REVIEW | Best Budget Sushi Restaurants In Vancouver

Photo Credit: Sushi Kaido via Yelp

Have you ever wanted to buy sushi, but found that food prices in Vancouver were way too high? Vancouver is globally recognized for its abundance of good sushi, but it can be quite expensive and the quality of the food is not always worth what you pay. 

We decided to test four Vancouver sushi restaurants, with the goal of finding the best and cheapest places to eat! We will be taking you step-by-step through each experience we had, ranked from worst to best, before crowning one restaurant the home of “The Best Budget Sushi in Vancouver”.

To judge the restaurants equally, we used a specific set of criteria. At each restaurant, we ordered the same food items: a spicy tuna roll, salmon sashimi, and miso soup. We chose to order the rolls and sashimi because they allowed us to sample the tuna and salmon served at each restaurant, which are staples of Japanese cuisine. On the other hand, the miso soup was chosen because we believe good miso soup is a basic benchmark that all sushi restaurants should meet. 

The second aspect we judged was the overall dining experience of a restaurant: its ambience, presentation, quality, service and price. Of course, when dining on a budget, you can’t expect the experience to be incredibly unique or extravagant. However, the ratio between the price of the food we order and the quality of the food is extremely important when looking for high-caliber, cheap places to eat.

Sushi Yama: 8.5/10

From the very start, we knew that this restaurant would not top our list, simply due to its lack of an engaging ambience. Granted, it was midday, so the restaurant was empty, but it felt like it was under construction or abandoned. Once we had sat down, the server also neglected to provide us with plates, which was an interesting decision. However, the miso soup we had here was surprisingly the second-best that we had, served at the optimal temperature and with just the right amount of tofu and seafood. Unfortunately, this proved to be the best point of the experience, as the salmon and tuna were mysteriously cold, as though they had just been taken out of a freezer. The wasabi was depressingly absent of not only spice, but of any flavour at all; it was indistinguishable from green ice cream. This was not a wholly unpleasant experience, but it definitely could have been better, and I doubt we will visit this restaurant again.

Sushi Mura: 8.8/10

This was a much larger restaurant, and its ambience was more clean and professional, rather than warm and quaint. Immediately after being shown to our table, we were given free tea, which was deceptively good. Here, the service was somewhat slower, and it took a significant amount of time for our miso soup to arrive. However, both the spicy tuna roll and the salmon sashimi were very well-made and enjoyable dishes. In this case, the salmon was not as good as at Sushi Hime, but we were given a larger serving size.  The spicy tuna rolls were the spiciest of all four restaurants, but the quality of the fish seemed worse, and they lacked the texture that the other rolls had. Although it came much later than it should have, the miso soup was by far the best that we tried, being filled with tofu and bits of rice cracker. While Sushi Mura was not the best restaurant that we tried throughout doing research for this article, it was undoubtedly very good, and we would gladly go back. The ambience and service at this place were exceptional, and the quality of the food was great.

Sushi Hime: 9/10

This restaurant was on the smaller side but made up for it with warm and homey vibes. The service was amazing, and its ambience helped reflect the cuisine. Our food came within minutes of ordering, and everything was fresh and well-made. The miso soup was very good, and the seaweed had a crunchy texture which was a pleasant surprise. Shortly after our soup arrived, the salmon sashimi and spicy tuna rolls were brought to our table. The salmon sashimi was well-marbled and decadently presented. The spicy tuna roll included crispy flakes, and the sauce had an enjoyable spice level — not too hot and not too bland. As a whole, the service was great and the food was excellent, with the best spicy tuna roll we’ve had. The one part that detracted from the experience was the restaurant’s reliance on single-use chopsticks wrapped in plastic, but it was a minor issue.

Sushi Kaido: 9.3/10

A restaurant in a great location with a view of a busy street, two dining rooms separated by a narrow hallway splintering off into a kitchen, bay windows offering plenty of natural light, and paintings on the walls that you could even purchase, this spot had all the trappings of a great sushi place. This was continued with the three outstanding dishes and exceptional service we received. Overall, this was the most expensive sushi out of all four places, but it had undeniably good value. The tuna was delicious, but could have been spicier; the wasabi had a similar issue with blandness, which was very strange. On the other hand, the salmon sashimi was absolutely superb; our only bone to pick with it was its slipperiness — but that’s barely a legitimate complaint. The miso soup was the only part of the experience that could have been better, but it did not detract from the overall very positive experience. 

Through careful consideration, we determined that the place with the best food for your money, “The Best Budget Sushi in Vancouver,” is Sushi Kaido! The quality of the food—especially for the fish—was crazy for the small amount you have to pay. Additionally, it had a spectacular ambience, with Japanese art and a comfy seating space where we would enjoy spending time.