Vancouver’s first-ever vegan omakase experience at COFU Chinatown
Today I was at Cofu in Chinatown. I am familiar with this vegan Japanese restaurant through events and fairs, where they held tables and offered samples of their unique cuisine. But tonight was the first time I would be getting a full look of their offerings and the ability try more than 2-3 bites at a time.
COFU’s first and original location open in 2021, near Granville Island. This was a plant-based sushi shop blending traditional Japanese techniques with local Canadian ingredients, which has since bloomed into one of the city’s most beloved vegan sushi restaurants.
Fast forward to 2025, owned Akiko has expanded with COFU Chinatown, transforming a long-vacant space into Canada’s first plant-based omakase experience. And today we would get a look at said experience across 18 courses with multiple appetizers, nigiris, a rice course, and three desserts; where everything is made from scratch.
Tonight was the sneak peek of their new spring omakase menu that goes live on April 1st, 2026. This is everything you’d expect from a traditional Japanese chef-led, multi-course tasting, but make it 100% plant-based. The omakase is $130 per person with reservations required. Everyone present agreed that this was one of the most affordable omakases in town.
For those unfamiliar, an omakase is a Chef-curated, multi-course Japanese dining experience. It translates to “I leave it up to you”, allowing the chef to often get creative and play with seasonal ingredients. The experience itself is often intimate, interactive, and theatrical; as guests are able to witness the meal unfold course by course.
The service began with some introspection, how Japan has completely vegetarian roots with mandates to not kill animals, and a diet that contains plenty of fish. So this concept isn’t too far out of the Japanese cuisine wheelhouse. However, there currently aren’t any vegan omakases in Japan, with only a few burgeoning options.
Where I think COFU stands out is that, whereas lot of vegan restaurants try to imitate meat, simulate its texture, and attempts to replace it. COFU leads with their vegetables and fungus, and allows each to stand on its own, with its own natural textures and flavours in play.
As we got seated, we started off with a couple of drinks. I liked how a few of their cocktails featured ingredients common in Japanese cuisine. Yuzu sour, shiso mojito, matcha martini, and hojicha old fashioned. They also have a curated selection of sake, meant to pair with their courses.
We tried the Wasabi Margarita with tequila, lime juice, agave syrup, wasabi, and wasabi salt. Although was disappointed as to not get as much wasabi essence as anticipated, and that we wanted from this. It had more the regular lime and spice of a margarita, than the burn of a featured horseradish.
The Chinatown cocktail was an interesting mix of Japanese sake, lemon, ginger, rice vinegar, and wasabi tincture. This cocktail was briney, centred around pickled ginger with a little sweetness. I found it was refreshing to have, to break apart bites below.
Our first such bite and appetizer was a Daikon Mochi with Truffle Sauce. Pan-seared daikon rice cake that is crisp on the outside and tender within. It is finished with a delicate truffle infusion. The mochi was grilled with a char, offering it a smokey taste. Taking a bite, the bundle bursts and savoury broth erupts into your mouth. Juicy like a sponge, this was a warming start. I found its overall flavour elegant, and as such, synonymous with all our dishes to come.
It came along side Koya-Dofu with Shojin Dashi, Orange Oil & Green Peas. This was a dish of freeze-dried tofu gently rehydrated in shojin dashi, accented with bright citrus oil and sweet green peas. This one ate a lot more straightforward and lean.
The Steamed Soy Milk Custard was a silky steamed custard made from local organic soymilk and nigari. Topped with irizake, that is a seasoning made from Japanese plum and sake. You usually see this done with egg, this was my first with milk. Both have similar textures, but not the same savoury characteristics. This was light and beautifully elegant, with a warm and quiet umami.
Our next course was Shojin Dashi with Shiratama. This is a clear plant-based broth made from vegetable trimmings and kitchen peels, as a great way to leave no waste. This was served with a soft shiratama rice dumpling. The broth was both refreshing and cleansing.
It came with a Veggie Skewer, grilled on a portable table hibachi before us. Seasonal vegetables wrapped in seasoned soy protein, finished with their house-made terivaki sauce. The skewer had a meaty and pasty quality to it, furthered by the familiar flavour of teriyaki sauce.
Next we move into our nigiri course. Seven vegetable bites over rice, each expertly pressed and formed by skilled hands.
The first was a Potato & Seasonal Vegetables. A smooth potato with colorful seasonal vegetables. The goal of this was to express texture and contrast, however I thought the gritty potato paste almost suffocated the rice. The wasabi was at least exciting, built-in and between the too, to distance.
The Sakamushi Shiitake & Peach nigiri was sake-steamed shiitake mushroom layered with the subtle sweetness from a zuke peach. We found ourselves comparing the texture of the mushroom like that of red fin scallop. It was firm and its savoury earthiness a nice contrast against the sweet stone fruit. This was my favourite of all the nigiri and I found it really intelligently conceived.
Radicchio Kobujime is radicchio gently cured between sheets of kombu to deepen umami and refine its natural vibrancy. The seaweed gave this a fishy quality, and the vegetable offered crunch and a bite of bitterness.
Nigiri number four was aptly named Carrot Millefeuille. Layers of thinly sliced carrot, highlighting its sweetness and structure. The rice was perfectly prepared so that you can focus solely on the smokiness of the carrot. It was not meant to play off smoked salmon, as I have found with other similarly prepared carrot dishes, but a take on something all its own.
The Eggplant Miso Gunkan with Snow Fungus nigiri, with its colour and texture looked like octopus from afar. I loved the pops of purple that came from lightly cooked eggplant skin. This was miso-glazed eggplant crowned with delicate snow fungus for texture and balance; and another beautifully done bite.
Here, our nigiri course was punctuated by an intermission of Miso Soup & Tsukemono. This was offered as a moment to reset the palate with warm soup and house made pickled. This wasn’t just your every day miso, they tried to make it their own with a woodsy and earthier version. This was heavy and full of depth from their in-house made dashi.
Back on the nigiri train we had more eggplant, but this one was a lot more smokey. Grilled char-kissed eggplant that was tender and chewy, and looked like short rib on the plate.
And our seventh and last nigiri was Oshibana with Daikon. Described as an edible flower, this was daikon and shiso perilla. The crunch was unexpected and the bite softened. I thought this was a better and lighter start, and that it best to end on the eggplant above instead.
Our next course was Ochazuke, rice finished with a warm tea broth, meant to be equal parts comforting and restorative. I found it like a dressy and oceanic congee, but muted. This was a slow step away from entrees, in to dessert territory.
Our first was a light Matcha Sponge Cake layered with seasonal Sweet Beans. This one would be great with tea, and I thought tasty enough for vegans and those needing non-dairy options to come in just to try.
This was followed by a Seasonal Sherbet. Today it was naturally sweetened beet sorbet with an earthy brightness.
And our last dessert and final 18th omakase bite was the Origami plate. A collection of Confection for Tea Matcha. Ceremonial matcha served alongside jewel-like kohakuto, handcrafted in COFU’s kitchen. The latter was rock sugar agar, cut and shaped into crystals, and presented on a fun malleable plate. It didn’t have much flavour, and felt mode like something you would eat just for the texture. Its gentle nature allowed the quality, froth to order matcha to shine. This, the last course was definitely a memorable one and truly a great way to round out this stunning showcase.
In conclusion vegan, plant-based, diary-free or not, the menu is delicious and this omakase is worth trying. And I cannot speak more highly of our chef-owner’s talents. Truly a wonderful time and experience.
COFU Chinatown
488 Gore Ave, Vancouver, BC V6A 2Z6
(604) 336-1166
cofu.ca
