Certain food there is good. However can you deal with the bad attitude just for some food? Worst service Japanese restaurant I have ever seen in YVR that actually operated Japanese. Take out was always delayed as well. read more

I went to Suika,Kingyo and Rajio and definitely this is the best in my opinion. We ordered a lot of stuff and I thought I liked the Wagyu udon Shabu Shabu the best. If you wanna come make sure to reserve a table! read more

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Food was delicious. Sashimi were fresh and yum. But too noisy to talk and love the karage read more

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Came here for my boyfriends birthday and he loved it! We ordered the steak croquette, cutlet curry udon, sushi and a bunch of drinks (yuzu cocktails). The steak croquettes and sushi were very good but the curry udon was a bit salty. The yuzu cocktails with their homemade ice cream are the best cocktails I tasted so far. The service was very good and even took a polaroid pic for our celebration for free! However, there was a piece of hair in our cutlet but they quickly made a new one and even gave us a $10 coupon for our next visit. Will most likely come here again! read more

Raisu - steak croquette, prawns, sushi, cutlet curry udon - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

Food is yummy and fresh, excellent presentation. Staff friendly food is great but when it's busy you can't really get service. Super busy all the time so I would call to make reservation first. One star off because we waited really long for bowls and when it came the noodles was soggy already.. read more

Raisu - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I was born and raised in Japan and I am extremely picky when it comes to the quality of food. This place is with no doubt one of the best Japanese restaurants I have ever been to in the entire North America for items like Tonkatsu and Japanese-style hamburger steak. I know these items are not well known to the folks in North America but those teisyoku menu items are the ones you should really be ordering. You are definitely doing something wrong if you are ordering sushi items at a non-sushi restaurant. Just like you never EVER order ramen at a non-ramen restaurant. You simply don't do that. Ok? ok. Also, stuff like chicken katsu in broth is NOT supposed to be crispy. That's just how it is. If you want that texture, you order the one not in the broth. Period. The only thing is that they are always crowded nowadays and hence the wait time is relatively long. But hell it's worth it! read more

I love this place ! All dishes are amazing and so tasty! Only downside is the price. I feel too expensive.

The only disappointment was that my party of four waited patiently behind some other groups who had come in before us, but when 2-3 other parties showed up and shoved their way in, the hostess helped them all first. The hostess clearly saw that everybody else had arrived prior but she only gave her attention to whomever interrupted and gave their name for the reservations. The server however was excellent! We ordered the 3-kinds sashimi platter. Fresh sashimi, three of each kind. The presentation wasn't as pretty as the 5-kinds. The chicken karaage was flavourful and juicy. The jumbo ebi mayo was delicious... they were huge! The pork cutlet curry don came in an extra large bowl which was entertaining. The aburi was really excellent, comparable to many other top places that serve aburi. We also got the snow crab and aburi stone rice bowl - I typically love stone rice bowls and this did not disappoint! I also really enjoyed the corn that came with one of their steak dishes. The food was 9/10 overall. We sat out on the patio which was heated and super comfy with the blankets. We had our table for two hours which felt like just enough time without rushing. read more

Raisu - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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We came here for a girls night out and loved all the dishes that we ordered. Some items were priced a bit higher but it was well worth it. Portions were big and taste were flavourful. I really enjoyed the curry udon! It was served in a huge bowl and had a good kick to it. A few items were already sold out.. The waitress suggested to preorder the next time we make a reservation. We will definitely be back. read more

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I'm honestly surprised at all the negative reviews. We came here right before they opened on a weekday and there was already a line of 5 couples waiting to get in. We considered this our nicer Date night meal while in Vancouver. We didn't have a reservation so they did let us know that a table was coming in 2 hours and asked it was OK for us. If I'm still eating in 2 hours, thats a problem. Food: Since it was limited time, we ordered the Sho Ka Do Bento and the Ocean's Offering. We also ordered the Seafood Kaki-Age from their a-la-carte menu as it was highly recommended by a colleague. First, the soup and rice has an unlimited refill and that Miso soup was very rich in flavor and had us going back for refills. The rice was well vinegar-ed and had a soft texture with a bit of a bite in flavor. The bento box was the most surprising in flavor with a great mix of ingredients. The Ocean's Offering was above average sushi but we did have trouble with it falling apart as we tried to take it out. I'd probably get the Bento box again but the Ocean's Offering maybe good to try once. The Seafood Kaki-Age was delicious. We couldn't finish the whole thing and kept trying out different combinations between the dipping sauce and rock salt. And the house sake - crisp and mellow. We also ordered the matcha green tea sponge cake for dessert and found it light and not so sugary. We enjoyed our whole meal but the surprising dishes were the wagyu beef in the bento box and the miso soup. For two people, this was too much food so pace yourself. Service: We had plenty of great service. They were so attentive and really fast. It does get loud as it seems every waiter calls out all the orders and everyone responds. There are people yelling all the time. I found it charming but the table next to me was annoyed. Decor: We were seated on a table but wish I had a spot on the terrace or on the circular table just because it was pretty. However, it had a simple design throughout and looked nice. Price: It was kinda pricey but based on quality, I felt it was reasonable. I can't compare it to other Vancouver spots as I am the States but in comparison to NYC, this was about right. Notable Extras: My husband noted he loved the bathroom and how much stuff there was in it. It's an odd thing, but when there is a clean bathroom, you tend to trust the other stuff more. read more

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Love this place. I always order the chirashi don which is fresh all the time but also a little bit pricy. Overall, I would recommend this place to others who LOVE Japanese food. read more

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Pretty cool venue and the presentation was amazing! Totally my new favourite Japanese place when in the city.

I'm a bit conflicted on my review here. Order the Wagyu Udon and an Uni Cream Udon, as well as a limited (15) bento box special. I must say that both udon's were spectactular and amazing, however, the limited bento box that they served was less than impressive. 2 of the 9 food choices in the bento were chicken wings and a meatball. Another was a cucumber in a cup with limited sauce. 2 or 3 of the fishes were overcooked and lacking any flavor. To be honest, i probably only enjoyed 2-3 of the 9 choices within the bento and that is a far cry from the value and expectation from something that only serves 15 per day. Service was ok but not the best. They seemed to be understaffed. They took our orders and served our food but never came back. Had to get water on our own. Took 20 minutes to get the check and flag them down again to get the bill paid. Overall, some food was decent but not impressed. read more

food is good but it is pricey. good for special occasions celebrations but probably not daily meal

The waitress are so friendly and helpful. I traveled to Vancouver and saw this restaurant with cute food. My friend made reservation at the earliest time so that we can have the limited only food. We ordered three that are limited but turned out its just okay. Only 3 stars because the sea urchin taste super weird. All the dishes look good thought and we had good time there. I wonder if other food that are not limited taste better? Might need to give it another chance. read more

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The restaurant feels like a hidden gem because of its unassuming entrance. And once you walk up to the 2nd floor, you're promptly greeted by courteous Japanese servers and it makes you feel like you've transported to Japan. After we were seated, we were told that the kitchen was backed up and asked if we're ok with a 40-min wait for food. Street parking was a bit of a pain and we were already seated so it didn't make sense for us to say no at that point so we stayed. It took a while for them to come get our order but when they finally did, the servers weren't all that interested in giving us recommendations when prompted. It felt like they just wanted us to be ready to place our order. It honestly didn't seem that busy so I wonder if they had an off day or if the kitchen was short-staffed. Anyway, the food was great and took less than the anticipated 40 minutes but I think the experience could've been better if the service was a bit warmer. read more

Been here several times and it remains my favourite Japanese restaurant in Vancouver. Amazing quality, great value, and strong portion sizes. And beautiful presentation always. read more

Raisu - Uni temaki - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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- Friendly, attentive servers. - Reservation recommended. - Patio available. - Come here for when you're hungry, because the rice sets are their specialty, not tapas (their name is Raisu and all). - Kudos to the washrooms. Mouthwash, floss, and other lifesaving goods? Yes please. read more

Yakitori was great! Service was great. Just a bit disappointed by the bluefin tuna sashimi.

I like this place for taking guests from out of town/country(except for guests from japan). I say this because if compared to Japanese standard nothing really stands out. Everyone enjoys the izakaya atmosphere and the loud service. Their theme seems to be 70's/80's japan with idol posters etc with old music. Their food is very instagood, I think the owner consciously created #foodporn type of dish presentation. They taste good too. Not like over the moon wow good but good enough that you have no complaints. Fish are always fresh. If you want the vegan bento though however, you have to order in advance when you made a reservation. It's a good place to go with a group of people like normal izakaya, but also a good place to go with children. They have dishes that children typically like, in teishoku style so good for dinner in my opinion. The reservation is very hard to get so it's better to reserve early, but if you are not a big group you can usually walk in and get counter seats. Some servers don't speak fluent English but the manager guy seems to be hard working supporting servers on the floor all the time. read more

What a treat! Raisu is the kind of restaurant that makes you wish you lived in Kits all the time. It has a large menu selection and reasonable prices for an authentic Japanese restaurant -- I surprised myself by wanting to try dishes from multiple categories. Alas, I had to settle on the Snow Crab & Uni Cream Udon on their special Cool Biz menu. Served in an eye-popping bowl, the portion was just right and the flavor did not disappoint. I only wish the bowl was manageable enough to pick up and down all the soup! Everyone's food was served quickly and the portions were surprisingly sufficient for the price point. The atmosphere is trendy and creative, but quiet enough to carry on a conversation with friends and not overstimulate children. read more

Raisu - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

I saw an article on Daily Hive on March 29th and decided to book mark this for future reference. We were one of the few people in there last week and yet the service was super super slow? Why. Was it that complicated to put a cucumber maki roll together? When it came it wasn't even properly packed. I was so turned off and the lady was offended 'cause I didn't want to order anything else. I waited so long for this dish that by the time I waited for the next dish it will be breakfast. It gets average 'cause the prices are fair. read more

This is the closest to dining in Japan I have felt dining in the Lower Mainland in a long time. Service was impeccable and non intrusive. I enjoyed a triple cutlet teishoku ($26) meal set which included unlimited rice, miso and shredded cabbage refill. Once the food arrived, staff explained what each item was and how to make the sauce. You crush the sesame seeds and mix it with the sauce next to the cutlets. There was tartar sauce to go with the prawn cutlet. The beef, pork and prawn cutlets were perfectly fried. I could taste the quality of the meat. I thought the price was reasonable for the quality of food and service received. Definitely, I would return to try the rest of the menu. read more

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Service sucks here so bad they don't even have a waiting list for people to put there names down they tell you to stand in the order you cake in. It's not even busy there are 3 groups total waiting. She doesn't even remember who she spoken to first. So annoyed. Terrible service. So the third group that came for seated first while we're still waiting she's so unorganized. I was so pissed. Food wise was good but they need to be more organized and friendly with the people waiting for a table read more

Great dinning ng menu and fresh sushi, too busy to create an ambience! Great services !

food was tasty but not mindblowing. price is high for what is served. snow crab udon: the sauce was too watery and it had really small morsels of noodles. snow crab rice bowl: good portion of rice, little morsels of measly small snow crab claw. mixed katsu: egg mayo paired well with the katsus. the wagyu beef was minced, such an insult to the ingredient. shrimp was tasty but small. nice place for a gathering. might return once in a blue moon. read more

Me and 5 other people made reso's here for Saturday night Canada Day dinner. We came 15 mins early and were told that our table is getting cleaned. While waiting I noticed a couple things. First off, the actual waiting area is tiny, and cramped. There are stairs so you could stand there but not the best. Secondly, they got some VIPs that will bypass any resos so be aware. We were not affected, but I noticed someone that was. Finally we were seated. The menu is simple and clearly describes everything in detail. The server came over and got us water. From there, it was kind of rocky. The server's English was questionable and we had to describe what we wanted multiple times. At the end the food was all correct except for one extra order that had to be deleted off the bill at the end. I get that they are busy and I believe we just had the one server that didn't know English too well but something to be aware of. The service was the worst part of the experience. The food is were this place shines. My God it's so good. The tonkatsu was delicious. The miso soups were also amazing. My girlfriend had the box that was pre-ordered before hand and enjoyed it except for some extremely seafood-y items. Everyone else loved their dishes. The desserts were also fantastic. All in all - food: amazing service: needs work read more

Raisu is by far one of the best if not THE best Japanese restaurant I've experienced to date. I say experienced because from the atmosphere and service to the impeccable presentation and phenomenal flavours of the food itself Raisu is serving up the complete package. I love that the dining here is interactive and sensorial, you may roll your own hand roll or use a mortar and pestle to crush sesame seeds before dusting them the most luscious pork Katsu you've ever tried. An hour after we left we were looking at the menu planning our next visit. Just amazing, you must go! Seriously make a reservation now! Go! read more

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On the second floor above a grocery store in Kitsilano, great little Japanese restaurant with a creative menu. I arrived early, shortly after opening at 5:00 because I wanted the Ocean's Offerings, of which apparently they only serve 10 per night. It's a box of 12 square Pressed Sushi, each one a different fish. Was fresh and nicely presented. Service was friendly, all Japanese staff. A nice twist on the usual sushi or ramen joints. Recommended! read more

We just celebrated my mom's 60th birthday last Saturday night. We had the most attentive service and the birthday song was amazing. Food was delicious too. Thank you! PS: Thanks for reserving a Sho Ka Do Bento for us. read more

Raisu - Absolutely delicious! - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

This was our first time visiting the Raisu. After looking at amazing reviews and photos from the Yelp, we wanted to try them ourselves. 5 adults and 6 year-old ordered Sho Ka Do Bento, Wagyu Beef Shaun Shaun Udon, Soufflé Cheesecake, 2 Deluxe Seafood Bowl, Snow Crab and Sea Urchin Cream Udon. Most of the portions were good. Udon bowls were heavy and huge but in my opinion, the portions weren't that big as the presentation. The only thing we didn't really care for was the Soufflé cheesecake - it wasn't good to be honest. If we ever visit Vancouver again, I will try them again for other things. We made an appointment for Sunday at 11:30am (when they open) and the restaurant filled up pretty quickly within an hour or so. read more

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I love kingyo, suica, and rajio (same owners) so I thought I'd love this place just as much. Boy was I wrong. We called at 5 for a reservation. They only had a table at 9 so we took it (there were 4 of us).Got there at 9 on the dot. Our table wasn't ready. After 20min we were told that the table had just settled up so it shouldn't take much longer. Another 10min passed and then we were told that they're ordering takeout...ugh. We were finally seated at 9:35 p.m. We ordered our food right away because we decided on what we were going to order while we were waiting. This is when round 2 of the waiting game started. We waited and waited and waited. We got our first dish around 10:15. It was a salad. The dishes we ordered (karage, kaki-age udon, edamame) were just 'meh'. Not quite on the same level as the places I mentioned earlier. Perhaps everything just tasted bad because we had to wait for so long. I may give them another shot further down the line, but I'm sticking with kingyo for now. Note for beer snobs: no draught craft beer on the menu. They had okanagan springs, sapporo, and asahi. Street parking on West 4th. read more

Hm. The whole scene of real Japanese food in Vancouver got too much distractions, in a bad way. It's a authentic "feel" Japanese restaurant but the food is not. The price point and reviews of this restaurant are far too overrated. I suspect that next time someone open up a so called Japanese restaurant and serves wontons with slight interior design would get the waves they are here in Raisu. Sorry, just don't like it. read more

If you've been to Raisu's sister restaurants (e.g. Suica, Kingyo, Rajio) then you will have some idea as to what to expect. The main difference here is that Raisu is geared more towards upscale Japanese for individual dining, so don't expect as many izakaya small plates to share. The main dishes are all meant to be eaten by one hungry adult - though the sizes on the meat dishes are large enough you could probably get away with sharing. The menu has the standard selection of alcoholic beverages as well. Eight friends and I had dinner on their fabulous, breezy patio on the last night of the Honda Celebration of Lights. Since it was a fireworks night the place (former Rowan's Roof location) was packed with a line stretching down the stairs out to W 4th. Reservations are a MUST, especially on the weekends. If the weather is cooperating I recommend the patio space which is lovely. That is, assuming they let you stay seated on it. The service end of our meal was a bit odd. Our waitress was perfectly friendly but she had to repeatedly climb up onto the bench seating in order to pass out the trays of food. It was a bit invasive. More bizarre still was that she came to give us a "last call" order approximately 30 minutes into our meal. This sent one of my panicked friends off furiously flipping through the dessert offerings. It was bizarre. Members of our group were still waiting for entrees. I understand that we were occupying the premium table and that they likely book reservations back to back, but frankly it felt disrespectful to tell paying customers, however politely, to hurry up when we were still waiting for food to arrive. Friends had rave reviews for the tonkatsu sets as well as the wagyu steak you grill on a hot stone at your seat. The compartmentalized specialty bento box also looked beautiful. Though, as of this review they don't yet offer the vegetarian bento box. Also, bento are only sold in limited quantities, so if you want it you should order it right away when you are seated. I ordered a standard yakizakana teishoku with mackerel (grilled fish set with rice, miso, and pickles). Truthfully speaking, this staple of Japanese dining was just average and overpriced. Curiously, for a place named "RICE" my rice was actually cold and hard. It had clearly sat out too long. They do offer free refills on both rice and miso soup, but when the waitstaff are practically pulling the cushions out from under your bum to get you to vacate the table, you might not have time to order or enjoy them. I can see the potential in Raisu. The ambiance and patio space are top notch, but the service and food still need a bit of time to catch up. read more

Went for lunch, amazing quality of food! Affordable lunch specials with large serves. Got the lunch deal: where you select 2 out of 4 options with rice and miso - I had chefs selection of sashimi and the meat of the day which was beef + tofu. It was delicious!! My husband got the limited lunch special bento - they only prepare 15 of these a day and he was lucky to have the last one! Beautifully prepared food, well balanced, fresh and very tasty. read more

Raisu - Japanese Near Me - Vancouver, British Columbia

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Food looks prettier than it eats. The presentation was 4.5 stars; the flavors and textures were around 2.34 stars. The deluxe seafood bowl looked like a million bucks, costs $34, and tasted no better than the $15 chirashi bowl at Sushi Itoga. The Ocean's Offerings "sushi" looked pretty, but was pretty impractical in reality. It was impossible to pick up the individual pieces of "sushi" without them falling apart. The sho ka do bento had nine individual dishes without having nine individual flavors. The donabe takikomi was the one item that didn't look pretty...I had such high hopes for the crab meat/salmon eggs/uni combination...and I did get that faint hint of umami on my first bite, but on every subsequent bite all I got flavor-wise and texture-wise was RICE, RICE, and more RICE. The best tasting and best value-for-money dish was the AAA steak dish. Every single component had textures and flavors that were enjoyable(according to my son)...good but not spectacular. 2.5 stars read more

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I have to say, the food is pretty good especially the tonkatsu set. But, the service is really bad. They COMPLETELY lack management. And every single time I went over there, they tell us ' the kitchen is busy and no space until very late, even though we give you table you're not gonna have your food etc etc' while I could see there is so many empty tables out there. They say it is reservation and the reservation is at 8, while when I was over there, it was only 7. They rather leave the table empty for 1 hour than serving us a quick meal. I just don't get it. Never experienced a restaurant trying to kick the customer out that much....Really hope they can change the management part. And I do like their food. read more

Well deserve 4 stars or more if not for the cold face unenthusiastic floor manager. Given it the benefit of a doubt, went there again and got the same cold treatment. Maybe I need to take a long hard look at how other popular customers dress...go figure! Update: That manager must have been replaced. We kept going every Sunday. Everything as good as what other yelpers said. read more

DONT come with kids because I think they have some kind of a prejudice when it comes to toddlers. We called beforehand 30 mins before) to check whether they have high chairs - they said yes. Came in around 5.40pm ( they open at 5pm) - 80% of their tables ( not the bar) were empty. First an ill mannered male server comes and points towards the stairs - and says to wait there!! We had dared to cross 1 feet away from there. The hostess was on the phone for 5 mins- after she finishes the ill mannered waiter comes and starts talking to the hostess, mentions high chair at least 5 times. Than she looks at us and says " sorry we are booked for today, only have space at the bar" No wait time a NOTHING- just no space!!! With 80% empty and within 40 mins of opening!!! Change the name of your restaurant from Raisu to " Raciest" as clearly you want to accept a certain race of people in. Also train your waiters to not be RUDE read more

This place is great when you want to eat instagram-able food. It has a good atmosphere, cute decor and friendly servers. The food they serve are not the most authentic Japanese cuisine, but it's a good change from the typical Japanese food you get in Vancouver. Overall, great place to eat and have a couple of drinks read more

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