We happen to stumble upon this restaurant as we were walking in the Kerrisdale neighbourhood. As soon as we walked in, we were greeted by the staff and were taken to a table for two with nice lounge chairs. The tea cup had all the names and illustrations of the nigiri so that I could study them LOL. It also had matching plates with red chopsticks. Very unique and playful.

We ordered chicken karaage $7.95, Negitoro roll $4.50, Spicy tuna roll $4.95, agedashi tofu $5.95, Kisu fish tempura $5.95 and Sushi roll combo A $16.95.

The chicken karaage came out nice and hot, but was disappointed in that it had too much coating…too much powder and barely and chicken. For cheaper, I’ve had much juicier and better flavoured (usually just with a hint of lemon juice) elsewhere.

 chicken karaage $7.95

Negitoro roll $4.50

Negitoro was good. In most cases, you can’t really screw up negitoro unless you get one where the fish has gone bad…which I did once at Oyama.

Sushi roll combo A $16.95

From the sushi combo, I just had the salmon nigiru – which was fresh and the right size. Tasted great.

Kisu fish tempura $5.95

The kisu fish tempura was light and crispy. It would go great with a bowl of white rice.

Spicy tuna roll $4.95

The spicy tuna roll was different from the usual ones you commonly find elsewhere. It had some seeds, the tuna was all ground up, and a flavour that I wasn’t too happy with.

Agedashi tofu $5.95

The agedashi tofu was also different in that it was all covered in bonito – perhaps deep fried with it. It was really hot and the unique new taste was something welcoming and enjoyable.

With taxes and tips, the total came a little over $50. Most of the food is overpriced – especially the sushi combo. $17?!  Overall, I am sitting on the fence. Some I didn’t find it that great, while others with different ingredients was interesting.

The atmosphere is lovely and the service is also 50/50. Some, who appeared Japanese was friendly and smiling but those who weren’t were a bit cold and never seem to smile. They did keep coming back to refill our tea cups quite often. The girl who brought the credit card machine seemed so grumpy or pissed off to be working there…and because of that, I left a 12% tip rather than 15%. Not sure why these kind of people get hired – especially at restaurants like these. They’d be fired if it was in Japan.

Maggie Hon (Director) and brother Dan, founder of Shota Sushi and Grill needs to take a look at not only what they’re serving, but who is serving the customers.

My friend seemed to like it and is wanting to go back again, so I guess going back and making a second assessment would make my review more valuable.

Shota for Lunch

Second time, we can as a group of 5 people during lunch on a weekend. Since I wasn’t up for sushi that day, I ordered the Nabeyaki Udon  $10.95. One of my friend also ordered the same thing.

I thought the soup was bland. The noodle wasn’t that great either. My friend complained about the extremely small shiitake mushroom. I didn’t mind since I hated that stuff..lol. He also complained that it was mostly napa cabbage inside…I also didn’t mind since I loved veggies. He ended up only eating two-thirds of it. The rest, my other friend ate the leftovers as his assorted sushi wasn’t enough for him to fill up.Nabeyaki Udon $10.95

One had the nigiri sushi, and she said it was worth coming all the way from Lougheed Mall area by public transit to have the best nigiri. She really loved them.Michael J. Fox autograph!

More autographs!

Christian Slater’s autograph

The service was ok. They constantly kept refilling our tea cups like last time. One girl seemed a bit unprofessional as a server, especially for one that is charging that high for their food. She didn’t speak up, didn’t seem to know the menu well, and seemed reserved. Perhaps it was her first day?

This time, we noticed all the celeb’s autograph on the wall. Michael J. Fox! and Jet Lee! Wow! I can’t believe they signed! …ok…I guess they wouldn’t refuse to sign…Just because they sign doesn’t necessary mean that the food was superb. It’s just a marketing tool for everyone to see that if the famous people come here, then the rest should too.

The atmosphere of the place is really nice and cozy which is why I like this restaurant, despite the food not being on my top list. It hasn’t been eliminated off my list, but the price for what you get one main reason I’m reluctant to go back.

Another Lunch

Not ouf of my choice, but since the Sushi group was meeting at Shota again, I went.

 Taste:     Price for Value:

Atmosphere:    Service:
Location: