REVscene - Vancouver Automotive Forum

GREddie · 07-01-2009, 01:44 AM

I don't know if any of you guys have been here yet, but I just had dinner here today with Si_Ed. It's a japanese sushi place that offers some special rolls, all your regular sushi rolls and some pretty good appies.

We had the ebi gyoza, crab salad, kanpachi roll, sunshine roll, salmon sashimi, and their house roll.

All and all, I thought the food was pretty good for a decent price and the rolls were all of a regular size (not too small). The ebi gyoza had a whole prawn with its tail sticking out of the gyoza, the kanpachi roll was damn delicious with seared tuna, shrimp tempura and some kind of brown sauce. The sunshine roll had mango, and shrimp tempura again. Their salmon sashimi was your run of the mill sashimi, but it was decently priced at $7.95 for around 7 pieces.

The servers were friendly and the service was pretty good. In particular, we spotted 2 servers that were pretty hot

On the downside, parking kind of sucks because it's all street parking, and the exterior of the restaurant doesn't really look appealing in the sense that it looks kind of gloomy. However, this wouldn't stop me from going back

bcrdukes · 07-01-2009, 02:33 AM

Thanks for review! How much did your bill come to after taxes and tip? I don't mind trying this place out next week.

GREddie · 07-01-2009, 03:30 PM

I have a takeout menu to refresh my memory, but
ebi gyoza: 6.50
crab salad: 3.75
kanpachi roll (special roll): 7.95
sunshine roll (special roll): 7.95
salmon sashimi: 7.95
house roll: 4.50

So with tax and tip it came to around $45

Gnomes · 07-03-2009, 08:56 PM

Very reasonable price

ilvtofu · 07-04-2009, 04:09 PM

was there any lineup? the prices don't look as attractive at Toshi but Toshi is not worth the half hour - 1 hour wait...

GREddie · 07-04-2009, 05:12 PM

I've been to Toshi and totally agree that the lineup is crazy! However their food is pretty damn good and super fresh. Toshi's nigiri sushi is reasonably priced and their quality is really good, which makes up their selling point.

I haven't tried Kanpachi's nigiri before, but even their Hamachi (yellowtail) and Uni (sea urchin) nigiri doesn't break $2. I think I'm going to give their nigiri a try next time I go.

Oh and I think Kanpachi is pretty new so not many people know about it so they're not busy at all (at least that's what the host told me).

legatox · 07-04-2009, 06:05 PM

Hey GREddie et al.

I have been to Kanpachi a few times since it has opened and I can only say good things about it. The prices are right for great food for sure. I went with a buddy of mine after doing the grouse grind and we ate up a storm! I think we had 2 udon plates, a house roll, dynamite roll, prawn tempura and a chopped scallop roll. The bill + tip came out to be something like 30 or 34 dollars. Not to mention we were stuffed full after, minding you that this was our dinner plan.

I've also had some of the other special rolls when I went there another time and they are reasonably priced. If you want nigiri, I'd order the nigiri cone instead of the maki.

I guess my only "problem" with the place is the inside is kind of plain. The large wall has only a few paintings on it. Hopefully they are going to fill the rest of the wall with something.

Happy eating!

Senna4ever · 07-04-2009, 07:52 PM

....the Kanpachi roll doesn't have kanpachi in it? That's kinda dumb...

TRDood · 07-14-2009, 11:26 PM

i had it today for lunch. my first impression walking in was.. "whoa, a carbon copy of Posh"

i like how they try hard to be an "authentic" japanese restaurant by serving the yellow ginger and real wasabi.

the $6.75 lunch special was pretty cheap for how much food you get!

other than that, the rolls are pretty standard.

we had negitoro maki, chopped scallop roll, and dynamite roll, 2 lunch specials..
it was only $7 per person (4 people)

decent, but far far apart from Toshi, Kura, or Hachi

Senna4ever · 07-15-2009, 09:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TRDood

i like how they try hard to be an "authentic" japanese restaurant by serving the yellow ginger and real wasabi.

I find that hard to believe. A restaurant with that price point will not serve real wasabi. Real wasabi costs $20 per 100 grams. It's most likely 'wasabi' powder mixed with horseradish out of a bottle.

bcrdukes · 07-15-2009, 09:52 PM

So what does general consensus say? Is this establishment setting sail for fail?

Moratorium · 07-16-2009, 01:13 AM

Agreed with senna, it smelled more like horseradish but the taste was obviously wasabi powder. I ate there today after looking at some of the reviews on here, and i was quite disappointed.

Waitress: Meh, service wasn't too bad. They haven't trained them too well though as they can't even pour tea without spilling on the floor.

Quality: Average for a sushi restaurant, I'm guessing its chinese owned. Sashimi was a little frozen. I'd expect that from an AYCE joint but not at an 'upscale' restaurant.

Service: The rate food comes out of the kitchen is extremely slow. Don't know why but I only spotted 1 chef at the sushi bar. Took around 20 mins for my rolls to come out and another 20 for my Chirashi Don. Which, really is one of the easier dishes to make. Seems like they were struggling and it was only a Wednesday night with 1 big table there.

In the whole spectrum of Japanese restaurants from Authentic/Fusion to AYCE this place falls just a bit above AYCE (but more expensive). If you're looking for good decent quality/priced Japanese food go to Sushi Yama on Broadway.

They really don't have anything to set them apart from every other sushi joint in vancouver, mediocre food, staff, environment. In a city where sushi is a staple they really need to step up their game or re-think their whole decor/menu