Tomokazu Japanese Restaurant (more photos, 20-1128 West Broadway, Vancouver, phone 604-677-0426) is one of the best all-you-can-eat sushi restaurants in Vancouver, if you enjoy the more exotic sushi creations. The menu has pretty much everything you can find at various all-you-can-eat Japanese restaurants anywhere in Vancouver, plus some unique items that are hard to find at other places. If you’re adventurous be sure to try the lobster sushi, abalone sushi, shark fin sushi, prawn tempura, unlimited raw oysters, salmon roe sushi, tuna belly, mackerel, soft shell crab, oyster motoyaki, seafood cones, or unlimited sashimi (many varieties). Price for an all-you-can-eat dinner is $22.95, which is worth it if you order more of the expensive items. Be sure to try the cold mango pudding for dessert.

Griffins at the Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia Street, Vancouver, phone 604-684-3131) is a decidedly upscale and yet casual restaurant in the sumptuous Hotel Vancouver in the middle of downtown. Most of the patrons at lunch were wearing business attire, but this was not surprising considering that the restaurant is located very close to Vancouver’s main business and financial district. The attraction here is the lunch buffet which is a somewhat formidable $27, but at this price offers a good degree of quality as well as the expected quantity. Pictured below are some of my choices from the buffet table: there is a variety of cold and hot selections including seafood, salads, soup, cuts of meat and pasta dishes, as well as some very tempting desserts.

Shabusen Japanese Yakiniku House (web site, 755 Burrard Street, Unit 202, Vancouver, phone 604-669-3883) is an immensely popular all-you-can-eat Japanese Sushi and Korean BBQ restaurant conveniently located on Burrard Street near the trendy downtown Robson shopping strip, and near the Burrard skytrain station. At lunch you can enjoy an all-you-can-eat sushi meal (pictured below) for $13.50, which on weekends and holidays also includes all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ. (Korean BBQ is where you are given bowls of your favorite marinated meats and you cook the meat yourself at a grill set into your table.) Dinner prices are around $23.

The decor at this restaurant is worth noting too: above the sushi bar is some wild florescent lighting, and some of the larger tables are set inside wooden boats complete with sails. This restaurant is a definite must for visitors who want to experience something that truly speaks of Vancouver, where surprisingly good food quality and quantity combine at a meeting of western and Asian cultures. Reservations are recommended.

Chicken Teriyaki

Japanese Sunomono Salad (cold rice noodles in a sweet vinegar broth with a few vegetables)

Tamago sushi (egg) and Salmon Sushi