Toyo Sushi Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Burnaby

I was just at Toyo sushi yesterday and I have the urge to write this review right away.

I was looking online for an authentic Japanese restaurant in Burnaby. Many sushi places came up and Toyo Sushi caught my eye. There isn't much info on this restaurant, and their website wasn't even up yet. But I decided to give this place a try, and so very glad that I did.

I made a reservation for 2 and were seated at the sushi counter. I noticed immediately how beautiful the counter space is, chef later told me that it's made of bamboo. The experience at the counter gave me an authentic Japanese sushi restaurant feeling. I felt that I had made a trip to Tokyo.

We ordered the assorted sashimi, assorted sushi, anago nigiri, unagi nigiri, hotate nigiri, ikura and ika, and assorted tempura. All were very fresh, well made and skillfully prepared. The presentation was beautiful. Masa San was very meticulous and thoughtful, and it was shown through his preparation for our meal. We felt very well taken care by the chef and the waitress. We had two raw shrimp heads from the assorted sashimi which we didn't know how to enjoy them. We asked the waitress and Masa san, which he offered right away to deep fried them for us, and turned out to be super delicious. Again, his level of thoughtfulness and personable service excel any Japanese restaurants there are in metro Vancouver. Unagi nigiri was also the best I have had. Fatty and juicy. All of them are very good. Masa was also very generous, offered us sake and amintsu (Japanese dessert).

The price is very reasonable, for an experience like this, to have such a skillful chef, providing authentic sushi experience, together with great customer service, excellent ambience and atmosphere (at the counter), this place is a true hidden gem!

Housekeeping stuff: They are opened in the evening only Free street parking Credit card okay Counter seat recommended for an authentic experience They serve blue fin tuna (which I...

Toyo’ing around…

I can’t remember when was the first time I came here, must’ve been a long time ago. Well back here again for the second time.

Easily found paid street parking out front. Arrived and got seated right away, it wasn’t busy. Inside has about 5 tables with sushi bar seatings, a casual dining atmosphere owned and operated by Japanese (honestly, some of the best restaurants nowadays are not own or operated by the same ethnic group).

Anyways, here were the food I ordered;

Beef tataki. It was okay, pretty basic but the sauce was a bit on the extra sour side. Oyster motoyaki. Fresh and tasty, however, I think $15 each was a bit overpriced compared to similar restaurants. Appetizer tempura. It was pretty decent and standard. 3 kind assorted sashimi (sockeye salmon, tuna, hamachi). The salmon and tuna were okay but the hamachi wasn’t as fresh. For $34, the quality has to be spot on. Akami, chu toro, anago, japanese uni nigiris. They were all fresh however the anago was a bit overcooked. Madai, kinmedai, hirame, kanpachi, ikura, toro. Everything was good and fresh.

Overall, it’s a nice little cozy place that offers a casual and relaxing dining atmosphere. Pretty simple layout with daily and specialty dishes posted by the sushi bar.

The service here was okay. Pretty friendly and straight forward.

As for the food, I personally find it a little on the pricier side compared to similar restaurants. I can see it being what it is maybe a decade ago, but nowadays specialty fish such as bluefin, kanpachi, madai, etc…, are pretty common.

Nevertheless, $300 for 2 people for what I ordered, it has to be justified by higher quality and selection such as the 3 kinds of sashimis. I don’t think I’ll be Toyo’ing around...

WOW! A very small Japanese restaurant that has some of the fishes flown in from Japan. Fishes such as the Bluefin tuna. The sushi chef are Japanese, so you can’t get any authentic than that. Warning- the prices are a tad high but the quality is top notch! We ordered the Ika butter (whole grilled squid with garlic soy butter), so yummy - fantastic! The leftover sauce was used in my udon & some leftover rice - Heaven! Okra tempura- very good, batter was very light yet kept the okra very crispy, they served with a small plate of dipping salt. Okra was not slimy! My hubby said it taste better without the dipping salt. I kinda like the dipping salt, found that it accentuates the taste. We had the beef tataki( thinly sliced beef seared sashimi in ponzu sauce) very nicely done & tasted good. We had an assortment of sushi - fresh & good. Chirashi- big pieces of sashimi… they did not skim in the portion of raw fishes, the salmon was so red that it had to be sockeye. Had the house udon - fresh & good with lightly battered shrimp tempura. The abalone sashimi was pretty expensive, however it was very fresh & good - thoroughly enjoyed by my hubby & son. The hubby & kids had the handroll bluefin tuna belly & uni - they loved it… very very fresh. We then ordered 4 pieces of the bluefin tuna belly (otoro) The most expensive item of it all - the marbling of the tuna belly was a sight to behold. It was smooth & creamy, taste like butter. It had a very nice after taste to it. We throughly enjoyed the meal, needless to say. Parking available in the street - Proper Covid check, the restaurant is small… reservation highly...