Yuji's from Japan — Restaurant in Vancouver

My wife had high hopes for this place but it was a complete let down. It was week day, and we went early without reservation. The moment we set foot into the restaurant, the chef saw us and gave us an unpleasant look, when we told the waitress we got two adults and a toddler, and she was about to move two empty tables together when the chef halted her, mumbled something about us not having reservation and have us wait till another table is done in Japanese, thinking we don't understand what he's saying. He was friendly and even cheerful to others, but he kept looking at us like he just wanted us to leave. In the end, my 3-yrs old toddler waved at him to say goodbye, but he just rolled his eyes and ignored her. We saw the chef being nice and friendly, even said "see you next time" to his frequent customers, but for us, he gave us cold shoulders, but we never did anything other than the fact that we didn't make reservation. (Maybe he's nice if you pay of Omakase)

In terms of the food and price, seriously, this place is seriously overpriced. $10 for a California roll, and it doesn't even have tobiko or sesame sprinkled on it. Seriously, its quality is only comparable to Save-On-Foods sushi. (Yeah, it's cheap sushi, but my daughter likes California roll, and she didn't finish the one we ordered here). The focus here is always the expensive stuff, the exotic sashimi, which we did order a $70 assorted sashimi, but those sashimi slices were thin and small! (A single Hokkaido scallop was cut in half to make it two pieces, whereas we had it in Japan, and they never do that there, they serve as as whole, and the sushi chef in Japan even explained to us that that is the best way to have it.) The waitress at this restaurant though, said they even cut the Hokkaido scallop in five pieces sometimes.... And to make things worse, they put the scallop right on top of lemon slices.... to anyone who doesn't know, if you do that, the scallop will lose its texture, the the natural sweetness is gone as the acid "cooks" the scallop. The maguro was a little soggy as well, definitely not at the right temperature. For an experienced Edomae sushi chef, I don't even know if this failing was deliberate or was he cutting corners.

Also, one thing I noticed when I stepped into the restaurant, the place was warm during a summer afternoon. (27C outside) and the A/C only kicked in for about 5~10 minutes when there were lots of customers, and they shut it off again after. Everything we have experienced screams cut cost and maximize profit, and they're willing to sacrifice customer experience, relying solely on the reputation they have already built. What a shame.

Word to Chef: Never assume your customers don't know what you're saying or doing when you talk to your staff. Even if it was misinterpretation and misunderstanding, you already failed to deliver your art in the worst possible way. As for the waitress who served us, we know you did what you could and we truly appreciate everything...

We came here for dinner with a reservation. We got the chicken meatball hot pot ($19.00), corn tempura ($10.00), Unagi Omelet ($18.00), Hotate Nigiri ($8.00 for 2), 2 blue fin fatty nigiri ($18.00), 2 blue fin nigiri ($13.00) and 2 sakes.

The corn tempura was my least favourite out of everything. They fry it with the corn on the cob which makes it really hard to eat. The corn was also not sweet enough.

The chicken meatball hot pot is pretty spicy because of the pepper but I love the cabbage and clear noodles. The chicken meatballs were really soft and delicious.

The scallop nigiri was absolutely delicious. It was sweet and succulent. The fatty blue fin nigiri was melt in your mouth delicious. I prefer it to the blue fin nigiri but of course it's also more than double the price.

The unagi omelet was really soft and had quite a bit of unagi in it but I wouldn't order this again.

This little sushi store at the corner of 4th and alma is like a small piece of Japan. The owners are Japanese and mostly regulars come here. I love their sushi and would come...

Yuji's is one of my favorites, if not my favorite Japanese restaurant in Vancouver: the location is very small, quiet and extremely cozy, with a nice interior made of wood that evokes the ambiance of traditional restaurants in Japan. Everything is good, but the main reason I keep coming back is the 6 courses Omakase menu, where the chef himself will surprise you with incredibly well-thought and executed plates. Each bit of food shows the care, the passion and the fantasy it's been poured into it and, with the menu changing a bit every once in a while, you might end up trying something unexpected every time you visit this restaurant. You won't just taste sushi, but even several cooked plates which, in my opinion, almost always show aspects of Japanese cuisine that are routinely ignored by the more generic restaurants which make up the majority of the offer in town. Definitely...