Ebisu is a step up from the generic sushi places that pepper downtown, albeit not in food quality but in presentation and ambiance. The sushi itself is still pretty good, and they have an extensive menu to select from. The drinks are also pretty cheap, so sushi and drinks is a viable option before heading to a club or event.

The location is a large, L-shaped building that extends around a bar, and although it is fairly large, the tables are quite cramped together. This can make for a more intimate evening, or become just plain annoying if a table near you is loud. There are lots of windows looking down onto Robson.

When I went, the bill for California roll (4.50), Crunch roll (10), Chill tray (34, great deal for 6 oysters and TONNES of sashimi) and a slew of drinks ended up at 90 after tip, so I can't really call the place cheap. In relation to a regular sushi joint, it's a bit extensive. The ambiance and selection, along with modestly priced drinks helps make up for that, and I would visit again.

I wouldn't call Ebisu an izakaya, but it is a tapas restaurant.

Three of us went this past weekend and sat on the patio. Table and chairs were fine comfy-wise and the table's lazy susan was unnecessary since it was so small, but cute nonetheless.

They have a huge menu for food and drinks. I love how each drink was pictured and on the side, showed alcohol content. The best was the glass it was served it. Picture the top part of a martini glass nestled in a bowl-shaped (like a fish-bowl) glass filled with ice. Brilliant! Keeps the drink cold!

We ordered a few dishes to share. Overall, dishes were pretty tasty and very reasonably priced. However, I did not enjoy their Oyster motoyaki. The mayo sauce was thick and gummy. Kinda gross actually.

Great place to chill with friends over some drinks and snacks. Pretty good in my opinion. I would be return.

Nice plating. Lots to offer on the menu. Some items didn't seem very "Japanese" especially the pumpkin/squash soup. It tasted pretty boring tho thick & rich as well--it seemed a little out of place. Now I'm curious about the burger offerings--will it be a hint of Japan or just a taste of... well... burger. The mentaiko yakiudon, quite large in portion, is also several dollars more than other d/t izakaya places that offer similar. It's also too heavy--possibly too much butter or mayo used. The tuna taco is pretty & textually nice but was boring in taste. The unachee looks better than it tastes (a lightly battered deep fried sushi roll). The smoked black cod's good but u can't go too wrong w/ the smoky flavour, it was a definite hit, but not by much. The deep fried softshell crab was just ok. The deep fried sweet potato fries (Thunder Fries) are nicely crisped & a bit better than the ones they make at Kamakura Kamei on Broadway (owned by the same ppl). But for the most part, I think the cooked food actually tastes better at Kamakura.

Also, if they're still passing around shooter-sized free trials of their lychee slush drink, I'd suggest u hold off ordering the full order of it otherwise, they'd just skip sharing some w/ u while u see everyone else w/ it, all u get is a shrug & giggle that "it's the same thing you have". Which is fine, just makes one feel a little left out of the party--in this case the "treat". I wouldn't have minded having a little "sample" sized portion as well, easier to shoot one down than to suck all of the lychee goodness out of the thin straw anyway.

Service is pleasant & efficient for the most part.

Love the space, seating, decor, location. Great for larger & smaller parties. I would definitely be returning more often than not for the location & atmosphere while you don't get the loud greetings upon entrance & departure like u do from the Japanese-run ones, you also don't get the long waits & the crowds for the time being.

Went on a weekend and this place seems to attract large groups celebrating birthdays. Very busy at around 8pm onward and more of a lounge than restaurant. Large drink menu. Food is Japanese but has a bit of fusion in it as well. Tried the raw oyster special at $15/dozen, good deal and very good. Beef sashimi (good), agadashi tofu (good), deep fried prawns (average). Value is average for this type of restaurant. Good place for get together.

Went to Ebisu for a going-away luncheon for a work colleague.

I ordered choose-your-own combo, picking the asari soup, garden salad, katsu curry and the strawberry mousse.

The soup was good, the salad was excellent (I loved the combination of asparagus, snow peas, cucumbers and leafy greens, with the sweet miso dressing). The curry was tasty (as japanese curries go) but I found the pork cutlet a tad dry. The strawberry mousse was decent but unremarkable.

The service was prompt but I found the servers a little terse and aloof.

If you're looking for a place that will provide poor service with mediocre food, then this is the place for you. Ebisu is trying hard to be trendy, yet failing miserably. Yes, they have a nice decor. But their numerous problems can't be ignored.
1) The service is rude - waitresses are snooty... for what reason though, I have no idea since this is no high-end restaurant. The servers are also very slow, and even trying to flag down your server is quite the challenge.
2) The food could definitely be improved upon. They do have some good food (fresh oysters-pretty hard to get these wrong; ebimayo; yam fries), but much of the food was only eaten because we were starving and it took the kitchen forever to cook up our dishes. The stir-fried udon that we had was drowning in this watery creamy-tomatoey sauce and the flavour (or lack thereof) was just plain bad. Sushi was also meh. Completely overpriced food for the quality you get.
3) Although the interior looks nice, the acoustics is horrible. It gets VERY loud inside and you have to speak so loudly that your throat gets sore.

Bottom line: Cheap drinks can reel in customers for the short-term...but in the long run, the rude and indifferent service and below-average food will turn away repeat customers. The Rugby Club is a prime example of this.

went there on a friday nite. there were four of us. got a booth. ordered a couple dozen oysters, black cod, salmon sashimi, dynamite rolls, cali rolls, beef teriyaki, and a bunch appies of other items. there are quite a few drinks and shooter specials. the oysters were good as it came with a bunch of condiments and sauces. the menu consisted of japanese items with a few japanese items with a twist.
overall the food was ok, but no better than your average good japanese food in the city. so i can't justify the higher cost based solely on the food. but the drink specials and location helps to make up for the cost of food. it is chinese owned and operated and the food is a reasonble fascisimile of the real thing.
the servers are young and not bad on the eye. but could use some more experience. thier food and beverage knowledge in particular. So i see myself coming here for drinks or snack with booze. But not just for the food. None of the menu items warrant a second visit. Total $190 for four with drinks and tips.

I come to this restaurant about once a month or every 2 months just to hang out with the girls to have a few drinks.

Their food and drinks are pretty cheap considering where they are located. I also love the selection of cocktails they have (I am a cocktail kinda girl). The food is tasty and consistent. My favourite dish is the fried tako, chicken karaage and taco rice.

The service is pretty friendly and the ambiance has a hip and fun vibe to it. One thing i don't like is later at night, there's always a few people that get really drunk and someone always pukes, which is kinda gross. But the staff is quick to clean up the mess and escort the drunk customer out.

On a side note, the last time I went, I went to watch a Canucks playoff game. I got there at 5:30 to get a table and noticed they now have a happy hour menu from 5-6:30pm everyday. Wings are only $0.30/ea and there was also some sushi on this happy hour menu. It's definitely a good deal.

It was not our first time to go to Ebisu. Actually it was our third. The first 2 times were for appies and drinks and we had a great time. We thought the food was good for what it was and the drink selection was enjoyable. The 3rd time was a couple of weeks ago and we went there for lunch for a friend's birthday. We were very disappointed. We ordered their combos for $10+ each plus some specialty rolls. The first few dishes arrived and we thought they were alright and were actually enjoying our meal. At this point though we realized that no one has come back to refill any of our drinks and clear away any empty dishes. In fact since there were 6 of us, quite a few dishes have piled up and we have resorted to placing it on one of the ledges in between the booths as it was getting pretty crowded at our table. I'm surprised because the restuarant was not full at all and there were only a few tables occupied.

Then came my friend's chicken yakisoba order. She stopped after having 2 bites and said that her chicken tasted old and her noodles tasted sour. She asked us to taste it just in case it must be just her. We did, and yes, the chicken did not taste good and the noodles themselves tasted sour. We called the waitress and my friend told her about her concerns. She said she will bring it to the chef's attention. Our server then came back and told us that the chef said there was nothing wrong with it. She was unapologetic and kept insisting that that was their style of yakisoba. That was the only time our server ever came back to our table and it was not even to replenish our drinks or clear away empty dishes.

We spoke to the manager on the way out and even he was not apologetic at all. I'm really appalled by the type of costumer service we have received from this establishment.

I had big expectations when I first walked in. It looked like a nice place to hang out with friends and have some food and drinks. That's what we thought we were going to have when we went to this Ebisu. The food was ok. Nothing really thrilling and the portions were quite small for what you paid. We thought, "whatever it's in downtown." It would have been an ok visit and initially thought we would come back since we liked the ambiance and not a bad hangout spot and they do have a big drink selection.

It was the lack of costumer service that ruined it. The dishes that were used started to pile up at our table. No one came to ask if everything was ok or if we needed anything else. The server never came to refill our water. The only time she came back was when we had to flag her down because we were having trouble with one of the things we ordered and even then she wasn't very polite.

All in all, it was a very disappointing visit and will never go back.