This place is the real deal - an exceptional high level sushi experience. The restaurant only accepts reservations - no walk in. They offer 2 services per night with a maximum of 10 customers seated at a bar. The restaurant is run by 2 people...- the sushi master and a woman that takes care of the customers - seating, taking care of coats, etc. serving tea and taking care of additional orders at the end and the tab. There is only a omakase offering. Interestingly, the first and second seatings have a different course of pieces. It is roughly 12 pieces of sushi - primarily nigiri style with some items served in gunkan style such as uni. There is a sort of half-time when a miso soup is served. After the omakase, there is an opportunity to order additional pieces from the current menu of available items. The only drink on offer is hot green tea. There are no other beverages or appetizers, etc. The sushi is accompanied by pickled ginger as a palate cleanser. The master applies soy sauce and wasabi as he sees fit. He serves everyone at the bar in order - moving from one end to the other end. It's amazing to watch him prepare the sushi - working quickly and efficiently with a rhythm. All of the sushi was outstanding - perfect cuts served at peak of flavor. The rice is perfect. The highlight for me was perhaps a back-to-back offering of 2 uni - one from Miyagi, one from Hokkaido.. It was interesting to taste the difference between the two. The nori on the gunkan had a perfect crispy texture. This is a serious culinary event for a sushi lover. If you order the "samurai roll" at your favorite sushi bar - this place is not for you. It was generally quiet with the customers occasionally chatting quietly within their groups or asking the master a question. The master only offers a the name of each item. Overall, the entire meal takes just over an hour. I do not give 5 star ratings often. This deserves it. Definitely the best sushi experience I have ever had outside of Japan. Highly recommended.More

We had an amazing time at Sushi Bar Maumi. The omakase is amazing, the food is so delicious and the service was friendly. It is a small restaurant and very strict on their service times so come a bit early so that you are ready...to come in for your service time. The parking is just wherever you can find on the street so give yourself time. The seafood is super fresh, and I definitely recommend checking this very cool experience out.More

The place is a small hidden gem that seats 10-11 people for a set omakase sushi dinner of 11 pieces. They have a list of other nigiri that you can get afterwords if you want to try a few more pieces. The chef is very...knowledgeable and does seem to care about his craft, which one has to do for traditional edomae style sushi. The rice is made with care, individual pieces are marinated or come with all the sauce you need, and very impressively he uses real wasabi imported from Japan which if you've never tried you absolutely should (spicy but with sweetness not at all like the horseradish you find at most sushi restaurants.) Dinner is served with traditional Japanese green tea (Oocha) which is a nice compliment to the sushi. A few notes, this is an omakase only bar, you cannot order individually, they don't have substitutions, you are going in for whatever the chef decides to give you that night. This is a great way to have sushi, but if you're not a die hard sushi fan it might not be for you. There is no alcohol, which is unfortunate. A beer or sake would have been great to pair with some of the sushi and could round out the meal a bit more, but that is not an option here. Arrive on time. Even a few minutes late can spoil the meal because of how the omakase is served. You MUST have reservations, they do not do walkins and the reservations must be done online. To the chefs credit I called to see if there was a waitlist (there isn't) but when someone cancelled he called me back and send to make the reservation right now online and I'd get a seat. Lastly, while some of the pieces were truly terrific (the Japanese Uni stands out) other pieces could have used either some more care or maybe not brought out. Some sushi is best fresh others can use some care and treatment to bring out their flavor (as is traditional with edomae style) and I feel that some of the pieces just didn't quite have that care or elevation that made everything that higher level. With a good traditional omakase every piece needs to be an adventure since you're focusing piece by piece and this is where Maumi did fall short on some pieces. Overall, the food was good, great even, but it fell shy of perfect.More

What is not to like about this place? A tiny 10 seat curved sushi bar tucked near an alley on Bute Street with a Master Sushi Chef, wow! There are only two seatings, the first at 6:00pm with the second at 9:30pm. A word of...advice, don't even think of being late! That rather sets the tone for the evening's experience as the first words from the chef are explanations of the rules (shades of Soup Nazi). There is certainly an intimidation factor at play here however, we were served tea and started with a miso soup that was excellent. The chef has a rather mumbled Japanese/English explanation for his servings, most of which may have well been sitting in Japan 24 hours previously. Let the Omakase experience begin! Watching the preparation can be mesmerizing and we ordered a few pieces of nigiri before we found our way back into the evening. Walking home we coalesced our thoughts and felt that the best way to describe the evening was, it was an experience. Other than the mastery of sushi creation and ultra fresh seafood, the food was average at best. But make no mistake, the price is not average. This is a no alcohol restaurant and with tip and taxes, the dinner for the three of us was $336.11. Now that we have our experience, we will not be back.More

Before you go, know what you are getting into. If you are expecting to have westernized sushi with rolls, fusion dishes and sake/beer, this is definitely not the place for you. However, if you are looking for a quiet, high quality, authentic Japanese omakase nigiri...experience, I would say this is the best place I've been to in all of Vancouver (and I've been to a lot of sushi places here). For around $80, you get a taste of fresh fish flown from Japan 5 times a week made expertly in front of you by a master sushi chef. He is not super talkative so don't expect to converse much at the bar. You also get the chance to order additional dishes at the end of the omakase menu but be advised, many of the best things on the menu are quite pricey and you may be in for a surprise if you are not careful. ** They do not have a liquor license so don't expect to drink during dinner. You cannot bring in your own alcohol either. The experience is supposed to be just about the nigiriMore

This was my first Omakase experience and I really enjoyed it. Delicious sushi and some new tastes. The 11 pieces in the set price ($75 each) was enough for us, but the other guests ordered more. Only 10 seats in the restaurant and you all...sit around the bar, so it's very intimate.More

You must reserve a spot at Mauimi’s 10 seater counter with your credit card and you must show up on time. Fail to do so and they charge $75 to your card. Fair enough, they are only open for two seatings between 6 and 9:30...pm - so serve maximum 20 people per day. The atmosphere is somewhat austere with the chef laying down the law when you come in - basically telling you what you will eat and how it works. No alcohol on offer, just green tea. It was 10 pieces of sushi that are flown in from Tokyo and the best miso soup I have ever tasted. For this you are charged $75 plus tax. The sushi was delicious - the uni, the fatty tuna, the scallop and the amberjack were beyond good. You can then order extra of whatever is available that is marked on a card that you get when you first walk in. I ordered another piece of maguro chu-toro and tomago (egg). The tomago was the only piece I did not enjoy that night - my bad (it wasn’t on the chef’s list). The bill came to $102 (including tax and a 10%). A bargain for the quality of the sushi. The experience however is not for everyone. If you want to ask questions, or like extra wasabi or have questionable chop stick skills - then Mauimi is NOT for you. A different and very good concept - but i’d suggest they explain it more in their otherwise very detailed website. It was my last night in town and I was in the mood for a couple pieces of salmon, tuna eel and scallop sushi w/ a beer. Mauimi was delicious but a bit too serious for my mood that evening.More

This is the first time that we came to this place after the renovation (while I can’t go too often since it cost about $80 - $100 per person). Originally I was going to write a long review, but I’ve decided to keep it short...and straight to the point - If you like silent and serious ambient and eat fresh, rare, raw, and expensive sushi while watching a professional sushi chef to make it right in front of you, then this place is perfect for you, and I’ll give it a 9/10. If not, 2/10.More

I may be biased as this was my first time in an Omakase sushi place, but I enjoyed every minute of it. The Blue-fin Tuna and the Hokkaido Uni were amazing, and were a first for me. The service itself was very professional and I...enjoyed every second of watching the Chef working, from the precision cuts to the way he makes every piece of sushi.More

Everyone's reviews tell you about the amazing fish and the not-so-great ambience. It's true. Don't go to this place if you want to ask the chef questions, learn details about the fish, have a really luxurious experience. DO go to this place if you want...some of the best sushi you've ever had. Watching the chef prepare the fish is mesmerizing, and the food could not have tasted any better. It was perfection in one bite done over and over again. I'm so glad we experienced this meal, and if you're okay with their rules and the chef's taciturn manner, you'll love this place.More

I suppose once is ok, maybe the quality is above average among Sushi restaurants in Vancouver. But not mind-boggling. To our surprise, they do not offer Sake or any drinks other than green tea. Omakase consists of 11 pieces of sushi and a miso soup,...which is naturally not a very big portion. One can order additional sushi after the serve of Omakase. One of us find Hirame a bit smelly.More

We booked dinner for two looking forward to a nice night with personal service at the bar. Instead, it was boring and cold. The chef essentially wants you in and out. There is no conversation. There is no welcome and no pause in between. Even...the guests seemed intimidated by the chef as if we were somehow privileged and honoured to be in his company. Typically sushi chefs at the bar welcome guests and converse about the fish, the cuisine, etc. Not so here. The chef here really appears to just get the dinner over with and kick everyone out. Atmosphere sucks. No talking, no questions, no nothing. And the fish is nothing special by Vancouver standards. I have had better. I have had sushi in Tokyo and all over the world and I always look forward to sitting at the bar and learning and talking with the chef. Here, the chef mumbles the name of the fish in Japanese and English before serving it to all and moving on.More

My husband and my first time to Sushi Bar Maumi for their $75 CAD per person Omakase. Advanced online reservation is required and you need to leave your credit card details to hold the spots. In case of no-show, you would be charged the full...amount. It takes some time to find parking, so get to Downtown earlier. The restaurant is very small with a maximum capacity of 10 customers, so don’t bring too many shopping goods with you, as there is really just the one bar table for everyone. There is no background music, the space is small as mentioned. With $75 per head, you will get 10 different pieces of Chef’s choice sushi and a bowl of soup. No dessert or appetizers with the set. I don’t even see them as an option on the menu. I have attached the full menu here for everyone’s reference. The price is by piece. I will continue to search for a place for good Omakase in Vancouver.More

This is a small intimate sushi bar that really replicates the experience I have had in good sushi places in Tokyo, Japan. These days there are many kinds of non-traditional sushi/maki available with all kinds of bizarre fillings. In contrast, Maumi excels at the traditional...very simple sushi made and presented with simplicity and elegance. The emphasis is on really tasting the fish and using the highest quality ingredients. You sit on a bar with all the other 10 or 11 people in the restaurant, watch the food being prepared, and then eat each piece as it is completed and delivered to you. The place itself is small and simple; even the mens washrooms seems to be behind the kitchen. They do not serve alcoholic beverages (not even sake), which is the one major departure from the traditional high-end sushi-eating experience.More

I have been to Maumi only twice, but I enjoyed both visits. I ordered Omakase ($45 for 10 pieces) and Anago tempura and Agedashi-dofu, when I went there with my husband. Everything was cooked to order and delicious, but Agedashi tasted like any other restaurant....I recommend Anago tempura, if it is available. For my second visit, I went as a group of 4. I didn't enjoy the sushi as much as my first visit. Maybe I talked too much with my friends, not focusing on the food that I was eating. I know that there are many rules and policies at Maumi, which by the way you can read on their face book page, but that works for me. You are given only 1.5 hours of eating time, so I park my car on a street and put coins just for 1.5 hours. You are not there to enjoy their ambience (not nice as someone mentioned below), but their food. I like this type of restaurants with "ganko oyaji" (we say in Japanese, and means "stubborn father"), since they cook their food right following their principle. And Maumi does that.More