Kim's Family Korean Restaurant — Restaurant in North Vancouver

JL Sushi & Kitchen Location: 140 Lonsdale Ave, North Vancouver, BC V7M 2E8

Overview: Located on Lonsdale Avenue in North Vancouver, JL Sushi & Kitchen offers a range of Japanese-inspired dishes in a casual dining setting. During our visit, we experienced a variety of items, each showcasing different aspects of the restaurant’s culinary approach. While the meal had its highlights, some dishes left room for improvement.

Service: Upon arrival, we were promptly greeted by the hostess and seated without delay. The service throughout the meal was attentive and friendly, with our waitress making sure we were well taken care of. This level of hospitality certainly enhanced the dining experience.

Rating : 8/10

Foods:

• Tako Wasabi: The Tako Wasabi featured seasoned octopus paired with a hint of wasabi. The balance between the savory flavors of the octopus and the sharp kick of wasabi was well-executed. However, the accompanying seaweed portion was somewhat sparse, limiting its potential as a balanced side element. Despite this minor shortcoming, the dish was enjoyable and satisfying.

Rating: 8/10

• JL Poke Bowl (Brown Rice & Avocado):

The poke bowl, featuring brown rice and avocado, was underwhelming. While the ingredients were fresh, the portion was smaller than expected, and the overall flavor profile lacked the depth found in similar dishes at other establishments. There was nothing particularly memorable about the dish, and it didn’t stand out amidst the other offerings.

Rating: 6/10

• Lonsdale Crossing Roll: This roll combined prawn and yam tempura with cream cheese and crab meat, topped with avocado and a special house sauce. The flavors were rich and well-balanced, with the creaminess of the avocado and crab working harmoniously with the crispy tempura. The special sauce added a delightful finishing touch, making this one of the more successful dishes of the evening.

Rating: 8/10

• Katsu Don: The Katsu Don, featuring deep-fried breaded pork and egg served over rice with Japanese soup stock, was another strong dish. The pork was perfectly fried, maintaining a crisp texture while remaining tender inside. The seasoning was well-balanced, and the dish as a whole was comforting and flavorful.

Rating: 8/10

• Oyster Motoyaki: Unfortunately, the Oyster Motoyaki was the least enjoyable dish of the night. The dish was overly dominated by mayonnaise-based sauce, which masked the flavor of the oysters. Compared to similar offerings at other Japanese restaurants, this rendition was disappointing. The portion was served in a platter-style presentation, and the overall taste failed to impress.

Rating: 4/10

Ambiance: The ambiance of JL Sushi & Kitchen is functional but not particularly remarkable. While the space was clean and comfortable, there was nothing about the decor or atmosphere that stood out or elevated the dining experience. It’s a suitable spot for a casual meal, but it lacks the visual or experiential elements that might make it more memorable.

Price: The prices were reasonable given the quality and quantity of food. While some dishes didn’t quite meet expectations, the pricing was in line with similar restaurants in the area, making it an affordable option for those seeking Japanese cuisine.

Verdict: Overall, JL Sushi & Kitchen provides a decent dining experience, with a few standout dishes alongside some that could use improvement. The service was a definite highlight, and the reasonable pricing makes it a viable option for those in the area. While there were some disappointments, particularly with the Oyster Motoyaki, I would consider returning to explore more of the menu, especially given the quality of the Katsu Don and Lonsdale...

Menu is bloated and confusing, inserts falling out, 8 pages? Ordering took forever, waitress was trying her best to help us navigate it...

Service was SO disorganized, we were hungry and they kept bringing other table’s food to our table... Took 30 minutes for appetizer edamame! Dishes coming out every 10 minutes or so? Took almost 50 minutes to receive my simple sashimi salad! My family had finished their dinner, super awkward. My wife had to leave with our toddler, bored and fussy staring at the Syfy channel on the big TV?! I asked twice, was shrugged off “I will ask” twice but never came to update me.

No tea or water refills for the table, at all. Not once. No check-in, no apology, our table is now piled with dirty dishes, nope no service still! We went to refill our own water after 60 minutes of empty glasses. Still no tea. Only 5 other tables, 2 still waiting for service, anxiously looking around, everyone waving to get someone’s attention.

The family who arrived just after us was there for an hour with NO food, trying to entertain their toddler. Ignored completely.

Total disaster. Sushi rolls were mediocre to just ok, not bad. But waaaay oversized, almost impossible to bite.

Sashimi salad was so skimpy, much smaller than the other Lonsdale fish cuts for the same price. Very poor knifework, fish was mangled and skinny and crushed. Surf clam (my usual favourite) tasted pickly and strange. Octopus (3 tiny pieces) was dry and wrinkly and I suspect freezer-burned. A half dozen tiny frozen shrimp? Disgraceful. Looked NOTHING like the salads they were making just 3 weeks ago. Quality and pride of ingredients has fallen fast. From the grand opening to today drops from 4 star to 1 star, honestly.

Positives: smiling staff. No team communication, but they are all smiling, all bet shy. They brought avocado and cute kid dining set out for our toddler. The salmon maki for my toddler was nice, simple, you can taste the nice seaweed flavour and the rice is aromatic. The special rolls were BIG so if you want a huge roll, this is it.

The little bite of smoked salmon in my sashimi was of excellent quality, fresh-tasting and buttery. Tempura dishes going to other tables looked great, so did the teriyaki (we don’t order tempura or teriyaki tho so we missed out). The tea is the roasted rice green tea that we love, but too bad we only got one small cup in 1.5 hours. Their farmed salmon (pink) was yummy and had a good size and cut.

I hate to say this, but this is by far the worst sushi on the north shore. We know them all, well. I hope they really try to get their management, organization and communication established. Their kitchen and system cannot process that sprawling novel of a menu.

I’ll try them again for a lunch set, as I see many recent positive reviews, maybe we just had a very...

Edit: Since Covid we've been getting take out from JL sushi and they've done wonderful on that front. Definitely like them more than the other sushi places close by. Can't comment on the table service as I haven't gone back since the below fateful day, but right now I'm enjoying the food!

Before you read the review summary: Service was abominable. Food was decent.

Took 20 minutes to get drinks to our table (The staff don't communicate because I asked for water and my buddy asked for tea then 2 teas showed up but the water was only... 5 minutes behind maybe?)

The menu is... quite extensive. They have A LOT going on. Some cool items that you want to give a shot. I wanted to try one of the sushi taco's... more on that in a bit.

My buddy and I always order enough to make sure there is lunch the next day. We ordered the Teriyaki, Tempura, a couple rolls, sashimi and one of the tacos. The Teriyaki, tempura and rolls came out within 20 minutes of each other. They were nice. No bad things about the quality of the food. However, no check-in from service, no water or tea refills, staff not making eye contact so you couldn't even wave them over. At the end of the night my buddy had to stick his arm out in front of one of the waitresses so she HAD to stop and acknowledge us. 10 minutes after we were finished eating our other dishes the taco and sashimi had not come out yet (This is about 40 minutes after ordering) but with no check in and no ability to wave our waitstaff over we couldn't see if they forgot or were being tardy. The taco comes out but by this point I'm not hungry anymore so it just sat there. We cancelled the sashimi, got our left overs packed up, then continued to wait for another 15 minutes for our bill to come to us. We stood up to go pay at the front thinking we were in the wrong and got intercepted right away. The table beside us with the other waitress came in after, got all their food before we received the last of ours and paid before we were done.

In summary, the service was slow with very inefficient food delivery to the table (to be fair the waitress can't deliver food that isn't ready) but the food...