The atmosphere is what you would expect if you were in Japan. Friends from Japan say this place is like what they have back home.
Food is always good, service is always great. If you have an issue, they just replace the item for you without hesitation.
I love all the skewers, I don't think there is one that I didn't like! Deep fried chicken skin, it's not always available but when it is, we always have at least 2 orders!
Always make a reservation, they are always busy.
Nice atmosphere and tasty Robata, with a good selection of dishes. We had chicken, beef, pork and lamb chop, but needed a Mentaiko udon and an unagi rice to fill up. Prices are somewhat on the high side.
If you like grilled meat on a stick with a nice assortment of alcohol there's really no other contender for Zakkushi.
With a relatively low price point for a large choice of different meats prepared deliciously over a fire, noticeably fast service and the type of friendly staff you'd expect from a Japanese establishment there's a clear cut standard to this chain.
Maybe if there were more restaurants that specialized in Japanese skewers to compare to I could say worse things, but as it stands Zakkushi is more or less unrivalled in this cuisine in Canada.
The meat skewers were tasty! The beef and chicken skewers were my fav. Although I do wish there were some more veggie options... But i guess... who comes here for veggies anyways?!
Robata is my favourite Japanese food. Back when I lived in the west end, this was my main go-to spot with a friend, whose partner was a vegetarian, would need a meat fix. Off we'd go for beers and "meat-on-a-stick" and it's still our go-to since I left the neighbourhood. Each portion is one stick so you can mix and match as much as you want. Highly recommend heart, asparagus with bacon, Tsukune (chicken and beef), oropon beef and yakitori. Service is fast and beer is cold.
Zakkushi is really good for Japanese skewers and even for fresh sashimi! My rank #2 go-to place for BBQ cravings. Great service and quality food, super friendly staff too. With our selection it gets pricey really quick, but regardless we will definitely be back 🔥👌 Can't say no to authentic Japanese BBQ
This past weekend a few friends and I took to the Stanley Park pitch and putt to play a round of golf and celebrate Neighbour’s birthday. And celebrate we did – complete with homemade Russian Olympians (Gatorade and vodka – a truly disgusting combination). By the time we were six holes in we were not only tipsy and sick of hitting our balls into the bushes, but we were starting to get the drunken noms. So we decided to abandon the pitch and putt and head out for some food in the West End. One thing led to another, and the next thing we knew we were seated at a table in Zakkushi – a Japanese restaurant specializing in yakitori (or kushiyaki).
Zakkushi in downtown Vancouver is like a Japanese drinking hole. When I first walked into it, I pictured my food idol, Anthony Bourdain, eating in a place like this. The atmosphere encourages eating lots of little things while drinking lots of beer. Zakkushi specializes in yakitori style eating, which basically means food on a stick. Most items are prepared on a charcoal grill as pictured above.
Always a delight to have yakitori and he charcoal taste of Zakkushi brings meat on a stick to another element. The decor inside makes me imagine stepping into a yakitori joint in Tokyo except it would be eating around the bar in a small set-up with the sous chef infront of you grilling and feeding you as each item you ordered gets cooked.
Ah izakaya always hits the spot! Food on a stick and drinks are so much fun. They grill many items but the most impressive are the poached quail eggs. It's still soft yolk in the middle... Smokey, savory, melts in your mouth. Scarf it down with a premium cold sake like yoshinagawa and BAM what a night. Please check it out worth seeing. They have lunch specials at the marpole location.
Always a great time; authentic izakaya atmosphere with excellent skewers. Â Not a fan of oden in general, so we avoid that. Â Make a reservation to avoid a long wait on busy nights.
Authentic Japanese food + great Japanese service = Perfect Dining Experience! :)No complaints at all.... food gets served in a timely manner, great Asahi beer.... friendly service... just slightly on the overpriced side when you lose count of how much yummy BBQ items you've ordered.... but hey! A great dining experience does cost $!
Nothing Wrong With Sticks
Stacked with Grilled Yummy Moist Meats
Pun at Zakkushi.
There were definitely things that I would not order again like the okra, negi tongue and duck. However, the skewers aren’t that expensive and there are so many options that you can always have a good time at Zakkushi.
My three friends wanted to take me out here to zakkushi, said it was the bomb. We had to wait about 45 mins til we got in. Small place, few tables, and seats by the grill bar. You pay by the skewer and we ordered quite a bit. It was worth it. Started off with some jellyfish salad (texture reminded me of wakame salad, stil good) then came our bbq eel which I found tasted just like eel nigiri, still good. And we recieved the rest of our orders, Chicken karage, tempura shrimp, tongue, whole grilled squid, liver, heart some noodles and a skewered ground chicken with japanese mayo and dried shredded seaweed and as well as 4 pitchers of sapporo beer. Apart from the beer it was the best experience i've ever had. My only dislike was the ground chicken skewer with the mayo and seawead, it tasted kind of off. Other than that everything was absolutely delicious. I say go for it! Give it a try! You'll love it :)
my top 3 favourite restaurant! I always order uzura, ruyu yaki, n buta kimchi salad. price is roughly the same as any izakaya. love the dt zakkushi environment more than the main one. but both equally good.
Minus the long waits, good place for something simple with a glass of beer or sake. It's a little loud inside so something to think about. The dishes are quite small in portion as the skewers are mostly bite size but the dishes are pretty good. Not super small nor big. They have just enough seasoning and i rarely find them too salty. Good place to chill amd have a bite to eat with good company.
I was super excited to go to Zakkushi as I had, for quite some time, been picturing myself visiting an authentic Yakitori joint like how my heroes Anthony Boudain and David Chang did on their shows. It is one of those great traditional food cultures that always stays around. When there is so much care and effort put into such a small serving of food in front of me, I feel special.
I decided to indulge myself with their Premium Set ($19.20), with a list of amazing proteins – Prime Rib, Kobe Tsukune (meat balls), Organic Chicken Momo (with sea salt), Premium Beef Tongue, and Duck Breast. Impeccable doneness on the latter 3, especially the beef tonuge – a perfect medium rare, slightly pink when I bit into it and it was
So good. My favorite is the bacon wrapped asparagus and plum wine with pineapple juice!
Oh the awesomeness. Now this is what I'm talking about. I'm still trying to figure out if the portion to price ratio is a good deal but i'm not sure I care as everything just tastes so amazing! The asparagus wrapped thinly with pork is amazing, the thick cut bacon is amazing, the G-beef skewer is good, the chicken thigh is good, the garlic prawns were oh so good, and the Gomae was really good too! The pitcher of Sapporo aided in what was a great dinner too! This place is a must check out for anyone who enjoys Japanese cuisine.
My first real Izakaya experience...methinks :). What a lovely, lovely place. Cozy, crowded, lively with some good drinks and food that go so well together. Just like they do it over there in Japan! The chefs look like they are exchange students from Japan and boy do they know their stuff. This is one of those places where I ignore the price tag and just go all out, ordering whatever looks cool and exciting on the menu. Fried chicken tendons, calamari (deep-fried or BBQ'ed), eel, takoyaki, etc are all done so well. Everything is nice and salty here but not to the point where it is like drinking salt water. I think it has to be salty enough to bring out the different tastes in the meats as well as to go with that light Sapporo/Kirin beer. I haven't tried any other Izakaya place in Vancouver (I did try one in a food court in HK, but let's not count that), but I think this is one of the more authentic places you can go to!
Great place to have a good time. Great food and friendly staff. All the skewers on the menu is delicious.
Good ambience, decent service, above average food. We had a good time the menu is simple with lots of options. Obviously some dishes are better than others but I can't say there was anything I didn't like. I can't say I'm going to rave about the place but I'd probably go back in the future.
Will be back despite the service.. Loved all the food, but was a little annoyed by the 2 hour policy. We were squished in next to others at the bar, wanted to order more, but felt the pressure to get the f***out. I am always happy to vacate if i'm done and people are waiting, but why push people who are still eating and drinking to leave?
I'll probably be back, but won't bring others here, too inflexible for non industry folks.
Belt undone. Zakkushi has a simple layout of Japanese fast dining, yet welcoming décor
and atmosphere,
My experience at Zakkushi, was the turning point of my hopeless scavenge for great
quality food with value for money. I don't believe I could recommend any single item
from the menu, simply for the matter of not being able to choose just one item. Given
the opportunity from the first mouthwatering bite of fresh meat, that was charcoal
grilled right before me, kept my appetite craving more and more.
The cleanliness was flawless for an open grill concept, due to the quality ventilation
system that ensures the flow of fresh air into the property.
![Zomato]( "Recensione")
Oishiii!!!. I love BBQ. I grew up in the Japanese restaurant industry and Japanese BBQ (aka Robata) is probably my favourite Japanese food and favourite BBQ too. It's taken far too long for me to visit this spot, just around the corner from where I live.
We arrived at 7pm and were promptly seated at the bar but given a 2-hour limit before we sat down. Our server was lacking in smiles and was MIA when we were ready to order our second round of food which caused a bit of anxiety as we were aware of the time limit (but she was there promptly at 8:30 to announce our "last call"). She brought us our bill at 9pm, upon the service of our last serving of food (despite not having cleared the deuce next to us) but luckily we didn't feel rushed out once we finished eating (although with a 3/4 full second pitcher of beer), no doubt thanks to the lack of a lineup by that point. I kept thinking 'why rush us out if we're still ordering/spending money vs. just coasting and taking up room". Service aside, let me get on the good that was the food!
I haven't found such a great robata (Japanese bbq) joint in years. Tsukune (ground chicken with onion, garlic & ginger), chicken hearts (w/salt), momo shio(chicken thighs w/salt), sanmna (saury), kobe beef balls (w/sauce), p-toro, asparagus wrapped in pork, oropon beef (with ponzu & daikon) sooooo good! Juicy, flavourful, tender... and perfect with Sapporo (which you can buy by the pitcher for $9.99 for the rest of the month!). Felt like I was back in Japan on a Friday night. Great atmosphere, aromas and flavours. The skewers are sold by the piece and most have the option of sauce (teriyaki) or salt (shio).
I can't wait to go back to try their Oden, and other nostalgic goodies that we were just too full to try. A true izakaya experience! Gotchisosama deshita!
AMAZING. Such a good restaurant.. their food is really exotic but tastes delicioussssssssss!!! recommend for a chill night out
Great experience.... Not a lot of North American cities have Japanese Kushi joints. If you're not from Van, I think this is a must-visit place. The concept is unique, food delicious, and bustling/loud atmosphere, part of the experience. Pricing is decent. Some of our groups favorites include the pork wrapped quail eggs, the butter soy scallops, spicy ebi mayo (best I've ever had), raw beef with daikon & egg, pork wrapped eggplant/asparagust/green onions.
For drinks, the plum orange wine was great, pink beer decent, the white wine & cassis not so good, but definitely the best value is the pitcher of sapporo is the best value here (and is the best match for the food). Tight space though, so be prepared to bump elbows with other patrons....but that's part of the experience. lol Loved it.
As a chef it's not often I getvto have a new taste sensation and Zakkushi just blew me away. I'll be back
Awesome Kushi spot and great value for what you're getting. Good atmosphere. A carnivores dream.
You may have to wait for a while for a table though.
Eat everything!. I think we ate almost everything on the menu. Not much room for error here. I recommend it all. Especially the tako.
What I love about Zakkushi is that you can order everything by per skewer, so whether you are dining with a big group or just a date of two, it's easy to make orders according to your appetite. You don't even need to compromise ! You can order what you like and not force to eat what you don't. That's the best part.Â
...it was almost too beautiful to eat. Once I started, a bite could be summed up in one word, wow. The crunchiness of the seaweed and the teriyaki on top went well with the chewy octopus encased in gooey sauce inside fried batter. The fact that it was fried was not overwhelming at all, nor did it feel heavy in my stomach.
Every Day Is A Food Day
+4.5
The P-Toro was a crunchy and juicy pork. It reminded me of porchetta. My friends and I agreed that it was more fat than meat though. Last but not least, on the very right was the Oropon Beef which came with grated daikon and Ponzu sauce. Oropon beef is essentially their ‘AAA’ beef, so it was very tender and the daikon and Ponzu sauce was very light and refreshing. Overall, a good deal for 5 skewers priced at $9.20.
I enjoy the clean and light taste of Sapporo over darker heavier beers. Zakkushi is known for delicious smoky skewers that can only be achieved by grilling over Binchotan, a Japanese charcoal. Thus, we had to start off with 2 of the Zakkushi Sets ($8.50/set) . They separated the sets so this first plate had two skewers each of oropon beef, p-toro, and I think me maki. The second plate consisted of umeshiso yaki and momo. I grew to like shiso leaves when I was in Korea (as it is sometimes used to wrap BBQ meat) so I really enjoyed the umeshiso yaki. The meat was wonderfully soft and the delicious smoky charcoal flavour was deeply infused into the meat. Thumbs up!
Japanese styled robata dishes, which are comprised of foods on skewers that are then grilled. There are a few other choice offerings aside from what is made on the grill, but for me, the novelty of the establishment really shines through as the sort of place to chow down on flame kissed foods. As illustrated in the above photo, patrons are invited to put their used skewers into a wooden cup to keep plates free and clear for more food. We also ordered a couple of pitchers of their Sapporo beer special, which ended up going great with the meal.
In comparison to the other izakayas, Zakkushi has an emphasis on Japanese style grilled skewers. At the same time, they also have other izakaya type items for adding in variety.
Our guest writer Kid loves Japanese grilled skewers, so when she visited, she hand picked to visit Zakkushi Charcoal Grill . Having already visited Zakkushi on Main Street , I knew she won't be too majorly disappointed with the food. This time we visited their Denman location. We ordered a bunch of stuff to share all of the skewers had really good charcoal flavors from the grilling. We had some regular grilled skewers such as Beef Meatballs , Steaks , Scallops and Minced Chicken . We also ordered some fillers such as yakisoba , we actually ordered another yakisoba right after we finished the first one because it was really tasty and not overly greasy. Another filler type dish I really liked was the Onigiri . It was grilled rice balls. It had some terriyaki flavor in the rice, and it's got a great crispy outer crust from the grill. If you really love rice and runny eggs, you should also get the Yakitori Don SP . It was terriyaki chicken skewers w
A few weeks ago, a group of about 10 of us went out for dinner to celebrate a friend's birthday. I'd been hearing a bit about Zakkushi Charcoal Grill on Denman as a great Japanese BBQ to go to, so I made some reservations
The bartender at Kingyo recommended Zakkushi, and my paper said it was open until midnight, so even though it was 23:10, we decided to give it a shot. We poked our heads in and asked if the kitchen was still open, and were welcomed in wa
I have never been to Zakkushi, but the 2 times that I tried their grill skewers, I was not impressed. The first time I tried their Yakitori was at last year's 'Taste of the City'. It was rather bland and nothing special. The 2nd time I tried it was at Kus
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