Broadway Station Sushi
The Rio Theater feels like my home away from home.
I’m there two or three times a month on average, and sometimes more. I got married there. It’s a cultural hub, the soul of the Vancouver creative scene, as much a part of the creative community as anything can be. And it’s homegrown, too, which is nice; we import so much of our landscape.
Take our restaurants, for example. What are we known for? Chinese food, some decent Mexican, Starbucks, catch-all places like Cactus Club or Earls, and sushi. Oh, god, the amount of sushi restaurants in this city is insane. There’s a single city block in North Vancouver that has three sushi restaurants on it, and a fourth restaurant that has sushi on the menu. We love our sushi.
But not all sushi is created equal.
We’re not going to be able to match Jiro, I think. Not yet.
We do have some damn fine places, though, and Broadway Station Sushi is among the best.
They don’t have to be; they’re right beside the Rio, which makes them a prime spot for people looking for a little grub before dashing off to see a show. That was what initially brought us in, but we kept going back because the place is reasonably priced and the sushi is amazing.
Vancouver sushi restaurants live and die by their special rolls, and every place does something a little different. Broadway Station Sushi was some fine and pretty rolls, but they also offer something I’ve not seen anywhere else in the city – Sushi Oshi, a lightly seared variant served with some rice trickery. The salmon variety has become my go to, but they’ve also got tuna for those that are into that kind of thing.
Basic rolls are a good size, the rice is tasty and holds everything together well, and the fish is of good quality. Here’s where things get interesting: they have a thing where you can add ingredients to any of their basic rolls. I’ve taken to adding cream cheese and mango to their chicken teriyaki roll, the result of which is sweet savory goodness that melts in your mouth as you eat it.
Of special note is their spicy chicken karaage. I know people that crave the stuff, and I’ve got one friend that asks me to pick her some up whenever I head over to the Rio for a show. It’s big chunks of chicken with the perfect amount of batter served with a sweet hot sauce that is like nothing else in this city. It’s worth checking Broadway Station Sushi out for this dish alone.
About $30 will feed two people, they do takeout but no delivery, and they’re open until 11:30 most days but only open til 9:15 on Sundays and Mondays. You can check out their menu by clicking here.