Review Bistro Sakana - Vancouver

Amazing 🍣 and extremely tasty! I came for first time for my birthday dinner a while ago and everything was just amazing. The interior was beautiful and modern, I didn't get chance to take more photos of it tho, but the atmosphere was also equally as well. ⭐️ The dishes my boyfriend and I ordered were are just amazing and there were so much taste and flavour in just one bite! They also have daily specials and server was very kind to answer my questions. I really enjoyed and definately will come back again!

Minami lived up to the hype. We ordered the 5-course tasting menu and every course was delicious and very well presented. Our server was great and was attentive throughout service, providing explanations when asked. The sake tasting is high recommended if you haven’t had much sake before. The sashimi quality was excellent as well.

Excellent service, clean atmosphere, food was phenomenal. Thank you so much to the staff including BOH who made our wedding anniversary so special. The bartender came over to pour our water, which is probably normal, but a nice touch considering he's leaving his station. Our server was so polite and friendly. She talked to us for a decent amount of time about life and the food. Would highly recommend.

Amazing! Had an anniversary here and they truly made the experience worth it. Make sure to book a reservation. The sushi was phenomenal and the waiter ( Aiden) was very friendly, thoughtful, and knowledgeable about the menu. Every single item we ordered was scrumptious and unique!

The sushi is great and high quality, and it'll likely be some of the best sushi you'll have in Vancouver. I had the "Tart" shown in the pictures, and it was more than enough for lunch. The rest of the table had other sushi rolls and platters, and they were more than happy with their meals. Even though the food was great, it was overpriced for what we got. For less a price, you can find similar quality sushi elsewhere in the city if you know where to look.

Great spot for tasty sushi. Not traditional type of sushi but still very flavorful. I got the lunch premium zen and it was a ton of food with soup, salad, 3 seasonal dishes, assorted sushi, and dessert. Fish was fresh and rice made correctly. The service was friendly and attentive. I recommend coming for your contemporary style sushi.

A favourite staple here in Vancouver. We often go here since one of our friends is celiac and they're great with being gluten free. Everything is delicious as usual and drinks are so good.

The customer service was amazing. However personally the food was a little lacking in flavor( especially for the price) and just overall lacking in portion size. I purchased the 5 course meal, and still left the restaurant a bit hungry. I would recommend sticking to the rolls for overall value and taste economy.

I came here with my partner for Dineout 2018. The food was tasty and lots of care was taken in the presentation of the food. This place has a casual atmosphere. The starters were burdock salad and sashimi. The salad had way too much dressing and the burdock was just swimming in it. I wish the dressing was served on the side because the flavours were fresh and bright otherwise and the burdock had a nice crunch to it. On the other hand, the sashimi was served with a tangy vinaigrette and was very enjoyable. Next came the aburi sushi platter. The protein was fresh although the texture of the rice seemed slightly off. My partner thinks it tasted like old rice. Overall, it was enjoyable but we did feel that the wagyu aburi didn't quite fit in with the rest of the flavours. The box set that came after was lovely to look at and had some wonderful elements to it. We were instructed to eat it in a specific order. The white fish tempura was lightly battered and crispy, the steamed seafood was served with a tasty, umami-filled broth and the mixed vegetables had great texture though a bit bland. Ending it all off was a very rich dish of pork belly. The meat was very soft and almost melted in my mouth although I did find the strong flavours to be a bit jarring against the lightness of the dishes that preceded it. Next was thinly sliced beef served in a sweet miso sauce. Rice is not served with this although I would highly recommend asking for it because the dish is very saucy and salty. On its own it would have been too overwhelming, but I enjoyed it very much on rice. Our favourite part was the matcha and roasted green tea Panna Cotta. It was mildly sweetened and very creamy with a wonderfully fragrant tea flavour. I would go back to Bistro Sakana just for this dessert. The service was great overall. The staff were friendly, attentive and explained the dishes very well.

I would give no star if there's an option! Shit service, the girl didn't know what she was doing, we sat down at 6:15, asked for waitress for 5 times! The restaurant was empty! After 40 min, our first course came, never came back to us. Another 35 min passed and we still haven't get our second course, I asked her for our food then the food came out right away, so our food was left in the kitchen?! The food came out cold, every single dish! WTF?! Then we asked her to get the manager, she didn't even call the manager, I had to ask another person for the manager, the manager said its busy so service is slow, and the food is supposed to be cold since we are not sitting by the sushi bar. What kind of answer is that? Tempura and grill black cod is not ever made by the sushi bar. Then he said they make mass production of food at same time, so it could be the reason why it's cold. If you make a lot at same time, why does it take an hour for our food? Fking ridiculous!!! Never going back.

Great happy hour specials, lots of interesting rolls and tapas. Great service and a nice patio too!

My favorite spot in yaletown.... i only eat sushi made by us japanese! Excellent fish selection... smoked sashmi is amazing. I wish it was open on sunday!

Waited for at least 30min for the waitress to order! We were the first table in the resteraunt ! We went in at 6;15 the salad came at 7 and the main dish came at 7;45 !! Food were cold ! After we asked the girl to get the manager for us she didn't even bother to go find the manager until we asked another waiter to find the manager for us!

Service is good and the food is wonderful. Will definitely come back next time.

I tell everyone I know its the best sushi in Vancouver. Fresh ingredients, chefs own customized and completely unique creations, paring of flavours. Its like heaven on a plate!

Reasonable price. Fresh ingredients. Beautiful display of food. Delicious dishes. Love it.

I have lost track of the number of great meals I have had here. Tonight, nine of us had a great meal and attentive yet unobtrusive service. Guests from Australia and Toronto, and seasoned Vancouver diners, were all impressed. I ordered the food, which made me look good as each dish was so well delivered. As usual, the quality of fish and seafood, and the clean flavours with interesting combinations was fantastic. I get to Vancouver 8-10 times a year, and I always try to eat at Bistro Sakana.

My boyfriend and I their omakase, which was $100 per person the night we went (price differs depending on each day and what will be served). In total there were 9 courses with our favourite being the live sweet prawn + deep fried after. Other highlights included a deep-fried mini crab, sesame tofu and seaweed sunomono with gold flakes, and wagyu on a little rock we cooked ourselves.<br/><br/>Our meal took almost 3 hours but it was a fun dining experience. Call ahead to book if you are going to try the omakase - they can tell you the menu and change it to include specific things you want to eat if you give them heads up. <br/><br/>Busy little restaurant but great food and presentation. <br/><br/>Full review with photos on my blog.

Another year, another year wiser. For my birthday this year, I wanted some delicious, high quality Japanese food and found Bistro Sakana!. Bistro Sakana is located in Yaletown, right across from Minami. Blue fin combo: Oh. my. GOD. This was both of our favourite that evening – assorted blue fin nigiri.

Best not to name your fancy salmon roll a “sockeye roll” when your staff confuse this with a sockeye salmon maki which is what I received in my take out order. The “ebi” sunamono salad is actually baby shrimp. Very underwhelming for such a high priced restaurant.

We typically used Zomato for restaurant recommendations and this place had some excellent reviews - we have no idea why. <br/><br/>The quality of their food was average for our taste. Overpriced hence the quantity of fish in each roll is less than adequate. <br/><br/>

Aburi sushi is one of my favourite things to eat in the whole world. If I had to choose one thing to eat for the rest of my life… aburi sushi would be it. When M suggested this Yaletown establishment for our dinner, I was more than down to check it out. We sat outside on the patio (because natural light), but I would probably not recommend doing that unless it’s summer because the heat lamps aren’t evenly spaced so it was pretty chilly. Blankets are provided, but I have a personal thing against public use blankets and pillows…

We decided to sit at the bar to watch the sushi chef's at work right in front of us. It added to our overall dining experience - I highly recommend it. We ordered the Beef Sukiyaki ($16), which is tender sliced beef and veggies cooked at your table in a slightly sweet soya sauce broth, and Sockeye Jalapeno Aburi ($14 for 7 pieces) to share. I personally got albacore tuna sashimi ($7.50 for 5 pieces) and 1 hamachi nigiri ($3.75), while my friend also got herself 1 baby hamachi nigiri ($4.00) and a negitoro nigiri ($3.50).<br/><br/>I would pass on the Beef Sukiyaki because it was a little too sweet for my taste buds and barely had any beef. The sashimi was incredibly soft - just as you'd expect it to be. However, the pieces were small for the price.<br/><br/>My favorite part of the meal was the Sockeye Jalapeno Nigiri. Instead of the need to dip into soy sauce, they froze the soy sauce in jello-like cube shapes and rested them on top of each piece of nigiri. Gastronomy! I had never seen this done before and loved the tiny explosion of soy sauce in my mouth as I chewed. For the cool experience, amazing flavour, and price, I recommend trying the aburi!<br/><br/>I would recommend trying menu items that you haven't seen before at other Japanese restaurants. Although the portions may be small in general, I think getting to experience unique dishes is worth a visit to Bistro Sakana!<br/><br/>For an extended review, please visit my blog at dinevancouverbc.wordpress.com or Instagram @dinevancouver :)

I got to try this restaurant during dine out. Their menu was $40 and came with 4 courses. Also they had a sake pairing for $22, which I think was a really good deal. Because this was during dine out though, their usual service may have not been reflected during our dinner. The service was slow and it was hard to flag down someone. But the servers still remained super friendly! <br/><br/>The atmosphere of the restaurant feels cozy, but I wish the lighting was better. It was really dark and I couldn't take good photos. We were seated out on the patio, so that didn't really help either. The patio is heated and they have blankets in case you get cold.<br/><br/>The first course were three mini appetizers. All three were delicious. I liked the tofu tamago custard because it was so smooth in texture. The next course was various kinds of sushi and seafood. They all tasted fresh and were plated very nicely. The next course was grilled ribeye and foie gras. It was cooked just right and had good flavour. It felt weird though to have this at this restaurant because I wasn't expecting it. But I enjoyed it. The dessert wasn't anything too special. I found it a bit hard to break through the crust. Overall, presentation was beautiful for all courses, food was yummy, but service could have been better. I'm unsure about whether I'd go back. But I'm glad I tried it.

I can't believe I just found this place! As a aburi sushi lover, this place far exceeded my expectations! I've been to probably every restaurant in the lower mainland that serves seared sushi and this was by far my favorite - the flavors they put into their sushi and the care really shows. Really liked their plating and their menu options. Service was very friendly and it was a great experience.

Phenomenal. Atmosphere was great, they even had a muted black and white Japanese film projected on the wall. The vegetarian rolls were excellent as were all of our other unique rolls. Aji from tsukiji, Japan was a stand out for sure. They even deep fried the bones afterwards to enjoy as "chips". A truly unique experience.

Since we were very satisfied with Miku, we thought to give Sakana's aburi sushi a try. Overall, the experience was bland. The poor service notwithstanding, the aburi which took about an hour to arrive was good, but not great. The rest of the sushi we ordered were of mixed quality as well (BC roll was bad, but yam roll was pretty good). The gyoza might have been the best part. Bonus points for the outdoor patio with bamboo, but why couldn't they just turn on the heaters, damn it?! We would not return.

Food is very good.. But not very satisfied with the ratio of portion and price. I ordered a tuna crepe sized of a Vietnamese Spring roll for $14... Really not worth it. If you're looking toward a full satisfying meal then this is not the place.

After the success of my last “Dine Out” adventure. I decided to give the $40 menu at “Sakana Bistro” a try. They specialize in Japanese fusion on small plates. It has all been $30 menus up to now. The thinking is, I am paying more for better ingredients, so it should be a better meal, right? I at least hope it tasted as such. When reviewing their menu online I noted there was not much choice, but that their set entree sampled a few of their signature dishes and they sounded appealing. I had hoped this would give me a true taste of what a regular meal with them is like.

From my lunch experience, I think I was happy about the food, but wasn't very excited and with their high prices, I'm not sure I would run back here. Mind you the quality was nice, the only thing was great was the owners are actual serving in the restaurant and I love seeing that so will go back and try more adventurous items to see what's unique about this place. Our miso soup was very bland when it came out, maybe that's why I was unimpressed since that was my first impression.

Tried dine out this year (2016) and few things to note are: great, attentive service; do not sit in patio area coz you will get baked with the heaters outside looming over your head; very small, tight seats both patio and inside; communal washroom (1 stall) between this and the Italian restaurant next door; food is fusion Japanese so it will be a bit more adventurous in tastes/creations, don't expect it to be too authentic.<br/><br/>The food overall was 'ok'. Sushi plating was nice for the entree. Unfortunately, though it is fusion Japanese, it should retain some simple rules such as adding a tad bit of sushi vinegar to help with the elasticity and moistness of the rice; the sushi we had crumbled, tasted flat and was bit on the dry side. You'd expect everything to be executed well at a Yaletown establishment but it somehow missed the mark. Dessert of matcha creme brulee was alright.

After my ultimate foodie trip to New York and Chicago, here I am back on native soil in Vancouver. I am hoping to find something in Vancouver that would remotely match the creativity, diversity, and quality of what I had. Bistro Sakana proved to be a good place to start. My first thought of this place was “oh no, not another dumb down izakaya franchise like Guu or Hapa”. But it wasn’t, despite it being located in the middle of hipster-filled Yaletown.

Food - I went there to try out those Aburi sushi on their menu. The food were plated so pretty that you didn't really want to touch them. They were seared perfectly on the top. They just melt in your mouth... (My mouth is getting watery just by thinking about it again.) <br/><br/>Deco - Modern Japanese cuisine. Kind loud inside. Hard to have a communication with frds while eating. <br/><br/>Service - The owner is very friendly!<br/><br/>Price - $$$ <br/><br/>Will definitely go back again <br/><br/>

I am giving Bistro Sakana a good review because their food is great. Their service on the other hand was not prime. The food came out at awkward times and took forever (lunch was an hour an a half before we got everything) and they forgot our misos. I understand that it can be busy, but when you have a time limit for a meal, it's not the best place to choose. Also, their dishes are TINY for what you pay for. A sockeye salmon sashimi which is 8 dollars for 5 pieces is SO small. Their Alburi sushi was tasty, but it fell apart when you tried to eat it and the the rice was very charred and bitter. Their crispy filo scallop and prawns was amazing tho.

I have been wanting to try Bistro Sakana ever since I discovered their menu in late January, which featured Aburi (seared) sushi. With good ratings and a focus on modern Japanese cuisine, the prospects of a delicious Aburi sushi dish seemed good. I also discovered that Bistro Sakana is consistently featured in both Dine Out Vancouver and Taste of Yaletown, so not wanting to spend

Nice decor and cute, friends couple that owns the joint. The wife is an authentic Japanese chef (only female chef in Vancouver) and the husband I think is the manager. He is very vocal and will share the best dishes with you. Came here to try the aburi dishes but I have ti admit miku and Minami still takes the cake for this. Their gyoza are all made by the wife, worth a try!

Great atmosphere, open kitchen setting with sushi made right in front of you - entertainment ensured. Signature boxy-scortched sushi (shiro miso toro aburi) is a must try. Very comfortable and chic atmosphere with friendly staff. Looks like it's run by Japanese people.

went for dine out yale town in bistro sakana I'll say the food is great, but not definitely not as great as miku, but it does hold on it's own though.<br/><br/>the starter was cawan mushi, and it was definitelly good, but not until wow type.<br/><br/>the the entree is combination of 4 items, one of my favorite the shrimp/ebi is wrapped with shredeed daikon if i'm not mistaken and they deepfried it. very delicious indeed. then there was also the aburi, which was okay, maybe the one in minami/miku is just too godly. and can't exactaly remember the other two items but it was okay.. definitely and above average taste of restaurant. one thing that i find out is that beer glass all smells fishy for some reason. even after bringing the second glass. I'm not a fusy eater/drinker, but on that particular night it seems like all the glasses smelled fishy. :( other than that it's all great :)<br/><br/>would recommend the place, the place is great, food is definitely slightly above average and environment is okay.

Some Twists, but generally good!. Went to Sakana based on advice from a friend, and was happy with the results, 2 concerns, the servers seemed to like to whisper to you only, which made hearing what they were saying hard to do, however all the fish was amazing and I would very much encourage others to try this place, with 1 caveat<br/>The Beef Tataki is... strange, I enjoy the apple slices but they add parmesan cheese to the dish, which I found distracted greatly from a dish that is a mix of fatty/rich beef with the bright citris/ponzu notes, I would not order that again, but otherwise it was a good night out

When my friend first mentioned that Bistro Sakana had a Healthy Sushi lunch special, my first thoughts were that I was in some serious trouble, because here I’ve been going happily along thinking that sushi was healthy and now I was about to be proven wrong. Thankfully that is not the case. The Health Guidance website lists many health benefits of sushi and it turns out that Bistro Sakana has simply come up with a way to make it even more healthy. That’s Yaletown for you.

We normally don’t spurge on food unless there is reason to, but after seeing Bistro Sakana’s menu we had to give it the place a try. Located in the heart of Yaletown, you can expect to cough up a decent amount of money for your meal but it is worth it. Upon entering Bistro Sakana, we were greeted with the usual “irasshaimase” from the servers and the sushi chefs. I would describe the ambiance of Bistro Sakana has cozy and intimate. The tables were mostly arranged in twos but they do have some larger tables available. As the night was fairly warm, we opted to escape the main crowded and noisy dining area and opted for a table on the patio. Once we were seated, we were greeted by one of the owners of Bistro Sakana. He offered great suggestions on their menu and if we were ballin’ with money we would have ordered everything – twice. While Bistro Sakana’s menu isn’t vast, there are a lot of interesting dishes that we would have loved to try. In the end, we ended up ordering the these dishes… The Food Negitoro Gyoza – The Negitoro Gyozas were introduced to us as the “healthier alternative” to regular pork gyozas. After the Negitoro Gyozas arrived, we wondered if the were healthier because their was less filling in each gyoza. The gyozas were lightly grilled but lacked substance. Each gyoza was only packed with half the amount of filling as you would expect from a regular gyoza. There was a whole lot of empty space in each gyoza so once you get through the negitoro, all you have left is the wrapper. Shiro Miso Toro Aburi – The Shiro Miso Toro Aburi is simply amazing. When the sushi arrives at your table, you told explicitly by the server that you are not to use soy sauce . Please adhere to that rule or may the aburi Gods strike you down with great vengeance and furious anger. There is so much balance in each piece of aburi. The smokiness of the seared toro is complimented with the slight sweetness of the ginjo sake. On top of all that, the slight sourness and tang of the

Great sashimi and sushi- on the higher end of what is available in Vancouver. The atmosphere at Sakana is great, the food was delicious and carefully prepared. A great variety of sashimi with raw scallops and raw shrimps, various kinds of tunas that most of the cheaper restaurant would not serve. The price was also higher than most sushi bars but it was reflected in higher quality, and then again the bistro is not as pricey as Miku in Canada Place. The soup and desert were also very good.

Inconsistent Food & My Bad Experience. I went to Bistro Sakana with a friend for the first time because of dine-out. I usually do not make it a habit to write reviews on my eating adventures but I am making an exception this time because the problem I encountered has little to do with the food itself but rather the attitude the management of this enterprise has in regards to suggestions made by customers. The food in the dine-out menu was decent. The highlight of the meal was, of course, the aburi, which was well done. The other items were, unfortunately, easily forgettable. My friend and I enjoyed the Wild Sockeye Jalapeno Aburi so much that we decided to order an extra roll in addition to our dine-out menus and everything went downhill from there. The salmon on the aburi that came was over-torched to the point where my friend could pick off pieces of completely cooked salmon with her chopsticks. This completely ruins the "melting" sensation that aburi is suppose to have in your mouth (which it is known for) and makes it not much different than a piece of grilled salmon sushi. I was disappointed after eating one piece but it did not ruin my mood since the food, although it is important and the objective, is only a portion of the experience. The staff and the manager (boss?) has been nothing but attentive and friendly throughout the night (although, judging from the other reviews, it might be because we were conveniently seated right by the entrance to the kitchen). So, in pretty good spirits and filled with high regards for the bistro, my friend decided to suggest to the manager, when he came by to ask us how we were doing, that it would be better if, in the future, the aburi is less torched so that the melting effect would be enhanced. The manager thanked us for the feedback and went back to work. He came back again later when we were finished our dessert to explain that the aburi was torched by somebody else in the inside kitchen rather than by the main chef in the front of the store hence it was a bit over-torched. This much was forgivable since it was dine-out season after all. However, he continued on to add that different customers all have different preferences so we should specify next time if we want it lightly torched. Although what he said has a point, generally speaking, but we are talking about a relatively high end Japanese restaurant and it amazes me that he would suggest that I should request the aburi to taste like how aburi is expected to taste when I order it. This just feels like an attempt to shed the blame and justify the inconsistency of the food either in fear of some sort of negative consequence (such as a negative urbanspoon review perhaps...) or because they take the two of us for fools since we looked young. The entire point of the justification gave the impression that, rather than just accepting the suggestion, I, the customer, is in the wrong for not being specific enough to begin with. I feel like this is the wrong attitude to have in any establishment that is suppose to provide customers with some kind of service. If you do not have a set standard for the food you prepare then ask the customer how they would like it when they order, not tell them how they should have ordered it when they are not satisfied after eating. I do not feel as if I would ever want to take chances with the aburi at Bistro Sakana again (or anything else on their menu for the matter) seeing how rude they have been and Minami (which is conveniently located right across the street from Bistro Sakana) has consistent, amazing aburi for only $2 more.

Non existent service, overpriced mediocre food!. Tried this restaurant for the first time and was very disappointed. Service was non existent, food was overpriced and mediocre. We were seated and our food orders were placed, and still waited for over 30 mins before we received water and our drinks. The food took forever to arrive (another 30 mins later). Half our table received their food, the other half had to wait another 20-30 mins before they received their food. We told the manager/owner we weren't pleased with the wait and lack of service, yet all he offered was "sorry, it's a bit busy tonight" and did not even bother to make it up or rectify the situation. A lot of us left still hungry with a huge hole in our wallets! Will not be returning again. Would not recommend this restaurant as there is no service, small portions, and overpriced food.

Fantastic meal and decent service

Came here with a couple girls and we sat on patio. The service is ok but the food is beyond amazing. The rolls were so good I have never tried any sushi like this in the world! The yam tempura fries are set up in a teepee and the r perfectly coated in tempura and super yummy! The rolls we got were the sockeye jalapeño aburi (14), the crispy Dungeness crab roll (15), and the caprese roll (14) which was scallops n basil and tomatoes and bocconcini with balsamic vintages and oil on side that u dip into! I regally enjoyed this place and I will be back because the rolls r beyond amazing and no where else has rolls like this in Vancouver! Great job Sakana!

Read this... It'll save you $97.50 plus $2.50 tip!. I have been wanting to try this restaurant for some time now since Minami's service let me down a few months ago and i have yet to return. My girlfriend and I were greeted at the door almost immediately and were seated at the patio. First mistake... The servers were not very on the ball and we were ordering our food before we got our waters... So, I ordered the following: Duck l'orange, both aburi sushis (salmon with jalapeno and tuna with lime) a caterpillar roll, sun dried tomato roll, calamari and the tuna and salmon ige? ike? its in the cold tapas.... and a glass or riesling. And then we waited... and waited... actually most of this meal consisted of waiting... Once the waitress came and seated another table beside us, I asked about my girlfriend's wine. "oh, sorry! I will get that right away." And then we waited again. The first thing to come out was the calamari. The hollandaise was pretty good but a few pieces of the squid were rubbery. mediocre overall. The next items were the Duck and the cold tapas thing. Duck was flavorless and the segmented oranges seemed to take up too much the taste. Did I mention that this too about almost half an hour to get our first couple of plates? Arriving after was our cold tapas thing and seared tuna and salmon and then wrapped in seaweed and fried... was alright. The wasabi was a nice surprise. I was seriously sparing each piece i ate because i did not know when my next plate was to come out and if i should keep eating or wait until more arrived. Then we waited again... and this was no ordinary wait... this was like a 45 minute wait with very little touch base from the serving staff. They were even slow to take away our plates... And you know its bad when... So it got almost to the point where i was going to do one of two things, cancel the rest of my order or dine and dash what we had eaten. I had started a 15 minute countdown on my phone and my food arrived with 8 minutes left... And it was 2 more items together... the sun dried tomato roll and the caterpillar roll. Sun dried was interesting and it was quite notable in the meal. however, the caterpillar roll was terrible. it lacked sauce, it lacked dimension... it was just lacking... you could have easily gone to nanaimo sushi or take sushi and get a specialty roll worth the price and better rolled (with sauce!). And finally the arburi sushis came out 4 minutes later (yes I was timing things at this point in the meal) and well arburi was good. the salmon unfortunately fell short to minami (as previously mentioned). Finally, I realized, when you need the wait staff, theyre never to be found.... and so again waiting for my cheque, I began to look around and saw that the server who was waiting on us was burning the char on the arburi sushi! Understaffed much?!?!?! And again i just wanted to leave so i decided to grab a menu and guesstimate my bill, pay in cash and leave. I overshot by 5 dollars and my bill came out to $97.50 with tax. paid $100 even and my server asked if i wanted change... wow... You know its bad when. So all in all my total dining time was about 1 hour 50 minutes. For food that is mediocre with some exclamation marks, nearly 2 hours of my life waiting which cost me $100. No thanks. Go somewhere else, anywhere else... walk there and youll still have time to spare than eating here! I tried to like you Sakana... No dice

Awesome.. Great food and service. Great atmosphere in a cool part of town. Loved it!

You don't get what you pay for. It's Yaletown, I know it's expensive. But you don't get what you pay for here. You pay easily a couple hundred dollars for ordinary sushi at Bistro Sakana. Ambience was ok but nothing fantastic, I felt rather in a club than a sushi restaurant. I just think there are many better sushi restaurants out there especially in Vancouver.

Expensive with Okay Sushi. It was obvious catered towards those enjoy fusion sushi with interesting sauces. Upon my order of the calamari, Salmon Jalapeno Aburi, and teppan roll, they were both small in portions, but they were also not the best. It wasn't worth the money and I could get something better at another sushi place. It was somewhat tasteless (saved by the provided sauces) and the sushi broke before I even get to take a bite out of it. It was understaffed on a Saturday evening but they were friendly.

Worst service and food that I ever found ! U ran out of chicken and why I cannot add money and exchange for something else ? Would u rather have a angry customer that will never return ?

Best of DOV 2013?. Since they are repeating half of their menu, I was expecting they MUST be good. I found them good but nothing outstanding. We also ordered the crunchy filo scallop and prawns and the black sesame tuna on the side. I could not remember seeing any scallops on the plate. The tuna was good but I would not just go back for that. As my other friends mentioned that their brownies were warmer last time. I hope there were choices for their app and dessert. I remember they also offered the lobster bisque and the creme brulee for these prix fixe menu. I was disappointed and I think i will give the chance to Minami just across the street.

Delicious. Absolutely exceptional.... an honest 10/10!

Beautiful ambience and decor. Bland bland bland sushi. Seriously an expensive lesson in why you don't choose to dine for sushi in Yaletown. I could name dozens of cheaper restaurants on the drive that server sushi far far better than our experience here. Disappointing!

Aburi Style. I love it when I go to a restaurant and it gets me this inspired and excited. THIS is why I moved off the Island. To enjoy evenings like this.<br/><br/>With so many sushi restaurants in Vancouver how do you decide? Well, I would recommend this restaurant first. The restaurant is fairly small, but they do have a covered heated patio and blankets if you are a bit too chilly! When half our party did not arrive my companion and I chose to go inside and sit at the bar where we spent the evening watching their two sushi chefs (one male and one female) prepare endless amounts of sushi. They do "Aburi" style sushi and this was my first time not just having it but also watching it be prepared. It was an amazing night. With delicious food that was beautifully presented in a relaxing atmosphere. Their was plenty of staff and the owners were so warm and welcoming. Taking the time to come say hello and share with us some of the reasons why they are unique and how they strive to bring you the most authentic flavours possible. We decided to have the Taste of Yaletown (TOY) menu and it did not let us down! I ended up favouring one sushi over the others, it was the Wild Sockeye Jalapeno Aburi "Hackozushi". (sockeye salmon layered with rice, box pressed, flame torched, and topped with jalapeño slices)<br/><br/>To create this incredible sushi she would take the prepared rice and salmon blocks out of the fridge, a light layer of sauce is put on top and then the torch and charcoal comes out. She fires it up and the top of the fish is lightly seared. Then garnish is applied.I watched the chefeach time open the container of chills, unwrap the paper, delicately place a thinly sliced piece of chilli on each piece of sushi, then rewrap it in the container and place on the lid. Over and over again, preserving the colour, the flavour, the freshness of the ingredient. It was mesmerizing.For anyone who says "I don't eat raw fish" then Aburi style is for them. If you are lucky enough to have the chef hand you the plate then the sushi is still warm! When we were done I placed another order of the Wild Sockeye Jalapeno Aburi "Hackozushi"and seven more pieces came.<br/><br/>When it was time for dessert we enjoyed the Oka San's Rich Chocolate Brownies from the TOY menu, but then decided to also go with the Chestnut Panacotta. Again, delicious. So on a variety of levels this place rocks!! The music was pleasing, there was black and white Japanese movie playing on the wall and I was able to shoot some not so bad smartphone footage of it as well and if I can get it up on YouTube I will post the link. <br/>http://youtu.be/3oAtYaxFXmg<br/><br/>If it wasn't for TOY I never would have stumbled on this place.Thank you to the chefs, our servers and the owners Peter and Etsuko for such a lovely evening. I will surely return and bring my friends with me!

Great food. I've dined here 3 times now and each time was excellent. Even though the restaurant is small, I don't care cause the food is outstanding. I will disagree with anyone who says otherwise. Their speciality sushi, I believe one is miso marinated tuna with lime, I can't explain how much I love this. It's beautiful. Everyone in the restaurant is Japanese and know what's going on and can explain any dish any menu item and what's in what. They are very knowledgeable about their food. I'll continue to come here.

Had lunch here, loved the food and the setting. Plenty of good lunch options at $10 so definitely good value for us.

Pricy, pricy and pricy for ordinary. Small and relatively crowed space. Almost hit someone when I entered the restaurant. Food (had Omakase sashimi, lobster miso, assorted tempera and a few of their signiture rolls) were really normal and meet standard. However, I do not think their standard meets the price tag, as the food did failed to WOW my stomach.

Loved it but $$$$. Just ate at Bistro Sakana for the first time last night. And I was pleasantly surprised with my selections. But not the prices. I was dating an Asian girl and she appreciated the effort and her food I had picked (Asian)<br/><br/>We shared an appetizer of a dip with mushrooms and goat cheese. (Sorry, the name of the dish escapes me.) But it was really good. Even after we ran out of mushrooms, we were still scraping the dish with our forks to get all the dip.<br/><br/>As an entrée, I had the deep fried Calamari dish. Very nice. The dressing was light and tasty. I thought the calamari might be too greasy, but it wasn't. <br/><br/>Our server, gorgeous blonde, was courteous and attentive, without being obvious. (God, I hate waitresses who are chubsters) this girl was cheery and pretty.<br/><br/>I would definitely go back and I hope this place gets me a second date!

Cosy / Reasonable Price. The venue is best for dates and get togethers. Very friendly atmosphere, not too loud, easy to talk to friends. <br/><br/>I think its awesome. Worth it!

Great food and a nice vibe. This is my favourite place to eat in Yaletown. I go there for the "healthy lunch" at lunchtime (a good deal at $9.50), and when I can, I treat myself to dinner there. I recently tried the Toro Aburi - pressed sushi with tuna - and it was delicious. My other fav is the duck breast in miso sauce. The service has always been friendly, but it used to be a bit slow on weekends--that's improved a lot recently. Unlike most Japanese places, they have a good selection of drinks--everything from rare sushi and sipping whiskey to Okanogan wines. Something else that's unique: the head sushi chef is a woman! You go, girl!

Great Sushi!. As this restaurant was close to our hotel and well received, we took a chance and were not disappointed. Fresh fish for him and a great veggie selection for her made the meal only better by excellent execution and outgoing, personable staff.<br/><br/>The wife ordered extra sushi for later but ate all of it as it was so delicious.

Best sashimi I've tried. Be ready to spend though.

Fun, exciting, and delicious! Went to Bistro Sakana on a Friday night, and the place was hopping. The food was amazing - not your typical sushi fare, but some flavourful original dishes with a global fusion flare. The yam fries were amazing, I could eat them all night. The Tepan roll with the basalmic reduction was excellent as well. All topped off with a specialty cocktail ( I had a salty samari, my guest had a giesha girl) both were very good. The restaurant is not large, but that helps add to the cosy party atmosphere. If you want a solatary quiet evening, you'll need to sit on the enclosed patio, because the restaurant is vibrant like a bar at happy hour. Wholly recommend this place - I will be back!

Good food - a bit on the pricy side. I can see in the previous reviews that other circumstances influence their experience (weather, parking, ...) but the food and service was very good in this restaurant. <br/>It is a bit on the pricy side and once it is getting full the waitresses lose oversight, but overall our experience was good. You may get cheaper food in the Yamato Sushi but here you can relax in a decent environment.

So typical YaleTown. It was so over-rated and expensive. Parking was a nightmare and we walked for 10 minutes in the rain and the food was not flavourful. Finally, what is with these guys? I am not interested and If I was never with you. Now go learn something.

Excellent Experience. This place is sure to become a favorite for us. The food was absolutely the best we have ever had at a Japanese restaurant. We were seated on the enclosed patio. It was warm and cozy and nicely decorated, with hanging plants and Japanese temple lanterns overhead. The service was very good with plenty of servers. The restaurant was jam packed but we never felt neglected. This was by far one of our better Olympic dining experiences. I would not hesitate to recommend this place as a great place to eat with plenty of character and phenomenal sushi. Oh yes.. they had an extensive selection of cold sake by the glass as well. *****

Poor Experience. Just visited the place and had a real poor experience. <br/><br/>Music was way too loud and in your face and the tables were cramped and not positioned well. This is not for someone larger unless you want to sit on the patio, then just forget it. We should have walked out as soon as we sat down. The owner does not dress professionally like the rest of the waiters (hoodie and khakis). The washroom is not inside of the actual restaurant. <br/><br/>When thirsty for a sweet alcoholic drink, they only had one option for a cocktail. Turned out they run out of the pineapple juice to make it. So, we tried their 'Salty Samurais.' Ordered for everyone, but nobody liked it as their freshly squeezed grapefruit juice tasted extremely bitter and unripe. Very disappointing at $10 bucks a drink. <br/>The food was good, but have not tried many things of the menu. <br/><br/>We had 5 different servers helping us including the owner which created much confusion. One of the waiters had poor English when asked a question,.. maybe she also could understand my question better if it was not for the loud music,.. but a language barrier is also expected when you hire an all Japanese staff. The owner is Caucasian. The place is so cramped: not cozy; when we had to pay it was a battle trying to get through as the place was full and the waiters were everywhere.<br/><br/>Never again, thanks. Poor atmosphere.. Are we at a club or a restaurant? Turn it down!

This is hands down my favorite place!!!

Fun date night sushi. All of the rolls, especially the spicy dynamite were fresh and delish. They were a bit chincy on the sashimi given the price but the tuna was great and I'm glad we ordered it. The tempura left something to be desired - both in quantity and quality. This seems like a place to go and get rolls and enjoy the fun upbeat atmosphere.

Sushi's at sakana. I must admit the food is fresh and great, specially the sashimi. My favorite here: salmon sashimi. I would however stay away from the specials sheet, the daily specials seem to never change, so chances are they are not exactly just in from Japan, if you know what I mean. By no means this is a bad place, it is the suhi place to go if you are in the neighbourhood, not your cheap sushi joint however.

Not bad at all. If you are into imported stuff this is the place to go. Fresh seafood and sashimi and sake flown in often from Japan. The only comment I have is their specials never change, it's always the same things.

Great food, great service. Peter and his wife are fantastic hosts along with the rest of their team. The sushi is creative and fantastic. They have a great selection of high end sakes. If you like Tojo's you'll love Sakana since you'll have the same quality of sushi and pay 30% less.

Dishy raw fishy. This is a good -- but not exceptional -- place in all categories: food, service, ambiance (w/ a good patio). Excellent lunch time value and a decent quality-price rapport. A good neighbourhood eatery, but perhaps not worth a detour from afar, Bistro Sakana punches well above its weight. Crowded and very busy at lunch time, but they really bust themselves to ensure timely service.

The dish I enjoyed the most was the Salmon Yuke because it was unlike anything I’d ever had before. If I had to describe it, I would say it’s like hawaiian poke with a poached egg on top. The unagi roll was a typical unagi roll. Would I come back? Yes. But now that it’s crossed off my list of restaurants to try I would choose trying someplace new!

This year I decided to partake in the annual Taste of Yaletown event with my friends and boyfriend. The concept of the menu and pricing are quite similar to Dine Out Vancouver which consists of a 3 course meal (appetizer, entree, and dessert).  For Taste of Yaletown, the pricing of the menus for each restaurant ranges from $25 to $45. The restaurant we have selected to go dine at was Bistro Sakana ($35 menu) which is an authentic Japanese restaurant that I have been meaning to try out on my food list. The seating in the restaurant is quite compact and crowded. However, I did have a decent amount of space to get comfortably seated. To start off, both couples ordered one appetizer of each (Suzuki Dashi-Chazuke and Crispy Wild Sockeye Skin Salad) . I got to sample both dishes and I have to admit I enjoyed the Crispy Wild Sockeye Skin Salad less.  It contained a mixture of shredded vegetables such daikon, Asian pear, pea spouts carrot, shiso, and mizuna greens with deep fried salmon skin bits which I did not think went well together. In comparison, I quite liked the Suzuki Dashi-Chazuke dish.  It was a marinated Mediterranean sea bass grilled perfectly and placed over a light macha dashi broth that was very sweet and flavourful.  Moving on to the entrée, we all encountered a laughable moment when we were questioning if the entire meal in general would be filling enough as we initially thought we were only suppose to choose one of the following. However, one of our friends pointed out that we get to sample EVERYTHING listed underneath the entrée section.  Everything on the entrée was plated nicely and looked exquisite. To start off, the Wild Sockeye Jalapeno Aburi “Hakazushi” was overall good, but I had better ones elsewhere. The Toro Red Chili Aburi “Hakazushi” was amazingly delicious minus the red chili which made my mouth heat up. I must add the albacore toro was very fresh! Now the Prosciutto Roll was by far the worst as the roll contained goat cheese mixed with mang

Seriously it does not get any better than this. Oh but wait it does. One last dish that is a special treat from Executive Chef and Bistro Sakana owner Etsuku Needham. I actually don’t even know what it is called except to say it is as beautiful as it tastes. I do know there are black sesame seeds and Tuna, the rest is a delicious mystery to me.

I think I would come back again to try the dinner as it seemed like they had a few more interesting things that I want to try. Don’t get me wrong, lunch was good…but I don’t see myself craving for it like other places (i.e.: MATOI) …especially when it comes to lunch boxes ;) I would recommend coming here for a light, healthy, and satisfying lunch :)<br/>About these ads

Situated in the trendy part of Yaletown, Bistro Sakana is a up-scale Japanese restaurant. It has a very nice calming atmosphere with candles on each table. The music was playing a bit too loud which I’m always annoyed with. I hate raising my voice and trying hard to hear what the other person is saying. I had seen the Aburi Hako Zushi (torched box sushi) and knew that I would order that for sure. I got the Sockeye Jalapeno Aburi $14 which had wild sockeye salmon layered with sushi rice and flame seared with their spicy mayo sauce and jalapeno peppers on top. I am a huge fan of Miku’s salmon aburi, but this was a good competition. I really liked it – lots. The Pork Gyoza $7.50 was satisfactory, but WAY OVERPRICED. Totally not worth $8. Though I guess the price comes with dining at a higher-end restaurant. Sockeye Jalepeno Aburi $14 Sheepie ordered the Mango Roll $7.00 (left) which was quite sad. It was really small and falling apart. It wasn’t flavourful at all. Another overpriced item. The Salmon Roll $3.75, Tuna Nigiri $2.00 and Salmon Nigiri $2.25 seemed well prepared. I had the Salmon Nigiri, and it was really good. The tables against the walls were a bit tight and would have liked a little more room between the tables. There was one time when the server picked up Sheepie’s tea cup to fill up and she almost elbowed the other customer at the next table. She didn’t even notice though. But other than that, the service was great. It was a nice restaurant, but some dishes way overpriced for quantity and quality. I would definitely like to come back for more Aburi, but will have to explore other dishes on the side next time.  T

Bistro Sakana  locates at Yaletown, just beside the Canada Line station. It’s also a sake bar. The meal brings pleasant surprise but also causes us frustrations.<br/><br/>The tuna crepe is highly recommended.

The themes to my lunch today at Bistro Sakana were as follows: light, bland, dull, watered down, and way too little food. The tiny portion sizes and light flavours made us feel like we were forced to go on a diet…I do NOT need to go on a diet. In fact, I don’t even have that big of an appetite. All I need and desire is a meal that will help me maintain my less-than-145-pound-and-one-inch-less-than-six-feet frame. Is that too much to ask?

If you went to the Taste of Yaletown, last year, more than half the Signature Sample Platter will be familiar (how many signature dishes can a restaurant have, after all). The ones that stood the test of time are clearly among their tastiest offerings, and still consistently delicious when prepared by the chefs. Moreover, the samples on the Dine Out Vancouver menu continue their tradition of a wide variety of tastes and textures, making Bistro Sakana still one of the best choices for sheer food experience.

This brilliiant trio was a decadent way to end the meal. It was the first time I’ve seen such an amazing trio (black sesame!!) and this was a dessert I simply had to order! It’s hard to pick my favourite because they were all very good! Hojicha is a roasted matcha with a more earthy and potent flavour. This is an also “must try” on my list. Truly recommend this dish! If I had to pick one as my fave, the macha one was the best, followed closely by the black sesame flavour! 5/5

After dining there, I thought the place was okay but did not walk away with the same passion. Recommendations • Everything I tried was okay; nothing particularly stands out for me to r

With a goal of not only satisfy but inspire diners, Bistro Sakana’s Dine Out menu for 2014 does just that. @jminter and @billyforce  recommended we try out Bistro Sakana for dinner. Jay had been there before for lunch and had nothing but good things to say about the food. Bistro Sakana has a reputation for freshness and innovation – I couldn’t wait to try out what they had to offer. The dine out menu goes for $38 and consists of three courses. All the menu items can be found on their regular menu, which I liked. We started with the Wild Sockeye Salmon Miso Chowder This was a very hearty miso broth filled with big chunks of wild sockeye salmon. The broth had a nice creamy texture and it complemented the flavour of the salmon beautifully. I’d go back just for the chowder. It was that good. Our entree came plated on one dish. The presentation was beautiful. Truly prepared to engage the senses. Our food was so pretty, it was almost a shame to eat it. The entree is a sample platter of some

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Bistro Sakana has been in Yaletown since before we started MePlusFood. It’s a Japanese restaurant which I thought focused soley on good sushi, but it turns out they have lots of cooked options too. We had a bit over an hour to eat before the hockey game. I ordered the Mini Beef Sukiyaki, Chicken Karaage, Chicken Teri Roll, and Tamago Nigiri. The chicken karaage was probably the best dish of the meal but still flawed. Fairly crisp skin, but very juicy and tender. I wish it was served with a sauce. Mayo preferably. The Beef Sukiyaki looked really cool, and came nice a hot. There was plenty of thinly sliced beef, some tofu, carrot, cabbage, and glass noodles in a sweet and salty broth. I liked everything in it, but I found the soup to be a bit too salty. The Chicken Teri Roll was not very good though. There wasn’t a teriyaki sauce, and the chicken was kind of dry. The Tamago was made with some bonito stock which you can definitely taste. It was OK. I like my tamago a bit on th

One of my top three favourite places to go for sushi at the moment is definitely Bistro Sakana , in Yaletown (the others are Juno and Octopus Garden ). I've been having a craving it a lot lately since it's been awhile, so I met up with a girlfriend yester

Another year, another birthday! :) This year, I went for dinner with Samantha, Lucy, and Jenkins. I really wasn't sure where to go for dinner but then I remembered it had been a while since I was last at Bistro Sakana. I'm not sure why there was such a la

When my friend first mentioned that Bistro Sakana had a Healthy Sushi lunch special, my first thoughts were that I was in some serious trouble, because here I've been going happily along thinking that sushi was healthy and now I was about to be proven wro