Ki Modern Japanese + Bar

What a pity this place is going to be closing! I know no one that goes regularly but I don’t really know why. I don’t live downtown and I’ve seen my share of other busier hipsterish places that are, in my opinion, much worse to go to for the same price.
Firstly, I like this bar. It has a great drink array — from a nice selection of wines (including having a few reds on tap that one of our managers at work, who is also the wine snob, approved of), scotches (including a Talisker 16), gins, and sake — of this type there was a really large assortment of bottles at various price points, with really good characterizations added. This was a Christmas afterparty site and we went through the alcohols in this order — the final sake they recommended was beautifully clear and refreshing, and somehow helped to awaken the mind after the many other intoxicating agents I’d ingested that day.
I guess the first possible weak point is that it has just decent sushi — it’s capable, but nothing to write home about. Places like Guu, Hapa, and Kingyo have it beat on this nearby. There was a salmon sushi pizza thing that we had as well as some other tuna nigiri that wasn’t overly memorable. The fish was acceptable and the flavors were fine, but something was missing if you know what I mean.
The layout of the lounge was nice. It had dark, relaxing décor that’s all the rage with lounge people, which is perfect for a Friday night if one isn’t wanting to go out and be wild just yet. The service was very helpful and attentive, but again, no one was here on a Friday night so that also might explain it.
Overall, I liked this place a good deal and think it would have been a logical hit with a lot of the higher wage earners in the vicinity. I’m still puzzling my brain as to why it would be so abandoned but the only reason I can think of is that while it’s attached to the Shangri-​La Hotel (yes, that’s also half of why I’m shocked it’s not busy at all), it’s across a bridge from Market which may already dissuade a lot of customers. Also, the only alternative access involves taking an elevator outside (which I can barely understand WHY they’d have two disconnected buildings for… is Urban Fare really that special that it deserves a separate entity?), which may confuse people in trying to figure out how to get there.
A pity it’s closing. It would’ve been a place I’d have gone to occasionally, though not a place I’d frequent. Lounging just ain’t my thing.

This is excellent sushi served in a classier setting. If you like «fusion» sushi, this is the place to go! Tojo’s is expensive and ridiculously overpriced and not as amazing as people make it out to be. If you want to impress clients, this place also doesn’t disappoint. The service has always been amazing.
I prefer the lounge area versus the formal dining area. It’s surprising the lounge area stays in business considering there’s really only up to 10 people on that side at a time, but I’m not complaining! If you like the more intimate, date-​y feel, that’s the side to go to. You can also dress casually so that’s a plus for me.
Now the food portion of the review: it’s outstanding. There’s a few staple dishes I always insist on getting because you can’t find it anywhere else. Here’s my favorites:
— tabo-​san saba zushi
— spicy maguro + sake
— hamachi + jalapeño
You’ll find the regular rolls and nigiri/​sashimi items here and they’re as good and as fresh at other authentic Japanese restaurants.

Fantastic, flavourful, fanciful are the words I would use. We went for lunch and allowed the chef to pick and choose. It was worth it. The tummy of a tuna was like butter and the octopus was excellent as well, always a sign of good quality.
In addition the restaurant is beautiful and the ambience one of quiet elegance.

Wow

Service could be better, a lot better. Food is amazing, but the experience is not on food alone. Sat on the patio on a beautiful September afternoon (Sept 18) and the glass encasing the patio was filthy. What manager would allow guests to sit on a patio looking like that is beyond me. It’s the first thing I noticed walking in and the last thing I noticed (again) walking out.

Fun night out with friends… But bring your credit card!
Service 4 – 5 stars
Food 3 – 4 stars
Décor and atmosphere 5 stars
Had a great evening out and had the server go with an omakase approach to our dinner. They brought a variety of items ranging from pork belly on skewers, rock shrimp tempura, pancetta wrapped unagi and a nice mix of sushi and rolls.
The sushi was fresh and well prepared with a nice consistency to the fish and rice. My first time ever having sablefish sushi too! Rolls were okay but I was expecting a bit more creativity given the restaurant style. Yummy toro tower that is very much like a fancy ahi poke that you would get in Hawaii.
I enjoyed the pork belly and unagi skewers… Great flavor and unique items. The rock shrimp tempura was a bit of a disappointment. The taste was fine and the side of aioli was fine, but my gold standard is the Nobu version and this is nowhere as good.
The dessert platter was fabulous! The server brought a couple of platters with a mix of items including a flourless chocolate cake, cheesecakes, tarts, chiffon cakes, and more! We polished these off!
This is a great upscale dining option for business or for a date. Service is top notch and the little take away box of chocolates at the end is a nice touch. You can get better quality sushi for the money but if you need to go somewhere more formal and need polished service, this is a safe bet downtown.

I went to Ki with a friend since we were introduced and saw all of the glowing reviews. I gotta say that it is extremely over-​hyped.
The food is okay, the menu is pretty typical, the service is okay. The one thing that they have a leg up on with other restaurants is that their seafood is a lot fresher and have a very extensive alcohol selection.
For two, we ordered miso soups ($ 6 for a beyond generic miso soup), uni sashimi, miso sablefish, spicy salmon, california roll, saba battera and a jalapeño hamachi. All the fish was hands down the freshest around town, however the rolls failed to impress. They were small, generic and extremely over-​priced (freshness has its price limits too okay?) California roll was… once again generic and the saba battera lacked the shiso leaf which was a miss. Miso blackcod was overdone so the fish was not flaky and juicy, it turned chewy and tough, not a pleasant experience. The sweet citrusy sauce that came with the sablefish was suprisingly dissapointing, it just didn’t work beacause of the bitterness!
The service was okay, generic once again it did not stand out one bit! Basically we sat down, ordered, food was placed on the table, no checkup, and bill. I was saddened because I love coming to upper scale restaurants and chatting with the server /​bartenders.
Bill for two with NO DRINKS was over $ 180… I was not amused. But three stars for the quality of food and nice ambiance. Will probably never come back here unless I was have extreme cravings for uni.

So me and 2 friends decided to finally try ki.
We got there pretty much when they opened around 6pm so it wasn’t too busy which was good cause that meant food would come to us faster.
We started with the miso chowder, wasn’t expecting much out of it but it was actually pretty good. Not much of a miso taste but it was creamy and there was a bunch of seafood in there so i like it a lot. But wish there was more miso taste.
We then got the spicy salmon (sockeye) sashimi, really tasty and a great spicy sauce.
Next was the Rick shrimp tempura. Really good as well, came with a spicy mayo type dip but it was really spicy at all.
Then came the chicken wings. Not the best dish of the night, actually it was my least favorite due to the fact they were pretty over cooked.
Also one of my least favorites was the spicy tuna roll, pretty bland.
Bc tuna and chive was pretty amazing. Great flavors on that roll for sure.
And the last dish we got was the short ribs. And were those really good. Sweet and tender.
All in all good place for tapas type meal I would go back for sure.

Come here as a special night out. That’s what it’s priced for :)
Snowman (cocktail): lots of yuzu flavour.
Asahi Black: yum! It’s a dark beer, but lighter then Guinness. The drinks list had pages and pages of sakes and wines. They did have beer, though, when we asked.
Oto-​shi (appetizer on the house): it was something like agedashi-​white fish in a rakkyo (sweet) vinegar. Very refreshing.
Miso Chowder: very creamy and full of body. I wish it was a bit less salty, though.
Spicy Avocado from the «cold» menu: I wasn’t expecting it to be in a roll format, but the slightly pickled «katsura-​muki» sliced daikon tied everything together. The spicy was wasabi and maybe green chilies. Yum! I don’t like things that are too spicy, but I like this one because it was within the flavourful range where I could taste everything else as well. It was so soild that it didn’t feel like it was made of only vegetables and fruit. That one fruit was pineapple, but I didn’t taste it. Nice melding.
Steak with Garlic Ponzu sauce: It was Medium Rare, like we asked (at some places, they do it not rare enough). Unlike a normal flat steak, it was a chunk, which they had sliced nicely so that it could be eaten with chopsticks (like thicker roast beef, since the chunk was smaller than a regular roast beef). The ponzu sauce was so flavourful, too! No mashed potatoes, though :) go to the regular Keg for that.
This was my first experience booking through OpenTable from the Unilocal iPhone app. Worked perfectly (but the restaurant was still empty at 5:30pm).

Now this is my kind of restaurant. I guess they’re fairly new (don’t recall them being here during my last visit a few years back). I’ll definitely be back if they’re still around the next time I’m in Vancouver. Also I need to check out their lounge in the building over.
The ambiance is modern, dark and classy. The food is creative and the combinations just work. Fresh, fresh fish and stiff drinks. What more could you ask for?
Try the Snowman cocktail. Despite it’s silly name, it’s a nice drink I could toss back all night.

Fancy Smancy japanese fusion bar in the Shangrila Hotel. Ordered a bottle of red and talked and laughed all night. Service is kinda mehhh… but the bar is beautiful with modern furniture and bathrooms!

Prior to this dinner, the bf took us on a couple’s massage with Xi I took the bf for Christmas dinner last year (yes, yes, I’m late with updating the entry) and the food that we selected didn’t satisfy to our liking.
Ambiance: very romantic and quiet.
Food:
— Had the sushi pizza. This «pizza» had a few slices of fish which were on the bland side of the scope. And not to forget that the crust was as hard as a rock! The presentation was alright but it didn’t WOW me to the edge of my seat (pic:
). My jaws ended up hurting and we just left the rest of the pizza for the staff to take away. I would not order it again.
–Spicy Avocado with pineapple, tomato, chives, wrapped in cucumber + topped with wasabi-​relish (pic:
): never had wrapped cucumber sushi before and it was based on novelty and interest that we had ordered this dish. Other than that, it was blah. Again, nothing really WOW me to the edge of my seat. I forgot what the other sushi was called or what I had ordered from the above link picture.
— Seared Fresh Scallops with moromi miso + braised shiitake — scallops were unbelievably tiny. (pic:
) They were not juicy and weren’t flavorful. A big disappointment.
I’m giving the food 2.5 out of 5 stars and adding .5 star for ambiance for this review.

After Ki, I can’t go back to other sushi places. Celebs go here! Amy Adams and fiancée were sitting next to my table!!! It was casual dinner for them, down to earth and they didn’t even order bottled water or sake, just tap water.
Anyway, back to food, my regular orders will be the following:
— Beef maki roll: Teriyaki-​glazed striploin, asparagus, and the secret is sweet potato tempura that brings it to the next level because of the crunchiness. It blends so well with the meat.
— Spicy avocado roll: Very original idea, artwork to roll with cucumber. And the pineapple relish is so refreshing.
— Black tiger tempura: As good as it gets, comparable to the traditional tempura joints in Tokyo!
— Half rack smoked baby back ribs: Very satisfying. I love the maple barbeque sauce
— Black cod: Very delicate, served with rapini.

It was pretty damn good. I checked it out with a friend a couple of weeks ago and had a pretty good dining experience. The restaurant is modern and spacious. Service was very attentive and friendly. I was amazed by the extensive sake list. Our server helped us choose a good one and it went well with the food. Highlights from this meal:
1)assorted seaweed salad w/​sesame & ponzu dressing-​very light and refreshing. I could taste the citrus fruit in the dressing
2)vegetable tempura– healthy portion. The batter was light and it didn’t taste greasy. I liked the roasted garlic dip that also came with it. The dip was very intense and flavourful.
3)ki spider roll & kiwi-​tuna roll– both of them were really good. The presentation was really beautiful and inviting. I love the fresheness of the kiwi and it worked well with the tuna. Along with the mango, it had a nice tropical taste.
4)toro tower w/​crisy shallots and garlic ponzu dressing– the fish was really fresh, good portion. I tasted every element in that dish.
Can’t wait to go back for another awesome meal and try other dishes.

Wow — probably the freshest tasting sushi/​fish I have ever had.
They started us out with a tuna gomaee for our amuse bouche. I don’t usually like tuna, but this was seriously good and fresh.
Ki has a number of really interesting and creative rolls. My favourite was the Ki Beef Maki which had a thin slice of very good beef on the outside filled with sweet potato tempura and asparagus. So Yummy. Also can’t go wrong with the lobster tempura roll.
The room itself is very modern and upscale — perfect place for a nice dinner out.
Minus one star is because I was there for lunch and there were no lunch specials, only a la carte. It would have been great to see some bento boxes or some kind of special. Lunch for two came out to $ 90+. I don’t think the prices differ much between lunch and dinner, if at all.
Must try though for Japanese foodies looking for fresh sushi!

Sushi was awesome! Bill was not!
Likely the best sushi I’ve had in Vancouver. Very fresh, nice portions, expertly cut. Really was a fantastic sushi meal. The gomai was done correctly (with sesame, not just peanut butter) and the Asahi draught was actually imported from Japan (so they say). But man, you are paying a premium for it. A bill that was $ 80 anywhere else was double that at Ki. Ooooouch.
But everything about the place was good. Great food, great service, great beer, nice setting… except the sushi bar; weird-​ass chairs that made you feel like you were sitting in a cone of silence. Which is good if you wanted to sit alone. ButI was with someone… and luckily someone that wanted to pay the bill.
Best pure sushi in Vancouver, but because of that bill Ajisai is still my favorite.

Came here for some drinks with friends.
the interior décor is pretty much what you’d expect for a higher-​end place. Nice wood, metal, and glass everywhere. The patio is awesome. Today the weather was just PERFECT for sitting at a table and having a drink.
With that said, you definitely pay a premium for setting foot in here. Domestic beers are $ 7.50 for bottle, or $ 8.75 for draught Asahi (the only beer they have on tap). Service is slow though. Probably took us about 10 minutes to get some 3 drinks.
Look for the big set of boobies in the back. I can’t figure out how they were able to hide that image in that pattern. It’s actually pretty cool. They look like they stick out (3D) too, so you can try grabbing them after you’ve had a few.

I think the asshole from Poco who gave the 1 star review is clearly a suburban hick used to the one hole-​in-​the-​wall sushi dump in the burbs, and merely didn’t know what to expect when eating at a modern sushi bar like Ki.
I’ve visited twice, and both experiences were great. The servers are friendly and attentive, the cocktails are brought quickly (I tried the Hello Kitty just because the name made me laugh, and wow, that’s definitely the first «girly» drink I would enjoy again), and the food is delicious. The rare beef maki is out of this world. The spicy avocado roll, which has no rice at all, is creative and delicious. Good presentation, comfortable seating, and a stunning patio (which I have yet to sit on, and plan to before the summer is through). For the quality of the rolls, the price is truly not bad, it’s just when you start adding appetizers and cocktails that it adds up. I live across the street and I find myself wondering regularly if it would be crude to ask if they do take out…

Had a great dinner at this very good-​looking space tucked in to the environs of the swanky Shangri-​La hotel. Ascend its stairs into a private courtyard with the strikingly designed restaurant and patio on one side and a similarly classy, though darker, bar on the other. Lots of STYLE points!
The service is also very refined. Our server was warmly conversational, seating us without a rush and explaining sharing-​centric concept of the restaurant, and she had lots to say about many of the available dishes — plus, it didn’t sound too perky or forced or painfully detailed. We were able to enjoy the meal at our own pace, and were kept well-​informed but never felt molested.
As for the meal? It’s an interesting menu — optimized for sharing, it takes izakaya items (like grilled skewers) and sushi-​bar standbys and tries to give them some extra oomph. I’m pretty impressed by the way this restaurant adds unexpected surprises to «fundamental» things you will have seen before on other Japanese menus (salmon spicy maki… with endive and a drizzle of raspberry!) as well as mingling notable Japanese flavours into Western-​style dishes (rack of lamb… with yuzu!) It is unfortunately the case that for the abundance of fun «oh wow really?» moments, there are fewer outright instances of «oh my god so delicious,» but it’s all fresh, precise and very «pure» as the restaurant’s name suggests. The sake list is apparently very well stocked, but we refrained from drinking on this particular visit. I’m not partial to sake anyway, so it’s no big loss.
The prices hover at an average of 10 – 17 dollars per shareable item (hot plates and sashimi are spendy!) and you can mix and match to your heart’s (or wallet’s) content.
Though it doesn’t offer the absolute tastiest dishes I’ve had, Ki sharpens Japanese food to a thoughtful, tastefully modern, very stylish point.

Ok, went to the Bar at Ki — there are two buildings once you ascend the bamboo lined steps to the second level above Alberni Street, much like the entrance to Market, next door.
The restaurant is on the left, the Bar and Lounge on the right. There are some of the coolest, most avant garde paintings, bathroom fixtures, etc — the whole place oozes modernistic, understated style from start to finish — very apropos!
They have an amazing sake assortment — tried the sparkling sake in a champagne glass — lovely, and boozy! Haven’t yet had the (it has a japanese name, sorry!) sake that has been distilled into a 40% strong sake liquor, used in some of their special martinis.
My friend had a Pretty Kitty martini — and they do some very creative things with some unique liquors — well worth sampling.
There is a very cozy bar with a big screen TV, great for popping in and watching the game with business people downtown, and large conversation nook type areas to accommodate groups
All in all, a very cool place, Im definitely going back!
Now to actually try the food…
Next Review!