Kiyo Sushi - Richmond

My husband, son and I went to this small Japanese restaurant during our summer trip. The restaurant has been there over 20 years and my husband used to dine there when he was still a student in Vancouver. Although the restaurant is small but we rarely had to wait for a long time. I think it’s family owned, and they always serve us with big smiles and made us feel like home. As for the food, the quality is 10/10 for sashimi and sushi especially chopped scallop hand cone, it will always be my favourite. As for cooked food, I would give it 8/10. We will definitely visit again next time we go back to Vancouver.

First time trying Kiyo for dinner since the sushi chefs are Japanese. Many of the items we ordered were over priced for what was offered. The yakitori (chicken) skewers were bland and lacking in flavor and the meat was dry...2 skewers for $7.50. The most ridiculous dish was the beef tongue...6 very thin and extremely small sliced beef tongue for $15. It was chewy and the portion was unacceptable at that price point. Spicy tuna sashimi again were small little chunks with sesame oil that overpowers the taste of the tuna for $16. Portion again so small. Sushi is just okay...the toro..tuna belly was very good and fresh but the tako...octopus did not look too fresh. Each piece is about $5! The only tasty items we ordered was the assorted tempura at $18...great veggies and 2 prawn tempura...the batter was light and crispy and NOT greasy at all. This was the only thing that was tasty. I am surprised why so many people like this restaurant because the value is poor and the quality of food is just okay and the portions are so so small for the price point. Service is friendly but if you need something, you need to wave the servers down. Will not be returning to Kiyo but rather stick with Gami Sushi.

We enjoyed our meal here, and would go again. I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki and for the most part, it was tasty, although it was covered by skin, which was not crispy and felt soggy, so I scraped it off. Other than that it was well prepared. Everyone who came to the table was friendly and very helpful.

Kiyo Sushi is tucked away in the Cambie Plaza mini mall in Richmond. We came for a visit in early November because I was intrigued by their menu I’m tired of “Japanese” restaurants that only serve sushi rolls). The interior is somewhat small with various nooks and crannies and the restaurant filled up with diners by the time we left. We started out with an order of Ebi Sunomono $4.75) with a plentiful helping of baby shrimp in the rice vinegar. Their sashimi offerings look good so I picked the Goshoku Mori $20) which consisted of the following assorted sashimi: salmon, tuna, hamachi, madai red snapper), and amaebi. The sashimi here is very fresh and one of the highlights of our meal here… especially the buttery hamachi. Their menu said that it was the season for matsutake pine mushrooms), so we ordered the Matsutake Dobin Mushi $9.50) which is served in this cute little kettle and consists of dashi broth, ginko, honewort, mitsuba, chicken, and shrimp. Usually when we order BBQ Salmon Belly $8), we don’t expect to get such large pieces. I liked the crisp skin and the fatty salmon pieces but I almost felt like the pieces were too thick. Next up was the Oyster Motoyaki $5.50) served in-shell. Call me old-fashioned, but I still prefer places such as Kiyo) which serve oyster motoyaki in an oyster shell as compared with some places that serve it in a small tin baking shell). Last up was the Assorted Tempura $13.50). I was a bit surprised at how large this dish was and it contained a good assortment of items: 4 pieces of shrimp, 2 pieces each of zucchini, eggplant, red pepper, yam, lotus root, green bean, squash, and another type of yam/sweet potato. Not only was there quite a number of pieces of tempura, they were perfectly prepared with a light and crisp batter and served with grated radish something that we only see at select Japanese restaurants) Overall, the food here is quite good with the standouts being the fresh sashimi and the tempura. Love that their menu has a lot of different options that you don’t find at basic Japanese restaurants.

We have fresh oyster, beef sashimi, bbq whole squid, spicy octopus, clam in wine sauce and last to mention is the bbq duck liver sushi which is very impressive.