Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant, Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada)

I came across this restaurant through a video and I am going to share that video with you as we go along. The Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant located in Vancouver, British Columbia on the west coast of Canada offers, in addition to menu offerings, an all you can eat or should I say all you care to eat menu. The uniqueness of this is that it is served to you by waitresses who - as you will see - bring a large variety and quantity of Japanese foods - with an emphasis on sushi - to your table.

Now, as always when I have not been to a restaurant myself - and it is unlikely that I am ever going to get to British Columbia - I am writing without first hand experience of the restaurant, but I have been able to get a number of opinions about this restaurant and I will share those also as we go along.

The restaurant offers the all you can eat meal from Monday through Sunday for lunch from 11:30 am to 3:00 pm and for dinner from 5:00 pm to Midnight. The price is what is most notable here. Dinner for adults is $22.95 (CD) and lunch for adults is $9.95 (CD). Weekends and holidays add another dollar to the price. Now, if you like to eat late night go after 9:30 pm and the adult price drops to $12.95. There are children's prices as well. Now, these prices are exceptionally good for a Japanese all you can eat restaurant. Please be aware that the late night offerings and the lunch offerings are much limited from the dinner offerings. The price is less, but so is the selection.

Ordering is done off a menu and by number. You tell the server what you want and she brings it. The only soup is Miso soup and there are a few salads to select, but you are not coming here for the soup or the salad. You are coming here for the sushi, sashimi, cones, rolls and maki. Again, you select the what you would like the waitress to bring and it is brought to you. In addition to the raw fish, there is also udon, teriyaki, tempura, dumplings, fried rolls, bbq, and motoyaki. Desert is limited to jello and mango pudding.

The best way to know what you will get at this restaurant is to see it and for the first time I offer this video, courtesy of you-tube. Hopefully, this link will survive. You can see first hand the layout of the restaurant, the appearance of the food and what some of the selections are. There does not look like there is enough room on the table for all that is brought and keeps on coming.

So how is the food? The majority of opinions on the food here is that it is very good. Many say that they go regularly and first-timers say that they cannot wait to go back.

There are a few complaints that need noting. Not all of the waitresses speak English well and communication with some can be a problem - though this seems to be managed. Some say that the service is slow and I must say that if that is the case in an all you can eat situation where the servers bring your food that can be a problem - and again, others say no problem getting what they wanted. Cleanliness of the restrooms was questionable for some, but no comments that there was any problem in the dining room.

This looks really interesting. While I have been to Japanese buffets where the food is served traditional buffet-style, I would like to try one where the food is brought out like this. Another Japanese restaurant that I have written about in Hawaii does this type of serving as well. It always looks intriguing. But as I have said a number of times in the past - the experience is only as good as the serving staff who must be attentive to your wants and needs in this type of restaurant.

There is a second location of this restaurant in Richmond, British Columbia. At this location only there is a lite all you can eat menu called the Hot Pot. There is a note at the Richmond location that all food ordered must be eaten or menu prices will be charged for each dish that is left over. I am not certain that this applies to both locations - but it would not surprise me. There is also a note that there is a two hour dinner time limit per table.

The Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant is located at #201-1128 West Broadway, Vancouver BC V6H 1G5. Their phone number is (604) 677-0434. They do take reservations. There is also a website and that is linked at the side of this page.

If you have been to Tomokazu please leave a comment and share how you liked it and help out our readers! Thanks!