Taiyo Sushi

Can’t believe they are closed! This was my favorite sushi place in town! Staff was awesome, prices were very cheap and quality was good. Also they had vegan tempura! So sad.

saddest day ever… taiyo sushi is closed!
we will miss you guys! best sushi in van: O (good luck to all of you from taiyo sushi, you guys were awesome!!!

Quick, deadly cheap, tasty, and über-​attentive service.
Way more vegetarian options than I’m used to seeing in local restos, period. There’s a whole sheet (including pictures) devoted to the veggie combos.
Many combos to choose from, and at lunch time you can walk out happily full for well under ten smackaroos.
A fantastic sushi joint to hit up, especially if you like good value and good service!

You don’t go to Taiyo for the best sushi in Vancouver. You go here for good cheap sushi. It’s not flashy, the red sign is dated, the window decorations are tacky and close off the space from the bustling Drive, but that’s not why you’re here. You want good cheap sushi, and Taiyo is a must stop for that. I always take my out of town visitors here. You know, the land locked souls (hello, Alberta) and also the Europeans used to paying $ 4+ for one piece of toro.
I typically order the More Crunch Roll, a delicious take on the Caterpillar. The three 18pc combos are a steal, I actually feel bad ordering them, but they are perfect for a quick lunch. Also the salmon is all wild, unheard of at this price point! Finally, the service always puts a smile on my face. The two main guys are true characters with voices fit for the stage. And they are ALWAYS here! I don’t think they take vacations!
Taiyo is rarely 100% full, and I was really reluctant to post a review for fear of it getting too busy (like Sushiyama at 7pm), but after a few more of these reviews that will change. It reminds me of the story of a secret hole-​in-​the-​wall you selfishly kept to yourself so you never had to wait for a table, only to go one day to see a sign saying they went out of business. I never want that to happen to the good people at Taiyo (and for selfish reasons because I love sushi!).

Cheap, fast and yummy. Enjoyed my vegan options. Another great joint in my neighborhood.

If you want some cheap fast veg rolls and plenty this place is the best on the drive. Avacado roll city. The older server (owner?) is fun and loud. And service is prompt. I guess this review might be 4.5 stars since some of the non-​roll things are not amazing, like the gyoza. I had sake too which was not that great but that is not what I really come here for.

I love love love love this place and I don’t think I can begin to describe how much. My boyfriend and I go there quite often and as soon as we come in, we are greeted with the red carpet feeling (that’s already been mentioned in another review). It’s quite funny sometime because the whole restaurant turns to look at you as you come in and they greet you quite loudly! I love the chef, I love Tony … (the awesome Mr. Myagi-​sounding guy that everyone always mentions. how awesome is it that his name is TONY???) and I love the food. I love that if I call an order in, they remember me and my order and I love that when I sit down to eat, Tony’s super quick to bring me water and a fork (I don’t drink jasmine tea and I can’t use chopsticks. yes, I know).
I don’t think I’ve ever been there and not have had Tony tell me to enjoy life. Sometimes it’s «enjoy life, drink beer.» I always always smile when I go there.
The food is delicious. After going there endless times, I’m still amazed at how fresh it is! I prefer the «fancier» rolls (around $ 4.95-$ 6.95). such as:
Power Roll — Basically a dynamite roll with tuna and salmon sashimi on top (yum!)
Tayio Nr. 3 — Salmon tempura, cream cheese, mango on top.
Yam Roll wrapped with smoked salmon
Yam Roll wrapped with avocado
Green Roll = Asparagus wrapped with avocado and ETC.
I also love the huuuuge selection of veggie rolls. the fact that their rolls are huge (a lot of them come with 8 pieces rather than the standard 6). I definitely go there a couple times a month, for sure and I have brought in tons of customers over the last year and all of them have loved it.

HAAARRROOO COME IN COME IN! Oh how I wish I can insert a video clip on here. This is the greeting, in a strong japanese accent, you get as soon as you get in from this Asian guy… then another customer comes in and you hear HAAARRROOO COME IN COME IN! again… and again. It’s an avalanche of super friendly, über loud appreciation of your presence! Talk about a red carpet entrance in sushiland :-D
To add on to their superb customer service, they remember pretty much most of their customers and even remember what you ordered in the past!
This place has a lot to boast for. Need I repeat how I enjoy his greetings? The price is also unbelievably affordable for such huge servings! One of my pet peeves from most sushi places is when they charge so much on tiny rolls or paper thin sashimis. I recommend their BBQ Mackerel, BBQ squid, Fantastic Roll and whatever tempura they have to offer. A bit of a warning though, they use a LOT of breading. If you love your breading on your tempura, then ignore said warning :-P
It’s now dinner time and I think I’m in the mood for some sushi…
PS: They deliver but for a minimum purchase of $ 20 only.

I feel as though I should write my entire review in ALL CAPS to ensure my seriousness and enthusiasm are properly conveyed. There are about a million little «cheap» sushi places on the drive… but now there is only one for this girl. This place is the best. BEST.
There are so many veggie choices on the menu. SWOON. My favourites by far are the green roll (asparagus and avocado) and the firecracker roll (zucchini and yam I want to say?) The portion sizes are HUGE and the prices are CHEAP. My eyes are always bigger than my stomach.
Now lets talk about how fantastic the service is! Everyone is super sweet and attentive, you really don’t wait that long for anything. The man, I want to call him the owner, but I am not sure on that… rules. He is so friendly, funny and has the greatest voice you have ever heard. I love him! He really is the icing on the already tasty veggie sushi cake.
Shout out to the lovely man that works at the co-​op across the street for suggesting I eat here. Sushi life changed.

I’ve been here multiple times, and considering how much sushi there is on the drive, I guess that’s something to be said in their favour.. . but I think really I just keep coming back for the AMAZING old man who greets you very loudly, and when he serves you he sounds like what I imagine an old samurai warrior teaching someone about honour would sound. He is totally badass.
Good natured ribbing of the staff aside, they really are great. I once went in and realized that I had forgotten my wallet and without so much as a fuss they let me just come back in the next day to pay.
As far as food goes, it’s A-​OK, as my three stars would infer. I’d never not want to go there, but I wouldn’t really go out of my way. They have the same problem that so many places have, which is some rolls being too big around to get in your mouth in one bite, but they still taste good.

The décor is old and tacky, but the food is good and they serve large portions for a reasonable price. Dinner for two with beer: $ 27.
I found it a great place for a quick lunch, but there are only 3 or 4 booths and a few tables, so seating can be limited in evenings.
Would give it 5 stars if I didn’t get blasted with cold air whenever the door opens in the winter.

I love Taiyo! Their service is amazing, attentive and super friendly. Their rolls are always fresh, huge, flavourful and very well priced. My favourite is the super crunchy roll (salmon tempura w cream cheese wrapped w yam tempura) and their yam tempura roll wrapped with tons of avocado is the best!
I can’t understand some of the negative reviews, as I come here about once a week and have never experienced stale rice, bland sushi or noisy staff… I recommend everyone stop in for some fast, filling, fresh, affordable dinner!

badman style. some serious respect out to my boys at taiyo.
proper all the time!!!
TAAAIIIOOOOOOOO!!!

So I was at work today and decided to get sushi since I was in the mood for some raw fish. On the recommendation of a co-​worker 3 of us ended up picking up some food from there.
I had a california roll, a dynamite roll and one of the specialty rolls called a «more crunch roll» (prawn tempura, cucumber and tobiko wrapped in unagi and avacado). One of my co-​workers got his ‘usual’ of 4 dynamite rolls, and our vegetarian co-​worker just got avocado rolls.
Since it was a pick-​up order I can’t comment on the store, the staff or the atmosphere; but I can comment on what is ultimately the most important part of any restaurant — the food itself.
Now I realize that the food here isn’t exactly aiming for a fine-​dining type of crowd, but even so I could tell that the rice was old just by looking at it. I’m no food critic or anything but one bite into my california roll confirmed my suspicions. The roll was relatively tasteless and so dry that I had a hard time squeezing it down my throat. I began to realize that the reason they gave us so much soy sauce was so that we could lubricate it enough to swallow everything.
Next I tackled the dynamite roll. Not much better. Still dry, still tasteless, and the tail of the prawn wasn’t even crunchy. Hmm… I smell a theme here.
Lastly on to the specialty roll. At least this picked up a little bit. I still had to lube up the damn thing to not choke on it on the way down, but it did have a bit of flavor to it. It even tasted pretty decent. If only the rest of the rolls had been like this! (The flavor, not the texture or freshness mind you.) Even so, ¹⁄₃ is not really a great average.
I asked my vegetarian co-​worker how his avocado roll was and he agreed with me that the rice was ‘off’ and it was all very dry. Phew. Now I know I’m not just being overly critical in my review.
What it comes down to is that food makes a restaurant, and this place just didn’t have very good food. Even for cheap food — and that kinda says something. I don’t think I’ll be back here any time soon.

Come on people… How does this place earn 4 or even 5 stars? I have to admit that the staff is super friendly and welcoming, but then there’s the food…
I grew up in Vancouver and I’ve had my fair share of Japanese food. Be it traditional, fusion, high end, cheap, made by actual Japanese people/​Chinese/​Korean/​Vietnamese — I think I’ve had it all! In comparison, Taiyo just doesn’t stack up to other Japanese restaurants around town with a similar price point. I found the California roll very dry and lacking avocados, my teriyaki was watered down and generally things just didn’t taste right.
In addition, even though there were only 1 – 2 guests besides me in the restaurant, it was very noisy because the employees were yelling (or speaking very loudly) to each other in Vietnamese (or some similar language that was definitely not Japanese).
I was anticipating to satisfy a huge craving for Japanese food today, but Taiyo just didn’t do it for me.

I’m not at all surprised that this place has a 5-​star average. First of all, the guy that works here is just awesome. When walking by Taiyo, you can hear him saying «Welcome! Come in, come in!» to the customers entering the restaurant. He also recognizes regulars, and when I was here the other day, a guy came in and he brought him a special, customized cup for his green tea. Man, that guy must eat here often!
As for the food, well, it’s pretty darn terrific. The lunch bento boxes at $ 5.95 a pop will leaved you stuffed to the max. But this place isn’t just good because you get a lot of food (like some sushi places); the quality of food is top notch. I especially like how they only use wild salmon, which is a rarity amongst sushi restaurants. Also, for the vegetarians out there, Taiyo has the most extensive vegetarian menu at a sushi place that I have ever seen.
They’ve got a few TVs here, so it’s also a nice place to come and watch the game –especially if you’re sick of trying to cram yourself into jam packed bars downtown.
Way to go, Taiyo!

The friendliest, freshest, funnest place for sushi? It’s quite possible!
If your server (probably the owner) drops off a dish saying «enjoy life» smile! This is a happy place. If he leaves you a menu because you think you may order more saying «eat more!» Smile more. And if your order of one cone is misunderstood for two, take home that extra one and «eat more enjoying life» at home. I don’t know if I’ve ever met a prophet, but I think this dude is as close as I’ve gotten.
This isn’t my hood, but I would come this far out of my way for sushi from here. My negitoro cone was incredibly balanced, and a steal at $ 2.25. Our BBQ mackerel was larger than life. The agadashi tofu was 2 – 3 times the size I’ve had at other places, and for the same price.
I can’t think of anything that this place is missing, save for it being busier on a Friday night. Come on people, they have TV’s for hockey, they serve beer and sake, there should be a line up out the door!

I love this place! Family run, fresh and generous portions. Everyone is so friendly and enthusiastic. Definitely in my top 5 sushi spots in Vancouver! I don’t need fusion or modern décor when the place has service and food like this.

I love Taiyo sushi. The staff is very friendly, sweet and funny. The food is great, and there’s a whole bunch of vegetarian options. They even have a sheet of vegetarian lunch specials — for less than $ 5! If you’re into veg sushi, try the green roll — asparagus maki topped with avocado. The asparagus has always been perfectly crisp and flavourful when I’ve ordered it here. The special veg rolls are MASSIVE and so cheap. I always, always order way too much food here and then struggle to eat it.
The owner (?) who serves us all the time is just hilarious. I love his samurai movie voice. He calls us by name, gives us so much tea, and makes every single order a fun experience. We’ve also noticed that the food is getting BETTER — isn’t that something?
No complaints about Taiyo. It’s great value for your money, it’s a positive and fun experience, and it’s a restaurant that’s friendly for everyone.

This place isn’t exactly Tojo’s, but the food was decent and staff was full of character. I ordered a box and a roll and was overstuffed — the boxes are huge and a good value.