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Kingyo Izakaya

<p>Though every Vancouverite has a different (equally strong) opinion about the city's best sushi-and-Japanese restaurant, the upscale, hip Kingyo gets consistently high marks. In a dining room decorated with dark Japanese wood and enlivened by a jazz soundtrack, diners tuck into super-fresh sushi (order the chef's choice sashimi trio, which changes daily—if you're lucky it will include sweet prawn) and other delicious, rather hilariously named dishes (like “Our Famous Invincible & Undefeated TanTan Noodle,” a tangle of rice noodles in savory pork-and-miso-flavored broth). Reservations are essential unless you don't mind a communal table—made slightly private by a “wall” of live bamboo down the middle. Open from 5:30 p.m.</p> <p><strong>Insider Tip:</strong> Skip Kingyo's dessert and walk three blocks to Mondo Gelato (1094 Denman St.); you can stay on-theme with a scoop of black sesame or green tea gelato. </p>