Shin Ka Gyuu: All You Can Eat Japanese Sukiyaki in Vancouver

Shin Ka Gyuu is an all you can eat Japanese sukiyaki restaurant in Vancouver and they are in their soft opening phase. Sukiyaki is a pot of meat and veggies slowly simmered in a broth.

They opened in the old Joey’s near Broadway and Granville. Vancouver doesn’t have a dedicated sukiyaki restaurant since Posh closed down their locations years ago.

They have $78 and $58 menus to choose from. The big difference is the addition of the wagyu beef short plate and prime boneless chuck flap (AAA+).

We were invited to check out the space before their grand opening.

Interior

The space is very nice and large. It can seat small to large groups easily. The decor is very modern, bright and filled with velvet green chairs as well as booths.

$78 Menu

$58 Menu

Drink Menu

Asahi

They have been beer on tap. I personally prefer a nice cold crisp beer like Asahi to go with a meal like this.

Lychee Soda

This has lychee juice, mint, lime, simple syrup and soda. We ordered two rounds of this drink for our table and we found it to be inconsistent. The first round wasn’t very good, but the next one was really good and vibrant.

Appetizers

All the appetizers are the same for the $58 and $78 menu. There are 6 different types of appetizers, 3 types of sashimi, and 4 sushi rolls. Also, unlimited pop.

The six appetizers presented first at the table are tako wasabi, seaweed salad, jellyfish and imitation shark fin salad, tuna avocado gomae salad, tofu salad, and cucumber salad. It’s a nice medley that comes, but they were all very average in taste. I did enjoy the tuna avocado gomae salad a lot.

Sashimi

The sashimi is stunning once it arrives to the table. It is beautifully set up. The quality was decent, but the tuna was a touch frozen, and there was a bone in the salmon sashimi.

Sushi

There are 4 types of sushi – Salmon Aburi Oshi Sushi, Ebi Aburi Oshi Sushi, Ka Gyuu Roll, and Tuna Tuna Tuna Roll.

The sushi rolls are very great value as the oshi is unlimited. The quality is pretty good and where else are you going to get unlimited oshi sushi? These are great to fill up on. It’s not Miku quality, but it still passable.

Sukiyaki

The sukiyaki broth was a tad on the salty side when it came out. As the night progressed, it did get saltier and saltier as it got concentrated. At first, they added more broth to replenish the ones that evaporated, but closer to the end, we asked them to add water into our pot instead.

Meats

For both menus, you get the pork belly, beef chuck eye roll, lamb shoulder, and beef short plate. With the $78 menu, you get the added wagyu beef short plate and prime boneless chuck flap (AAA+).

There was supposed to be 6 meats, but there was only 5 available. Not sure what happened to the lamb shoulder but maybe they were out.

Of all the meats, my favourites were the wagyu beef short plate and prime boneless chuck flap (AAA+), which is only part of the $78 menu. They are nicer cuts, but as the night went on, we did find the quality to start to diminish as there were more and more fatty pieces.

Veggies

There is a bar for veggies for you to grab yourself. There are items like broccoli, carrot, baby cabbage, king oyster mushroom, shiitake mushroom, enoki mushroom, and winter melon. The quality looked and tasted good.

There are items like tofu and yam noodle that you need to order from the staff.

Sauce

As you begin the sukiyaki, they give you ponzu sauce, grated radish, sesame paste, and eggs to mix together.

Dessert

The menu had 6 different desserts available, but when we went, the bingsu wasn’t available. Even with 5 selection of dessert, none of them really stood out. It’s hard to go wrong with ice cream like black sesame and matcha. None of the desserts are house made, so it’s all purchased from other suppliers.

Final Thoughts

There are definitely a lot of kinks they need to work out before their grand opening in a few weeks. Service was definitely a big issue as the staff are still new and trying to figure out the flow of a dinner service. There were gaps in when the food arrived, so if you’re hungry, there might be a delay. When the food does arrive, it is stunning especially the sashimi platter.

As for the food, it’s good but we felt it was inconsistent as the slices of meat that we got became fattier and fattier as the night went on. I did like the variety of appetizers, but there were minor issues with some dishes.

I would wait a little bit before coming here for All You Can Eat Sukiyaki.

Address:
1428 W Broadway, Vancouver, BC