Ajisai Sushi Bar

This site uses affiliate links and we may earn a small commission when you use our links and make a purchase without incurring additional fee yourself. Many thanks for supporting this website. Please see our disclosure page for more details.

Kev’s friend invited us to a birthday dinner at this small Japanese restaurant in Kerrisdale. It doesn’t take reservations and the place is small so it can be quite a wait at dinner time. A lot of people ordered take-out to avoid the wait.

pressed sushi (top: seared salmon, bottom: seared mackerel)

sushi combo cc (21 pieces of nigiri: 3 pieces each of tuna, red tuna, salmon, tobiko, ebi mayo, hamachi, chopped scallop)

spicy combo (24 pieces: spicy tuna, salmon and chopped scallop rolls)

We ordered sushi and rolls to share. The fish were very fresh. Out of all, I think the tuna is the best. It is just like butter, melt in your mouth. The hamachi is also very good, it tasted just as smooth and buttery as the tuna. The sushi rice is sticky with a faint taste of vinegar. Very authentic. It felt like we were actually having sushi in Japan.

We also tried the pressed sushi (battera sushi). The pressed sushi is a bit more filling than the nigiri sushi because it has a bit more rice. In addition, the pressed sushi has stronger flavor- partly because of the fish (seared mackerel and seared salmon), partly because of the leaves they put in between the fish and sushi rice (I believe it is the shiso leave). Personally, I like the nigiri sushi more- it is simple, but you can enjoy the natural taste of the fish.

My review: It reminds me of the beard papa’s fresh and natural cream puffs. The fish is so fresh and delicious that makes you want to eat more. Even though it is a bit pricey, it is worth the money.