll are great! However the tempura is not as crunchy as other restaurants' tempura. Yet over all is quite good!
Excellent quality. Tuna tataki. Chicken karaage. Tuna and salmon sashimi. Spicy tuna avocado roll. Special scallop roll. All excellent and really friendly service. Nice atmosphere. Highly recommended.
Raymond's Sushi Adventures
+4
The nigiri were particularly well-formed and the fish-to-rice ratio was flawless. The unagi was quite savoury and dressed with teriyaki sauce. If it was a bit thicker and more meaty, it would have been excellent. The Saba Nigiri was flavourful and had a deliciously smooth fatty layer in the center. It was garnished with green onion and ginger and had just ther right amount of saltiness. The Toro Nigiri came with a generous cut, but was a bit underthawed. The wasabi is real Japanese horseradish!
I was in love at first bite, and I know I say that relatively often, but it absolutely melted in my mouth.I was going to order another plate, but my rational side and wallet told me no.
Kazu is a Japanese owned restaurant located in North Burnaby. The location use to be the home of Kokoro , but now it seems like they have moved on to make room for Kazu. The food at Kazu is fresh, service is friendly and the prices are very affordable. Don’t like farmed salmon? Kazu only uses wild salmon for their sashimi.
We eat at Kazu at least once a month because of the quality. My all time favourite sushi place! Love their fresh wasabi too.
Nice little neighborhood Japanese restaurant . The only down side is selection of sashimi is limited. Taste is good and warm service. Sake is worthwhile 🍶
An authentic Japanese restaurant is a rare find these days in metro Vancouver. To find one in the Heights, a sleepy enclave in North Burnaby is even more rare. For me, there is no better way to judge a Japanese restaurant than by its Chirashi Don, a colourful assortment of fresh seafood artfully arranged on a bed of sushi rice. The Chirashi at Kazu is definitely high-quality with a standard selection of seafood that included sockeye salmon, maguro, saba, ika, tako, masago and tobiko. I wish they offered a deluxe option with some ikura and uni. Also, ordered some amaebi sushi; they served the heads, deep fried, sprinkled with salt without asking. The deep fried heads were a treat. The Chirashi is a little pricier but definitely worth the premium for a little slice of Japan. Highly, highly recommend Kazu for fresh, high-quality seafood without any of the upscale restaurant prices.
Authentic Japanese restaurant in Burnaby. Excellent and fresh food and tea, beautifully presented! One of the best sushi and sashimi I ever had, with real wasabi and ultra fresh fish! The chef and staff are very welcoming, attentive and talented. Arigatō, merci!
Great sushi spot along the Heights. Food is presented very well and in reasonable portions in relation to price. Staff are attentive and it definitely shows in the food and hospitality.
Their karaage chicken is very good, highly recommend to add to your order.
The only thing I can say that needs improvement is that it needs to be open more! I ordered the Chirashi Don which was probably the best I've had in Vancouver so far! Highly recommend this place. Japanese run.
One of my favourite Japanese places in Vancouver. Super lucky to have this gem in North Burnaby. As previously posted, authentic Japanese sushi chef makes the most wonderful sushi, edo style with no frills, just really tasty, fresh fish.
The prices are a bit on the pricer side, but I think its worth the value. I've visited multiple times and have never had a poor experience here.
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