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Isami serves up Japanese cuisine in the original Isami style using fresh and seasonal ingredients.
My dinner here was delicious - just too bad my dinner companion and I do not have big stomachs. Although I was able to sample a handful of items, I would return to try some other things I wasn't able to.
I really enjoyed the ika karaage and the yakisoba was pretty in presentation as it was yummy. The thin strips of cooked egg initially looked like cheese, teamed up with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, it was beautiful.
I think what sets Isami apart from some other neighboring Japanese restaurants, is the service. Everyone was super polite and friendly. This is definitely a good choice for Japanese in Burnaby.
I haven't been in a year or 2, used to come here quite a bit when I was worked nearby but now its a little far from downtown. I remember the sushi, sashimi, especially hamachi, toro and uni here were superbly fresh. Even their bento boxes were amazing, good amount of food and service although can be slow when they are swamped, is efficient. I hope to stop by one day when heading over to Metrotown for a movie. It's one of Lower Mainland better sushi restaurants that's for sure.
We are frequent customers at this establishment, we have been coming for over 4 years now. the food is amazing, we love its authenticity. our favorite is spinach gomae sauce MMMM. if you havent tried their kamikaze roll, you are missing out, its is absolutely delightful. after talking to the owners, they said the are setting up a website for their menu and it is officially up. however you cannot find it through a google search, which is a bit odd.
Had dinner here yesterday night. Me and my friend had a seafood dinner set meal, and a spicy roll with a special roll they had, which had salmon, mango with cheese and tempura.
I found the spicy roll pretty good, but pretty cheap on the contents and the rice was a little too soft. With the special roll, I found it interesting, but I don't find the flavors match too well.
The seafood dinner came with miso soup (pretty good), ebi sunomono (good noodles, mediocre shrimp), appetizer tempura (great), salmon teriyaki (decent) and some ice cream (standard). For $22 I would have thought they should have used something other than those tiny shrimp in the ebi sunomono and come with a bigger piece of salmon.
It was pretty nice inside, I had a comfortable booth seat and it was nicely blocked off from a large part of the restaurant. Service was one of the best I have had at a japanese restaurant such as this. Very attentive, refilled water/tea frequently, was asked how the food was when I started and at the end. Was provided helpful suggestions on the food as well and plates were cleared very quickly. Everyone seemed happy and cheerful.
I might come back, as the service was very good and certain foods were great.
We went to this place on the recommendation of a friend. My first reaction was that it was a bit pricey. The decor was fine, though with the music they were playing (some sort of jazzy lounge music?) it definitely did not have a japanese feel. We ordered chicken karaage, wakame and some rolls. The karaage was ok, the pieces were small and could've been tastier. The wakame was really small, though it tasted ok. I was disappointed with the rolls, the rice was warm and the large rolls fell apart easily, making it impossible to take a bite. Service was decent, which was a pleasant surprise. Overall a disappointment, we left not feeling satisfied. Have had much better in Richmond for cheaper. Probably won't return.
The owner/sushi chef was the original chef at Shijo's about 17 years ago(when it was actually good). He is from Japan and his dishes reflect traditional Kyoto style food.
Food: I had Kinpira Gobo (burdock), suimono soup (clear broth with shitakes and fish), spinach ohitashi, Uni, Yamakake (tuna with japanese potato) and a bbq chicken dish with lotus, shitakes and other ingredients that I don't even know (this was special dish that he made for me- not on the menu). ALL were very good. But, if I had to pick a favourite I would definitely say the suimono and the bbq chicken dish. He is very flexible and creates new dishes for you if you ask. I didn't order omakase, but I think next time I go I will.
Service: I originally was sitting at a table until I was coaxed by someone to sit at the bar. I like sitting at the bar because you are able to converse with the owner and talk about food!
Value: I think that it is very reasonable. You receive quality unique dishes for a fraction of the price. I think this is due to low overhead costs. Some reviewers said it was a rip off... well if you are comparing it to the mass of Korean ran restaurants then yes, it is. But, realistically it is not for what you are getting!
Ambiance: It isn't somewhere that you would go for a nice ambiance, just good food.
Check it!
I guess you could call us "regulars" here. We go mainly because of convenience (it's close to where we are) and consistency in the food and service. The staff are friendly and helpful. There are only a couple of other real japanese restaurants in the area (Kura [pricey], Hi-Genki [no liquor]) so we'll continue being regulars.
Over the years, it has been really hard to stick to one restaurant for dine-in experience. I have been here for six years, the food standard has never changed. We always get really good service (I guess I know how to choose the time to go). The food was well-presented and fresh doesn't matter the sushi or the soup from kitchen. Always give me a pleasant feeling after. I recommend to people who like decent sushi. Hope they could keep it up.
We went here for our New Year's Eve dinner and I was not impressed. I wanted to try this restaurant after reading all the reviews. The food was good but the service was horrible. I was most upset about the server telling me that she could not accomodate my food allergy. She didn't even bother to ask the cook if he could...it was a straight "No". I will not be going back to this place. Dinner was a huge disappointment to say the least.
Ordered salmon / tuna nigiri for lunch and all I could smell was fish. The salmon and tuna was presented nicely but definitely lacking freshness, which is the key to sushi. Another bad experience with sushi in Burnaby. For those that like their fish cold, firm & fresh, go to West Van. If you must eat here stick with the California rolls & Tempura.
They do not serve farmed salmon. It is owned and operated by Japanese people with lots of experience. The food is excellent. Besides sushi they also have bbq salmon jaw, smelt, squid, etc, fabulous.
The price is quite reasonable as well. Sometimes the service is a little slow, but if you're sitting at the sushi bar, Sam will make sure the servers are on top of things.
All around it's very good value.
I've been going to Isami for the regularly for the past 4 years the service has been steller all but once. The restaurant looks like the food would cost a lot more than it does. Definately not your average sketchy, budget sushi place. The staff are very polite and attentive.
The texture of the kamikaze roll is A-mazing....chopped up shrimp tempura with chives and an unknown sauce. Drooling just thinking about it. And I haven't found a place that makes better spinach gomae. Frankly, I've stopped trying at new places b/c it's usually warm, limp, and gross. The miso is top notch as well.
I highly recommend eating here
I am baffled by these other reviews, my wife and I just got back from Isami and not only was the sushi bad it also took 3.5 hours!
The staff appeared to be moving through molasses the entire night, everyone moving in extreme slow motion. Because we could see the sushi "masters" at work it was clear that one of our plates of sushi was being prepared for over an hour.
The thimble sized pieces of maki were mushy, tasteless and the rice was still warm. The nigiri pieces were mangled and of extremely poor quality, covered in bits of silverskin and very unevenly coloured. The tobiko was an orange mush and the salmon roe was very funky.
On the positive the tempura was edible.
Anyone who thinks this is good sushi really needs to broaden their horizons past Burnaby.
My family are regulars at Isami as it is the best Japanese restaurant in the area. Chef/owner Sami is customer friendly and has a loyal following. Sushi is very fresh. Kitchen food is also decent. When they're busy, servers may take longer to attend your table but we're well taken care of most times. We take baby with us everytime and get to have the bigger "rooms" where you have to take your shoes off and walk in. A little pricer than others in the area but you get what you pay for.
Very fresh sushi, great daily specials, and a friendly staff. We had miso soup, spider roll, an eel roll, bison (one of the daily specials and quite unusual at a Japanese restaurant). All were excellent and very tasty.
Cost is very resonable for the quality of sushi you get. One of the better sushi places in Burnaby IMO.
My aunt and I wanted to go for Japanese Food near Metrotown, but had didn't know what there was. We looked on here to find somewhere that had good ratings, and found Isami. It was AMAZING! The best salmon sashimi we'd ever had...so tender, yet not squishy, and SO YUMMY! Their tempura was also lovely, as was the spinach with peanut sauce, oshinko roll and spicy tempura roll. I don't normally go for the spicy rolls, but this was excellent.
The service was also great! They were very attentive, especially the male server, and exceptionally polite!
When we got the bill, we were happy to see that the bill was only $40, and we were full of food (and beer)!
The ambiance was wonderful, very quaint. Would be great for a nice romantic meal (at an affordable price).
I would recommend this to anyone!
Whenever we have a family dinner with siblings, this restaurant is always considered. They have a room that fits perfectly for the 14 of us, although with the growing kids, this might be a problem in the near future.
The Chicken Katsu is a favourite of ours and has yet to disappoint us. The only problem and this can be bad sometimes is that they only have one fryer so if many people order dishes that needs the use of the fryer, well, you can imagine the wait time. I have eaten sushi, tempura, and teriyaki without any complaint.
The rating, 4 for food, very good, and to me, I think authentic Japanese food. Service, a solid 3, at times the room might be forgotten a bit. Value, the prices are medium, and to me, you get good food at a reasonable price. Ambiance could be higher if they updated the interior a bit, it hasn't changed since I have started going there.
I recommend this place to people I know, and I will continue to tell people about his fine dining establishment. Now, if they could only find some cash for an extra fryer.
We ate here around 8 pm on a Friday, so it was fairly busy but we still got seated quickly. Unfortunately the busy time meant that service was erratic, to the point where we felt that they'd forgotten about us, but the staff were always pleasant and professional. (One other time my 11 year old got takeout on a Tuesday evening when it was less busy, and was treated like royalty, even offered tea while perusing the menu). Another low point was being seated right up next to a very noisy party of young people who had had a few too many, but to be fair, the restaurant didn't have much control over this.
The food was really very good, and worth coming back for. Overall my family had such a pleasant dining experience that we would happily overlook the gaps in service to eat here again.
I've lived in the area for a couple of years now, and decided in the Spring to try each of the sushi restaurants within walking distance -- the total number is in the double digits if you include the sub-par AYCE places in and around the mall, but I focused on the five main ones - Asakusa, Yakko, Yakko Express, Sushi Garden and Isami. Isami is easily the best.
My initial two or three visits to Isami were for takeout, and the food proved to be very good, with good presentation despite being, well, take out. On the basis of food alone, I figured it to be about the same as Sushi Garden -- very good. However, having had the opportunity to sit down at both restaurants, Isami is a MUCH nicer experience overall. The ambiance is wonderful, with fairly dark lighting and decor. The service was great, without the need to ask for tea refills, and an older waitress (who was definitely Japanese) who always bore a soft, unforced smile.
I was also delighted to find rolls that weren't on the take out menu...particularly the pelican roll, which is beef teriyaki and prawn tempura together. It was nothing short of delightful, and I found myself quite full after only three orders of rolls.
Ultimately, this is now my go-to spot when it comes to Japanese food, as it combines great food with friendly staff and welcoming decor.
My husband and I come to this restaurant on a regular basis and I 'm in love with everything on their menu!! especially the new rolls they introduced such as the Pelican Roll and Kamikaze, they are so addicting whenever I crave for sushi this is where we go!
Their Nabeyaki Udon is very tasteful and I always end up drinking the soup, although they may take awhile for the food to come out, you could tell the food and sushi are done with quality, and is simply delicious, I always recommend my friends and other family members here and they also love it!
| 1. | Accord Food House (15 m) |  |
| 2. | Nando's Chicken (33 m) | |
| 3. | Green Basil (35 m) | |
| 4. | Thai House Royale Restaurant (38 m) |  |
| 5. | Sushi Garden (65 m) | |
| 6. | Red Robin (84 m) | |
| 7. | Boston Pizza (128 m) | |
| 8. | Cactus Club Cafe (132 m) | |
| 9. | Chiclets Tea House (161 m) | |
| 10. | Cherry's Tea & Ice Bar (161 m) |
