Zakkushi: Japanese skewer restaurant in Vancouver

Zakkushi is a Japanese chain of restaurants that feature meat skewers. They have locations across Vancouver but we checked out their Main Street location. This review is based on an in-dining experience.

Interior

The interior has kind of a dark and cozy atmosphere. We were seated in a small booth so the seats were comfy and cushiony. I found that the tables had a lot of privacy to them. I couldn’t really see what other people are ordering or anything like that. However, the sound does travel so if there’s a large table somewhere else you can definitely hear them. Overall, nice interior.

Drinks

We love Japanese cocktails so we order 2 from their yuzu (lemon) collection.

Yuzu mojito ($12) and a yuzu sour ($8)

Both of them were refreshing and yummy. Note that these 2 are seasonal drink specials so they may not offer these year-round. I found the mojito to be quite light and the yuzu flavour wasn’t too strong (i.e. tasted like a normal mojito with a hint of lemon). The yuzu sour had a stronger yuzu flavour and tasted stronger too.

Food

We order several skewers and different appies to share.

Ankimo ($9)

Ankimo is cold monkfish liver. Think of it like a Japanese version of foie gras! They serve it with ponzu sauce, wakame seaweed and green onion.

I’ve never tried this before but I was pleasantly surprised. It tasted like a very high quality appetizier. The monkfish liver isn’t bitter and isn’t too rich like actual foie gras. It has an interesting pate type of texture and is very savoury. With the refreshing ponzu sauce, it is a nice compliment. For the price, I think it is very reasonable as this dish is not found in a lot of places.

Sashimi of the day – Sanma ($19)

We ordered the sashimi of the day, which was Sanma (Pacific Saury/ Mackerel). They carved the fish up in a very beautiful way and we were able to eat the skin/tail and everything. Generally, I’m not a big fan of mackerel fish because I find it too “fishy”, but my boyfriend liked it a lot.

Yuzu chicken nanban karaage ($11)

This chicken karaage is bursting with flavour! The chicken itself is fried really nicely in giant chunks – very juicy. The sauce they use is more lemon flavour, which gives it a more refreshing taste instead of an oily or savoury taste with mayo.

Zakkushi set ($15)

We both order one of the Zakkushi sets. It’s $15 for 5 skewers and comes with teriyaki chicken, Umeshiso yaki, Mé maki, P-toro and Oropon beef. We really liked this set as it came with a variety of different meat skewers – chicken, pork and beef.

Out of these 5 skewers, I liked the chicken teriyaki the most, followed by the beef with grated daikon and ponzu sauce, and then the garlic stems with pork wrapped around (had a nice crunch!).

All the skewers were very juicy and not dry at all.

Other skewers ($3-4 each)

We ordered a bunch more of other skewers: quail eggs with pork wrapped (uzura maki $4), chicken meatballs (Tsukune $4), chicken skin 2 ways (kawa yaki $4).

I really liked the chicken skin with the teriyaki sauce over the salt and pepper version (more saucy). Again, all the skewers came pretty quickly and were all high quality. My boyfriend loves quail eggs so he really enjoyed the quail egg skewer. Chicken meatballs were also tender and flavourful.

Yakitori don ($13)

Lastly, we order the yakitori don, which is a bowl of steamed rice topped with teriyaki chicken, a half boiled egg, mayo, green onion & seaweed. We are unable to eat this because we are too full but I had it for lunch the next day and the chicken meat was still so yummy.

Final thoughts

Loewe’s rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

We went pretty ham when ordering from the menu. You order it like an all-you-can-eat slip of paper so it’s dangerous! Haha, we definitely over-ordered but we don’t regret it.

All the food was delicious and their meat skewers were outstanding. Of course, each skewer can add up but for the quality of cooking done on the skewers, it is worth the $3-4 price tag. They have some more premium skewer sets as well with wagyu, lamb, etc. that you can try. I recommend coming with some friends (meat lovers especially) and choosing this place for drinks and tapas.

We will definitely be returning!

Sincerely, Loewe