Hopefully you know what you are getting into when you visit Masayoshi, and the chances of this are very good as a deposit for your reservation (via Tock) is necessary. As what I consider to be the premier omakase in Vancouver most certainly delivered on my expectations.A seat at the sushi bar is recommended so you can watch chef Masa expertly prepare the highest quality seafood you will be eating in your menu. The meal will start with a variety of appetizers (shirako, and uni with dashi and hairy crab were exceptional) before the nigiri is served, one piece at a time so the combination of the warm shari and cold fish can be fully appreciated. Use your hands here, and when I tell you they think of everything you will see exactly what I mean when they provide a little device to clean your fingers between pieces of nigiri. The course progression is thoughtfully planned right through until the lovely caramelized pineapple and hojicha ice cream finish.Chef Masa is a master of the traditional and also an artist with a set of nenox razors. I couldn't reccomend this experience for lovers of japanese cuisine more. It's worth the money.
Is this the top Omakase experience in Vabcouver? It's priced as such and while the service from the moment you enter to the dessert finale is attentive and entertaining, it's the food you come for and this is where I think Masayoshi could have done better.Each course was presented well and, yes many of the sushi were varieties I've never tried before. Nothing really blew my mind except for the bill at the end. And it's not the amount, since you should already know what to expect when you book here, it's the fact that I didn't feel the whole experience matched the price tag.Some fish were flown in, and so specific of the place they had a laminated slip indicating where the tuna originated. It was good maguro but I would have loved to try more parts of the tuna including the delicious otoro we were served.One downside was our addition of caviar ($60) which didn't offer great texture nor flavour to which it was supposed to enhance our sushi. One outstanding dish was the Japanese sourced Uni which, admittedly was probably the best I've ever tasted.A couple of sodas and a couple mid-priced sakes later set us back $550 pre-tip so closer to $650 for the twofer meal. And even tho I didn't pay this time (thanks to my good friend), I still felt slighted by the mismatch in price to expectations.Still, it was a fun place to experience Omakase. It may just be sometime before I give them another shot.(Edited to correct a dish we were served)
- Omakase experience was mediocre at best for me. I like a more experimental omakase, otherwise what's the difference between this restaurant compared to lower-priced, regular sushi restaurants? Maybe we'll try again when the menu changes.- Fish used for nigiri was fresh and good quality, no doubt.- Don't bother coming if you can't get seats at the sushi bar.
Always an amazing experience and such unique delicacies!!! You can tell that Masa-san loves what he does and shares his enthusiasm for food with everyone through his hand crafted dishes that have such flavorful combinations with fresh ingredients. Highly recommend!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Absolute marvel of a place. Best Japanese Omakase in Vancouver hands down. Chef and waitresses are amazing, and the food is sublime. Also recommend their sake and/or sweet potato beer, wow.
Masayoshi prices itself as a five star Vancouver sushi-ya. I'm not in the habit of qualitatively comparing restaurants in a review, but you can look at my profile for what I consider to be top examples of the style in the area. Let's start with the positives...We had an early seating for the nigiri omakase on a weeknight with the optional caviar course and a bottle of sake.Making the reservation and accommodating one of our party's preferences were handled efficiently.The food was beautifully-presented and the table service was warm and efficient.Now the drawbacks...We had two (of what I assume are rare) service issues that were discretely-reported but not addressed, which results in my rating:- We were over-charged for the sake. The price differential was relatively minimal (but in the restaurant's favor). We let this slide given the following.- A foreign object in one course was acknowledged by our server but then denied by the chef. At this price point, given the effort our party took to discretely report the issue, and the servers acknowledgement of same, it's inexcusable for the management to refuse to address it.
Severely missed the mark for me. The chef was kind and the staff were also very kind. The food itself wasn’t up to par. It’s place is quite pricey. The quality of fish was good, I wouldn’t say it’s amazing. I think that a lot more could have been done with many of the dishes that were not nigiri. The lack of flavor and creativity was quite sad. The price point is not worth it.
Tasty sushi. Not quite filling for the tasting menu. One of Vancouver’s highly awarded restaurants, but might just be one to cross off the bucket list.
I had the pleasure of sitting closest to where the chef was preparing everything so gold stars already. All of the staff were amazing.You first walk in and after verifying your reservation and vaccination you’re taken to your seat. Note that because of covid, there are limited seats at the bar so you may end up sitting at a table. One of my favourite things about ordering sake is that you get a choice of which of the unique cups you’d like to use. All the dishes were well explained and each piece was perfectly dressed so there was no need to dunk anything in soy sauce.I would really love to come back here one day and hopefully bring some friends to share the experience. Thank you so much for a wonderful time!
Superlative experience. Chef Masayoshi introduced every delicious dish with warmth and passion. His fantastic team was attentive and friendly and made it a very memorable evening for me and my family. Also an excellent selection of Japanese beer (Coedo), sake and whisky.