Sea Monstr Sushi

We came here on a recommendation from a bartender. We sat at the sushi bar on a Friday night early evening. Our waitress was attentive and kind. The menu isn’t extensive, but is well branded and informational. The prices are great. Quality is great. Service was fast. I highly recommend this restaurant and we’ll be back.

I love the location and the layout of the restaurant and may I just add the graphic design of the logo actually lured me in. I would recommend this place if someone wanted just regular sushi on the go otherwise not for a cozy dine in. I love japanese food and I eat it quite often enough to know how a Charashi don should taste like. I was really hungry but still couldn’t finish the charashi don. Though, very appealing look at, taste wise, could use a little more flavour in the rice. I had just finished a snack earlier and wanted something more filling. The server was nice and well kept and food came on time which is why I would rate this restaurant a ²⁄₅ stars.

Best sushi I’ve ever had. In addition to the great logo they also serve great sushi.
The Monster Roll was great! Super fresh.
I also tried the spicy salmon roll, which was inventive and probably the best spicy salmon roll that I’ve had.
I also loved the miso soup.
The tea tasted a bit more earthy than I prefer.
Service was great. Only complaint is that the rolls were a little small for the price.

The quality of the fish is good, I will admit. But in a town full of amazing sushi you have to do something to standout and this place isn’t doing it. I would much rather spend my money at an izakaya or another quality sushi joint that just has a better environment.

Showed up solo for lunch and was seated at the bar. Checked out the menu, made my choice and looked around for a server.
Played with my phone a bit, then looked around trying to catch a servers eye. Or the sushi chef’s eye. Or anyone’s eye…
Two more guys came in and sat next to me. They knew what they wanted and ordered immediately for the person who seated them. I stared directly at her the entire time trying to catch her eye, she never looked up and went to fill their order.
So I left, plenty of other places in gastown to grab lunch.
Great décor, so they get an extra star.

Right now, Kaide is one of my favourite sushi spots in the downtown area. I just added Sea Monstr. My friends constantly ask me what I look for in GOOD sushi. Here in Vancouver there’s GOOD sushi and then there’s just sushi. I don’t do just sushi.
Sea Monstr is a small resto in Gastown that shares a door with Sharks and Hammers. They also share an owner.
Sea Monstr exudes a cool vibe, one that lacks effort and one you expect from the likes of Gastown. It’s an unembellished small space with surprisingly bright lighting. All the better to see the food my dear.
On the weekend I met an old friend for dinner and sake and surprise, really GOOD sushi. In spite of its youthful funky website, Sea Monstr serves my favourite type of sushi: classic, simple, and soulful. Just like Kaide. And although I liked the space better than Kaide, in the end, the latter still came out on top because its sunomono is easily better; Sea Monstr’s was too edgy for my palate: dark, buckwheat-​like noodles and too much cucumber and seaweed:
Everything else we ate was true to form — classic and made with finesse. Here is round one of the sushi we ordered: salmon, negitoro, chopped scallop, spicy tuna and monstr roll, saba sashimi and saba nigiri.
We ordered an encore but I ate it before I could snap it.

Visited this little monster on a summers eve and the place was pretty busy. Our group of 3 ordered gomae, ebi sumo mono, rolls, sashimi and veg sushi.
The server worked solo and she was slammed. She was great regardless.
The gomae and sunomono was good. Edamame came unsalted and over cooked. It was the worst edamame I’ve ever had. How do you f#%€ edamame up!
The veg rolls were great and fish cuts perfect. With all the food we ordered we all left very unsatisfied.
All in all glad we tried it but won’t try it again. We live in Mount Pleasant and will stick with Toshi’s and Zipang. Boo-​yah!

How does this place on have 3 stars on Unilocal?Yelpers, you guys have missed the mark with this Gastown gem.
So, lets get some things straightened out. First off, no, this place does not have a huge menu. It is a sushi restaurant, it sells traditional sushi, how many options do you really need? Also, no, you cannot get your rolls deep fried or with fancy sauces and no, the rolls are not huge.
Instead, the sushi is in perfect little delicate pieces — 1 bite delicious morsels of flavour. This allows you to taste the quality and freshness of the fish and have a lovely ratio of rice to filling. The restaurant is small and they generally only have 1 server so sometimes things may not be super quick but they are always polite and helpful.
The staff are delightful, the restaurant is small and the sushi is delicious, fresh and perfect. Sea Monstr, you have my 5 star vote.

Great sushi. I’ve ordered take out from here a bunch of times, only dined in twice. The pod is always great, rolls are super fresh and the staff are very friendly. Both times I ate in the servers were very attentive but also quite personable.
Price point is a little bit on the higher side, but it’s definitely worth it!

I go here all the time. I eat at least two lunches a week here.
Tonight I went there and asked for more wasabi. The waitress asked the cook for it.
I sat there for thirty minutes waiting for it. (there were about 6 people in the restaurant at the time.)
The wasabi never came. I left my meal unfinished. Did not tip.
Will not return.

Welly, welly, welly, well where to begin. I have been here a few times now and am always quite pleased about the quality of the fish, the standard of presentation and the detail they put into their sushi.
Their menu is small which makes it really easy to make a decision on what to order. Last time I was there we had the chop scallop roll, spicy tuna roll, negitoro roll, ebi roll and the Una Kyu Maki. All the rolls had a really good ratio of fish to rice, I am not a huge fan of those gargantuan rolls that you get at some sushi bars.
Highlights where the Una kyu maki roll and the scallop roll.
Service was very fast and friendly, they have a great chill atmosphere that makes you want to linger and order more sake!
It wasn’t till the end though that I noticed on the menu «sit at the Sea Monstr Bar and let our chefs create something special.» so next time I am gonna do just that.

I was surprised to see this come in at 3 Unilocal.
Place is solid and is becoming my go to lunch spot for Sushi.
Atmosphere:
Probably my favourite thing about it. They’ve mastered a japanese urban/​hip hop art feel. Reminds me of Samurai Champloo. Done extremely well. Right down to the music.
Service:
Is young, super friendly, pleasant.
Sushi:
Is yummy — I like it because it’s not overstuffed novelty rolls, but classic and quality. Too many Vancouver Unilocalers I feel are perpetuating these junky, over the top sushi joints, with gimmicky rolls. This place is not that and I personally would like to see more of this in Vancouver.
Price:
To me is great. You can get a whole combo for $ 9. I’m completely satisfied after. I work in Gastown, and honestly there’s not many places that can match the price/​quality ratio these guys have.
The bottom line is this isn’t a super funky high end place, nor is it a junky mass quantity kind of place. It’s the perfect thing in between with a price point to match.

I like Sea Monstr, though I concede it isn’t the largest menu you’ve seen in sushi, nor are the portions exactly belly bursting. But, Gastown needs a place like Sea Monstr, where you can dash in for lunch, and, for $ 9, get a high quality sampling of fish in a combo with a soup or salad. The rolls aren’t exactly daring or creative – but a solidly good Tuna roll? Well, I’d take that any day.
If you’re really hungry, the Chirasi Don is a great deal and tons of food. $ 12 gets you a hefty pile of fish atop an even bigger pile of rice and seaweed. Think of it as a massive deconstructed roll.

I was next door buying a magazine at the Inventory Stockroom and passed by Sea Monstr along the way. The storekeep’s coworker is a regular here and recommended I give it a try.
By the time I sat down (5 pm), there wasn’t much of a raw selection in the display case– which is weird considering how early in the day it was. I originally wanted their Uni/​Ikura bowl (sea urchin & salmon roe, a steal at $ 13.50), but was told they don’t serve uni when it’s off season. Fair enough.
I ordered the Chirashi Don instead and was pleased to see the unconventional presentation of the dish. The sashimi were cut into bite sizes and dotted with salmon roe and small slices of tamago (sushi omelet). The slices were layered in a haphazard way, reminiscent of a godzilla-​esque sea monster on a rampage– or maybe that’s just me.
The sashimi is fresh, and according to the menu the establishment uses the «finest locally sourced seafood».
The service was efficient, and I like how Sea Monstr serves water that has been distilled using equipment provided by Vivreau Pure Water– hence the specially designed bottles they serve water with.
The decoration is simple– apart form a wreath of Sapporo beer cans hanging on a brick wall, way past Christmas but still pretty cool.
Overall, it was a fun experience. A chirashi don for $ 12.50 is already good value! I’ll be back to check out their rolls, and to see whether they are better stocked on other days.

This would be a great place to take a date. I feel hip just because I knew it existed. In a very short time there will be guys in v-​neck t-​shirts with ironic moustaches claiming they liked Sea Monstr before it was cool.
It’s a small space: a long-​ish sushi bar and then a hallway behind a clothing store. It’s all wooden furniture and stainless steel kitchen surfaces and exposed brick walls. It definitely has that cooler-​than-​cool Gastown feel. It also has the location down — there are only two other sushi places in the near vicinity (and if you live in Vancouver you will agree this is a real scarcity), and one of the others was already closed at 8pm.
The food at Sea Monstr is great, the fish is fresh, the miso is good and the maki is expertly rolled. People who complain about the serving size or the lack of specialty rolls on the menu have obviously had sushi ruined for them by the giant mounds of rice and fake crab that pass for sushi rolls at most other restaurants in this city. Every Japanese person I’ve ever talked to about this says that the rolls are supposed to be bite-​sized and those crazy specialty maki are basically unheard-​of in Japan.
They also got this beer machine that fills the cup from the bottom. It’s fun to watch and it pours your beer perfectly every time. BUT: the cups are not reused because they’re plastic, and they cannot be recycled because there’s a magnet built into them as part of the filling mechanism. It’s a cute gimmick, but I think a trendy place like this ought to consider their impact on the environment.

PRO: The ratings of this place is bang on. 3 stars. The quality of the food is great, we had shared 5 rolls. They have good combinations and the rolls didn’t have all that extra sticky rice hanging on.
CON: The place is geared to be more upper scale but they have a lack of speciality rolls. They also served my my Sapporo in a plastic cup. That’s right, a «plastic cup»…The look of the peoples face who also received their beer in a plastic cup was priceless. Also, rolls can be a tad small.

I feel like there should be a sub-​rating to sushi restaurants. I have my favourites for budget sushi, for ‘creative’ sushi (ie. Eatery would fall into this category), and high quality sushi. I think Sea Monstr falls into the last category.
It’s not the biggest portions, but sometimes you’re not looking to fill your gullet with massive amounts of sashimi (I know, it’s crazy talk). If I was going to do that, I’d go somewhere like Sushiyama or Yamato.
Sea Monstr has good quality fish, great presentation, and a few decently priced combos. The menu isn’t huge, but what they do have is done very well. And for Gastown, this is a category of sushi restaurant that we need!

Favorite Dish: Chirashi Don and Gomae
I really like Sea Monstr Sushi because the menu is small and is based on the fresh ingredients that are readily available to the kitchen. Their sashimi selection is great and I think they’re licensed to serve alcohol too.
The one thing that keeps them from an A+ is that they’re servers could be a little more attentive. The kitchen is great and all, but if the servers just looked around more often I would be head over heels in love with this place.
The décor is very cozy, modern, and minimalist. It’s a nice place for a bite for lunch or dinner. They also do takeout too if you’re in a rush. So if you’re in Gastown and are looking for a cute place to bring your girl to, think about this place.

First time at Sea Monster today. Was expecting more from the hype. They should take some tips from GUU for engaging staff. Needs to be more personality and edge for the hood. They are friendly but not really engaging.
Miso was lukewarm and bland. I ordered the Combo C. Went to Salty Tongue afterwards to get some more food. Sushi was just average nothing out of the box at all. Could have gone to Nestors and went home and ate their sushi on better china. They didn’t top off my tea and it was cold by the time I drank it.
Overall not a repeat. I was expecting innovative like GUU and a more engaging atmosphere not blah and uninspired.

I feel the need to be a true Unilocaler and provide an update here after eating in twice and having one take out…
They are still waiting for their liquor license :((
While the small room ambiance and the fact its in Gastown is very cool, I felt it was important to Unilocal the facts: It very bland menu but it is the only sushi bar with a bit of style in the hood, and staff are cool hipster guys. The sushi is small & delicate and made very well it also reflects in the higher price, the meal for two of us without booze & just tea was $ 51 plus tip = 1 small salad, 1 sushi rice bowl, 4 sushi cones, 5 nigiri… Well like I said they are the only ones in the hood…