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Properitor Noriko Yamasaki brings an authentic Sushi Experience to West-enders with high quality ingredients from the Sea and trained sushi chefs from Japan. You won't find any factory sushi here! Moreover, Shijo has excellent Robata and Miso Soup. Upscale with a focus on Traditional Japanese techniques.
We used to have amazing Japanese restaurants. What happened to them? Shijo's was good but was never one of my top picks, but I find now there are hardly any consistant, fairly priced Japanese restaurants. I am not saying Shijo's is cheap. Far from it. In fact it's a bit more expensive than the standard Japanese restaurant in the city. I must say though, I dont mind paying the premium for raw fish. I cringe when I think of some other Japanese restaurants out there.
Anyhoo, Shijo's has always had the city's best unagi sushi. Hands down no comparison. I am a temaki (cone) fan so i always have their dynamite cone (& sometimes the negitorro or spicy tuna). They also serve brown rice sushi for those who are more health conscious.
The servers know us, so the service is warm, friendly & speedy. There are the odd occassions when you get a new person.... that can be abit iffy at times but they do try hard.
The ambience is neat & clean (there's no fishy smell like Tojo's). Maybe it could use an update but overal its quite relaxing.
the manager has to go. she never smiles, her personallity stinks. most of the staff is very unfriendly . very hard to find parking, even though in the back they have a few spots, but are always full. very pricy. you can go to many places and have all you can eat, that are much better then this place. everythig is so dull and cold. i would not encourage any one to try it.
This used to be one of our favorite Japanese restaurants. The sushi was great. They had great appetizers, grilled black cod, interesting sashimi specials, and amazing vegetable tempura.
Unfortunately, the management has changed (confirmed by waitress) since the last time we were there, and we had a pretty horrendous meal. Starting out with the spinach gomae, which was literally mostly stems. The tempura was tasteless and texture-less. The grilled bacon wrapped aspargus and grilled mochi both seemed to have been just warmed over.
This was definitely not just an off night. I have never seen a restaurant die so thoroughly. RIP.
Shijo must have changed management in the last year. It used to be a consistently high quality japanese restaurant with excellent service, fresh sashimi and authentic maki rolls. Service is now unacceptably slow due to understaffing and inexperienced servers. Orders came out one at a time, 15-20min in between, and very disorganized. Maki rolls were a disappointment - the chef opting for trendy mayonnaise sauces rather than authenticity. Shijo is a decent restaurant, but for the prices charged, I was expecting much better service and much better food. And what's with the decor? black from ceiling to floor is not so appealing. It used to be a much more interesting place with a real Japanese flare.
I have to be honest, this review is based on 3-4 visits, the last one being about a year and half ago. Things may have changed but hopefully not. I remember the sushi and sashimi to be good. A little pricey but I don't mind paying extra for the quality. If you're looking for a quick/cheap fill up, go to an all you can eat, places like Shijo are for those looking for fish other than salmon and albacore. I usually "rate" sushi restaurants based on the different fish they have and the variety of specials. Let's be honest, most restaurants have the same fish like salmon, and now uni is found everywhere as well. So I look for new selections and found flying fish sashimi here. I've always found them to have a good selection of different and fresh fish which is what won me over. I am concerned about the post mentioning undercooked gyoza. I don't know what happened there but if you were concerned because it was pinkish - steamed pork (like in a gyoza shell) tends to maintain a pinkish colour. I found that to be true in thoroughly cooked dumplings as well.
This used to be one of my preferred Japanese restaurants. Visits were regular on a two or three times a year frequency. The menu changed and a delicious Kobe beef entrée disappeared. A recent visit found the interior layout altered. No longer the intimate little tables side by side against the window with partitions screening faces but not sound, but a more conventional arrangement of fewer tables, more widely spaced and unscreened. The tatami rooms are now quite open.
I understand that ownership changed about five years ago. It no longer feels Japanese. Service lacked the customary Japanese urgency – are we going to get hot towels or not?: we did but late. There was gin but no tonic! The presentation of the sunomono salad was odd – deep cup rather than a bowl. The toro was very tired. Gomae lacked zing.
Not very busy.
Sad.
This is a tough one to rate ambiance because I always enjoy a restaurant with people and this place is now usually empty. Now why's it empty? Because the food just isn't great anymore and for those prices, it should be darn good.
I've frequented this restaurant for the past 15 years or so and it's always been dear to my heart. Which is why this is heartbreaking to see it go downhill, not fast, but slowly, because it really hasn't been up to par in many years. So why keep going back after a few years? It was just that good back in its heyday. Perhaps I'm clinging on to the memories of seeing Trevor Linden there, the fabulous laughter in the private rooms with my family... it used to be such a great place with top-of-the-line sashimi and robata. I'm talking unique selection and freshness, and unagi that was the perfect crispiness from the barbecue and soft on the inside.
So alas, adieu Shijo's-- we had good times but I am sick of sashimi that's sticky in my mouth and unagi that's like any other restaurant and your fees are no longer worth my patronage.
waited too long to make changes. now that the renovations are done, feels too cold, all is black and doesn't look like a Japanese restaurant. food is too expensive, and tastes more like a Canadian style Japanese food. the staff is not very friendly, and doesn't make you fell welcome. wine and sake variety is pretty good. very clean, but then again they just finished renovations. some recipes are definitely not Japanese. hard to find parking.
also the jazz band has to go. not the right place for such music.
Well it's the only brown rice japanese place I know of, and the brown rice rolls we tried were great. Ingredients seemed fresh. However, they serve endangered species (Blue Fin Tuna for example). When I asked the server about it I only got a blank stare. They do have wild salmon but also serve farmed Atlantic, another unethical choice, albeit a common one in Vancouver unfortunately. My salmon "robata" was gross. Small for the price and a poor quality cut of the fish. The table beside us, which was way too close to ours, was served undercooked pork gyoza. Service was slow. :P
Tasted the robata AAA beef and run-away chicken. With only a pinch of salt as the only seasoning, the robata turns out to be super juicy and tender. not like any ordinary grill I have tasted so far.
The Brown rice sushi is also super delicious, compared the same california roll with both white rice & brown rice. The brown rice stands out even better.
Fully recommendated for healthy conscious people.
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