Oshi Nori

I have been to similar hand roll restaurants before, but I noticed some of the rolls at this new place looked different from others. I wanted to try this new hand roll restaurant located in Yaletown.

The restaurant has a very stylish ambiance, and there is only a sushi counter, not tables. The sushi chef serves each customer's order one by one.
We ordered several Oshi Nori hand rolls and basic rolls, including a set and individual rolls.

I highly recommend the Oshi Nori rolls, which are their signature dish. They were beautifully presented with rice on the bottom and sashimi with toppings, just like sushi tacos. The nori was very crispy and flavorful.
My favorites were the Aburi Scallop, King Salmon, Yellowtail, and Aburi King Salmon.
The basic rolls were good too, especially the bluefin tuna, which was great. From the appetizers, I ordered the Shakemaki Negitoro, which was just awesome. The negitoro was rolled in salmon sashimi, and it was really delicious.

The service was attentive and friendly, and they explained the details of the menu. However, I noticed that only one sushi chef was working around 5 PM. After the busy time, an additional chef started working. As a result, the sushi was served a bit slower than I expected, but I understood that there was only one chef at that time.

Overall, we all loved this restaurant. We will definitely be back to try different items on the menu.

My husband and I stopped in after an early dinner because our first dinner wasn't too filling, and we needed a little something extra. We happened to be walking by and just decided to go here on a whim, because it looked promising. Unfortunately, looks can be deceiving. It was 8 PM on a Tuesday, and they told us it would be a 10 minute wait, which was accurate. Once inside, they'll explain the menu to you and give you a paper menu and pencil for you to tick off the items that you want. It's a sushi counter with about 20 seats and only two people making sushi. We instantly regretted coming here after we put in our order, because there were so many people who had orders ahead of us, and we were only getting a few things. But I have to say, they are pretty efficient with it - they'll group orders by who's getting what so if there are 5 people ordering the same roll, they make it all at once. Still, I think they could use an extra set of hands. Since I'm pregnant, I had to opt for the cooked rolls, so I did the lobster and snow crab. Both tasted very similar and had way too much mayo, and reminded me of canned tuna. For the price, I don't think it was worth it. Hubby had set menu of 4 Oshi Nori rolls (spicy bluefin, negitoro, king salmon, and aburi scallop). He said they were just okay.

Overall, not worth the wait for sushi that is mid.

Walking past Oshi Nori, I couldn't help but feel a rush of excitement reminiscent of one of my favorite NYC spots, KazuNori. However, my experience fell short of expectations. We sampled a variety, from the tuna tataki to the sunomono salad, and opted for set menus from both original and oshi nori rolls. Despite the staff's assurances of premium quality and quantity, I found myself disagreeing.

In terms of value for money, I'd rate it a 3/5. The salad was decent, albeit hard to fault given its simplicity. However, the tuna tataki left much to be desired - an attempt at premiumization with toasted rice and garlic resulted in an overpowering bitterness. While some selections like the aburi scallop, snow crab, and king salmon shone, others like the spicy shrimp and spicy bluefin fell flat, drowned in a sauce more reminiscent of sweet gochujang than authentic Japanese flavors. It was truly disjappointmenting to see such a beautiful cut of fish drowned in a horrendous sauce.

Service was alright, with occasional lapses in attention and an awkward layout that left us feeling watched rather than attended to. On the upside, the ambiance was pleasant, with communal bar-style seating, charming wooden accents, and traditional soy sauce condiment pots adding to the dining experience. However, the seats could use some ergonomic improvement, feeling a bit uncomfortable and high from the table.

While Oshi Nori has its merits, it falls short to impress. Personally, paying these prices, I would not return. There are simply better options out there.

A little pricey but Highly recommended! The ambiance service and especially the food was great. From simple tamago roll to the 5 Oshi Nori rolls were very tasty. Fresh ingredients and perfect bite size. My favorite is the unagi nori roll with a layer of unagi tamago and crispy bits (rice pearls) put together like taco. Perfect place for tapa-like experience. Oh, the soy sauce was very tasty too!

Found this little gem in Yaletown, Vancouver, BC...rather unobtrusive and tucked away between more heavily advertised restaurants. We were welcomed and seated at a bar/diner style setup typical of Sushi bars. The place was near empty on a Sunday afternoon which was just fine for us.The waiters/waitresses were extremely friendly - good kids from Ireland and Brazil. Spect out stay chatting with them. Had Miso soup, Truffle Edamame, and various Roll sets and Donburis. Wagyu Beef, Salmon, Bluefin Tuna, Scallops...all beautifully crafted by the Sushi master chefs. Topped off the meal with smooth Sake...
Food and service were excellent; meal for four with a bottle of Sake and tip set us back $175 (US). Worth every penny! A must visit while in Yaletown.

Came for an early dinner with the family and we each had a set, which was honestly not quite enough for me personally but could be if you're a small eater. I find it difficult to give Oshi Nori any more accolades given its characteristic normalcy to all other Vancouver joints. They're not really selling food or extreme quality (let alone quantity) - rather you dine here for the "experience".

An omakase taco hand roll experience that neither dazzles in terms of originality nor quality. One of the pluses is that prices aren't too bad if you're not choosing their premium options. If not, you're spending at least 1 set menu's worth and a few extra rolls for $50-60.

Unfortunately, this "experience" may end up being just a fad and I expect to start seeing Happy Hour menus start up just to stay in business - especially in Yaletown.

Cool and hip sushi roll spot in yaletown. Got the 5 roll combo and fish all tasted very fresh. Prices are a bit steep but it's yaletown and worth it for a special occasion. Highly recommend the uni oshi roll. My friend got to pick a free dessert for his birthday as well. Would go again but expect a lighter dinner.

I HAND TO ROLL OUT

I was recently invited to try out Vancouver's newest Japanese hand roll bar and was blown away by how good the food was.

@eatoshinori is Vancouver's newest dining experience for Japanese hand rolls, and everything that i tried was absolutely delicious.

The clean and minimalistic interior and bar seating creates a very elegant yet intimate atmosphere. I felt comfortable interacting with the chef and other fellow diners, and loved how the minimalistic interior kept my focus on the beauty and flavours of the food.

The staff were all super welcoming and always ready to interact or answer any questions. My chef was really helpful with suggestions as well, and my water glass was always full which is a huge bonus.

All of the raw hand rolls that I ordered tasted super fresh and did not have any hint of fishy or gaminess. They were also a lot more generous with the premium toppings like uni, unagi, and crab compared to other hand roll places that I've tried. Their premium hand rolls are also very fairly priced for the portion and quality. Here's everything that I ordered:

4 OSHI NORI ROLLS ($28/set)
- Spicy Bluefin
- Negitoro
- Salmon
- Aburi Scallop

SPICY LOBSTER $10.50
UNAGI $8
TORO-UNI $17
A5 WAGYU DONBURI $24.50
MOCHI ICE CREAM $6.50

I honestly over ordered because I was not expecting the hand rolls to be so big. Needless to say when I finished my meal I had to roll myself out the door. I enjoyed everything that I tried, but my top 3 were definitely the Toro-uni, Aburi Scallop, and Unagi. I will definitely be revisiting Oshi Nori when a hand roll craving hits.

Have you guys checked out Vancouver's newest hand roll spot yet?

10/10
‍10/10
$$ ($25-$60/per person)
Oshi Nori | 1055 Mainland St, Vancouver

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Food overall was good! No complaints as everything was yummy. Ambiance was really nice, I liked the minimalistic modern vibe, perfect for date night in Yaletown. Service: honestly it was lacking. They're polite but not paying attention. Didn't give us soy sauce bowls like everyone else, we had to ask. Had to ask for ginger and wasabi twice cause they forgot. I expect high quality service for this part of town and for the price of the food. Id recommend hello Nori instead for more rolls for cheaper and better service. Also we ordered sunomono and it was only cucumbers, for $5! Now I know traditional sunomono doesn't come with noodle, but you can't expect all your customers to know that info when any typical Japanese resto has noodles with their sunomono. And no, they didn't indicate this on their menu

Phone does not work and rolls were subpar. We went during a warmer evening and it was very stuffy and hot inside. We were late for our reso by 10 minutes and staff were rushing to turn us out in 50. Would not recommend if you want to sit and enjoy your food and company. Given the subpar quality and less than average service, highly disappointed.