Tawara Japanese Restaurant

Tawara is a gem surrounded by mediocre restaurants. This sushi place has a pleasant atmosphere and great service, and the food is fantastic! The fish is fresh and the selection is pretty vast. I recommend trying some of the specialities rolls cannot go wrong.

I started eating here because it’s very close to my workplace. I’m kind of broke and try to bring my own lunch to work when I can, but considering I can get a large, filling bento box with sashimi and assorted tempura here for only $ 12, it’s almost not worth my time to make my own lunch!
I love sashimi and the fish here is always super fresh. I also feel like they go above amd beyond for their customers, too. The other day they were out of tai, so they gave me delicious toro instead.
The other important thing is that the service here is super fast. My lunch break is kind of short and it’s lovely to have my food within five minutes of ordering. I’ll miss this place a lot when I’m done at this job site and have to move on to some other neighborhood where the sushi isn’t as good. :P

This was without a doubt the worst Japanese Restaurant I have ever eaten in. the Ebi Sunamono had three tiny shrimp and the noodles were partially Crunchy! Eww. When we got our combo dinners for $ 16 & $ 17.00, there was very little meat and it was smothered in terrible, cold teriyaki sauce, my sons beef was burnt, we has to ask for rice (with a teriyaki dinner box?) the Tempura batter was brown and tasted like their oil hadn’t been changed in months, three areas of our ‘boxes’ had filler in place of where real food is presented in most decent sushi restaurants. Their prices are that of a high end sushi place, but this was a disgusting low budget wannabe. Save your money and go somewhere else… anywhere else.

I used to eat here fairly frequently a couple years back, the place looks the same but I did not recognize the chef /​owner.
Dinner tonight was good… service was also good which earns 3 stars.

Tarawa used to be our fave sushi place, especially for Friday night takeout. When the original owners sold the business, we were leery. But when a sushi joint is located practically in your back yard, it’s natural to hit it up.
Under the new management, we were willing to overlook the takeout mistakes and the smaller pieces of fish on the nigiri in exchange for the convenient condition. But the last time we ate there, the rice was ever –so-​slightly crunchy… as if it weren’t quite fresh.
Too many strikes means Tawara is OUT.

Do no listen to any of the positive review. This Japanese restaurant is below average. I had better Japanese food at food court than this place. I ordered 2 sushi rolls. The sushi rice where hard, feels like they have been sitting the frige for a very long time. I also order a katsudon (deep fried pork on rice). The deep dried pork was soggy. It feel like the rice bowl and pork was all pre-​make and was microwaved on order. I was very disappointed with this place because of all the positive review people gave. I was just expecting an average restaurant but it failed at that. Conclusion DO NOT LISTEN TO ANY OF THE POSITIVE REVIEW, seems like they have never tasted AVERAGE food. And this place is definitely BELOW AVERAGE.

Great authentic looking Japanese décor and great tasting green tea. I had the chicken teriyaki donburi and avocado rolls which were great and the chicken teriyaki vegetables had a taste of lemon which added an extra zest to the taste. The price was very reasonable and will definately repeat visit.

Standard Japanese menu. Above average food. Pretty expensive. I’ll come back, but not regularly. I guess you get what you pay for.

I never thought it was possible to inhale Japanese food, with its dainty presentations, until a week ago. But inhale is what HB and I did, when we arrived, delusional from self-​inflicted hunger that day (what, is that a talking fish by the restaurant door waving to us?!). We parked right in front of their entrance and walked in as soon as they opened at 4:30PM for dinner. I don’t think I’ve ever been that excited to walk into a restaurant. Ah, the things that happen to me when I sell stuff on Craigslist and have to go meet people in Surrey!
The place looked good, inviting and would be a nice lunch/​dinner spot to meet up with friends for sushi and conversation. I was fairly impressed with how the place quickly filled up as soon as they opened! It was 4:45PM and there were already about 5 tables.
My Red Dragon roll (Spicy tuna, prawn tempura, smoked salmon, seared tuna on the top with peanut-​mayo, wasabi-​mayo & Japanese plum sauce) was spectacular; it had to be, it cost $ 15! (At my regular Japanese place, this exact thing called by another name would only have cost me $ 9) The assorted tempura and scallop motoyaki were standard fare, although I’ve had «proper» scallop motoyaki before and it usually comes as scallop on shell + cheesy mayo motoyaki on top and NOT a tiny, little sauce bowl with chopped up bits of scallop + sauce ($ 7). It is a meal after all and not an afterthought. Finally, the chicken karaage ($ 6.95) is basically just deep fried wings, again, not the «proper» karaage where the chef makes an effort to form chicken into delicious deep fried balls. If you like your wings with a teensy pinch of salt and deep fried, you’d probably like the karaage. I like my food to be a lot more flavourful than that.
Three stars for ambiance, service and the fantastic sushi roll in Surrey. minus 2 stars for being exceedingly pricey and the other mediocre fare.

Tasty, clean, fresh, creative, stylish…
We brought a wrecking crew (2 toddlers), and they were very patient and kind about it. Made it easy to enjoy.
Really liked their features.
worth trying for sure.

After saw those reviews, i decided to try. So disappointed! Very small portion and pricy. The food is nothing special and not very tasty. I don’t know how others rated so high.

Best sushi in the area. Smoked salmon cone is amazing! Staff is friendly and courteous and I just keep returning.

Probably the best sushi in Surrey. They present their sushi with an extra touch of class.

Searching through Unilocal and this Sushi place came up. Based on reviews, I decided to give it a try…
We ordered the Tawara Chicken Teriyaki Combo $ 20 (includes: Chicken Teriyaki & Rice, Sizzling vegetables, Sashimi, California rolls, Miso Soup, Appetizer Tempura, and Ice Cream) and the Seafood udon $ 12. Complimentary from the Chef: :Sweet n’ Spicy Chicken. All very good.
No complaints here. Excellent Customer Service, very quick and friendly. Food was very good. Nice Place, clean and relaxed environment.
Recommended and will definitely return.

My favorite Sushi place ever!!! Family run and operated, SUCH nice people and great service.
The prices are really cheap for how fresh, unique and awesome the food is. I Love love love the Red Snapper Carpaccio (So amazing)… so did my mom, and she doesn’t like raw fish! The chef (Mr. Pyo) sends out a taste of his special every time you go. You have to get the Miso soup to start… only ($ 1.50)
They just got a full page write-​up in the Vancouver Sun. It talked about how the chef/​owner moved here from Korea with his family and has taught himself how to cook Japanese food. How amazing and well priced his food is and how friendly he is. Mr. Pyo really does love his customers and tries to get to know the regulars personally.
The new paper article mentioned some of their favorites
— Crab Cakes (with orange miso sauce)
— Tuna Carpaccio (with spicy sweet Asian sauce with fresh fruit)
— Red Dragon Roll
— Assorted Sashimi plates (very well priced)
— Baked Lobster Motoyaki
— The list goes on and on !!!
The only thing I don’t like is that the lights are really bright and the center tables could bit a bit more private somehow, it doesn’t matter though. This place is the bomb! Support your local restaurants! TRY IT !!

Tawara is really good. there food is excellent and always so nicely presented. I LOVE thier ZUKE TUNA. You have to try. And I was addicted to their Red Snapper Carpacio for quite some time. They are family owned and run. Fish is always fresh and the chef is really talented. Prices may be a bit expensive, but i think it is worth it.

Great sushi! I tried their chopped scallop roll, California roll, salmon and avocado roll, and spicy tuna roll. All were fresh and very tasty, but the standout was the spicy tuna roll. It was very spicy (don’t order it if you don’t like spicy!) but one of the best spicy tuna rolls I’ve ever had.
The staff were also very friendly and prompt with the service. They also divided our bill without us asking, which we appreciated.
Also, they did say that they had brown rice sushi «sometimes» (ie. I guess when we were there they had run out).
Great place for sushi if you’re in the area.

OK, so my previous review was a little harsh, but the food here (besides sushi) has become too Koreanized for me.
But the sushi is pretty good, especially for this area — it’s actually the best in the Sullivan area.
They just really need someone to come in and consult on their food (no I’m not soliciting, OK maybe I am — I just want their food to be better for heaven’s sake!).
Until the food gets better this is a solid 3 star because of the sushi. If I want to eat anything BUT sushi, it is a solid 2.
I will RETURN — IF I’m desperate and don’t want to leave the neighborhood.