Shikisai Japanese Restaurant

Sitting in the restaurant and waiting for take out.
Problems here:
— call in to order gets ignored/​put on hold forever (the person that takes order doesn’t even know there’s a call waiting)
— take out menu out-​dated. Can I get the latest one? There is none…
— the most expensive sashimi plate takes over 25min to make…
— What’s the sushi in the daily special sushi combo? It’s up to the chefs… Want to know because wondering if ordering enough? «You can choose something else»
Why I still order here? Close to where I live…

Great sushi and nice atmosphere. The chefs always greet you when you come in and leave. Only downsides are the prices and very little dining space.

Horrible customer service, the waitress screwed up the orders for our table and the table beside us. Our chopped scallop sushi was sitting on the table beside us for half an hour until they found

This Japanese restaurant is running by Japanese. Everything is very authentic. The waitresses were older Japanese females. Their service and the interior design of the restaurant were okay. Nothing was super fancy.
I was trying to order a couple of ikura nigiri but the waitress said their restaurant did not have any ikura at that moment. My boyfriend ordered an appetizer — chicken karaage to start with. The portion was small. He also ordered a sashimi bento box for dinner. I was trying to order a dish of deep fried seafood combo with rice but they did not have those seafood. I was kind of disappointed. Then I had to change to order a miso saba combo with rice. Everything tasted ok but not great. We could find a better Japanese restaurant at other places with better quality. I tried a slice of tuna sashimi from the sashimi bento box. It was bad that I could not eat the tuna because of the tendons. I had to give up eating it unfortunately.
The prices were reasonable but I did not have a good impression with this restaurant as I could not order what I wanted but the food was listed on the menu. Plus the food quality was not very good.

It was pretty good when I came here a couple years ago, but quality has gone down at least when I visited last weekend. Several dishes were not available, including the ikura sushi and many of the tei shoku meals.
Service was abysmally slow, from the initial seating, to the wait for ordering, then the wait for food. The restaurant wasn’t even half full, but the two servers were too busy talking to each other or to the chefs.
The chicken karaage was terrible. Stay away from it. Oily, flavorless, dry, a pity to do that to chicken. The tuna and salmon sashimi were ok. How can you screw that up as long as the fish is fresh? Just a bad experience overall. I’ll probably never come back again, especially with all the other options in the city.

I usually end up at this place for a quick bite. The Sashimi Bento comes with everything I want — sashimi, prawn and veg tempura, rice, miso, and salad. The Chirashi Don is quite good, but pricey. The prawn tempura is pretty good. Servers are always nice.

Have eaten there twice when visiting friends in the area.
On the first visit I ordered the chicken rice bowl. It was a great value for under $ 10. The rice bowl was ample and tasted wonderfully. The rice was infused with a great flavor.
The second visit I ordered the fried seafood combination. It was accompanied with miso soup, rice and some pickled vegetables. Seafood cosisted of prawn, oysters, fish and cish croquette. Seafood was tasty with a nice panko crust.
Service was attentive but not intrusive
Overall an excellent place for an affordable price.

Menus and prices are out of date. Salad does not come with rice bowls as advertised. When confronted with mistakes about the discrepancy, they will not honour what was written on the menu.

Went there for the first time after the renovation. They have a nice seating area now. I forgot they had renovated so I just was ordering take out. The staff was friendly as they made sure to greet you at you enter and thank you as you leave in Japanese which was pretty cool. The staff took my order of a chopped scallop roll and the combo A –cucumber roll, salmon roll and tuna roll. Pretty standard stuff, nothing too complicated. I decided to go get bubble tea and come back to pick up my order and I’m glad I did because when I came back, it still wasn’t ready yet. Once i got the order: The rolls themselves were pretty good. Basic and authentic, portion not that big though the price is a little more expensive than other sushi places around richmond/​vancouver. Other than the longer wait time and particular opening hours, the place is a really nice neighborhood restaurant to get that quick fix of sushi you’ve been craving!

Shikisai is a regular favourite of ours because it is (1) near by (2) has decently fresh sushi and (3) is pretty consistent. The staff are quite friendly and are very accommodating to families. As mentioned by other reviewers, recent renovations to the place has really upped the appeal value of the restaurant giving it a fresh look with much needed additional seating (they never used to have the larger dining area).
Overall though you are still getting the average sushi fare that you see at neighbourhood locations such as these. There is nothing particularly mind blowing, but it is excellent if you are wanting to satisfy that sushi itch. So really this is more like a 3.5 stars in my books.
If you’re up for it, I recommend getting the grilled salmon. Yum!
Our recent excursion there with the kids included the Chicken Karaage Bento Box for $ 9.50 (very filling and the chicken was wonderfully crispy) and an order of tamago and unagi sushi.

Nope, no thanks. Been here a couple of times and received terrible service. It was not that the staffs were horrible and incompetent; rather, this restaurant was under-​staffed. A little more understanding in supply and demand goes a long way.
Waited 45 minutes for my order to arrive. When the food did arrived… udon was tasteless and the broth was not warm enough.
It would be insane of me to return to this restaurant again and again in order to expect a different outcome.

So had a chance to come to this restaurant. Great little authentic Japanese restaurant. Friendly atmosphere, greeted you when u get in and said goodbye all in Japanese. This gave a authentic Japanese feel. Service was good better second time around. Food was great, fast. However, first time around I was in a party of 4 and my food came 5 min ahead. Second time food came in a timely order.
pros: good food, authentic, good service
Cons: sometimes food arrives earlier than your companions
Yes will repeat

Good neighborhood restaurant. I was here when it was just half the size and back then it was a real treasure find. Nice Japanese family run business. My Japanese Food Critique even liked the place. She loved the charm of the place back then and the variety was good. This is not just a sushi joint. They serve other dishes that maybe some of you diners wouldn’t know as much about.
Just imagine this. What do you think Japanese people would eat at home on a daily basis? Not sushi, that’s for sure. Sushi is a specialty type of food for special occasions. The food they serve here is more like home cooked food that families would eat daily. Pork and fish katsu’s, Chicken Karaage’s, rice dishes, stews and such.
Think about Bento boxes and you’re pretty close to the description of the food they serve here.
Yet, it’s more than that.
With the expansion that happened a year or so ago. The dining area is more modernized and has a more comforting feel to it. The ambiance has been kicked up a few notches. As you enter, the original part of the restaurant is still there, but the entry way is more open since it’s not so cluttered with tables as it was before. You walk in past the kitchen side and into the dining area side where warm woody colours greet you.
The staff are friendly and the menu is essentially the same as before. It’s just a bit more classier now. Out of the 80’s and into 2015.
Sushi, I give them a C+ for the Sushi
Variety of sushi is an A
Cooked food, I give them a B+
Bento Boxes B
presentation of the dishes in general is a solid C+
Freshness of ingredients B+ — A
Service B+
If you happen to be the Japanese Food Critique? You get A+ service
So what did she rate this place as if you’re curious?
She gives them a 3.5 stars for the food and a 4 star service.
She likes this place.
And my Mother? She told me to give them a 4+ star rating!

It’s nice to have a authentic neighborhood sushi joint. I haven’t been to the location in many years, and they have now expanded to take over the space next door to become a true sit down Japanese restaurant.
We came here as a bunch of coworkers for Friday lunch. We called ahead to make reservations as the place is quite small. Upon seating, we were served hot green tea. Their menu has a lot of selection, it will take you a while to read through everything.
Upon deciding between chirashi, bento boxes, curry and various rolls, I finally decided on the Aburi Nigiri set. It’s 5 pieces of nigiri sushi, lightly seared and beautifully displayed. It comes with hamachi, salmon toro, toro, hotate and saba. The seafood was fresh and the rice was good. I could have eaten another plate!
Service is friendly and the place is clean. I cannot wait to come back to try out one of their many other dishes!

This place was a hole in the wall Japanese restaurant loooong ago, then the owners sold it and another Japanese restaurant took its place. The original owners then bought the place back and expanded it.
I have to say they did a fantastic job on renos. More tables, nicer cutlery, and environment. The only down side is it does get a bit warm during the summer time.
The restaurant is run by Japanese people and the food is always good and very reasonable priced !! It’s always busy with walk ins and take outs.
There’s a lot to choose from on the menu. They also have daily specials. One thing different about this place is that there’s quite a large selection in the bento boxes and everything is presented artfully !!!

Okay so my last review (on June 11^th) was actually for a meal I had in May. Anyways, I came back this week for a snack and I was surprised to find that they had renovated the restaurant and had actually built an entire restaurant section using the unit beside the restaurant!
The restaurant look a lot cleaner now and the menu has expanded. They also have new tableware and everything and of course new shiny menus! The upgrade is fantastic and the same old friendly staff work there. The food quality is still the same but they focus more on presentation now, which is really nice since it feels higher end rather than the «hole-​in-​the-​wall» that you occasionally pop by when you’re just wearing sweatpants and a tee.
Definitely give Shikisai a try if you’re in the Garden City area!

Great traditional japanese foods!
They are expanding from about 20 seats to 40? So business must be good, meaning they must be doing something right (good food + good service)
Restaurant is run by actual Japanese people, you can often see them chat with customers in Japanese when it’s not very busy.
One section of their menu really stands out from other japanese places, and it is their «Teishokus» (Lunch/​Dinner Sets), ranging from potato croquette, beef, chicken, pork, to a variety of fishes.
Their Noodles (Ramen & Udon) are really simple and delicious!
Their sushi won’t disappoint, and have always been fresh so far.
The place feels clean, simple, and homey like a Japanese home. Their kitchen is also Open View behind the sushi counter, so u can actually see your food being cooked/​made if u wanted to.
Service is not exceptional, but not bad at all.
They are quite busy during peak hours, and since they only have so much space, i would suggest you either make reservations or head in a lil earlier than the time you plan to actually eat.
Can’t say i have ever been disappointed by them of all the times i went (5+), if you want some «Japanese Food», this is the place to go! They take credit and debit as well, so that’s a plus!
Happy Eating!

We were in the area and my friend had recommended we go here for a quick simple authentic Japanese meal, so we thought we would try. It’s a very small restaurant with about five tables and a bar seating. There were actually a lot of staff there, five in the kitchen and three waitresses. They all spoke Japanese. I think it’s because they mostly cater to take out. We were seated at the bar.
The menu has the typical basic Japanese food. They have most appetizers and entrees you would see at other Japanese restaurants. We both got the bento, which has California roll, assorted tempura, green salad, edamame, and a choice of teriyaki chicken, teriyaki beef, teriyaki salmon, or chicken karrage. We chose teriyaki salmon. It also starts with a miso soup.
I liked the variety of the bento box. The California roll was a little small but filling. The tempura was good, except the celery was a little odd for me. The salmon was an ok size but I would have liked it to be bigger. They forgot the dressing on our salad but when we asked for some they apologized and immediately got some for us. The portion of the entire box was underwhelming but I ended up being full after, so it’s ok. Probably all the rice on the California roll and the tempura.
It was a pretty good deal as the box was only $ 8.50. For this price I think I would come again. They have udon for $ 5.75-$ 8 as well and appetizers that are $ 3.50. Not too bad. The staff are attentive and quick and it was actually fully seated when we went. They are expanding as well — I could see the construction.
I would definitely come again. It’s not as good as Blue Door, but it’s a lot closer. It’s right near my gym though so unfortunately it might end up undoing my work!