Vegan Shoku Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Vancouver

Star of the show was definitely the salmon avocado oshi. They nail the presentation, texture, and sauces which really help to replicate the real thing.

Other highlights: eggplant salmon-very tasty, but didn't get much of the "crab meat" taste or feel I was hoping for (and missed from when I was omnivorous)

Fish and chips- while the yam fries were subpar, they really replicated the texture and flavour of fish

Beef teriyaki- flavour and texture were really close to the real thing. It was delicious and they made sure there was a lot of sauce.

Pretty Okay California rolls/Panda Rolls- these are meant to be crab meat-based rolls. While both tasted fine, Shoku unfortunately couldn't replicate the taste or texture of crab meat so they were underwhelming.

Chicken teriyaki- unlike the beef, the texture and taste missed the mark for me.

Salmon sashimi- presentation was perfect. Texture was as close as it could get being a copycat product. However, unlike the fish and chips, this was quite bland and lacked any salmon/fish flavour. Really, it didn't taste like anything to me. I think the fake salmon works better thinly sliced, as in the aburi.

Poke bowl- the bowl offered a lot of sides (avocado, mango, seaweed salad, among others) and was sauced well. I did not personally have this but the person who did said it was good and comparable to other Poke bowls (Same complaint with the sashimi as above though ).

The biggest disappointment was the unagi cone and. The real thing was one of my favourites in the past and I was really hoping they would be able to replicate. But the cone was not reminiscent of unagi at all. The "eel meat" was dry, hard, and chewy. It tasted more heavily of soy than the beef or chicken, no umami/"fish" flavour. Definitely could use more sauce as well. I also think a seaweed wrap would work better than the one they use.

The service was good. The prices are a little high in my opinion but I enjoyed most of what I ate and will definitely be back to try more items...

The chef completely messed up my order and did not follow instructions. I specifically requested steamed yams, brown rice and nothing fried. When the chef was informed that he made a mistake, he simply raised his eyebrows and did not have the decency to apologize to me. He did not even speak to me, nor did he make eye contact with me for the entire time that I was standing in front of him. He then proceeded to remove the fried yams and took some steamed yams from a fridge and proceeded to nuke them in a microwave oven. I had to stop him from doing that and then the server told him to steam them. When the yams were finally ready, he put the order back together and then after wrapping the sushi rolls with pink soy skins, he smothered the rolls with a lot of oily deep fried yam sticks, which I had to remove one by one, in order to eat the rest of the order. I am extremely disappointed and angry that the chef did not respect my wishes and I am shocked that a so-called health food restaurant would ever dream of microwaving anyone's food! Furthermore, as a result of the chef's incompetence, my order was delayed for an additional 15 minutes past the pick-up time. Definitely not worth $20 for one roll and not even at half price with a two for one special! Way overpriced! After writing this review, the owner of the restaurant had the gall and the audacity to ask me to remove it and told me that he knows who I am! He did not apologize for the actions of his chef. He simply said that he would talk to him. Then he justified the chef's actions and made the false claim that it takes 20 minutes to steam yams, when in fact they were already cooked (who knows how long ago!) and only took 5 minutes to warm them up on the steamer. I have not been back to this restaurant since this outrageous incident and I will never go back...

I tried this place because I was intrigued by the idea of a completely vegan Sushi restaurant.

What we ordered: Vegan Salmon Avo Oshi Dynamite roll Vegan Chicken Dinner Box

l felt some dishes were either a hit or miss. The Salmon Oshi was amazing, texture resembled salmon too well, and the sauce added that umami flavour. My friend and I both agreed that if we were distracted while eating, we might not catch on that it’s vegan - I’d highly recommend ordering this. My only wish was that the vegan salmon was a big thicker cut, but that’s not a big deal. The dynamic roll was a bit disappointing, nothing special and their imitation crab meat ws dt very good, it was a very sub par dish. I’d go for their special rolls, since I feel they do a great job of using sauce to add that umami flavour. As for the dinner box, I think it’s a decent deal. The Crab Oshi was okay, but I wouldn’t get a full order myself. Their vegan crab meat is not nearly as good as their salmon. Vegan chicken had a meaty texture, sauce was great and I really enjoyed it. Tempura and spring rolls can typically be vegan, so it was your standard tempura, which was good.

Overall, I think if you order the right things (ex: salmon oshi or special rolls), the food can be great. It’s also great to see all the options they supply, which are all vegan. I will say you are paying a premium for the vegan food as it’s probably more expensive than your typical sushi joint. Would I return? I would if I was ever craving vegan sushi - there are a few a la carte items and special rolls that I’m curious about. I would recommend giving this place a try if you’re curious like myself and don’t mind paying a slight premium for a...