Kuma Japanese Restaurant

Small family owned business! Food can come out a little slow due to limited employees but this is the place for okonomiyaki!! It's very yummy. My friends and I always grab it when we dine here. The sushi is average and a little more expensive than what you expect but you don't find the okonomiyaki in every Japanese restaurant menu. Highly recommend adding yakisoba in with it. We usually order our own sushi and have it to share.

An extra tip: If you go around sunset, try not to sit facing the door, since the light is very bright whenever someone comes in.

The only place in Vancouver that serves Kansai style Okonomiyaki! The food is amazing, I love the quality of the fish they use. The Okonomiyaki is made to order and super fresh. It had a good balance of flavors. The service was fast, efficient and friendly, and I really like the calming vibe of the restaurant. Overall, an amazing visit and will be back for more!

Cozy family-owned restaurant that serves some delicious dishes. Especially love the Okinomiyaki, as it's harder to come by here in Vancouver. As it's a small business, it can be a little slow, but the wait is worth it! Medium price level with kind service and quality food.

Back in the day when it was being known as Modern Club we would come here specifically for okonomi-yaki , which was still kinda sorta a novelty thingy in town . Fast forward 10+ years we now have Kuma , which seems to have shifted focus more onto bentos , sushi , sashimi and the likes . Okonomi-yaki is still being served but sadly just no longer prepared right in front of you on a sizzling grill . Also I'm not a big fan of sushi restaurants " hiding " their fish behind the counter away from view . Could be just me being sus though . Lol

Came back again and I'm bumping my review down to 3 stars, mostly because the prices have gone up even more.

I mainly come here for the okonomiyaki, and I was sad to see the seafood okonomiyaki now costs $20.85. Even a simple veggie okonomiyaki costs $16.95. Even the chicken karaage is now $9.15.

The food is still good, but I didn't feel like the price we paid for this meal (close to $60) for one karaage + two okonomiyaki was worth it.

I've uploaded my latest menu pictures from Feb 2021.

This is a really cute family ran restaurant. The food is super tasty and authentic. I ordered the Okonomiyaki (Kansai Style), a salmon nigiri and the chicken bento box.

Not a lot of places serves Okonomiyaki. It was pretty authentic. I really enjoyed it. The bento box was ok. I really liked the salmon nigiri. Overall, prices were definitely on the higher end.

The place was clean and bright when we arrived. It was interesting when we walked in, a little boy (age 6) walked up to us and sat us down at the table.

There are plenty of free parking on the side street. Overall, I would recommend trying this place. Note: this place is ran by Japanese people (they really know how to make good, yummy, tasty Japanese food).

Cute little family restaurant is a little gem. It's a smaller restaurant but it definitely gives you a authentic Japanese vibe. The server was wearing traditional Japanese attire and greeted us. The whole experience was nice! Ambiance was good and price was good!

We ordered the special of the day sashimi and it was delicious. It was presented on a slab of ice so it was the right temperature upon devouring it. Uni was on the menu as well. I didn't like the green leaf they used in the nigiri and the uni wasn't as sweet as I remembered it to be.

Shrimp tempura was my fave! I probably could have inhaled 24 pieces to myself. The batter was so light and crispy! This is a must get!

We got Cali roll, Scallop roll, chicken teriyaki and yakisoba all great and the rolls tasted fresh and great quality.

I will come back! Try these

I don't find myself out in the Dunbar area that frequently but, after an enjoyable visit to MOA in the beginning of September, we stopped by Kuma Japanese Restaurant on Dunbar (across from the Tim Horton's and liquor store). There didn't seem to be many other shops on this street that were still open (guessing that they might eventually turn this block into condos...).

This is a fairly small Japanese eatery but had some interesting choices on the menu. The first dish to arrive at our table was the Assorted Sashimi ($21.30 Chef's Choice of 12 pieces). We were actually pretty impressed with the sashimi quality... 2 pieces of wild salmon, 2 pieces of slightly fatty salmon, 2 pieces of tuna, 3 pieces of tako (octopus), 2 pieces of plump scallops, and 4 slices of hokkigai (surf clam).

The next dish to arrive at our table was the Spicy Agedashi Tofu ($5.05) - the sauce reminded me of the spicy sauce you get at Korean restaurants. Nice crispness to the exterior of the tofu.

We also ordered their Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box ($13.05). While the sashimi and agedashi tofu were a bit slow to come out, the bento box was painfully slow to come out... it was about another 15 minutes after we received our first dishes. We did notice that another party came in after us and received their bento boxes way before we did.

On the plus side, the food is actually made quite well. The thing that turned me off a bit was how slow our bento box came out (especially when people who come in after us and order after us receive the same dish before we do).

There were only two of us but we did manage to try their Okonomiyaki. Not every local Japanese-owned indie makes this so-called Japanese pizza, so we opted for it. We complemented it with a couple of sushi rolls. So this food review focuses on the Okonomiyaki and the service.

The "pizza" came out very presentable​ on a warm plate complete with a fancy set up. Size wise it is a bit on the small size, both in diameter and thickness. It was, nonetheless, tasty and so points there! It is quite flavourful and does remind me of the "real thing" in Osaka, where this is most famous (along with takoyaki).

Next time in Osaka, please do try their version over there in a small, small restaurant with only 8 seats. They'll cook it right before your eyes, literally a foot away with the grill pretty well in front of you. Then served right up piping hot.

Otherwise, I do appreciate the family indie feel of it all. No hurry, just let the good food take time to cook and enjoy your company!

This is my favorite neighborhood sushi restaurant! It's family owned and run. The food is always fresh and delicious. The staff is very nice and friendly. The wait times are due to small staff and lots of neighborhood orders. I've always been treated friendly. Not sure why some odd reviews? I highly recommend for good eating. It reminds me of traditional Japanese family restaurants.