Sushi Bar Maumi

Excellent selection of fresh fish flown in from Japan daily! (or at least I was told) Great Tsukiji fish market-​like experience where each piece of sushi is hand crafted in front of you at the sushi bar, and only the next piece is served when you finish the first. Definitely take the omakatse and add on extra pieces if needed. At least that’s affordable.
Only thing is there are many rules to adhere to in order to dine there, and 10 spots per sitting.

I made a reservation for a friend and I to come here for dinner. There are lots of rules! No liquor, no rolls, no children, and I believe they would prefer you to order the omakase menu, as that is what they specialize in. If all good, you are good to go.
We arrived 10 minutes early, and waited outside as the space inside is too small to have a waiting area.
We were seated and each pair was given a pot of tea to serve ourselves. The chef doesn’t really talk that much except to explain the food. If you are looking for an environment to chat and «get to know» the chef, this is not the place. Personally, I thought the dinner was quite relaxing as you don’t have the pressure to chat and can just enjoy the food in a small quiet environment. We ordered the $ 60 omakase.
FOOD
Miso Soup: VERY GOOD. They added grilled salmon and white fish which made the soup taste smoky almost.
Omakase: 12 pieces. VERY GOOD. The sauces he uses are so good and the rice he uses was really tasty as well. You will be full at the end. Highlights are the tuna and the hokkaido uni, which I THINK are included in all $ 60 omakase, no matter which day.
Verdict: Pricey, but very worth it. Not a place for a party.

Giving this place 2.5 stars because it’s still one of the first sushi omakase’s in Vancouver. Would be 2 in cities with a big sushi following scene.
The quality of the fish was not really up to par but it’s expected given the price that they charge. Hokkaido uni was 3/​10, sumi ika was ⁰⁄₁₀ (the worst ika I’ve had), bonito/​kastuo tasted like it’s been in the freezer for too long. The kin medai was flavorless and had a plastic-​like texture (it’s usually my favorite piece at other sushi bars). There were also too many pieces with salt only — it just doesn’t work when the quality of the ingredients aren’t as fresh (only place I’ve been to that gets sea salt nigiri right is Yasuda in NY/​Tokyo). Maybe my expectations were too high after seeing reviews, or maybe I’ve been spoiled by good sushi elsewhere. However, the saba and the shima-​aji was better than expected, so at least they got those pieces right.
Then there’s the place itself. I understand they had a hard time finding a place, but it’s just not right when you have a fryer right in front of the counter. If you’re unlucky like me and someone orders tempura, the smell of the oil engulfs the whole place and you won’t be able to smell or taste anything other than grease. Please get rid of the fryer and make some kaiseki style appetizers instead. Furthermore, the chef insists on me having miso soup before my sushi instead of after (or that they would not have enough time to make us the 10-​piece omakase). How can you taste the freshness of the fish when you chug down a bowl of bean paste beforehand?

When my friend suggested we go here, I wasn’t sure what to expect. He just assured me that this would be in the top 10 sushi meals I’ve had. He was wrong, it’s in the top 5.
So unassuming, this tiny restaurant is very intimate. Only 10 seats. We sat at the bar right in front of chef Maumi Ozaki. He prepared our food right in front of us. We did the omakase menu and ordered some things a la carte as extra because we just couldn’t get enough. The hake and uni is something i still think about months later.
Basic highlights:
— Food — so fresh you can taste the warmth of life
— High value — you get significantly more than you pay for.
— Intimate — you’re not being served by an army — you’re being served by the chef and owner himself. No greed here.

Pronounced Mah-​ooo-​me.
They have again changed it up! Omakse (nigiri) only! (Plus appetizers if desired).
The other rules still apply, no children, no photos of anything other than the food immediately in front of you.
I continue to be impressed by the food. Spectacular and such a delight to watch everything be prepared.

After a few more visits I’ve changed my mind about this place. I’ll have to agree with other reviewers that the quality of the experience is very high. I still cannot distinguish between strange-​sounding fish like tai, aji or mejina, but yes, they are different, and the way the chef prepares and serves them enhances the subtle differences in taste and texture. While not cheap, they offer exceptional value.
A final word: if you order nigiri, DO NOT ADD SOY SAUCE! I’m sure the chef knows exactly what is the correct amount to add to any given piece of fish in order to enhance its flavor, adding shoyu breaks the equilibrium and probably amounts to tell the chef: «Hey, you don’t know how to serve this fish». So please, don’t. Just don’t.

Sushi Bar Maumi has changed from a hole-​in-​the-​wall, ten randomly assorted seats, everything comes at once restaurant to more of a kaiseki-​style, ten seats at the bar, served inidividually by the Chef, Maumi Ozaki. Two things that have not changed are that 1) the high very quality and wide assortment of fish imported from Japan, and 2) the kind, professional service of the owners who endeavour to provide an authentic, traditional Japanese experience.
I’m a big fan of the change, and found that it honestly elevated my appreciation of the food. To have the dishes served one at a time allowed me to savour the ingredients and blend of flavours, in the order that the chef decided would best fit. The menu rotates daily based on what is available, and the food is prepared with an intense attention to detail (cut, form, temperature, and so much more). It was a beautifully orchestrated dine-​in experience that I felt privileged to have. To complete it all was one piece of tamago nigiri which was hands-​down, one of the two best in town. There’s a saying that one of the best ways to judge the skill of a Japanese chef is by their tamago.
There is a minimum $ 20 order per person for dining in, but you should have no problem given that a 10-​piece nigiri omakase starts at $ 40 and the nigiri prices start at about $ 4. Maumi also no longer serve rolls, so I wouldn’t come with the expectation of ordering a california roll here. When making reservations, pay attention to the rules, follow them for your dine-​in experience, and I’m confident you’ll enjoy the experience.
Oh yeah, the anago was super bomb.

Just finished our first go around at this restaurant. Well worth it. enjoyable and with a varied and unique selection.
we didn’t do an omakase but instead chose our own pieces. It was the right choice. The lower dollar value omakase looks white fish dominant and I think most people, myself included can’t really differentiate mild white fish from one another. And if you’re doing the premium omakase you may as well select your own choices. The nigiri are all well valued and actually slightly cheaper than others of this quality. It’s expensive but actually a great value if you are willing to pay for this price point. It was about $ 165 for 2 people after everything for 17 – 18 pieces per person.
The order took about 50 mins to be served up so factor that in when you make a reservation to time it to your hunger. Very very small dining area, you are touching elbows and chair backs with your neighbour.
Awesome place. I would absolutely go back.

Had a reservation. I knew it was going to be a totally different experience because when calling for a reservation, we were informed right away that they do not serve any alcohol or rolls! I wasn’t too phased about the absence of rolls, but no sake?!
They called again to remind us about our reservation.
We were too early so hung out at the Starbucks a few blocks away. Big mistake. We know now we should have stood in line. We would have gotten one of the 3 tables for couples (yes, 3, that’s not a typo). Instead we had the last 2 seats at the bar with our backs to the door. The other 4 seats at the bar were taken and we squeezed into our seats (bar stool type chairs). No elbow room. I’m not kidding. We prepared for a very intimate evening with 10 other patrons.
The wait was LONG. The chef pretty much fixes all the orders prior to yours. So we have 10 couples ahead of us. We ate an hour later after watching him prepare each and every piece of sushi. Somewhere after the first hour, the novelty wore off. I was nursing my cup of hot tea. I appreciated that we had our own pot of tea. Every time the door opened a fresh blast of cold air hit me. I sat with my coat on.
Our second omakase came 30 minutes after the first order. All very nicely presented but I couldn’t really taste the fish. Somehow each piece tasted somewhat like fish and that’s it, no distinctive taste. I really wanted to be blown away but I am grateful for the experience though. The presentation was accompanied by an explanation but sadly I could not understand the person delivering the order. I know our omakase nigiri and omakase sashimi we’d ordered had an amazing variety of fish from Japan though.
As a point of reference, I would return to Shiro’s in Seattle. OK, so Shiro’s has changed management, but back in their hay day in 2014 thereabouts. Ebisu in San Franciso is my other go-​to sushi place.

We have this restaurant on our radar for sometime, and finally got a chance to try it last week. It is a small restaurant, 2 tables (1 for 4, 1 for 2) and 6 seats at the counter. Being so tiny, they have a lot of rules, such as no children, set reservation times, etc., which we can understand.
There were only two people working, the Chef and his wife (?), but the service was fine. We ordered Omakase Nigiri (10 pieces), Omakase Sashimi, eel tempura and one miso soup to share. First, the quality of the fish was very good, as well as the presentation. While we liked the variety of Omakase, next time we probably would order just the items we wanted from the fresh list. We wanted more uni!
For the two of us, no alcohol (as they don’t have a license), no dessert, came to $ 145 with tips. This is a bit expensive but in our mind worth it. This is better than Masayoshi on Fraser, and a good competitor to Aki or Tojo.
PS We tried to do a «walk-​in» several nights later, but no luck. We will try again.

When I looked at the menu, and noticed that I have never seen 70% of the items on menu, and noticed that they are imported from Japan …
When I looked at the most expensive nigiri (except OToro) is under $ 5 …
When I saw the Chef put sauce or salt on sushi, and I didn’t have to dip in soya sauce …
When I looked at his technique to make an Uni Nigiri, not Gunkanmaki …
When I closed my eyes and enjoy every single bite …
When I had to pause and remember the taste at the end of each nigiri before starting a new piece …
I know. I will come back, and I did. It is my number one now.

After coming back from a Tokyo/​Shanghai/​HK trip and being welcomed by non-​stop squirt fest from mother nature, Maumi took me back to Japan for a very satisfying Halloween dinner.
I believe my buddy Simon and I started drinking at 2 or 3pm that day so when he said ‘let’s go to Maumi’, I nodded.
First off, to those few reviewers who wrote 2 – 3 stars, I shake my head. I’m sure you’ll continue to enjoy the standard Korean/​Chinese owned sushi. This place is for people who can tell 10 different pieces of seafood are indeed 10 different species, not 1. I too have burnt my tongue many times but it still works.
We started with the seafood tempura. Damn was that good. The batter was one of the best I’ve had. Not oily, just the right thickness. The kisu fish was oishi oishi. Wow.
For the main event, we went 2 x deluxe nigiri set (20pcs total). I tasted the rainbow. F*ck skittles, it rained nigiri.
As it was Halloween, the chef and staff were all dressed up. Watching Chef in a banana suit form each piece using this fluid, traditional technique was a pleasure. The focus is intense.
Try to sit at the bar if you can. The small size of this place really made me feel like I was in Japan.
Maumi Wowmi.

A little while back I’ve finally got to try Sushi Bar Maumi! It’s a tiny, traditional Japanese restaurant where you can enjoy rare fish directly from Japan. They are only open for dinner (6−10pm) and people start lining up even before 6pm, which tells me that this place is pretty popular. It wouldn’t be ideal for a large group of people but definitely worth trying.
I ordered a 10pc Omakase Nigiri Sushi ($ 25) which had a great selection of fish! It consisted of Anago, Hamachi, Uni, Tennen Hirame (Flounder), Uchiwahagi (Unicorn Leatherjacket) Uni, Hashi Kinme (Orange Roughy), 2 Tamago (Egg) and some more! To be honest I can’t remember everything I had here because a lot of them were unfamiliar and very rare to be found in Vancouver. These are the ones that I can only remember. Make sure you ask what kind of fish is on the plate so you know what to order next time.
v
Hon Maguro O-​toro (Fatti Bluefin Tuna — $ 12) was amazingly good! Hon Maguro is usually farmed in Japan or in the Mediterranean Sea. It’s considered as the king of tuna, very fatty and usually sold as chutoro (fatty tuna) or O-​toro (fatty tuna belly). I aware of radiation from Fukushima, but couldn’t help but order their fish sourced from Japan :’(
RATING
Food 4.5÷5.0
Ambience 2.0÷5.0
Service 4.0÷5.0
Price $$ ~ $$$
Address 1226 Bute Street, Vancouver
Phone number 604−609−2286
Hours of operation
Monday to Saturday 6PM-​10PM
Sunday Closed

Very sad that they no longer allow children to dine in at the restaurant, and their prices have increased quite a bit since my last visit. My husband is disappointed that they no longer serve the entire fish. However, the freshness and quality is still spectacular, and I love how they have specialty items!

Its hard to describe maumi as something more than just a ma & pa sushi house, Instead ill refer to a conversation with my friend about the place:
«They’re only open from 6−10pm daily, how can they afford to stay in business? *Looks at the menu* Now i know why you brought us here… Its not hard to fulfill that 20 $ per person requirement. Lol.»
Yes friends, i present to you, Maumi. It is not your avg joe sushi restaurant, nor is it wallet friendly. What you have here is a very intimate, seating at max, 10 people restaurant, with the majority of the items price well above 5 $ per portion. What they specialize in is purely authentic forms of Nigiri and sashimi made from fish straight from Japan, heck even the Uni is from Japan [Hokkaido]. As some people have already stated, since seating is limited, do book ahead of time and reserve enough time to find parking, as it is also limited to just street parking.
The menu is weekly, ever changing, but may also be daily. The items available are checked off and the wife, the server, will politely inform you of the specials of the day. At first, the menu looks pretty daunting, with all the fish names in Japanese, followed by a number that well exceeds a normal person’s expectations. Do not fear, for the uninitiated, ordering «omakase», or «I leave it up to you» in english, is the more value oriented, and adventurous option. They have a basic/​regular omakase and a premium omakase; at this time, i cannot comment about the premium, but the regular is a very good choice for a starter. The same goes for the sashimi, dont be fooled by the price, you get a very reasonable portion of imported fish that one cannot otherwise get here locally.
The cooked food is only a couple lines long, but the tempura is a good option. the mixed tempura includes 2 prawns, and 3 pcs of vegetables, all perfectly fried without too much batter. The light coating of batter is crispy, all the while keeping the inside moist; over frying something makes it super tough and dry. The Shioyaki or grilled salted fish is alittle pricy but they are still using the same «exotic» fish that they use for the nigiri /​sashmi, so it justifies the price alittle, the portioning also exceeded our expectations, you get quite alot of grilled fish.
I cannot say much about the Nigiri or Sashimi, you either like the fish or dont. They were all more or less, fish that I have never tried before, but they were pretty good. No extra soy needed, as it would over-​power the natural umami that one should be able to taste. Some fishes are naturally tough, like rubbery, some were soft like tuna, some were salmon like in texture, etc. To be able to recall all those unique flavours, names, and textures is beyond my small brain, but nevertheless, it was a gratifying experience.
This is certainly not a place one can afford to go to everyday, but it certainly is a great place for a special occasion. For me, it was a reunion between friends, certainly a special time for us. Its important to come into Maumi with an open mind and try everything before making judgement on either the fish or their hideously «overpriced» sushi. And to put into perspective, there are not many «premium» sushi restaurants in Vancouver, and if you were to think about it, Maumi would certainly be the most intimate between guests & host, and most affordable.
Pull up a stool and have a seat, Friends.
A Special Five, out of Five.
*special mention to Simon Kwok for introducing me to Maumi*

I found the experience pretty intimidating. Although the setting is not upscale, the prices are on the somewhat more expensive side imho. Stick with the nigiri sushi. The tempura was not worth the price. The ara miso soup was good with roasted salmon and fish broth.
The sign outside said that there is a minimum $ 20 per person policy. However, inside on the menu, it says that there is a minimum $ 30 per person policy.
I think the weekday you come can make a difference. I came on a Wednesday, and I felt like the fish wasn’t quite as fresh as I would have expected, although it was not bad.
After eating here, I want to go back to Sushi Hachi in Richmond to compare.

While visiting from California, we made it a point to come here based on the pictures on Unilocal.The prices posted on Unilocal are out of date; things are a bit pricier than the old pics indicate. Still, given the selection of fish and the quality, the prices are quite reasonable. We did a 10 piece omakase (suzuki, kurodai, madai, isaki, bora, kanpachi, local uni, sakura shrimp, saba, and anago), then got a number of items on top (hamachi, sockeye salmon, different mackerel, toro, etc.) and our bill including tip ended up being around 80 USD which is awesome. All of the fish was tasty and fresh, but I feel like a little seasoning on some of them (yuzu kosho, for example) would have helped enhance the flavor. I didn’t taste any wasabi on them, either, though I thought I saw him put it on the fish.
One downside of the place is its size. It’s very cramped, and I was very aware of the other diners in the restaurant, as, since there is only one chef, only one party can really be served at a time. Given the space, the stuff they manage to put out of the kitchen is impressive. It’s entertaining to watch the preparations. The couple who own this place were charming and nice as well. We were a little disappointed we didn’t get to try the mantis shrimp nigiri, but overall we had a very nice experience and would definitely recommend this place!

Great, fresh fish. I’m absolutely in love with this place once I try their uni and toro.
I ordered a nigiri omakase set, 8 pieces for $ 20, which I think is a great deal. However, the omakase consists of a variety of ‘white fish’ that I cannot differentiate the name of from each other. Still tastes fresh and great, I’m just not sure what I ate.
It’s definitely the hidden gem in Vancouver, the place is super tiny, with 12 people maximum, which in my opinion, makes the service better.

We got so excited when we found this restaurant.
They have Hokkaido uni. They have shirako. They have a lot of items which other sushi restaurants do not have.
We wanted to try this place one day, but the place was packed and we could not get in.
So a few days later, I called in and reserved a table. And we got to try this place.
We got hamo tempura, 10pc sushi omakase, uni, aramiso.
(shirako was out of the season.)
Uni was Hokkaido bafun uni. Haven’t had that in ages!
Had fresh sakura ebi for the first time. It was interesting.
Everything was good and fresh.
Our bill was $ 110 including tip for two of us. It was a very satisfying meal.

I came here to celebrate my 30^th birthday, based on good recommendations from Unilocalers. What I did not realize was how AUTHENTIC this place is – meaning, none of those modern fancy rolls of sushi with sauces drizzled over top. They basically just serve nigiri or sashimi, so if you’re not a fan of those traditional types of sushi, you will probably want to eat elsewhere. However, I love nigiri and sashimi, so I was very happy here!
Also, please note that you can make reservations, which if you’re coming with more than 2 people is probably a must. The largest the restaurant can seat is 4 people and it only has a total of about 10 – 11 seats. The first time we tried to eat here we couldn’t bc there weren’t enough seats for our group of 4.
As for the sushi, it was great! It tasted fresh, although not THE freshest sushi I’ve ever had. We ordered omakase, so we didn’t get to choose what tpyes of sushi we were served. The only piece I didn’t like was a sushi that was basically LOTS of little tiny shrimp stuffed into a seaweed holder. It was just too many little shrimp with all their eyes and legs and antennae… not my favorite. In fact, I only ate 1 bite and gave the rest to my sister. I liked that I got try a lot of new fish that I had never had before though. Although I wish I could have remembered what each was… I wasn’t really sure what I was eating.