Hana Mori Sushi

Found this place on Unilocal because of its high ratings. It’s sort of tricky to find if you’re not familiar with the area. It’s on the ground floor of a high rise building and not exactly in one of the neighbouring complex plazas.
Anyway came here over couple weekends for lunch. It’s a rather small establishment. There was only about 2 other tables at the time.
They have aburi on their menu so that automatically makes it a must have for me. Ordered the chef’s recommendations for the scallop, toro, and salmon. They were not bad. Probably not as good as the ones you can get in Vancouver, but probably the best option in the area.
Also ordered a combo with tuna maki and a Sakura roll. The combo came. It’s about on par with other sushi restaurant in the lower mainland.
Considering there weren’t too many patrons at the time, the food did take a rather long time to come out. Especially the Sakura roll which came last. When it actually came, it was actually the wrong roll. I was still hungry and started gobbling it up instead of complaining to the server or double checking it with the menu.
After the food was all wolfed down, evidently it was the Akai roll. Apparently there was a communication error between the server and chef. If you like avocado, you would like the Akai roll. I, unfortunately, am not a huge fan of avocado.
Since I’m not from this neck of the woods and it is completely out of the way for me, I don’t think I would be back.

A small little place that was actually a bit difficult to find. I came here to meet up with a couple of friends to celebrate the end of the semester and was surprised with how tasty this place was.
The service was pretty quick and I ordered a miso soup, crispy roll, as well as an iced tea. My friends all ordered a bunch of different things to share but I was too busy eating the crispy roll which I really enjoyed. I would have definitely loved to try some other sushi that they offered but wasn’t particularly hungry that day so I would love to come back here again to try more.

had pretty high expectations for hana mori after seeing their high rating on Unilocal,but we were horribly disappointed.
wanted to try the toro aburi, but was informed that while they are out of toro, the tuna tataki roll was very similar, which set off warning bells for me… toro should NOT equal regular tuna!
food took ages to arrive, but they gave us a complimentary dish of edamame with their apologies for the wait.
when the food finally arrived, it was disappointing. the dynamite roll tasted pretty standard, but it was very messily put together, falling part on the plate. the spicy tuna sashimi came with lots of delicious avocado, but was unfortunately not fully defrosted. and the aburi… because they were out of toro, we opted to try the torched beef and the wild salmon aburi, both of which were recommended on their specials board. while the wild salmon had a very artistic presentation, it was sadly depressingly tasteless. the torched beef was… well done. as in thoroughly cooked and completely dry, and peppered within an inch of my life.
wouldn’t bother coming back, especially with all the much better options in the neighbourhood.

Excellent sashimi, great selection of special rolls, high quality and service in general. Beef teriyaki tolls had a bit too much sauce.

Wow, perhaps just because I’m not from the lower mainland but this place is awesome. Nice small space, top notch sushi. Best I’ve had in a long time. We tried several of the special rolls and they were great. The sashimi looked awesome too but were too full.

We stopped by here based on the reviews. The food was very fresh and nicely presently. I think the highlight was the seared sushi. That added an extra dimension of flavour.
Service was great! The tea was pipping hot and our server was good at refilling our cups when needed. The miso soup was also pipping hot. Our server noticed me taking photos so she placed the food on the table so that I can take the photo right away.
Free parking outside the restaurant in designated spots. Restaurant is located next to Foggy Dew.

Delicious! Big menu for small restaurant. Seats about 20 people. Very high quality with lots of selection. Many speciality rolls and all very good. Good value for price VS quality. Highly recommend!

Excellent quality and detailed work on the recommended sushi. The special rolls were creative and freshly made.

Ordered takeout to eat at the hotel, only to find out that there wasn’t wasabi. It was really disappointing because of the high expectation.

One of the best and the freshest sushi I’ve ever had. People are really nice and friendly. So many options to taste.

So delicious! We stopped here a little randomly on the way home from Ikea– we just couldn’t face the lineups there. So glad we did and we will definitely be coming back!
The sushi was so fresh and beautifully presented. We had a simpler meal– tuna avocado, spicy tuna, house roll, salmon roll and the sunomono salad. The salad was so fresh and incredibly refreshing– the lime was a lovely flavour and the avocado was perfectly ripe. The spicy tuna was just the right amount of spicy and the fish was fresh and delicious!
The house roll was tasty and had a light, lovely topping of a nut mixture that added just the right punch. Highly recommend stopping by!

I will be a lone dissenter here and say, I did not care for Hana Mori. As others have mentioned, it’s a small hidden restaurant and you probably would not stop to eat here without googling it first. The tuna tataki didn’t really do it for me as the lemon gingery flavour tasted odd. The volcano roll was alright and the torched toro was pretty tasty. The clincher though, was that I definitely got sick a few hours later… and it continued the next day. I get it, it’s raw food and this could happen anywhere, but you know when you vomit after eating something and you can’t even look at the food afterwards? That’s how I feel about this place.

If this place was in Portland or SF there would be lines out the door. But as I noticed on my trip to Vancouver, it’s just another fairly unknown sushi place in a city of many. I would be going here many times a week if it were near me. The sushi is so fresh, perfect sizes. My favorites were the tuna, hotate, saba, and tako. But the foie gras nigiri was a slice of heaven, it melts in your mouth and makes your eyes roll back in your head. So good I went back the next day to get another one. Hope to be back there soon!

Hana Mori is the bomb!
I love finding new places for sushi that aren’t your typical generic value-​over-​quality restaurants (ex. sushi garden).
This place is pretty tiny and a little tucked away, but it’s definitely worth going to.
My friend and I were planning on coming here for the longest time and when we finally did we decided to splurge. The two of us split three special rolls and 3 pieces of aburi sushi.
We got the Akai roll, the rainbow roll, and the salmon thai crunch (words may possibly not be in that order) roll. Everything was delicious! If I had to pick the worst it would be the salmon thai one. It was still really good but nothing too special. The Akai roll was definitely outstanding, and the rainbow roll was the tastiest one I have ever had.
For the aburi, we got torch toro, torch hamachi, and torch scallop. The toro and scallop were so good and the hamachi was ok. Aburi sushi is definitely pricey but so worth it.
Overall, the ingredients were really fresh and everything was very delicious.
The service was good, and the atmosphere was nice and cozy. There was only one person making all the sushi so there was a little bit of a wait, but definitely worth it.
This place may be my new #1 (sorry sushi moto)

Goodness, this place never ceases to amaze me. The sushi is so fresh and delicious. I think this is one of the places I’ll miss most if I ever leave the west coast.

Very hidden. It’s next to the hotel, tucked into the side of the condo building. Food is pretty good for the price.

First off, a 2-​star Unilocal rating is designated as «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» which is truly how I feel about my experience at Hana Mori. Please don’t misunderstand, the food is not bad, but it isn’t anything to write home about. The fish itself was masked with sauces and the attempted aburi (seared) style of preparation doesn’t help with hiding that it wasn’t very fresh. The sockeye salmon sashimi tasted flavorless and I sat there chewing on the same piece to the point of gagging. If you want low sodium soy sauce, they claim to just not have the green lids, literally water down the regular sauce, and call it a day. It’s a bit insulting and maybe they’re curbing costs but I would just rather have them say they don’t have any. The rolls were «okay», according to my husband, and if that’s what you’re into, it could pass for an okay lunch. Even though I live minutes away from this location, I unfortunately will not be going back.
Secondly, this is my first review on Unilocal EVER simply because I really felt like I had to say something to those of you that are in a similar situation as I am. I’m originally from southern California and I moved to the Vancouver area (Burquitlam) 3 years ago. I have been trying desperately to find a satisfactory –local– sushi restaurant ever since and while there have been tolerable experiences, the freshness and flavor of the fish itself just is not up to par. Keep in mind that I’m excluding downtown as it is a different animal in terms of food and I unfortunately have not had the chance to really explore many options out there. I went to a few places in North Van, however, and it was the same thing: flavorless fish.
Unilocal has been a great resource for many other great locations I have visited but it just seems to be so skewed for sushi in particular; every 4 – 5 star location I have been to in Vancouver has been «meh» at best (Washington is a different story, the one place I tried based on a 4+ star review was pretty great). My largest complaint is the fish itself; I am not a roll enthusiast, I prefer sashimi and nigiri. The crazy, crunchy, dynamite, spider, etc, roll fad is really big here in Vancouver and I think it makes it difficult to really find what I am specifically looking for without having to drive for 30mins and break the bank at a place like Tojo’s. I may be a spoiled California girl, but delicious, melt-​in-​your-​mouth, fresh, and unfettered sushi is a dime a dozen where I’m from and all I have to do is travel for 5 minutes on the freeway to get my fresh fish craving satisfied. Keep in mind that I lived 40 minutes away from LA.
I suppose what can be taken away from this is: be wary of the ratings and if you’re looking for fresh SUSHI, really scour the reviews for like-​minded people and prepare for a bit of disappointment. Oh and if you’re ever in SoCal, check out Ojiya for some of the best fish you’ve ever tasted.

A definite hidden gem, especially if you don’t live in the residential condos above. Thanks to Unilocal,my wife found this place and we gave it a shot. It’s very small inside but I was pleasantly surprised at the service and quality of the food. With only a few other tables in the restaurant, I would expect the one server working that night to be attentive with such few customers to serve and I was not disappointed. The server was helpful and came by often for refills on my tea. The rolls we ordered were a bit smaller than average but still delicious and fresh. We didn’t order any of the specialty rolls but if they are the same size and cost between $ 8 — $ 10 then I might feel like I didn’t get my money’s worth. However, for the food we did order, prices were quite reasonable for the fish tastes fresh and is of higher quality. The menu is a decent size so there will be something for everyone. As stated, a hidden gem! I’m sure we’ll be coming back for more.

Seriously delicious! Great staff! Fresh fish! What more could you ask for?!? So so good ! I was only in town for 3 nights and went twice! That’s how good it is! The staff are great and I got a lesson on the food where it comes from and the new stuff they make!
Fantastic!

My friend first took us here and I’ve been recommending the place ever since. The place is small and a bit hidden, but the food is very fresh, with good portions and they have some unique dishes. The prices are reasonable and if I didn’t live so far, I’d be hitting this place up all the time. My friend loves the beef tataki and I loved the hamachi. I’d recommend trying one of the torched or seared sushi (can’t remember the name but it’s slightly cooked on the outside)…Delish!
Overall, great food, great service and at an amazing value…5 stars for that. It’s a hidden gem!