Ki-Isu Japanese Restaurant

I have ordered out and eaten in at Kiisu. Sushi is always fast and fresh! Prices are reasonable considering the Yaletown location — I highly recommend this place.

Chicken Karage was super dry and tasted like old tempura oil as well as the fried tofu that was not even crispy on surface.

Not much to be impressed about… They have a big menu with alot of special rolls but zero description of what is in the roll. I ordered ebi sunomono, which was okay but too much seaweed. I also ordered a cream cheese roll and a yam roll. They were fine but sliced way too thick! I couldn’t enjoy them because I was too busy trying to figure out how to fit it in my mouth. It wouldn’t kill them to pay a little more attention to detail… On the plus side the waitress was nice and the food was ready quickly.

why does this come up under ‘delivery’ searches — they don’t deliver.

Have only ever ordered for delivery which is only $ 1 surcharge. Sushi is average, I like their dynamite roll. Last time I ordered I called in twice to check where my food was and after 90+ minutes I called to cancel. Apparently their delivery guy was lost and they couldn’t get a hold of him. Pretty surprising considering I live in central downtown in a building that is very easy to locate.

There are a lot of sushi places downtown, but I go out of my way to come to this place. sashimi is always fresh and some of the best downtown. Highly recommend a visit!

This is one of my «go-​to» sushi restaurants. It’s reasonably priced, has some nice outdoor tables if you want fresh air, and the service is quick.
I like the yam tempura roll and the avocado roll, they are both well prepared, nicely bite sized and not all mushy (as they often are at other places). (As for other rolls I’ve tried, the chicken teriyaki roll is «meh», the unagi roll is pretty good but not amazing, and the dynamite roll is pretty average/​good)
The sashimi is good quality and tasty, but smaller portions than some other spots.
I have a friend who swears by the octopus balls, but I have a hard time bringing myself to eat cute puzzle solving/​jar opening invertebrates, so I haven’t tried them. (Seriously, check them out on YouTube, octopuses are smart!)
I would recommend this place to anyone in the mood for a quick sushi lunch of reasonable quality and price.

Great spot.
— Servers are friendly
— The tuna and black rice concoction is EXCELLENT! A++
— The other sushi entrees are just as good as any sushi place in Downtown.
— Prices are comparable to other 2-​dollarsign ($$) restaurants. Spent about 35 bucks for 3 dishes.
— Outdoor dining is very limited to only 4 tables.

The roll we had was huge. I like the special rice they have. Staff were nice. All the ingredients were fresh. Reasonably priced too. We will be back to try other things on the menu. The only bad thing was the lack of descriptions of most of the rolls in the menu.
Ok so we went back… the rolls are too big (in an annoying way). Didn’t like the crispy deep fried tempura type batter they put in between the rolls either.

The sushi, fresh fish quality here is really fantastic. I don’t like coming for dinner only because it gets packed fast (clearly returning customers which is good), and it’s pricy for dinner. Lunch gets busy too, but mostly people on the go. The service is hit and miss (bringing appetizer at the end, long wait between my boyfriend getting his food when I’ve had mine for five minutes). But I keep returning because the people are friendly, good atmosphere, usually fast, they’re nice about accommodating custom orders, the quality has been phenomenal whenever we’ve gone, and it’s reasonable for the Yaletown area. I’ll keep coming back!

This place is just ok. The best thing is the location because I like a lot pacific st and it is close to my work.
I went for lunch and I noticed the floor was very dirty with wasabi and old food. It didn’t make sense to be like that since the restaurant is quite small and was almost empty.
I had Beef teriyaki Don ($ 10) and I tasted ok. The rice comes on the side which I dont really like. i would prefer having the rice with the beef in the same bowl. In my opinion there are better beef teriyaki don in the same area with better price too.
My friends also noticed that it was pricey comparing to Umeda, Sushi Maro and Yamato.

Awesome place with cozy atmosphere. Food is undeniably good but an average sushi space ;) and the price is average as well. They offer beer and saki!

This is my go-​to sushi place in Yaletown.
Unique favourites include:
Dark Sweet Roll (available as half-​order)
Crunch Cruch Roll (also available as half-​order)
Dragon Roll
Solid California rolls, Sockeye Salmon Maki and/​or Nigiri, Toro and Gommae
If you’re up for an adventure try the Caterpillar Roll (super cute) and Tokoyaki (octopus balls)… just make sure to poke them first, they can be burning hot!
Avoid the appetizer vegetable tempura. Very small portion for the $.

Ki-​Isu deserves an updated review. One of the things I commented on earlier was the so-​so service. After dining here frequently for the better part of a year, I can say confidently that this is no longer the case. The service is great — service is friendly and prompt.
The speciality rolls are really excellent. The Toro Stack is an interesting mix of flavours, the Crunch Crunch roll is addictive, and the Philly Cheesesteak roll is an odd combo for sushi (cream cheese, beef, spicy mayo) but it works and tastes phenomenal. I brought a friend here who mentioned that he kept trying to order something similar to that roll at a bunch of different restaurants, but could never find anything like it (or as good as it).
The lunch boxes are great value, and I really like the sauce they use for their chicken and beef. It’s got a good flavour too it without being too sweet.
Sunomono comes in a generous size, and they get the vinegar soup sweetness at the perfect level. The sashimi cuts are great — generous and fresh tasting. The nigiri is similar.
This place is consistently good, and is therefore one of my go-​to places to eat downtown.

Underwhelming. Found shrimp shell in an *inner* slice of a sushi roll, pretty puzzling. I got one of the dinner boxes so I could try a variety of things and it ranged from ok to odd. Tempura was nicely done.
Alpha Sushi on Granville isn’t too far and I have better luck there. And the servers are much more friendly and professional.
I’d give 2 ½ if I could, as the food isn’t bad. It’s just not great.

In a sea of sushi restaurants you had better bring your A game every day, and this establishment doesn’t.
The sashimi recently has been room temperature and sometimes sinewy, the whole place is looking worn and in need of paint and a deep, deep cleaning.
Fine for a cheap feed I guess, but no longer for me.

This place has the smallest portion sizes I have ever had. There isn’t any more quality in their product then the next sushi joint.
Do not eat here if you are hungry and have a favourite sushi place that you already frequent. We tried to branch out and this place was a utter disappointment.
We are loyal customers of sushi den, no need to go anywhere else.

We sat at the bar, which I always enjoy as you can watch them make your sushi rolls :)
The service was a bit slow as they tried to bring out multiple rolls at the same time and there were quite a few takeout orders at that time. I also wish the menu was a bit more descriptive (I often didn’t know whether there would be mayo or sauce in the rolls).
We ordered a few rolls and some individual sushi pieces and everything tasted really good.

On a cold and wet Saturday night I met a friend for sushi at Ki-​Isu Japanese Restaurant. It was a short but wet walk for me, but when I arrived the place was empty! 545 pm on a Saturday night? This seemed to be an ominous sign! My friend arrived a bit later and he was surprised that the place was empty too. He said that when he walks by the place is usually full and the line up is out the door! Being a Sherlock Holmes fan and a student of deductive logic I surmised that Vancouver people are afraid of the rain! Come on people its rain not rocks! Haha
Anyways the sushi was excellent! We had a bunch of rolls. I don’t know the name of all of the rolls we had, but they were all good (see attached pictures). The ingredients were fresh and tasty! I especially liked the Crunch Crunch Roll… spicy tuna in the middle surrounded by a sea of tempura batter… Yummy! I also liked the toro… it’s an all time fave of mine. It’s like eating butter… smooth…
The service was excellent! Our waitress was very attentive and our tea cups were never empty! My only tiny complaint… hmmm… english was not a strong suit here! I asked the waitress twice what roll she was serving us and she repeated it twice but I could not pick up what she said. To save her (or myself) from further embarrassment I gave up asking.
Overall, an excellent experience! One I shall repeat in the not too distant future!

Deliciousness! I definitely consider Ki-​Isu as one of the better contemporary sushi joints. I highly highly highly recommend the Brown Rice Salmon Cakes, Toro Stack, and California Salad. These were the dishes I enjoyed the most since you wouldn’t be able to taste something similar at your typical sushi restaurant. Their rolls are well made with a good fish to rice ratio. I also like how they have black and brown rice ready for substitutions. However, I did try their Hamachi sashimi and found it kinda meh, I was definitely expecting something better from here.
One main complaint would be for the inconvenient non-​descriptive menus. On their menu, you will find a list of special rolls with names such as «Dancing Dynamite Roll» or «Krazy Dynamite» that you would have no idea what’s in it unless specified. It’s annoying for the customer to have to ask what it is and probably just as painful for the servers to have to explain every single time. But luckily the service is good and they’re always open to answer any questions.