Sushi Bar Shu

Valentine's Day during COVID is quite a different experience dining at Sushi Bar Shu. Limited seating so my hubby made reservations waaay ahead of time. Only 6 seats at the sushi bar with plexiglass dividers between parties.

Omakase includes a variety of dishes: 3 appetizer size of saw seafood, 3 appetizers, 12 made in front of you sushi, 1 miso soup, 1 tamago egg, and 1 dessert. This omakase comes with more than just sushi, and I appreciate Chef Kevin put the thought in creating the menu.

Starting with the chawamushi that was so flavored with the dashi (stock), the consistency was perfect, not too watery and just solidify enough to taste both the egg and dashi. I really love the dashi, really well made!

The 3 raw fish starters were very delicious, each was perfectly paired with its own special sauce to bring out the freshness of the unique fish taste, absolutely heavenly! ChuToro was soo very fatty that my lips were soo glossy!!

Out of the 3 appetizer, the braised beef tongue stood out for me cos it was so very tender, I didn't mind kiss it other than my husband tonight.

When it comes to the sushi, Chef Kevin hand presses the sushi rice each and everyone of them in front of you with different seafood on top. A few of them were paired with specialty salt and citrus juice or yuzu zest to compliment the seafood, and amplify the unique taste of each of the seafood. Personally, I absolutely enjoyed the hamachi with fresh yuzu zest and the ChuToro. Out of the 12 pieces, only 2 pieces were paired with specialty salt and citru, and the rest were brushed with soy sauce.

In the future, I hope to see Chef Kevin can play with more specialty salt and the seafood to enhance flavors. For example, pair with different kind of specify salts, other exotic fruits/veggie. Just to stimulate the palette.

The one thing I love most is the sushi rice! Yes, the rice! The temperature was just warm, not room temperature but warmer, very so slightly marinated with vinegar and mirin. Chef Kevin is very skillful when hand pressing the sushi rice, everyone of the sushi I picked by hand, yes, hand not chopsticks, I can feel the sushi rice were nicely held together very so lightly and not mushed. Chef Kevin has the perfect pressure that when I hold onto my sushi, none of the rice fell off!

As for the tamago, it was sooo delicious!! Dense on the bottom and bubbly fluffy on top~~

We also ordered the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu to share on top of the omakase, it was soooo worth it!!Burst of juice and fat in every bite into the wagyu steak! Enjoy every piece of it!

The dessert was absolutely perfect!! It's a shiso sorbet with shiso jelly on the bottom with a shiso flower on top. Shiso usually use as a palette cleanser and capturing that light refreshing taste and turn it into an icy sorbet was just genius! Love it so much!!

Definitely will come back for more!!


The tamago was very delicious!!

The best omakase in Vancouver
Fresh and perfect nigiri
Nice service
The plating is the art!
A Very kind chef

10/10 experience! This is the best omakase I have had so far in a long time. I was so blown away by all the courses I ate. There was not a single dish that let me down. It's hard to pick a favorite because they were all so good.

I appreciated head chef, Kevin's, thorough walk through of each course. Would definitely be returning. The ambience is nice and intimate. Service was great as well. No complaints, will be returning for sure.

We came on a weekend afternoon for their lunch menu and arrived at a seating of around 7 people. The interior is quiet and tranquil. Aside from the bar seating, there is a private table at the back which I suppose is used for dinner service or for special guests. At the beginning of each item, the chef would introduce what it is before serving it.The food quality was solid and everything tasted fresh. I found the wasabi in the nigiri a little too strong for me personally, but I enjoyed the glaze they put on some of the nigiri, which had a hint of yuzu? flavour. Service was attentive and tea was topped off, which one would expect since there were only 7 diners.

Aside from the food in terms of dining experience, I wish there was more interaction between the chef and the guests. There was a regular diner and the chef mainly interacted with his friend. It would have been nice to get more interaction with the chef.

The regular diner also got a couple of extra pieces, which we understand was reasonable considering their relationship, but it was slightly awkward because no one else were served those pieces. Overall, the price is decent for the quality and amount of food - you leave satisfied, but not full. I understand that not everyone likes interaction with the chef, but in an intimate setting more personal engagement would have been preferred for me.

This was my first omakase experience and I had such a wonderful time here! We were the first to arrive for our lunch seating and had a nice chat with the chef. He was super friendly and easy to talk to. As others have mentioned, the space is very intimate with just a row of bar seats. We opted for the lunch menu, which felt like a much better deal than dinner.

The actual food was very fresh and delicious. Although the chef explained every piece, I got very lost, but I did appreciate how everything tasted. Some of his friends were also there that day and the chatter made the experience feel a lot more fun and casual. He was also so kind by including everyone when he wanted to offer an additional piece for his friends.

The service was great overall. The staff were super attentive the whole time, always refilling the tea. They also don't rush you at all and even allow you to sit for a bit after the meal is complete.

10/10 for a fantastic and wholesome omakase experience. Best in the city for sure! Chef Kevin and his team use quality ingredients, and really have an amazing menu. Perfect for special occasions, birthdays, or just a date night!

We went for lunch this weekend at this well "respected" restaurant, something they just started as a way to attract more price conscious customers. Their set menu for lunch is $88 per person. We believe for dinner is above $200 per person.

The quality of the food is just OK, not much better than the quality of fish you get at your corner sushi shops everywhere. The chef, Kevin, decided to serve the Hamachi with the blood portion of the meat attached. We wished that he would offer us an option to include this blood portion or not.

For the uninitiated diners, this restaurant should be OK. For us, it was a disappointment.

The service was good however. Our cups of tea were always full.

I want to start off by saying I really wanted to love it but there were several things that took away from the experience.

The omakase experience itself is pretty intimate (6 counter seats). The chef of the night was Brian. There were 3 parties at our seating. From the start, Brian served one of the parties different food than us and continued to do so throughout the night as it turns out they were his friends and "regulars". It was really distracting as during omakase everyone is typically served at similar times and the same item with introductions. However Brian seemed to shift his focus especially halfway through the meal exclusively on his friends, asking for feedback, if they wanted more food, and of course serving them pieces that the rest of us did not receive. Towards the end of the dinner, his other chef ended up taking over serving because Brian was so focused on his friends. There were even times when they didn't explain what was being served. It would have been a better overall experience had he just wanted til the end to serve his friends or have their own tasting session. I'm not a hater, but if I'm paying for this experience, it should not be so distracting there's only 6 customers! Looking at a review earlier this month, it seems to be a common sentiment.

Overall the food was slightly above average, experience aside and just talking about the fish there weren't too many pieces that were extraordinary or special in their seasoning/preparation. I couldn't even name one that I liked in particular. Having tried a good variety of omakase experiences, this was kind of disappointing. Especially at the $188 price point, I expected more. We did appreciate that they gave us free caviar for our anniversary.

This place is amazing for a traditional yet fun omakase experience. From the fried lobster to the cuttlefish to the horse mackerel to the dessert - 10/10. The staff was professional and friendly. The food was fresh and clean. The vibes were immaculate. Eat here for a lovely meal.

10/10! Best omakase experience! From the moment we stepped foot in the door until the moment we finished our meal. Owner/Chef Kevin and his staff were extremely attentive and friendly during our experience. Super fresh and tasty. 100% recommended.

I'll keep this short and simple. Sushi Bar Shu is one of my favourite omakase restaurants of all time. I'm honestly upset I can't afford to eat here every day. The quality of ingredients and attention to preparation is immaculate. I am beyond impressed by the ingredient pairings with each cut of fish. The flavours are not your traditional pairings it has a more contemporary twist. I would also recommend getting the A5 Miyazaki Wagyu to share.

Let's also not forget about the exceptional customer service. I was flying in from Toronto to celebrate my 6th-anniversary with my significant other. Unfortunately, when I was making arrangements for my trip, the restaurant was booked up for the whole month!!! Luckily, I was able to get in touch with Kevin who had nicely provided me with a timeslot for my anniversary dinner because we would have definitely missed out (Thanks Kevin!).

My only unfavourable moment was that we arrived later than expected due to road closure from a vehicle collision and the team kindly refused to serve the Miyazaki Wagyu as they did not want us to rush through the service. In the end, we did get the Wagyu served but it did take a bit of convincing. I don't think my overall experience was ruined at all. All and all, a great experience for the price point and would return again!