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Funky Japanese restaurant with the usual fare: sushi, teriyaki, donburi, etc.
I have ordered delivery from this restaurant at least a dozen times over the last couple years and it was always "good for delivery" but not great. I don't think they deliver anymore so we decided to dine in instead. I have to say, I was quite surprised.
First off, the decor does need a bit of an overhaul. The lighting is quite bright and they have an 80s, fake-wood looking clock on one wall. We sat in a booth which were quite comfortable and unusual for a Japanese restaurant in Vancouver which was nice. Some of the spelling mistakes on the door and the menu reminded me of Thailand and made me laugh out loud.
I counted 4 servers which in a small restaurant meant for very attentive service. All the dishes we ordered came out quickly and beer was served instantaneously.
The food was great. We ordered a bunch of dishes including ebi sunomono, sashimi salad, negitoro roll, ebi chili, yakitori and some pieces of nigiri including saba, tuna and salmon. The salmon and saba were really good. The only somewhat disappointing dish was the ebi chili as the sauce was kind of buttery and lacked any zip.
Overall, I was impressed with the food and attentive service. I would recommend.
Didn't have my hopes up for this place, but things did start looking up when we found out we had to reserve and arrived to a full restaurant. And this just for a late lunch. Hmmm...
Funky place. Who would've put Bauhaus and sushi together? Well it happens here. For the most part it's neat and tidy, but I'm not keen on the old chairs with grungy looking cushions. I have to say they run a very tight ship. The kitchen is tiny and there was only a handful of staff for everything, yet service and food came out reasonably quickly.
Especially given how nicely done the food was! We ordered a bunch of rolls and a zipang salad. The salad was pretty good, but they kind of over-loaded on the fried noodles, otherwise good concept and good taste. The rolls were amazing. For starters, there are many unique creations not found elsewhere and they have pieced together interesting tastes in a good combination. To top it off, the workmanship and plating is absolutely top-notch. Normally have only seen this at restauarants twice the price or much more.
Everything was fresh tasting, done very well with excellent presentation and an inexpensive price to boot.
Big win here. Highly recommended trip. We hope to be returning.
Gal pal and I made a visit today to Zipang Sushi today, I've always wanted to try this place after reading the reviews here and boy am I glad we did! It was quiet when we got there as it was 2 pm so lunch crowd were gone. We ordered the ebichilli roll which is really good and so were their staples like tori karaage, tempura, california roll and sashimi. The hamachi was really fresh, batter on the tempura light and this place is priced like any other authentic places. If compared to Chinese/Korean or Vietnamese owned sushi places like Samurai for eg, the portions are small as they are meant to be smaller portions, when have you seen a obsese japanese person? Anyhoo I digress. The food here is authentic, fresh, service friendly. I would never have guessed this was a legitimate authentic Japanese restaurant from the name Zipang but it is, looking forward to visiting again and possibly regular takeout, only downer for me is they are a little out of the way from Kits.
Mia Stainsby has reviewed this restaurant favourably. I'm not sure why.
No liquor license, although they say they are in negotiations..
Following up on Mia's "best" list, my friend and I arrived for supper last week.
Everything was "OK", but I wouldn't rave about anything. Service was also just "OK". They seemed to be very much interested in getting a liquor license from a "somebody", and things were a bit slow.
Food was OK, but I wouldn't return quickly.
Sorry, Mia.
I remember the sushi chef (owner?) from about 2-3 yrs ago @ the Richmond Night Market when I had the pleasure of purchasing some of his takoyaki--fascinated as I was in how skillfully quick he managed to prepare the stuff, it became my favourite takoyaki stand. I recall asking if he had a restaurant location in the city as I really enjoyed watching him cook as he did it so well. He did not have one yet, but was flattered enough that he gave my friend & I a complimetary can of pop. Now, I finally got around to trying out this restaurant & who do I see manning the sushi bar? Yes, it's the same guy! Hayato-san. His takoyaki stand was named after him.
The sushi I've had for takeout b4 dropping by to eat in were cut much smaller than the dine-in portions tho even for dine-in, he was quite stingy w/ the uni nigiri as quite a bit of rice was showing thru the top of the pieces =P. The ikura was just ok.
The toro is nice & fatty as it should be & at the right temperature & texture. The negitoro roll had more negi than toro in it. Overall, the roll's definitely tiny.
The cooked food ranged from very mediocre to avg tho I did find their veggie okonomiyaki to be quite interesting. The batter of the pancake consisted more of egg than flour & the base was lined w/ greens (cabbage?) that gave it a nice crisp texture. This approach made it fairly light & quite a different experience.
The grilled fishes are tiny in portion when compared w/ other izakaya's. Definitely not worth the price nor the experience as it tasted pretty boring in flavour & texture.
The service is slow. Long waits between courses. One can see the sushi chef run into the kitchen to help out (other than prepping more rice for sushi-rolling) w/ the cooking.
The decor is a little bare, almost giving off a cafetaria feeling. All in all, I'd just wait a while to see if food preparation speeds up before going back to sample more as I'd love to support my favourite takoyaki stand chef.
In a city overflowing with non-Japanese run sushi joints, I was excited to hear about this restaurant from friends. It's a small, well-lit place with some not-so-comfortable tables and chairs, but that doesn't matter to me so much as the food itself.
Sushi here is fresh, tasty and beautifully presented. All of our sushi came on nice glass plates with a decorative candle made of thinly-sliced daikon, carrot or cucumber wrapped around a tealight. So much care is put into presentation. They only serve sockeye here, none of that farmed atlantic salmon. The cooked food we ordered (beef don, baked eggplant) were also good, but Toshi's definitely has the best baked eggplant.
Service could use some improvement. Sat for 10 minutes before being given some menus and tea. But from that point on tea refills were frequent and service was polite.
Prices weren't high, considering that it seems to be authentic fare. So I would say that it's good value. But given that it was my first visit, I will have to wait until my next visit to see if the rest of the menu lives up to my expectations.
Recommended!
I`d heard excellent things about this place and seen the lineups, and I`ve been trying to make it here for months. Finally was able to squeeze in an early dinner on the weekend. I thought the decor was nice enough, and the servers were attentive and efficient.
I guess my expectations were high coming here, and the cooked food was pretty good. We had baked eggplant with miso and the agedashi tofu, both delicious. But I really came here for the sushi, and found it to be slightly above average, but nothing to make a special trip for. Having experienced some really amazing sashimi around Vancouver, I thought the tuna and salmon sashimi was fresh enough to not complain about, but not something I`d order again. High-quality sashimi is worth making a special trip for. Maybe the bar was set a little high for me by others, because this is a good neighborhood restaurant, just nothing exceptional (which is what I was expecting).
I went there for lunch today and had the Roll Sushi and Donburi for $7.50. Are you kidding me? It was teriyaki chicken and a pile of rice with some sauce. Fair enough people make it different ways, but this was friggin' terriyaki chicken!!!!!!
When we asked if there was something wrong with our order. We were told that what we might have had before was from the Mall. The Mall would have been better. I googled "donburi" and the all had onions with egg. I remember making this one time - not hard, onions stewed with mirin and soy sauce. It just takes time is all. Felt ripped off. The roll was ok.
On our many previous trips to Zipang, we were treated to some really imaginative presentation -- caterpillar rolls with soy bean antennae wrapped around little candles on the plate, the name of the restaurant spelled out on the tako yaki bowl, etc. But after not going for a while we went back last weekend, and... nothing! Just sushi lined up on a plate. Tasty sushi, mind you, but missing that extra creative touch that made the place feel unique and special. I hope it was just a one-off thing and not a case of the owners not trying now that the place is successful.
Because of all the great joints in and around East Vancouver, I rarely eat in downtown anymore. This sushi joint is awesome because it serves sushi as well as izakaya-style plates, they ONLY use sockeye salmon (sockeye salmon is always wild and never farmed), the prices are reasonable depending on if you choose the regular rolls or if you decide to go with the extravagant $14 deluxe rolls, and there's plenty of free parking on the side streets. My favourite dishes include the assorted sashimi salad, the majority of their rolls, and their ebi mayo. I highly recommend this place for both eat-in and take-out. Two thumbs up.
Went here on Sunday night, and had some amazing sushi. The menu has the usual rolls: cali, bc, dynamite, as well as some unique ones like the zipang roll. Their cali roll are made from fresh crab meat - very tasty. They also have alot other dishes like jap 'pizzas'. Plus they don't serve the steroid Farmed Salmon, only BC Wild Sockeye! Tea was refilled promptly and the ambiance has the hip main street flair.
I've visited Zipang a handful of times, and the food, and service has been consistent. The only thing I blame myself on is to not make reservations for this little place. It's got about 4 booths and about 4-7 tables scattered around the restaurant.
The presentation of their sushi and rolls are extremely pretty and creative. Their menu also have a variety of tapas and noodles and rice bowls. Prices are reasonable, food is fresh, washroom is clean. Service is excellent, while waiting servers are keen in making sure you're still in queue for your table. Consistent tea refilling, and once your plate is empty they clear it off the table immediately.
Definitely returning, and will remind to self to make reservations. Waiting time varies from 10-30 minutes.
Been to this sushi place at least once every couple weeks recently. Absolutely love this neighbourhood restaurant. Everything is done well and tastes fresh. Many inventive rolls such as the caterpillar roll which is mouth watering. Every visit is better then the first and been introducing this place to many friends. Highly recommended. Food can be slow due to the lack of staff but well worth the wait!
I used to live a few blocks away from Zipang and I must say I somewhat miss it now that I’ve moved away.
The restaurant is small but I like the Bauhaus inspired eclectic décor. The music isn’t annoying either, which is good. The place is also clean and their health inspection reports prove it!
When I used to go many times a week, the service was quite good, I even went out for a drink with one of the girls that worked there once. She was friendly and obviously new in town and I think she was looking for friends. She doesn’t work there anymore though. The rest of the staff has always been professional and polite, and sometimes even friendly. It can take a while to get your food though, so unless you go at odd hours, you should not be in a hurry.
The food… *drools*. It’s the best sushi I’ve ever had. Simple, yet creative. Always fresh. Exquisite presentation. Good selection as well. Everything I’ve had there was above average compared to all other sushi places in the area, and all of the ones I’ve tried downtown (though I obviously haven’t tried them all, so I can’t say it’s “the” best in Vancouver. It certainly is the best –I’ve- had. All the rolls, the sashimi and the nigiri are fresh and delicious. The cooked food is excellent as well. You can skip the desert though… I took my parents there and my mom still has fond memories of Zipang.
Value. Well, it’s a little bit pricy compared to most sushi places on Main, but it’s also much better. I think it’s not overpriced but neither is it cheap. I’ve always felt I’ve gotten what I paid for, but people used to cheap sushi might find it a bit on the expensive side.
Make a reservation if you can, or get there early! It has gotten really popular. When I lived there, it had just opened and it was almost always empty because no one knew it existed. That has radically changed (good for them! Well deserved!)
I've tried their takoyaki at the Richmond night market, and have been wanting to try out the restaurant itself. When we arrived at 5:45 on a Tuesday, it was already filling up and late arrivals were made to wait.
We ordered the usual sushi and tempura. They weren't bad at all but not great neither. As the title suggested, value is there as they were priced accordingly. ie not overly expensive or cheap.
Service was inconsistent depending on the waitress. One kept forgeting to bring us an extra bowl despite several reminders. The decor certainly offered no ambience. The chairs were high school classroom materials, and the tables' height were uneven. (We had a party of 6 and so they put two tables together).
All in all it was good and I may return, but it wasn't what I'd expected, especially seeing all the people waiting for their tables outside.
As we continue our quest for good authentic Japanese food we thought we'd mention Zipang. We have been here about eight times. Each time the food was good and the service was bad.
The food is good quality, decorative, and the price is fair to a little bit pricy. However, we have since stopped going because of the poor service. We call this place 'good Japanese food served with poor Vancouver attitude.'
Today, we went to the Japan Festival at the Van Dusen Gardens. We saw the stand for Takoyaki and were excited. I said, 'oh, they have Zipang menu's' and the funny haired guy who looks like he should work in a hair salon (ie, funky hair style) snapped at me and said, "ya, it's a restaurant." Did you notice I was a customer and paying you my money while you snapped it out of my hand and spoke so rudely. You attitude sucked (you know who you are-messed up hair guy).
I snickered to myself, when you said you were all from Zipang. It figures. The poor attitude matches. And that's why we don't go anymore. Plenty of other authentic Japanese places around.
Also, paying $5 for 6 Takoyaki ball is a bit much. Considering, at the summer Powell Street Festival you get the same thing, for much less cost, and it's served with effort and a smile.
You reaffirmed why we don't go to Zipang. To bad, because the food is pretty good.
Decided to try Zipang after reading some of the reviews. Was sadly disapointed. The service was lacking starting with the server snubbing us because we asked to her wipe our un-set table. The prices looked ok but for what you get it's not worth it. The rolls are less than 3 cm in diametre and just unsatifying. The cooked food was also small. We left spending over $40 and still quite hungry. Go if you eat something before.
Atrocious service- Sushi chef had to give us the menus because there was only one waitress and she was busy running around like a headless chicken helping other customers
Had to wait 20 minutes JUST for miso soup. I think we waited a full half hour before I gave up and walked over to the register and asked for the food to be packed up for take-out.
One pair of ladies were up front paying and I overheard one of them personally talking to the sushi chef, telling him that their food was extraordinary, but the service was terrible.
Waited another 10 min. for our food to be finished and wrapped up and I looked at the bill and realized they had charged us $7.95 for the 6 piece salmon and tuna sashimi, when in the menu it is listed as $6.95. Now I know some may think a dollar isn't much of a difference but after receiving all this horrible service I was pretty pissed and asked why they charged us the extra dollar. The waitress said that they used sockeye salmon, and that they did not have regular salmon. I argued, saying that they should have at least warned us of this, that the menu listed the item as "tuna and salmon", not "tuna and sockeye salmon" and that it was not right to charge us the extra money without notifying us about the regular salmon's unavailability. The sushi chef overheard and told the waitress to take off a dollar.
Oh, and they didn't even give us the right sushi roll. They made us a regular California roll (fake crab), rather than the Dungeness California roll. Strangely enough, they charged for the regular california roll ($3.75). And I had specifically asked for the Dungeness Crab California roll.
The entire experience turned me off and it's a shame since I would have loved to have tried some of their dishes, judging from what I heard other customers say. Suffice to say, I left no tip. Getting home and trying the food - it was nothing special. Might come back again when they hire more staff
HIRE SOME MORE STAFF.
It's been over a year since I last ate at Zipang - partly because of the very limited menu when it opened and also the fact it was not licensed. Well the menu now is actually too big (which is a good thing) and Japanese beers, sake and plum wine among other alcoholic beverages now available.
Service: has vastly improved with more attentive servers. The delivery of food items is still slow and badly timed as the hot kitchen dishes and cold items from the sushi bar come out whenever they are made regardless of appetizer or entree.
Food: Sushi is a must! Incredibly fresh and well presented. The garnishing of the platters is impressive with daikon wrapped tea lights; petit carrot flowers and coloured roe!
Price point is excellent. I do not find it as expensive as others have suggested - it is comparable to Toshi Sushi and Shiro's; and cheaper than Hachibei - all Japanese owned restaurants in the neighbourhood.
Ambiance: The art work on the walls need to be rearranged or changed as some seem to be sold and not replaced. Upon arrival the room was very hot and uncomfortable and A/C is desperately needed. I had to open the front door to allow for cross breezes to cool the room - it definitely helped!
I will definitely return for another tasty meal!
Aaah it could have been perfect!
Zipang Sushi had been on my list of places to check out for some time now. My other locals include Shiro and occasionally Toshi. Zipang had been recommended by friends.
We arrived early on Saturday night and were promptly & courteously served. We ordered sashimi salad (excellent), some maki rolls (very nice!) panko fried oysters (love the mayonnaise) and a japanese pizza. I had a couple dry sakes & my partner had wine.
We were on course for setting a new high point in our dining experiences with our meal. The service was prompt, efficient and courteous and we were enjoying the ambience of the restaurant. Dishes were cleared when empty and we felt well taken care of. We were a little surprised when the check arrived before we had a chance to order dessert but it was quickly removed when we made our choice for dessert.
What blew the evening was when we were asked to leave no less than two minutes after settling our bill (someone had our table reserved five minutes from now apparently). We were leaving regardless but being asked to leave turned an evening of great food, good service into feeling rushed.
We left but felt incensed enough to let the 'manager?' know that she had cast a pall on an otherwise perfect experience; she didn't take the comment well and reacted belligerently.
So there you have it - good food, good service but poor on hospitality. Will I return? Not likely. Too much good competition out there where I feel welcome throughout my meal- even after I have paid my bill.
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