Sushi Itoga

The sockeye salmon sashimi was delicious, as were all the rolls. Visiting from the US, it’s refreshing to have sushi that isn’t covered in random sauces. I was able enjoy the party in my mouth that came from the fresh fish without all the distraction that come from over-​sauced sushi. Great price too!

Sushi Itoga is a proud partner of the Vancouver Aquarium’s OceanWise program in providing ocean-​friendly seafood choices. Ocean Wise is a Vancouver Aquarium conservation program created to educate and empower consumers about the issues surrounding sustainable seafood. The world’s marine life is quickly being depleted. We can all do our bit by only eating seafood caught or farmed in a way that ensures the long-​term health and stability of that species.
What I liked when I walked in was the brightly lit open seating. Seating is one long bench in the middle of the room. You order and pay at the counter. You get a number and they bring miso soup, a pot of hot tea and cups. Then the food is delivered as it is ready.
Freshly grated real wasabi is available at an extra charge.
Ordered sashimi assortment, uni and botan ebi nigiri! Additional roll. All Delicious. Unbelievably fresh and each piece was a melt in the mouth experience. What I would have liked was for the shrimp heads to be deep fried. But I understand that they do not have hot cooked foods which require deep frying.
Service very quick and friendly.
Incidentally, the pot of hot tea is communal because someone who arrived after me grabbed it from me.
The fish was so fresh that I returned for a take out. This time for the deluxe sashimi assortment. Nice you can order online. Very nicely packaged. The assortment was limited and we got 3 – 4 pieces of the same fish. It would have been nice to get a greater variety.
All things considered, fish is exceptional and I highly recommend this restaurant.

This is a cool little sushi spot on Robson. The sushi is fresh and it’s reasonably priced. You pay for quality not quantity here. They have a communal table here which is different but you get to see what other people have ordered which might tempt you to try new things.

This is my absolute favorite sushi place. I think the quality is comparable to Bamboo Sushi in Portland, OR, but the prices are much more affordable. The quality of the fish is outstanding and I appreciate the selection of Ocean Wise choices. I also like the pitchers of tea set out on the communal table; I can drink as much tea as a I like without waiting for a server.

I use to love this spot! I have no idea what happened? I’ve been back twice and the place was not even half full. They told me it will be a 40 minute wait… I asked why? They said they where too busy because they had a lot of takeout orders. They seem too busy to make food for customers who want to eat at the restaurant! Disappointing, why pay for all that space for take out?
Rating is only based on dinning experience only. Sushi is great and super fresh. I wish they would hire more people to work there or decide wether if they want to keep it as a restaurant or a take out spot.

Sushi Itoga aka Sushi Mart.
I like the vibe this place gives off — it’s a hipster sushi bar.
They have really fresh sushi and sashimi and although it is fresh, I don’t think that it has much else going for them. Their rolls in my opinion have way too much rice and the rolls and nigiris fall apart upon picking them up — a big no-​no in my snobby sushi-​eater brain.
Things to try here: Sashimi Platter, Chirashi, Spicy Salmon
This place is a bit pricier than many other options in the nearby vicinity but you do get fresher fish. This could very well be one of the places to get the freshest fish in Vancouver. You do pay a price for it though. I wish they had atlantic salmon (although their sockeye is quite amazing). I usually like Unagi (eel), but I found the eel here to be extremely underwhelming like it had come from a frozen package.
When I went they were pretty busy, but the way the cashier handled the till and orders made the line longer than necessary. They need to train their staffs better to be receptive to questions etc. Service was extremely lacking, but I guess it’s not really a service restaurant — but still.
Decent place to cure sashimi/​sushi hunger pangs, although there is usually a lineup. Takeout is my preferred method of consumption for Itoga since it’s a communal style restaurant.

Wonderful sushi place close to Stanley Park. Pros: They support sustainable salmon fishing, have great quality/​quantity food options, a clean environment, and friendly staff.
Expectation management: Yes, there is a communal table but it’s a wonderful option for a quick bite. I would say the feel is more of a lunch/​early dinner with friends or solo rather than a romantic date option.
The food: Nice. I had one of the combos with nigiri and rolls and it was a perfect amount of food — including the complimentary miso soup and personal decanter of tea. I think the salmon was the best, the tuna was just ok but did melt in your mouth, and nice shrimp. It probably isn’t the most exciting if you want a romantic sushi place but I would say it’s perfect if you are looking for something simple, good, and well-​priced.

Sushi Itoga was such a pleasant surprise! The interior is very clean and modern, and the set up is perfect for a quick bite to eat. You order at the counter and the staff brings the food to you, so it’s pretty casual. I had the Maki Combo 1 (California & Dynamite Roll) and 2 pieces of salmon nigiri. The rolls were fine but nothing too impressive. However, the salmon nigiri was one of the best, if not THE best, salmon nigiri I’ve ever had. It was so incredibly fresh and melted in my mouth. I definitely could have eaten an entire meal of just that!
Next time I’m in Vancouver, I’d love to come back here! Definitely recommended.

High quality sushi at very inexpensive prices. Husband and I ate lunch there for about $ 13 CAD… so like $ 10 USD. I’m used to paying triple at home and it’s not nearly as fresh. Sockeye salmon also comes at a premium back east– not here, it’s all they use. Thank you Unilocal for leading us here because there were too many sushi joints to choose from in Vancouver. Whenever I make my way back to Vancouver, I’ll be sure to eat here more than once.

The sushi at Itoga was great. The fish was very fresh and the salmon tasted incredible. We don’t ever get it like this in Austria or Germany. The prices were reasonable, especially considering it was in Vancouver and seeing what others places charge for a roll. The place is tiny, but we arrived just before lunch service would stop and they close the shop for a few hours. So we were lucky and got one of the window seats. You order at the counter and then they bring your food. The service was very good too.

This place is pretty busy. no frills shop. You order at the counter and you share one big cafeteria size table for sushi.
They are pretty affordable at less than $ 15 per combo. I also got a toro nigiri (one piece per their pricing) on top. There are no substitutions for any of the combos.
It was okay. not my favorite. Comes with miso soup and tea. Mine was like six pieces of nigiri (tuna, yellow tail, and shrimp) and a tuna roll. It didn’t taste out of this world fresh. just okay.
Cheap prices though.

Sit at the big table in the center… it’s a great way to make instant friends. I came here for the avocado roll. Awesome service, friendly staff. I love the hipster feel here yet there are elements of traditional décor that I appreciate.

I love this place. There are a lot of cheap sushi places in Vancouver, however, I feel that most have jeopardized quality over quantity. Sushi Itoga seems to be Japanese run, prices are very very reasonable/​CHEAP, the sushi rice is cooked very well (individual morsels stuck together and not mushed), they only use wild sockeye salmon. Will definitely be back more often. Only slight downsides I would say are that you can be expected to wait a while for your food at peak times as its all made to order, the interior is quite warm in the summer (no AC or fan), and it closes quite early.
Ordered the sockeye salmon tekka don with a mini plain udon ($ 8.50) plus a combo with California and Spicy Tuna Rolls ($ 6). A+ value. Udon was a bit over cooked in my opinion; the noodles were too soft to my liking. Overall still excellent.

¹⁰⁄₁₀ Would definitely go back. Very authentic with fresh ingredients. Excellent service– they give you green tea as water when you dine in, and miso soup along with your order. Interesting fact: dynamite rolls are made with boiled prawns instead of fried ones, and they’re great. A bit small portions but it is worth the money.

Great neighborhood gem but with some quirks, most noticeably there’s a 20 – 40 minute wait at times but all three servers notified us of that fact immediately. They offer online ordering (still a 40 minute wait, however) for pick up which helps a bit also.
We were given a large liter of green tea to wait it out as soon as we placed our order at the counter. Seating is a large communal table in the middle with a smaller four seat window/​counter on the side and regulars tend to be on the friendly side.
The rice is a tiny bit on the mushy and not well flavored at times but the fish is fresh and delicious with good prices and a nice selection maki and nigiri. Our favorites are the tamago (not too sweet, nice little smokey flavor) and the Alaska roll with it’s wonderfully tangy sesame sauce.

I had this place was bookmarked, was kinda lost, used Unilocal,realized I was going in the opposite direction, and backtracked to grab a snack for the train ride. And I’m so glad I did!
As my first official sushi foray in the city, this place was a treat especially coming from T.O. First of all, the prices, c’mon! Where would I get a spicy salmon roll, with sockeye salmon, for $ 4? NOWHERE except in my dreams!
Menu seemed so simple. Salmon was bright orangey-​red, wild caught, not farmed as per sign that was posted. So fresh!
I just stopped in for a snack, but I hope to make it back for a complete meal!

One of the best sushi values I have ever experienced. Let’s be honest, most of us visitors Unilocaled our way in with out 4.5 star-​dar. But as soon as I sat down at the window-​facing counter, a local couple started a conversation and insisted that this is their favorite sushi place in the world, and the best value they’ve seen anywhere, including Japan. How’s that for an endorsement!
But enough rhetoric. The fish is very fresh, very good, and very affordable. I came twice, trying both maki rolls and nigiri. The spicy tuna and salmon were very good. They didn’t have saba, which was a bummer, but that just opened up extra room to get more fresh salmon – which is really what you should be doing in the Northwest.
There’s warm (though not always hot) genmai-​cha brought to every table, which is just heaven for me. Miso will run you $ 1.50 Canadian and house sake is under $ 10 (they were confused that I wanted cold and not hot, which happens in some sushi places, but they were very nice in swapping the two and refunding me the difference in price).
The place was never crowded while I was here, while every ramen place had hour-​long queues mobbing the sidewalk. If you love sushi and are cheap like me, you’ll want to bookmark this place.

Sushi Mart had solid sushi and was thoroughly enjoyable. It wasn’t the best sushi I’ve ever had, but everything we had was very good!
Uni: Large, velvety, rich, and delicious piece for $ 3.50 each
Toro: Best tuna belly I’ve ever had. It was fresh and buttery for $ 3.50 per piece
Hotate: Fresh and delightful. I prefer my scallop seared, but this was my husband’s favorite at $ 2.50 per piece
Chirashi Bowl: Our bowl ($ 15) had 2 pieces of egg, 4 pieces of yellowtail, 2 pieces of wild sockeye salmon, 1 piece of squid, 1 piece of of octopus, and large and small fish eggs atop rice and mushrooms. The rice was delicious and the yellowtail was the highlight of the bowl. All in all though, it was OK as far as chirashi bowls go.
Salmon Avocado Roll ($ 4.50): Good, solid roll. When we reached for the pre-​made roll, the lady at the counter kindly offered us a fresh roll.
Tea: Nice big pitchers of tea on the table free for everyone. Lovely!
Service was high quality and the food came quickly. You can order and pay upfront or pay at the end of your meal. The communal table is nice and though it can get crowded, they have coat racks so that you don’t have to keep your coat on your lap.

When I first heard the name, it struck me as a grocery store sushi-​place type of place. And it’s not. They serve very high quality sushi at extremely reasonable prices. You’d be spoilt for choice here — such great menu. I ended up with chirashi though. I am a sucker for it.
When I first walked in, I found a bunch of seating and I was pleasantly surprised given how popular this place is. I was expecting a waiting time like 45−60min. And sure enough, I was told that even though I have seating, my food will still take 45min to arrive since there is a long Q in front of me and sushi needs to be prepared slowly and methodically. I looked over and the chefs were creating beautiful sushi displaying serious craftsmen ship.
This speaks a lot to their quality but a wait is a wait is a wait and it’s not fun.

3 of us ordered only 4 pieces of sushi and they still gave us 3 cups and a carafe of tea. Amazing. Love coming here for a sushi snack and the chirashi still looks top notch.
We came back, again. Unfortunately, they closed and we JUST missed out by two minutes, 2:32pm.
We came back at 5:30pm for a snack and the fish is just delectable. It’s too bad the rice was not cooked as well this time around.

J’avoue que lorsqu’on m’a recommandée d’aller au Sushi Mart pour le lunch, j’étais un peu inquiète. D’Habitude, les endroits avec le mot «Mart» né sont pas signes de haute qualité, mais puisque j’étais à Vancouver, pas trop loin de l’océan, je me suis dis «pourquoi pas?» Et je n’ai pas regretté du tout. J’ai pris 2 rouleaux et une soupe miso. Parfait pour un lunch de belle journée d’automne grise. Le rouleau au saumon épicé a dû être le meilleur que j’ai eu à vie parce qu’il était épicé et pas juste un peu piquant. Mon autre rouleau, le Dynamite était très bon aussi mais un peu moins remarquable. Les assiettes des mes collègues avaient aussi l’air très bonne et j’étais bien contente de commencer ma semaine avec des sushi comme premier repas!