Kingyo

The best Asian restaurant I’ve been to in months. Everything from start to finish was just perfect. The sashimi… omg. The fresh shrimp… omg. The rice bowls… omg.
Can’t even. This place is somewhere I’d go to again and again if I were living in Vancouver with an American salary. I’d go back every single week. Every. Single. Week.

I do not like when they rush you to order when you are asking about the menu. Not good listeners and not good service at all.
This makes my judgement impaired cuz of their ugly service in the beginning of my meal.

Kingyo was a winner last time I went so when my friend came to townI took here here as a safe bet.
Their «famous invincible and undefeted tantan noodle» ($ 9.80 for a big bowl) was still good, and this time I got to try other stuff as well. Overall these choices were not as interesting or tasty, but price for what you get and for the portion is fine.
Corn Steamed Egg Pudding ($ 6.80) super smooth egg pudding with corn and crab flakes
–There’s crab?
–Rather small portion for price. Also watery/​soupy.
–Interesting to try but might be an acquired taste; otherwise not that tasty.
Pressed Mackerel Sushi ($ 12.80) Lightly seared marinated mackerel pressed sushi with sweet kelp, sesame, takana pickles topped with our original green onion ginger and mustard dressing
–This was OK. Works better if you try not to lose too much of the green onion dressing, which tends to fall off.
–Sizable pieces add up to quite a filling portion of rice.
Grilled Pork cheek ($ 7.80) Kingyo’s original miso marinated pork cheek served with homemade blended spice
–Pork cheek looked, felt, and tasted like the ham you can get at superstore if you lightly pan fry it. Just a lot less salty. Rather boring as a result.
–Don’t forget the spice blend, which is a very thick and dry paste.

Vancouver is a great city for izakaya restaurants. So many great ones that although I’ve had Kingyo on my radar for a long time, I hadn’t gotten around to it until tonight. I’m glad I finally got there. It’s not my favorite, but it’s close.
Kingyo made some great items. Starting with simple basics like steamed rice, which was indeed premium quality cooked to perfection. The Ebi Mayo was wonderful — huge, sweet shrimp, lightly battered, fried, and dipped in slightly spicy mayo. The Black Cod was so good. The buttery fish was perfectly cooked and served with a very subtle miso sauce.
The Hamachi Sashimi and the Miso Soup were solid — no complaints.
The only fail item was the Beef Tongue. It was sliced very thin and a hot stone was provided to cook it at our table. It was too heavily salted, and the lean muscle that it is made for a too tough cut even eaten rare.

Wow, this restaurant was beyond my expectations. I really wish we had more restaurants like this in Seattle.
6 of us decided to go try this on a Saturday night. I couldn’t get us reservations so we decided to show up before 530pm and do a walk in. Turns out we were first in line at 515pm. A line started to form shortly afterwards behind us. With 6 ppl, we had to sit at the end of the large community table in the middle. It was hard to share, but it turned out to be a good set up still for conversation anyway.
The food is soo wonderful. Firstly, presentation was top notch. Lots of sizzling bowls and rocks, which pretty much guarantees an awesome time.
My hubs and I ordered the chopped octopus cooked, fried corn, black cod, pork belly bibimbop, and beef tongue and some non alcoholic lychee punch. Everything was stellar except for the chopped octopus, which was a tad too heavy on the wasabi. Either a cut in the wasabi or a pairing with rice would have fixed the issue.
My friends ordered the 5 piece sashimi, karaage, corn egg pudding, pork cheek, avocado sushi roll, tan tan noodles and meatball. All of those were visually impressive and extremely pleasing to the palate.
I want to go back so badly to try their whole menu.
The staff was very nice as well.
Place is small, so reservations are a must.

I’m a fan of the Tamaro Shoten Restaurant Group! I want to try them all after dining at Kingyo! We tried to get a last minute dinner reservation for Saturday night but they were booked. We walked in to get a seat right when they opened at 5:30 pm and there was already a line – good sign already!
Since there was a big restaurant rush at the opening, it took a while for the wait staff to acknowledge us but we didn’t mind because we had a tough time narrowing down our food selection (everything sounded delicious!!). For 4 people, we ordered about 15 dishes and we were stuffed! Including food and alcohol, it ran about $ 200.
Every dish was so unique, packed with flavor, and cooked to perfection. Here’s a run-​down of my top dishes:
–Kobe beef and beef tongue cooked table-​side using hot stones! The meat was so tender and juicy, lightly pre-​marinated, and then later dipped in their house sauces.
–Kani-​meshi: snow crab, salmon roe, crab butter, soy sauce, and rice in a sizzling pot, mixed at the table side. It’s like a non-​spicy Japanese bibimbap!
–Chicken karaage with 3 different types of dipping salts (including Japanese and Himalayan salts). Normally I just squeeze a little bit of lemon on the chicken, but the high-​quality dipping salts added an extra punch. The chicken was crispy outside and juicy inside!
–Deep fried fresh corn on the cob (no explanation needed).
–Tomato kimchi (who ever thought of this is genius!). A must if you love kimchi, even if you don’t like tomatoes. The kimchi tomatoes aren’t even soggy!
-‘Omakase’ sashimi — 5 kinds of sashimi (scallop, sweet shrimp, welsh, tuna, and sockeye salmon). A good price for really fresh sashimi, plated beautifully on shiso leaves and with fresh wasabi.
–Frozen matcha green tea brûlée with red bean sauce for dessert. It was like getting ice cream, caramelized with sugar on top.
Our server was Ruy, and he was just a cool guy. He stopped to joke around with us, always made sure our thirsts were quenched, and was always there when we needed him. I hope Kingyo will consider opening up shop in Los Angeles! I’m a big fan!

Warm welcome. Very polite and dedicated people. Japanese speaking Japanese (know what I mean). I have chosen the daily menu. The waitress kindly took care of the cooking of my meat. Awesome. Delicious. A must go. Be careful, It was Sunday and it was crowded. I have been lucky and found a space at the bar (I was alone).

My friend and I went to Kingyo on Christmas Eve and I was very impressed. The quality of food was amazing, and the price of everything on the menu was reasonable. The service wasn’t the greatest however my overall experience was very great. I will definitely go back.

I’m not a Vancouverite so the husband and I decided to try Kingyo after reading so many reviews. We ordered the Kobe beef, the negitoro sushi and karage chicken. I also ordered the melon white wine sangria. I didn’t think the flavors would blend well but it was surprisingly balanced. The Kobe beef was the tastiest, tenderest beef we’ve ever had. The marinate was to die for and the presentation was unique. It was the first time I’ve ever grilled steak on a rock before. The negitoro was only okay and the karage chicken was greasy. I would say Kingyo was overhyped based on the reviews, however I’m willing to give it another shot next time I’m in Vancouver. For now, I would say it’s worth the visit based on the awesome Kobe beef. Best beef I’ve ever had in my life!

Its true. the Chicken Karrage is so good, you need to come back the next day and eat it again.
Our friend took us here for a late night snack, we ended up ordering up all three dessert and devoured the Chicken Karrage with 3 salts and the Steak (melts in your mouth) and sitting on top the best smoosh of mashed potato. I wished we can just ordered the mashed potato.
The dessert was very good, my favorite is the Black Sesame Panna Cotta with Black Sesame Cream. The texture is not gritty at all, the dessert is not too sweet and a great ending to our meal.
When we were leaving, we booked for reservation the next day and we also reserved the (we only make 10) bento.
Every item in the Bento Box was good, I am not sure if they change it up but what I had was excellent. Luckily my hubby ordered the same one so I don’t have to share.
The wait staff is very friendly, they refill our tea pot without even asking and our food took a while to come but she was good at keeping us updated.
We finished our Bento and still had room for the Black Sesame dessert.
We would definitely return again, maybe to try their in house drinks along with the food.
We like the rustic décor with the repurpose doors for tables, the communal table in the centre is perfect to check out what your neighbours are having so you can try it next time.

For one of my final nights in Vancouver, a friend took me to Kingyo — one of her favourite places in Vancouver. It was everything she promised and more.
Since it was their 9^th anniversary, a special menu was available. We decided to take the plunge. Buttery, velvety, salty sea urchin sushi was our first pick. It was utterly delectable and extremely fresh. The cliché «melts in your mouth» may very well apply. I wish we cleared them out… but then my wallet would also be very, very empty.
That was followed by the juciest and crispiest karaage ever. The trio of salts, while impressive on the page, didn’t really do much in way of adding flavour as the chicken was already seasoned well. But it looked pretty anyway, and certainly didn’t give negative points.
We also tried the stone rice bowl, which wasn’t really as spectacular as the previous dishes, but the sour pickled vegetable mixed with the stone-​cooked crispy rice was a nice medley of textures.
Regrettably, we were so full by the end that the hot stone cooked Kobe beef and the awesomely-​named Tantan noodles were out of our reach. Hopefully I will be back to try these dishes. By the sights, smiles and aromas around us, it seems like Kingyo’s star will be soaring high for quite some time.

I went there for dinner on a Saturday night. We have to wait for about 30 minutes to be seated, my mistake for not reserving in advance.
We ordered the 5 kinds Sashimi, Chicken Karaage, Tan Tan Noodle and Green Tea Crème Brulee.
The sashimi was awful. For 15 pieces and at $ 29, the unit price was not bad but the quality was not good… at all. The only decent one was the scallop sashimi but the pieces were tiny. The tuna was still frozen in the middle and I hate nothing more than a frozen sashimi. Not to mention the strong fishy aftertaste. Don’t waste your money on ordering their sashimi.
Their chicken karaage ($ 8-​$ 9) however was the best one I had in Vancouver. Crunchy, juicy and most importantly (for me at least) not too salty. In fact, they served their karaage with 3 kinds of salt, Japanese, US and Himalayan.
Their Tan Tan noodle is not overrated, it is as delicious as other people have said. Creamy, tasty and for $ 10 such a great deal.
The green tea crème brûlée is just ok. Good, but nothing special and for $ 6 – 7 a little bit overpriced.
The service is fast and friendly, definitely no complaints for me.

Everything I had here was fantastic, and I found the atmosphere comfortable and very cool.
First we had their beef tongue, which comes with a heavy little rock that’s burning hot, and you cook the raw delicious meat on there. It comes with an onion-​y tart sauce that was delish.
Second was the chicken karaage, and it is *off the hoooooooookk*. I can’t stress this enough. The chunks were huge — almost as big as a chicken wing, but of course there’s no bones so its all meat. The meat itself was really flavourful (almost like it was brined in MSG or something. I don’t know if people do that, but I may have to start doing that myself just to see how it goes), and juicy as hell. It came with three salts, one of which was imported from Japan, which was pretty cool. Couldn’t tell too much of a difference between the salts, but they were nice additions to the chicken.
Third was a pork tenderloin tempura. Moistest pork I can remember having. Also insanely good. Comes with a kewpee mayo + soy sauce (I think) sauce that I didn’t think would be good but it absolutely was.
Last we had their tuna tataki. Really good. No other thoughts on it other than that.
Pitchers of Sapporo cost $ 24, and a pint is $ 8. We started with a pint each, but once we decided we needed another round, we realized we should have just bought a pitcher to save money and get more beer. So. definitely recommend splurging for a pitcher if you’re not just in it for a single beer.

Simply delicious!
We walked in for a late lunch; while we had to wait a bit for them to clear up our spots, we were pretty much seated right away. The décor of bamboo and dark paneling plus the cheerful izakaya atmosphere made it both av relaxing and fun place for lunch.
The lunch sets are well presented and plentiful. I had the salmon flake/​sashimi/​roe on rice combo. So good! The miso soup was also one of the most flavourful I’ve ever had. Bonus, the hubs was automatically offered a refill of that delicious elixir. He had the sashimi combo — the fish was super fresh.
Plus another gauge of acceptableness is my lack of ‘sashimi belly’. As I’m pretty sensitive to poor quality raw stuff, my stomach gives this place a thumbs up too.

Regrets. I have a few. But here’s the one that I’ll mention: Bento Box.
Having read Scott S.‘s review (8÷1÷15) I understood the importance of being first in line at the lunchtime opening of Kingyo. I understood the fact that the Kingyo Bento Box would not be mine unless I did so, and uttered the words «I’d like the bento box» as I was being led to my seat. I’d seen the photos and understood that Kingyo’s was the Earl of Bento Boxes and that only 10 of them were made each day. And still? I failed.
Arriving midway through Kingyo’s lunch hour I knew that the dream of that bento box had escaped my grip. My plus one inquired as soon as seated and I think the host chuckled a bit as if to say «silly man, those are long gone».
The restaurant and its lunch menu are a thing of joy. The place, an izakaya, hustles and bustles amid continuous shouting (not angry shouting) in Japanese. The long center counter seating is artfully divided by plantings so you don’t have to stare directly at the person opposite you. The lunch menu (
) is rich with offerings, each reading better than the one that precedes it. Service is quick and perfunctory, though it’s difficult to get a server’s attention a second time, once the goods have been delivered. So get everything you need and want on the first pass, including adequate amounts of soy sauce.
I over-​ordered just slightly, trying to compensate for the long gone bento box:
* Tomato Kimchi Tofu Salad (under $ 8 Canadian) — A burst of unique flavors; don’t miss.
* AAA+Beef Fillet Steak Bowl (Under $ 15 Canadian) — Not a complaint was heard
* Assorted sashimi, salmon flake, and ikura rice bowl (under $ 15) — A whole lot of raw fish, perhaps even too much.
* Negitoro Sushi — The only miss; not bad but also not remarkable.
I left Kingyo completely satisfied but wanting. Wanting to try more of that menu, wanting to try the elusive Bento Box, wanting to return for a second visit at some future date.
* Reservations accepted (but not for that Bento Box)
* Same ownership as Vancouver’s Suika and Raijo.
* Fun place, good food, can’t miss.

Loved this place! If you are looking for your standard sushi rolls don’t come here BUT if you want quality and fantastic taste of authentic Japanese meal this is the place to come. Delicious, nicely presented and great service! Won’t bore you with anything else, JUST GO ALREADY! Oh you want more… then read all the other 5 star reviews of our friends Unilocalers :) … I did !

Kingyo is a Japanese izakaya on the West End in Vancouver. While Seattleites may not have heard of this place before, it does have Seattle ties. It is part of the same restaurant group as Suika which has a location on Capitol Hill in Seattle offering similar food.
I didn’t have a dinner reservation here. If I had come in with a dining partner or group, I would have been turned away as this restaurant is really busy. If you have 2 or more in your party, I would highly advise making a reservation. Upon entering the restaurant, I lucked out as there happened to be a single open space at the bar that I quickly grabbed.
As it is an izakaya, the food offerings are smaller plates rather than regular size entrees. So you will need to order a couple or more things to feel sated. If you are in a group, this style of dining is perfect as it allows you to try many things on the menu without having to eat large amounts since it is being shared.
The menu is quite varied at dinner. It has meat, seafood, sushi, noodle and rice items. There is also a specials menu available that seemed to be seasonal in nature. I found it intimidating to order here because there were so many items that I wanted to try. I settled on a couple items off the specials menu and a drink.
Ordered the yuzu tuna tataki ($ 9.80) and kani-​meshi ($ 13.40) and the signature house cocktail, Kingyo ($ 7.50). The Kingyo is an interesting drink as it consists of ingredients including rum, shiso, yuzu, lime and goji berries. The drink is a good choice if you are look for something that is refreshing and light.
As for the food items, I was quite surprised by how fast they come out. The tuna tataki was excellent. The fish was fresh and I liked the yuzu jelly that accompanied the dish which helps liven it up. The kani-​meshi is basically a stone pot fried rice that was full of decadent ingredients like fish eggs and crab. I highly recommend this dish if it is available.
The food and drink that I had here was great. But what makes this a five star spot for me was the ambiance and service. If you are looking for a festive and boisterous dining spot, this is the place for you. The cheerfulness of the staff speaking loudly in Japanese is a big plus as it made me feel like I was actually dining in Japan.

Came here for lunch 2 days ago. First time I’ve been here for lunch, most of the time I’m here for dinner or after dinner.
Not sure if it’s because it’s Friday or they are just that popular even for lunch, but reservations are probably recommended. Anyway we were lucky to have seats by the bar.
Ordered the AAA+ Beef Fillet Steak Bowl ($ 14.80 before tax). As described by the menu: Beef fillet steak with balsamic vinegar, wasabi, butter & soy based sauce, served with poached egg on «koshi-​hikari» rice.
The beef steak tasted like medium rare and was mouth watering foodgasmic delicious. I felt like I was at a steakhouse and had all my steak cut up into bite sized pieces. The egg was an interesting touch and went well with the rice and steak which helped fill me up. I will definitely order this again, but at the same time I want to try everything else out.
I’ve been here a number of times and never has it ever disappointed. 5 stars.

Came here on a Friday night, 8pm. Should’ve known better because parking, even paid parking, was difficult to find. We didn’t have a reservation so had to wait for a table for 2. The hostess was really nice– the wait was 20min originally but I hung out inside the restaurant waiting for my friend and 10min later, the hostess said I could be seated.
Our favorite dish was their Dan Dan Noodles (the menu said it was their «famous» dish so of course we had to try it) — the flavor of the broth was very good and the noodles were just the right firmness. Our second favorite was the Grilled Black Cod– the sauce was tasty and the fish skin nice and crispy– we felt it was better (and cheaper) than the Sablefish from Minami (which is also very good). The Grilled Pork Cheeks and the Ahi Tuna Carpaccio was OK, not very memorable as I’ve had better elsewhere.
For dessert, we had the Green Tea Crème Brulee. Its changed since the last time I had it here (years and years ago). Its frozen and at first, we thought it was just green tea ice cream but it was actually frozen custard so when it melts in your mouth, it tastes better than if it was ice cream. Not a bad dessert and I would get it again.

MY FAVOURITE RESTAURANT IN VANCOUVER
PROS:
+ Amazing food
+ Fresh fish/​meat sashimi
+ Impressive «Kingyo-​style» unique dish
+ Their housemade sauce are awesome
+ Nice interior
CONS:
— Difficult to find street parking spots during peak hours
RATING:
Food 4.5÷5.0
Ambience 4.3÷5.0
Service 4.5÷5.0
Price $$, $$$

My favorite lunch place in all Vancouver! For $ 10-​$ 15 you get a traditional, full meal with pickles and the best home-​made miso soup/​rice on the side. Service is OUTSTANDING! Perfect décor, jazzy music. Affordable, homey, romantic.

KINYO
Le plus déroutant des Japonais à Vancouver, on est transporté dans une auberge du Japon avec un accueil des plus chaleureux, presque familial par le Chef Koji et en salle par Yasi, les plats sont reversants: Ebi mayo, le carpaccio de liche avec avocat, ail frit et des délicieuses, le boeuf de Kobé qui est servi avec une pierre brulant sur laquelle on cuit a son gout, fondant! le dynamic beef rib caramélisé et confit dans une sauce chinoise avec balsamique! sublime!!! un must! Les ailes de poulet spicy sont fantastiques, on se lèche les doigts! Le pike mackerel en sachimi, une délice! et en desserts le tofu amande est très fin, et encore mieux la crème brulée au thé vert frozen superbe!
Dommage que je sois déjà retourné à Paris !!!