Sushiyama - Vancouver - TravBuddy

Sushi is quite ubiquitous to Vancouver life. In fact, only Tokyo has a higher per capita amount of Sushi Restaurants (so I've heard). Myself, I've probably been to twenty or so sushi places in Vancouver and I've found this to be overall the best.

The food:
Really fresh fish, huge portions. You'll have trouble picking up the salmon sashimi with your chopsticks - they're like steaks. The rolls can also be quite unique in preparation. The caterpillar role actually looked like a caterpillar (though don't order it unless you really like avocado). The tempura was light and crisp and they grill the teriyaki instead of fry - which most seem to prefer. The only thing I've ever avoided was the nigiri sushi (piece of fish served on rice) as I've had the experience that the rice was dry - fine for rolls since they usually have plenty of other ingredients compared to rice. They may have improved, of course. Beer is reasonable at $3-5 depending on brand.

The service:
Not the best service in as much as they're usually really busy. It's good to make reservations as they usually have a line of 15-30min near dinnertime. I've had them release a reservation for four when I was five minutes late but later they held a six person while I was fifteen minutes late. Staff are all friendly and I've never had problems ordering.

The ambiance:
While there's some theme in their decor, it's not some place you go for a intimate dinner arrangement. The outside even screams tacky with a big orange sign with blue lettering. They've recently doubled their size but they didn't go much beyond the functionality of adding space. It's not dingy or dirty by any means though. However, if you're into the 'hipster' scene, you can walk south along Main St before or after dinner.

Best Dish:
Spicy Tuna Sashimi. Definitely order it and specifically ask since they don't have it on the menu. I think it's like $7-8 but it's so good I never pay close attention to my bill. It's a pretty massive plate of food too. Even people who don't like spicy food tend to really enjoy this dish. I usually order it with some scallop rolls and it comes to ~$15 after tip.

Concluding remarks:
A great restaurant for people who love sushi and don't care about paying for ambiance.