Yuwa Japanese Cuisine (fka Zest Restaurant)

simply gorgeus, excellent food, very very lovely young waitresses, highly recommended

The atmosphere was great and the food was amazing! Will come back for sure.

Excellent food and service. This restaurant always delivers. It’s our closest local restaurant and we live it..

Yuma is better than ever. Interesting dishes and beautiful presented/served. As always, impeccable service. We thought the menu even better than Zest and the interiors have been thoughtfully updated including a new sushi bar which is made from a beautiful piece of wood. Will absolutely return

I originally had dinner at this restaurant, while attending a business meeting, but was so impressed that I brought my husband the following evening to experience the wonderful food, ambiance, and service.

Excellent food at Yuwa !! Our waitress, Meho, was exceptional in knowledge and expertise !!
Very accommodating for our gluten free foods for our son. Even had gluten free soy sauce !
Shin , the manager even remembered us from last year and where we sat !!
Exceptional quality of food, every bite was tasty and mouth watering !
Can’t wait to go back again !
Thank you Meho, Shin and Iori !!

We hadn’t been to Zest since the changeover happened. The menu was a bit different and still completely enjoyable. The service isn’t rushed so you need to be clear if you’re going somewhere after and have a time limit. Good service, nice sake choices, good food. The music could have been a bit lower volume for me. That’s my only complaint. And I’m certain if I’d voiced it they’d have turned it down.

The food was tasty although the portion sizes small and relatively expensive. Sharing with one other person is best for these items. Some items were innovative and really tasty whereas some were a bit "run of the mill". The waitress wasn't too helpful in recommending the outstanding items.
Overall, I wouldn't run back as it was pretty expensive. Good to recommend to someone for an experience looking for fancy sushi.

Go to fancy date spot for wife and I.

We always love this place. The food is very good and unique and the service is wonderful. Great quality and nice to have it in the neighborhood!

Excellent Japanese food served in elegant surroundings. Sashimi and sushi were beautifully prepared, very fresh and delicious. We focused on Yuwas specials this meal and the chawanmushi was silky smooth. The special fish cooked with beans and chestnut was succulent and perfectly balanced. We will be back to try the rest of the menu. Highly recommended.

Excellent selection of Japanese dishes, top-quality ingredients, very tasty, definitely a repeat.

Excellent service, and great ambiance. Food was better the last time we ate, especially the wagyu beef, This time, a bit on the tougher side. Fish was excellent, but portions have gotten thin.

Except the suggest tipping of 18 per cent was a bit unexpected, normally we pay 15pct, over all it was a nice place for Japanese dinner

Our experience at Yuwa was very memorable. The food was more than delicious and the service was outstanding. Four of us sampled many different dishes and each was delectable and beautifully presented. It’s not the cheapest of restaurants, but, in my estimation, it’s worth every penny.
Thank you so very much.

We enjoyed our meal very much. We’ll return.

Exceptional Japanese cuisine. Not "adapted" or "modernized" , and not inexpensive. Worth every penny for an authentic meal that hasn't declined in quality since the change in name/ownership.

Excellent service and very good food

Your restaurant was recommended to us & it did not disappoint, fresh, delicious & fun to watch the chefs. Thank you!

We would recommend this restaurant for experience of having a most pleasant experience. My one comment which has nothing to do with the restaurant but rather the patrons.........I have never seen so many people using cell phones .....I assume they were on social media as they weren’t talking to anyone. It most certainly takes away from the ambiance......what are we coming to ?

We took our son and daughter-in-law to Yuwa for dinner on their last night in Vancouver. They are not only committed foodies but also know and love Japanese cuisine, having lived five years in Tokyo. They were impressed with the highly creative menu and collaborated with the excellent server to make great choices. All four of us found the dishes sumptuously delicious and beautifully presented. The sake selection advised by the host was outstanding. All in, the meal was exceptionally good value for money. We will be returning to Yuwa ourselves and will enthusiastically recommend it to our friends who enjoy fine Japanese dining.

Attention to detail throughout in this elegant Japanese restaurant. Not for a hurried meal, the courses progress one by one, prepared with care, and the best quality ingredients. Sit back and savour!

At the former site of longtime neighbourhood favourite Zest Restaurant, Yuwa Japanese Cuisine carries on the tradition of superior Japanese dining. Clientele from nearby have remained faithful. Classy, quiet room. Attentive bilingual (Japanese and English) service. Nice to have this without the need to venture downtown. Free parking! Sake tasting flights available on request. Probably one of the few places that serves whole lingcod heads, but come early as quantities are limited. Kaiseki (traditional multicourse dinner) can be enjoyed if you make your request 48 hours in advance. For your birthday, they will sing you the Japanese version of "Happy Birthday".

Best Japanese in Vancouver

Wonderful experience. Some of the best sushi and wagyu beef we’ve ever tasted. Easy to get to on the bus, a plus for tourists like us.

Excellent service and amazing food. Very k ownkwlwdgeable server and exacting chef. No better Japanese anywhere.

Unique and creative food and a very pleasant environment for enjoying the food.

I was expecting interesting delicate Kaisei dishes and we ordered 4 of these from the specialties menu, as well as their costliest roll. The specialty dishes were very small (as expected) but not particularly exciting. The smoked tuna dish had potential if the slices had not been so thin that there was nothing to taste. The sushi roll had excellent rice and tasted very fresh but again the thin slices of shrimp and salmon lacked flavour and I picked up no taste of the crab, which was a major ingredient. Decided to bail rather than ordering more. Likely the less expensive sushi were likely a better choice. Quality of the ingredients was excellent, but I guess my palette is too crude for this restaurant.

This was a remarkable dinner. Everything was perfectly prepared and presented in a perfect progression. What a fantastic restaurant!

Excellent services and tasty food!

Most of our dishes were very tasty & beautiful presentation. But the portions were VERY TINY & VERY EXPENSIVE! It was quite shocking! I soon realized I needed to order several more dishes to feel full. They need to increase the portion size or reduce the prices. We will not be coming back.

I have been to Yuwa several times under its current name and when it was known as Zest.

The food is always wonderful. Chef is very creative and uses the best, freshest and whenever possible locally sourced ingredients.

The menu is changed often but offerings are always flavourful.

This is not all you can eat cuisine but well worth spending time to truly enjoy the meal. Always truly memorable food.

Food was absolutely fantastic! Service was top-notch, would recommend this place to everyone (and I already have!)

Nothing special. Vancouver has amazing sushi all over the city. Don’t waste your money.

The total experience was terrific as always. One of our favorites!

Fantastic as always

We were Zest fans who drifted away as its menu kept changing and great dishes like the Chicken gyoza disappeared.

We tried Yuwa and were pleasantly surprised. The cuisine was creative and satisfying, although the gyoza have yet to return. The service was helpful and enthusiastic. Much characteristic Japanese courtesy and ceremony which we appreciated. We will be back !

Outstanding food presentation. Exquisite dishes and arrangement of the food.

Expensive but delicious!
The menu is interesting and they have a fresh sheet with more selection. We had the stuffed mushrooms, dragon roll, veal cheeks and sockeye salmon tartare with yam chips...yummy!

Presenation is excellent. Service is great. Portions are decent. Taste is great