Fans of Temaki Sushi will be pleased to know that Chef Hil Nguy has opened a brand new sushi spot in Mount Pleasant. Sushi Hil Vancouver is on Main Street right next to popular Vietnamese restaurant Anh and Chi. The restaurant is currently in its soft opening, so they are only offering a limited daily menu with no reservations. The current menu has a few appetizers, limited sashimi selection, and a few rolls. If you have never tried Chef Hil’s food, you might be surprised to know he’s the consulting sushi chef at Cactus Club Cafe! I came by on a Thursday evening and it was busy when we came, but was fairly quiet when we left. Check out my full review of Sushi Hil Vancouver below!
Sushi Hil Vancouver – Appetizers
For the time being, the menu is quite tight with just a few options. To start we had the Hotate Crudo ($18.00). There are three options of crudo to choose from: Hamachi, Kanpachi and Hotate. They all feature a house ponzu with serrano. The scallop was fresh and sliced thinly. The house ponzu is very acidic (which I enjoy). Overall a solid dish to get the night started.
Sushi Hil Vancouver – Nigiri Set
We went all out and both got the Nigiri Set ($55.00) so we could have a solid sampling of Chef Hil’s specialty. The nigiri set comes with Chef’s selection of nigiri (8 pieces), daily maki, spicy daikon salad and miso soup.
The miso soup was flavourful with generous portions of tofu and seaweed. The spicy daikon salad features thin shreds of daikon with avocado and cucumber chunks. It also features the same house ponzu as the crudo. It was tasty, but because it shares so many similarities with the crudo it was a bit repetitive in taste.
The chef’s choice nigiri today was:
- Enagawa
- Ora King Salmon
- Ebi
- Tamago
- Saba
- Hotate
- Akami
- Madai
All the nigiri was very lush and flavourful but my standouts were the Ora King Salmon (so buttery and smooth), Hotate, Enagawa and Akami. If you’re a fan of aburi this set will definitely for you. The maki of the day was negitoro which is a personal favourite and this one definitely did not disappoint.
The ebi was sweet and bouncy and the mayo on top compliments the sweetness very nicely. The saba was firm with the familiar fishy taste which is one of my favourite bites as well. However, these two didn’t stand out as much to me because they’re familiar and accessible at a lot of sushi spots.
The tamago was a bit too firm for my liking and nothing special.
Worth a Try?
Yes! I really enjoyed my meal and the service was top notch. Tea was constantly refilled, and the servers always check in to see if you’re enjoying your meal. I would however wait until their soft opening phase to come by so that you can choose from their full menu. This spot is a great addition to the Mount Pleasant area and I will definitely be back soon to try more dishes!
Sushi Hil
Address: 3330 Main St. Vancouver, BC V5V 3M7
Telephone: 236-482-9060
Website: https://www.sushihil.com/