Continuing our Michelin-Starred Dining Journey in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, we found ourselves in a tiny little hole in the wall with a big reputation. Masayoshi Restaurant is a one Michelin Star eatery in the East Fraser area of the city. You could easily walk past the door and not suspect that there was anything noteworthy about the building.
The place is tiny – I counted 24 seats – and has the minimalistic, modern and immaculate look that the Japanese are famous for. You are greeted warmly as you enter and the staff continues to fawn over you all evening.
After the customary warm cloth to refresh yourself, the sommelier introduced us to our beverage options which included a “flight of sake” ($125/person). But of course!
And so it began.
Chef Masayoshi Baba is the award-winning artist behind the counter. The evening offers an “omakase” experience – literally “I leave it up to you”. This tradition is when the chef chooses the menu from the freshest ingredients on hand and, I suppose, his personal whim. The appetizer courses were very fresh tasting – tiny portions of raw fish, vegetables and sauces that were presented as nigiri, soup, a sushi roll and various flavour morsels.
One of the most striking things was the presentation – each piece of nigiri came out in its own unique decorative plate. All portions were very small – single pieces of nigiri; tiny bits of sashimi, delicate herbs, dots of sauce, seeds, flowers – packed with colour and flavour.
Chef Masayoshi comes with an impressive pedigree including a decade spent under the tutelage of Hidekazu Tojo, the amazing visionary behind our favourite Japanese restaurant in Vancouver – TOJO’S.
The various different sakes that accompanied our meal were sensational; in fact, the sakes were the highlight for me. Each one was complex, smooth and hinting of unique flavours. In particular, we loved a sake that is bottled especially for Masayoshi restaurant and decided to take a bottle of it home!
The surprising thing is how you eventually do feel quite satiated on the myriad of little courses – 16 of them, in fact. Along with our caviar and at least 9 different sakes, we gradually realized that we couldn’t eat another bite!
Now, let’s address the “elephant in the room”. I will preface these remarks by saying that if you are worried about the price of one of these “Michelin Star” restaurants, you probably shouldn’t be visiting. That said, Masayoshi requires a $50 deposit per person at the time of your reservation. You may change your reservation up to 72 hours in advance without penalty.
To sit a table will cost $200 pp. If you’d rather be at the bar, that’s an additional $20 pp. As mentioned before, the Sake Flight is $125 pp. I don’t know what the extra caviar was worth but I think it was somewhere in the neighborhood of $125. (An extravagance we would pass on next time – but it’s nice to say you’ve tasted some of the best caviar). So, after adding a 20% gratuity and tax, we didn’t get much change out of $800. Plan on around $500 without the extras.
Was it worth it? It was a lovely experience. The evening was delightful, the food very tasty and you were made to feel very special. No doubt we can get full tummies a lot cheaper elsewhere but this was an evening of art, culture and gastronomy that I’m pleased we were able to indulge in. However, I will say that I still prefer the inventive creations and different variety of hot and cold courses offered at TOJO’s.
OUR RATING OF MASAYOSHI IS 8/10
Read about a 9.5/10 HERE. (Published on Main) and a 9/10 HERE. (AnnaLena)
UPDATE: September 2024 – Read about a 10/10 Michelin Star Restaurant Okeya Kyujiro (Vancouver, BC)
Location:
4376 Fraser St.
Vancouver, BC V5V 4G3
info@masayoshi.ca
Tuesday – Saturday
Two Seatings: 6 PM and 8:30 PM
Other noteworthy dining experiences you may enjoy reading about:
OKEYA KYUJIRO, VANCOUVER, CANADA
KISSA TANTO, VANCOUVER, CANADA
LARS, AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS
ST LAWRENCE, VANCOUVER, CANADA
SCHWARTZ MONTREAL SMOKED BEEF – MONTREAL
3 comments on “Masayoshi Vancouver – Our Michelin-Starred Dining Journey”
Comments are closed.