We would sometimes see lineups for this restaurant in the summer. We decided to give it a try.

The restaurant was tiny and that explained why the lineups spilled outside into the sidewalk.

Food was quite disappointing. The worse part was the fish was not fresh. We complained about our grilled black cod only to have the staff tell us the fish was fresh. We did not eat the rest of the black cod because of the rotten fish taste and smell. The service was poor. They did not reduce the price or offer a substitute.

The prices did not reflect a neighbourhood Japanese restaurant. The prices were quite high relative to other local Japanese restaurants.

Well it happened! I have finally registered on dinehere.ca to post a review.

After reading 7 pages of both good and bad reviews for this "hole in the wall" sushi restaurant named Toshi Sushi, I wish to dedicate my first ever review to what has been my favorite "little" restaurant for the last 4 years now.

I promise to keep this review as unbiased as possible. I notice that dinehere.ca asks for a 4 tier rating, so I will start there including an explanation of my rating.

My position: I have been visiting Toshi Sushi for 4 years now and fully understand how one could love this place, and at the same time hate it. As promised I will keep this unbiased.

FOOD (5 - Incredible):
As with any restaurant there are some variations in taste, texture and enjoyment from week to week or month to month. I have come to learn my "favorite" dishes at Toshi seem to revolve with the seasons, and even then I might bite into a piece of tuna that just wasn't as delicious as it was the week prior. I do pride myself in being a weekly regular, and if there is one thing I have learned it's that the quality of the fish relies on factors outside the control of most restaurant owners. It's impossible to be the restaurant owner as well as the fisherman! On an average of visiting Toshi 5 times a month since I have found this place, I must say 90% or every 9 out of 10 times I leave Toshi Sushi with an INCREDIBLE desire to return the following week. This roughly equates to 160 incredible experiences over the years and 40 below incredible due to the food being not as great as the weeks prior.

Service (3 - Solid):
A smile goes a long way at Toshi Sushi! Do not expect to be served by a waiter whose job description includes mingling and "earning your business". There have been times where I have been less that satisfied with the service but this was a rare occasion. There is one FUNDAMENTAL significance you must be aware of when expecting good service at Toshi and this is to be aware of WHO your dedicated server is. If you are asking various servers that pass by for this and that, it is easy to lose track and or confuse customer request, thus they "forget" your glass of water or your chopstick if you dropped one. If you wait to speak with the server that takes your order, you will 98% of the time have a great experience as far as "service" is concerned. If you can't see her, then ask for her!

Value (4 - Outstanding):
The Value Mr & Mrs Toshi deliver to us sushi lovers is what has been bringing me back here year after year. For $20 - $40, two people can be reasonably satisfied or outright stuffed. Drinks are also priced well. Fresh green tea is FREE! Hard to say about all places these days... There is also something on the menu for everybody. The tuna nigiri at $1.25/piece is something I always order, not only because it is priced well, it's some of the best tuna I can find in the lower mainland. A piece of Tuna Nigiri has become my standard of testing any new sushi restaurant I visit. If they can give me a piece of Tuna Nigiri for close to $1.25/piece and fresh enough to melt in my mouth, then I will consider them for a re-visit. Other regular must haves I order are house roll, spicy scallop cone(my mouth is watering), spicy tofu, uni(if you dare, a bit of an acquired taste is needed), hamachi, the list goes on. During the summer the house roll and mango rolls are to die for as well as Mrs. Saito Toshi's home made green tea cheese cake

Ambience (2 - Mediocre):
It's true, I have been hearing the same songs on repeat at Toshi since I first came here, but I always get happy hearing the pink panther tune for some odd reason. If you are taking friends or family out and expect to entertain or be entertained, Toshi Sushi is not at the top of my list. If you are going out for a delicious meal of sushi and are expecting to leave with your belly full at a reasonable price then this is the place to go.

Some other notes:
The wait: Yes, 30+ minutes is a common. Tuesday - Thursday: Very busy until 7PM. Friday/Saturday: Very busy until 8PM. If you don't want to wait 5-15 minutes, outside of these hours is the time to go. Don't show up past 9:30pm though!

Stern faced chefs:
:> did you come to eat, or did you come to be entertained? If you came to eat, smile and eat, if you came to be entertained, go to the bar down the block...

"Hype":
I agree, Toshi sushi received lots of hype over the years, but up until now I have failed to find a value conscious sushi restaurant that consistently delivers delicious eats, week in and week out like Toshi Sushi does. I have tried most of the recommended places to go to. Yes, Tojo sushi is great, but Tojo is an "experience", you go here to entertain or be entertained. Plus, $20 rolls are hard to order on a weekly basis. Seto Sushi in Richmond? Similar quality to Toshi, about 35% more expensive though.

Do us regulars all wish Mr. Toshi would have a larger capacity restaurant so the wait time could be shorter? Sure we do. At the same time we understand Mr. Toshi operates this restaurant out of his passion for, excellent sushi for the budget conscience consumer. If he had a bigger restaurant he would have to hire more chefs, more servers and ultimately the overall package experience of visiting Mr. Toshi for his creations could be negatively impacted.

If anybody feels they know of a sushi restaurant better than Toshi, I challenge them to message me with the name and I will be the first to compare it to Toshi with an unbiased opinion for everyone!

So I had heard a lot about this place, and seen the lines, but never felt the need to stand in them myself... on Friday a friend wanted to go there, so we did. There was a wait, but once we were seated the food was delicious and plentiful -- and very inexpensive! Our service was brusk but acceptable, they forgot a few dishes and we had to re-order, but it was okay. I will definitely go here again.

We found the food to be very good, especially for the price. We liked it so much that we placed the 2nd order. It was taking long. When we asked our server about our second order, she just snapped at us and said that we should have ordered everything at one time. We were shocked and her attitude ruined our dinner. It's sad. It could have been our favorite restaurant.

Toshi was at one time the best sushi I had ever had, hands down.
Once the newspaper wrote it up and it got busy it lost some of it's luster..
Service is poor. Food quality has dipped.
Up to 30 people waiting in line before the doors open. Sad what it has become. Even take out is a min 50 minute wait.
Parking?? Oh my, that in itself is an issue. They do not have a lot for customer parking so it is either 16th Ave or Main and with the amount of people living in the area it can be hard to find a spot. Expect a block or two walk....

I was dragged here on a week night by friend who "craved" asian food. I was hungry + in a hurry and knew that this 'sushi' place might not be the ticket. In all respects I was right. We were given weak service and speaking for myself left hungry after dropping $60 for 2 people including wine for 2. The salad was delicious but how could you screw that one up? Otherwise, poor value for money if we weren't going to have desert later

My friends had told me great things about Toshi, so I was very excited to go. Above all, everyone kept mentioning how we'd have to arrive early because they have line ups out the door.

I was extremely disappointed with the entire dinner experience. We had to wait 45 minutes for our table of four. The servers were friendly enough, but they were unable to answer my questions in any detail.

That being said, our party ordered an assortment of sashimi, including the tuna otoro, or the belly of the tuna which is supposed to be extremely delicate and flavorful. Toshi's excuse for tuna otoro was embaarrassing. It smelled vinegary, and tasted like leather. The rest of the sashimi was flavorless and tough. The salmon in particular was absolutely putrid. My tofu appetizer was decent, but not excellent. I did like the presentation of it, however.

My white friends seemed to enjoy it, which leads me to believe that they really have no idea what good sushi is, and they certainly aren't aware of the fact that they are being overcharged for it. A glance around the room confirmed my suspicions, as most of the customers were caucasian. This restaurant is simply not what it is made to be.

Don't waste your time here, this isn't real sushi - it's not even close.

The dining gods must been smiling down on us tonight since we snagged premium parking out front and waited only 10 minutes for our seats on a Saturday evening. We've been frequenting Toshi et. company since 2004 and have trained ourselves to get used to the long wait times. Surprisingly, during our meal, there was never really a throng of people at the door so that initially concerned us as we haven't been there in a few months. Did something happen to the food quality?? Rest assured, Toshi San and his regular staff are still there and the quality of food has not faltered. With only 38 seats and normally 6 servers on staff, the service is usually very attentive and highly effective. They turn these tables as quickly as Hon's. Food is prepared instantaneously and served to you piping hot. Tea quickly refilled and getting a hold of anyone is never problem since a server is within 10 feet from you. One minor observation is the militant control of the waitlist- all guests have to be present when called or next group on the list gets your table. Our new favourite dish is the boxed sushi (salmon,scallop, avocado) - it's not on the menu so you have to ask for it. Very glad to see that after 6 years of popularity, Toshi has kept up his reputation for great food at reasonable prices. Now only if the laundromat next door closes down so that he could expand.....that would be wishful thinking!

Here is the summary: Aample parking, good location, good Japanese food like back home. They also do genuine homestyle cooking like my mom's and they have a sign about catering food.
My meal came to $40 and there was no attitude.
Best little secret in Vancouver for sure and no red meat that clogs the heart.

I've been wanting to go to Toshi for years but waiting in line just never seemed worth it. It was worth it!
We had salmon nigiri - beautiful wild sockeye. Tofu hotpot with dipping sauce - very light and tasty, nice start to a meal. The mixed nigiri plate was clean and tasty. Miso eggplant was tasty, smokey and creamy. Grilled squid was delicious, the sauce was amazing, texture of the squid was perfect.
Presentation on everything was great. Service was quick and friendly. I'm looking forward to my next trip.
Toshi could join Zippang on Main and Kappa in White Rock for top sushi.