After reading Sherman’s post about Sushiyama a while back, I decided to give it a try. I had driven past it several times and had no idea that such a Vancouver sushi gem lay behind its doors.
We decided to start first with a dish of appetizer sashimi. I was pleased to see that this did not include the usual offering of just pale tuna and salmon. I quite enjoyed the red tuna sashimi as well as the piece right in the foreground of the picture below although I’m not sure what it was. Any ideas?
Due to a miscommunication with our server, we accidentally ordered the Boston Roll, which had cooked prawns, cucumbers, and avocado. Both Jenkins and I felt this roll was pretty tasteless so it’s unlikely we will order it again.
The next roll we had was the Kamikaze Roll, which was a spicy offering of tuna, cucumbers, and tobiko enveloped in a spicy sauce. I would have liked it to be spicier but found this roll pretty enjoyable overall. The generous and chunky tuna filling was the highlight of this roll.
I really enjoyed the Negitoro Rolls at Sushiyama. The toro was nice and fatty and there was just enough green onion to really complement the toro.
The smoked salmon roll was only so-so for me. It was basically a California roll with salmon on top. I found this roll to be a bit dry so I ended up dipping my pieces in more soy sauce than usual.
Finally, we had the Salifornia roll, which is a deep fried California roll with salmon skin. Although it was pretty unique, it actually reminded me of one of the special rolls at Taiko in California. The crunchy exterior of the roll gave way to the creamy avocado and crab meat, which was an interesting contrast of textures. Obviously, you wouldn’t be able to order this all the time since it’s not very healthy though. 
We had both hits and misses at Sushiyama but both Jenkins and I felt it was good enough to warrant another visit. We’ve been back a couple of times since our initial visit and are slowly starting to familiarize ourselves with the menu and now know which rolls are good repeat candidates. Although not all of their rolls are winners in our opinion, they are all made with very fresh ingredients and I think this is partly aided by their large customer base and quick turnover.
Details:
371 E. Broadway, Vancouver
Tel: 604-872-0053
Summary:
Food: 
Service: 
Price: $$
My review of Pho Thai Hoa's latest location 
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Thanks for the shout out! And also thanks for the tips as to what not to order! I hope you get a chance to try the Garlic Tai. Sooo good! Did you have to lineup? They always have a lineup!
@Sherman – no, I didn’t have a chance to try the Garlic Tai yet! Every time I go to Sushiyama, I remember the picture from your website but can’t remember what it was called :p We’ve been pretty lucky so far…generally don’t have to wait except for 1 time for about 10 minutes! We must have good timing
Hi Gigi! I have a favourite dish at sushiyama I think you should try..the sushi pizza…it seems to be unique to this japanese restaurant. There are pieces of raw tuna and salmon on top of chopped imitation crab meat with a crispy rice cake on the bottom. Let me know what you think of it when you get a chance to give it a try =)
@Lucy – thanks for the suggestion! It sounds pretty interesting…I’ll have to try it out soon.
Gigi,
Not sure you will see this comment on this older post, but I think the fish in your sashimi plate in the foreground is yellowtail belly or yellowtail, which is terrific!
@Nancy – it must have been yellowtail belly then! It was quite tasty