Eatery - Sushi Nanaimo (Vancouver)

350 Nanaimo St, Vancouver, BC V5L 4R7 (Neighborhood: Hastings-Sunrise)
Pricing - $/$$ | Dining - Casual | Cuisine - Japanese


After a long, long day of traveling with my friends (we took a flight from Orange County to Seattle and then rode a bus from Seattle to Vancouver), we were quite tired and just wanted to get something to eat after checking into our rental apartment. The sushi fiends the other two were (I'm a fan myself but they're addicts), they scrambled to find the closest joint to our place of stay and luckily there was one just down the street. We went inside the neat place that was just about an hour away from closing - it was cozy and welcoming. Great first impression already!


I opted to share something with one of my friends so the other two got their own plates. We all had bowls of legit, soul-warming miso soup so hoorah for that. The takoyaki got such high thumbs up from the friend that ordered it that he ordered a second plate. I found it quite tasty myself but one ball of fried octopus was my only impression. Still, yum! I also couldn't resist snapping a shot of his beautiful roll.


So the next whole slew of pictures that I have posted are from the shared item with my friend - the Love Boat. For an abundance of items (mostly thick-cut sashimi), soups, and fruit for dessert as listed at just about $25, this was a steal. I know that every time I write a review that says, "This was the best so and so I've ever had," it almost invalidates what I had said prior about something else but hot diggity did this place have the best yellowtail I've ever had or WHAT?! The two sushi experts agreed and hogged whichever pieces they got (we let the other try a teensy piece). Yellowtail's definitely my favorite and I don't know if I'll ever look at any other places' offerings the same way. The pieces threatened to fall apart in between my chopsticks as I picked them up because they were just that delicate and silky. If I could eat an entire baking sheet of it, I would. If I could consume that only for the whole day, I would. Fantastic fantastic. Their other items on this glorious Love Boat were all so fresh and thickly cut themselves - we had salmon, clam, octopus, albacore, scallops, roe, shrimp, and some rolls. I was very impressed and had a fantastic time with each and every piece we consumed.

Photography by Minerva Thai.