Shota Sushi

Geez I guess this review on Shota Sushi is a bit bias. I’m pretty good friends with 2 people that work there and whenever I go there for lunch or dinner I get «extras» that are not available for everyone else! I’ll get free appies, salad, and ice cream…
Still I really like this restaurant! It’s spacious and very comfortable. The waitresses are all really nice and they always seem to have a smile for you. As I always say… The happiest girls are the prettiest girls! The sushi is fresh and Shota’s offerings are an off beat eclectic mix of mouth watering treats! Since my friend works there she ordered last night. She picked some really interesting dishes. The one I liked best is the sushi where there is salmon sashimi on the outside and rice on the bottom. On the top of the piece half of it has salted fish eggs (roe) and the other half has uni. It was a bit messy to eat but certainly yummy! Overall, I’ve been to Shota maybe 5 times in the last 2 or so months and I’ve always enjoyed my meal here!
I like Shota. I would come back more often but I don’t want to wear out my welcome! Haha!!!

Don’t order your usual sushi when you come here (Dynamite, Alaska, etc.). Their deluxe rolls are delicious and creative. Their sashimi is fresh. The rice and noodle dishes taste average though. Definitely go for the sushi and sashimi when you’re here!

Companion and I were seated promptly for lunch, but in the very back of the restaurant which led to us being ignored from start to finish. Seemed like eons between being seated and ordering (finally had to flag down a server), and more eons between finishing our meal and getting the bill (servers seemingly blind to our exaggerated gesturing). Would have been nice if someone came and checked up on us at least once. My tea had a fly in it and my spider roll lunch special came with a roll that was completely different from what I ordered. Left thirsty and longing for the Shota that was. I continue to hold out hope that this restaurant will eventually rise to its status as a cherished Kerrisdale institution!

Good lunch stop!
I was really hungry, craving sushi, and was in the area so I decided to try it out.
They had a 12.95 lunch special which I ended up with. Included a «famous roll» i had the tuna scallop magma roll, salad, miso and spicy tuna sashimi. It was good, nice presentation, and filling. The restaurant is nice. I usually have my go to sushi stops and I alway compare. Overall is was a good quick sushi stop.

We decided to come here bcuz my gf recommend it and she’s been coming here for year’s. The mackerel fish was amazing as usual. The service was spot on and they even sang «Happy birthday» for us. It started off bad with the tuna toro. At $ 21.95 for eight pieces we expected fresh melty buttery sashimi in your mouth however, we discovered it was frozen and STILL in the process of thawing., we were able to send it back and get a different order of the spicy tuna sashimi which was amazing with the special house sauce. My gf also noticed the presentation of the food drastically dropped/​changed. The spicy tuna for example, used to be presented in a big bowl on a bed of ice to keep the temperature cool. We hope to come back to see improvements and give you higher ratings!

Some interesting house specialties. Very tasty, comfy chairs but on the pricier side of sushi. Friendly staff and probably a good bet if in Kerrisdale.

Slowest service of my life! We ordered 3 basic sushi rolls and they didn’t come out for over half an hour! I am literally still waiting for 2 of them and its been 40 minutes…
I used to be a server. At the bare minimum, if you forgot to ring in our order, bring an appy or something to nibble on!
Finally these evasive rolls come and there’s no wasabi or ginger. Disappointed.
Good quality salmon though!

Service was slow as a snail covered in molasses. Spicy tuna roll was good but kind of weird. Had some crunchy deep fried bits in it and the tuna was dark, like it was covered in soy or something. When we finally got the rest of our food there wasn’t any wasabi or ginger… isn’t that kind of standard?
Anyway, food was good, definitely good quality fish. Just beware of the wait, go when it’s not to busy.

My best friend and I went there a few days ago and ordered prawn tempura and chicken teriyaki! We were very dissappointed of how small the portion of the chicken was and it was very dry knowing it costs 15 dollar! Not the best teriyaki I’ve eaten by far! Won’t definitely go back! Plus there were only 2 servers at that time, we had to wait a little longer to get our order.

We’ve eaten here twice and we’ve ordered a range of dishes from the grill and the sushi bar. Everything is sub par from the miso to the donburi/​udon. Even the sushi is crumbly and weak in flavour
The price isn’t justified and despite the numerous celebrity endorsements that adorn their walls, it isn’t worth your time since there are 4 other great Japanese options within walking distance.

Such a cozy restaurant! Love the food. The owner is always there at dinner time since they opened 8 years ago. So you can expect nothing but amazing service. Interesting celebrities go there because the food and the quiet and cozy atmosphere. I love the sushi rolls. Really good qualities with good price. Will go more often from now on!

Had a nice afternoon with a friend. We were there for close to two hours. The place was busy and packed the whole time. I’d recommend reservations.
I ordered the lunch special and it was a deal for one special roll, miso soup, a side, and a salad. Everything came at the appropriate interval so I didn’t feel overwhelmed with food. My friend ordered the Bento box and enjoyed it as well.
Everything was fresh and each dish that came out looked like it had been professionally plated. Our tea was filled constantly but I found that the green tea was weak (although good) compared to other sushi places I go to. I did find their prices on the higher side… a California roll was 4.50.
Restaurant was very clean. Service was fast and prompt. I’d go back as nothing turned me off, however, there are a couple of other sushi places to try in the area.
They accept cash, debit, and credit.

I just want to have udon today so i. Ordered tempera udon. The udon soup base was a little sweet and the Tempera had too much flour and a little greasy compare other tempera I ate before. The potato slice was too thick

The rolls are well made and creative. My favorite was the Kerrisdale Roll.
Was a bit disappointed with the Wild Tuna Sashimi as the fish was still half frozen. The udon portions are big and can be shared by 2 person if eating other dishes.

I went to Vancouver last year, my relative in Vancouver took me to this restaurant which I enjoyed the food a lot. Sashimi was super fresh, great service, varieties of foods. I highly recommend the sashimi, very tasty and great cutting. I am a super sashimi lover and still missing the food after came back to San Francisco. I wonder if Vancouver’s seafood are fresher than San Francisco? Added two pictures to share what I ‘ve had, I loved the salmon and lobster sashimi.

Ive heard about this place and walked by enough times to warrant a meal and a review for Shota. Shota is a fairly large restaurant on the back side of the starbucks on 41^st. The exterior appearance doesnt look quite Japanese, but there are enough Japanese wording and signs to think otherwise. The interior of the Shota is dated and tacky. 2 person tables are paired up with large living room armchairs that dont really fit into a restaurant theme and large dining room tables that you would find at home. Décor aside, the restaurant is large, so have no fear of waiting for reservations or walk-​in spots. Parking is iffy, most of the spots around the restaurant are metered and residential.
A forewarning for those who are looking forward to eating here is the price tag. A 2 person meal could cost you an upwards of 50 $ minimum, not including tips or alcohol yet. 8pcs Salmon sashimi costs 16.99, while it feels fresh and is served very elegantly, not sure if the price tag is justified for their sashimi in general. Their rolls are also quite pricy, but one does get more toppings and stuffings than rice in edible portions. Contrary to the look and taste, their cold udon & tempura meal is quite tasty and unique. Food prices aside, the portions for everything were fair and within normal standards (not samurai sized).
While this is my 1^st visit, i feel the restaurant has changed over the years for the worse? many of the foods cater to the Caucasian majority that lives around Kerrisdale, which might be reflected in the price and assortment. Ultimately, it feels like an overpriced and upscaled take-​out Japanese restaurant. There are just not enough olde-​fashioned classic Japanese foods like chawanmushi or unique specialties that would warrant a return. At the same price point, I would recommend Ichiro in Steveston if you are willing to take the drive out there to experience something better.
A slightly disappointed Three, out of Five.

Friday night, friend’s birthday, party of 14. We ended up at Shota as they were able to accomodate a large group on short notice. The dining room is cozy with asian décor with modern chairs and tables. The place was abuzz with a fun, lively atmosphere.
Their menu is quite extensive with many specialty rolls ranging from $ 8 – 14. Being hungry and indecisive, I went with the dinner combo C which consisted of a rainbow roll, spicy tuna roll, and chefs selection of 5 pieces of nigiri sushi (these turned out to be tuna, salmon, kani, tamago, and ebi). While the sushi was good, I was expecting more given the combo was $ 25. The fish was of a similar quality you’d expect from sushi garden. I also added on two pieces of tobiko (which had a quail egg ontop). These were quite tasty but pricey ($ 7 for 2 pieces). Food portions were good — I was stuffed after wolfing down the sushi combo.

The service was hit and miss. The servers themselves were friendly and quick to cater to our needs but the kitchen took a while to bring our food out. Granted it was busy, four of us were kept waiting while everyone else started eating (we have a 5-​minute wait period). Our meals arrived 10 minutes later.
I don’t mind paying more for a higher quality meal and experience but for $ 35, I didn’t feel I was getting value. However, given the lack of good sushi in the area, this may be a convenient place to get a decent meal.

We didn’t have to wait for a table on a Friday night since we booked a table for a group of 8.
Lobster sashimi is very good and fresh.
We ordered various diff kinds of special rolls, the rainbow roll, the spider roll (soft shell crab), yew roll, etc. Very delicious.
Service could have been better. We weren’t too impressed after we got seated, and we waited at least 20 mins until we got someone to serve us and pour us some tea. May be they’re just busy…
Didn’t have to wait too long for the food to come, which is a good thing.
Overall, I think it’s pretty good. Will have to try it the 2^nd time to determine if I’ll recommend my friends to go there! Until all my experiences are consistent with one another.

I am not familiar with this area so I allowed my friend to choose where we were going for lunch, since he works around the area I would assume he knew exactly where to take us and I got the chance to come here. It wasn’t a busy lunch but the one thing I did notice is how much this place looked more like a tea house than a sushi restaurant. The chairs were huge, like something you’d see at someone’s house in the living room, where they are display pieces. The crowd was an older crowd (what my culture would call ‘see-​lai’ is what you see here, ask a person who is fluent in Cantonese!) who seemed to all have the time of day to sit around with their pinky’s in the air tipping their cups of tea!
I actually didn’t mind the look, as this is a great place to talk, just don’t raise your voice too loud or you will make people look your way. The place is nice, and looking at the menu, it is a little bit more costly than your run of the mill Japanese restaurant for lunch. The menu was packed with pretty rolls, along with lunch specials. We went with the spider roll and also an order of agedashi tofu. The presentation here is pretty good, long plates filled with rolls on an angle, and it was pretty clean, size was about rice, not over-​riced like some Chinese-​Japanese places I know about, your not getting value here, but you are getting quality, even with the Agedashi tofu, with it’s light batter nicely fried, yet falling off while being drenched in the sauce. We even had a few slices of their tuna sashima, not fishy at all, well cut, very fine, not fatty, I was impressed.
If I’m around here again, I may go back in, it’s a little on the expensive side, but what my dear said was that… it’s Kerrisdale… true, and with a tea house feel you get what you pay for… perhaps. Just look for parking on the back end of the street and get your pinky up for this place if you want some pretty good looking rolls.

I’ve been to this sushi joint many times, so many times I have a VIP card which costs $ 25 a year to get but gets you 10% off all of your sushi orders. I definitely make my money back with this one as I order out, eat in, cater home parties with their sushi… you get the point. If you love sushi as much as me get the VIP shota card!
I was here for lunch today and ordered the lunchtime special which comes with:
miso soup
nice salad with peanut sauce
your choice of flamed slamon sushi, spicy tuna sashimi or aegodashi tofu
and your choice of one of their special roll (I recommend the philadelphia roll, kerrisdale roll or the alaska roll)
This place has great special rolls and their lunchtime special is only $ 12.95 probably one of the best value sushi meals out there but its only available at lunch. They really should do something like this for dinner.
The service is prompt and on this occasion I was clumpsy and dumped my miso soup all over the table and on the floor. They quickly and politely cleaned it up and brought me a new miso without much fuss.
The sashimi is alright and not as good as Ajisai but its still solid. I love this place, my friends love this place and this review is based on probably atleast 50 visits to this establishment. Its not high end sushi, but its not poor mans sushi either but for the money and value I don’t think you do much better than this place. That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it! This from a certified VIP shota member 4 years in a row. Booya!