Sushi Bar Maumi - Vancouver, British Columbia

I wasn’t sure if this was a “sit silently while Maumi-san makes you sushi” situation at first, but from what other people were doing, it seemed to be a relatively relaxed and causal experience. It was great getting a front-row seat to see Maumi-san perform his craft. Each sushi was ... delicious and perfectly crafted. Pro-Tip: He will ask at the beginning if you want wasabi or no wasabi. If you don’t like wasabi, don’t get it. You can taste the wasabi flavor in all the dishes. Read more

WELL WELL WELL worth the value and clearly on par with other omakase I have had ($300+). What an amazing experience we had. Booked 3 people for the Omakase dinner ($135) with Sake pairings ($15). You can order more sushi at the end of the dinner if you are wanting to ... have more of what you were served, OR order pieces that weren't served. I could ramble on about the fish quality and taste but overall it is just a great experience at a price you can't beat. When visiting Vancouver this would be the spot I would make sure friends/family visit. Really cool intimate atmosphere as well. Read more

Mediocre service, performance, and atmosphere, but really fresh fish. They don't use real wasabi which is very surprising and cheapens the experience you're paying for. Not a filling meal, you can order additional nigiri afterwards, but not sure if i'd say the value is there.

The interior is luxurious, the food is beautiful, and the taste is elegant. Enjoying it with a drink is a blissful experience. If you want to taste authentic sushi, you should definitely go here.

Atmosphere and the exclusive feel of the place is the standout piece. We ordered the Omakase set ($135pp) the sake flight. ($15pp), a bottle of sake ($60), additional pieces of nigiri (taira-gai, and tamago) and dessert at the end. For the price, and being a Michelin guide restaurant it’s decent. ... It’s comparable to a standard sushi bar in Japan (lived there for a while) in terms of food quality and taste. The GOOD: seafood was fresh and generally well prepared. The okami-san was friendly and was attentive, explaining where and how to access the online menu. Relatively good value for omakase in downtown core. My guests were stuck in traffic and after letting them know they were nice to serve their pieces after they arrived. Rice was prepared well and at body temperature. Additional nigiri rice can be requested if you want a bit more food. The dessert (matcha cheesecake) was decadent and rich, yet not overpowering. Selection of sake in the flight of 3 had good contrast and variation and was a good deal at $15pp. Remember, you're here for sushi, so there is going to be limited selection of hot foods. Since they can focus at what their good at, the overall sushi experience is excellent (minus one major caveat covered under the bad). The OKAY: the preparation of the 13 types of nigiri was surprisingly spartan. Aburi or oshi-zushi would have been a simple addition or variation to some of the pieces. For example, they had 2 types of uni (sea urchin) back-to-back which could have been spaced out for contrast. Furthermore, as many other reviewers have mentioned, the taisho (chef) was professional but didn’t take much time to elaborate on the various types of fish (IE: what’s so special about each and how they are prepared?) personally I don’t care as much since I just want good food, but some people come for the experience. Green tea is not included and costs $5 per pot. Even though I tried making conversation with the taisho, he didn’t really pick up on it. The BAD: powdered wasabi, and using too much of it. Makes me wonder if the chef is tasting his food. I had to remove it from the pieces that were possible because the powdered stuff is way too pungent for the delicate fish being served. For this price point, using real grated wasabi would not only be a great touch, but also kind of expected. The amount needed wouldn't have added too much cost; or simply charge for it as an option. Finally, since this place is paid-reservation only through Tock, it is not well explained and I noticed another couple asking questions about it. According to Tock's website, the reservation fee should be deducted from the bill total, but it wasn’t, causing some confusion. Not really the restaurant's fault, but could be made more clear. The reservation fee was refunded directly via Tock a few hours later. Omakase menu items and some notes: BOTAN EBI - fresh and tender, wasabi too pungent KINME DAI - good KATSUO - slightly fishy, well marinated and good amount of ginger SURUME IKA - very fresh and bouncy HONMAGURO ZUKE - well done NAMA HOTATE - my favourite, sweet and plump MURASAKI UNI FROM JAPAN - ok, colour a bit off and slight bitterness. Wasabi was removed before eating BAFUN UNI FROM JAPAN - really good and creamy, sweet and nice orange colour. Wasabi was removed before eating HONMAGURO CHU-TORO - buttery, excellent SHIMAAJI - nice glaze, fresh HONMAGURO O-TORO - good but had huge piece of connective tissue there SABA - very fishy (as expected) could have used some lemon or ginger ANAGO - below average, boiled and not enough tare Taira gai - thinly sliced, firm but tender Tamago: temperature too cold, but tasted ok. Would have been nicer if left to room temperature. Dessert: matcha cheesecake - this one was really good! Nice amount of sweetness and bitterness with real cream Summary: The omakase set is good value but nothing extraordinary. Atmosphere is exclusive and intimate, but the human interactions could have been enhanced with more omotenashi (hospitality). Great choice of sake with updated menus online. Overall good Read more