Hello Sunshine Sushi & Karaoke — Restaurant in Banff

Our family loves Japanese food. I had seen the lineups outside on numerous occasions and could never wait around for a table. This was a must try restaurant on my list.

The exterior is attractive with large windows and table seating that extend outside.

Inside, there's a comfortable trendy mid-century mountain chalet vibe with high ceilings, round fireplaces, varied seating options, and bold art, plus some Japanese decor accents. Very lively with packed tables.

It's a good-looking place to bring friends or a date. If you have 8 or more in your group, the karaoke rooms are a great plus for some privacy and fun. There are rules and time restrictions, so read thru the before you go to avoid surprises.

We sat at a long wooden picnic style table with attached benches on each side. Okay, for our group, tho could be challenging from some people with mobility limitations. The outside benches were better for getting in and out of.

Prices were high for what was offered in our opinion. You could see the creativity that was important to the menu planners/chef(s).

Food options were limited in the traditional sense of what we were expecting. Most items were Asian inspired dishes with a twist.

Once we ordered, food was served quickly. Service was lovely, attentive, and patient.

The dishes themselves were average in taste and presentation. Not sure what was blowing everyone else's minds. Maybe I just read too much hype that set the bar too high. Though not quite meeting expectations, and this wasn't a cooked item -- the tuna sashimi was our favorite exceptionally delicious and sweet.

The chicken ramen was also good - speedily devoured by all 5 kiddos. Mine gave it a "10 thumbs up. " :)

As an example of what didn't meet expectations - noting that I don't mind and often support creative twists on classic recipes all the time - we all agreed the tempura shrimp looked and tasted like basic battered shrimp. Taste was fine but forgettable. The beef tataki looked good but was very dull in taste and a tougher cut than usual in texture. Keeping in mind, I've had some very good tataki in other restaurants at price points higher and lower.

All in for 3 adults and 5 kids, this was a $580 meal with 2 drink orders (a flight of sake and 1 cocktail). It was ok but underwhelming overall. Everyone was full but not stuffed. It was a meal that definitely left room for dessert. Happy hour deals are probably...

The "Japanese BBQ" is what picked my curiosity in this place, nice-looking place from the outside, and definitely some money spent on the inside. But beside the look and the atmosphere, I gotta give it a two start as it ended up being just another overpriced and under portioned banff restaurant. I wish the restaurant around here would learn this concept: "People go to restaurant, to EAT and leave FULL." 9$ for a cup of steamed rice that fits in the palm of my hand ?!? Cmon! The 8kg bag goes for 38$ at any grocery store, and it requires a steamer plugged into a wall with absolutely no master chef input required. If you are gonna charge 9$ for the cup, you should at least offer unlimited refills that way at least you don't leave hungry.. On a side note it was very dry rice lol, my wife is from the Philippines and was thinking about going in the back and seeing if she could teach them how to make plain steamed white rice haha. We order the 1/2 chicken from the BBQ.. nothing to set it apart BBQ wise, I even checked if the cook was Japanese, maybe that's what makes it "Japanese BBQ", nope! I'm pretty sure it must of been the offspring of the main chicken, I have a contact number for this hutterite colony around Red Deer maybe I should pass it on and we could go on a field trip to see what a real chicken looks like and they are only 20$ for the entire chicken, not 35$ for a 1/4.. The next plate was the salmon.. again, nothing special.. came with three mini slices of beets and four leafs of spinach.. and a CUP of plain steam white rice!! Yay! (Pssstt.. Usually, you do something a little special with the rice to go with the salmon. That way, you can justify the price) Coleslaw was just lettuce with vinegar.. paid 11$ for that, paid 9$ for 3 little one bite buns. You get my point. In the end, we paid 100$ bill and walked to McDonald's down the street. Oh, and I ordered a beer that never came, interesting since booze is where you make money in...

I booked this restaurant for my baby's first birthday after reading several positive reviews about the food and service. Initially, everything seemed perfect: the reception, seating, and the food service were all great. We especially enjoyed the sushi served to us. However, our experience took a turn when we encountered rudeness from one of the staff assigned to our table. We tried to get drink refills from another server because the rude staff member seemed preoccupied. He said something when he arrived in our table and we didn’t heard it. When my cousin politely asked him to repeat himself, he simply walked away. Later, my husband called the same staff member for drink refills and asked politely if there was a charge. The staff member abruptly stated there was, leading us to clarify that we believed refills were included. Instead of addressing our concerns respectfully, he raised his voice and repeatedly cutting me off when I tried to explain. We didn't mind paying, as we were there to celebrate, but his attitude ruined the moment. He could have simply explained that the drinks weren't shareable, and we would have been happy to order more. It felt insulting to be treated this way over something so trivial. Additionally, I noticed that he seemed rushed and attentive to other tables but ignored us, which added to our frustration. Instead of enjoying our special day, we felt stressed and disrespected. We understand that everyone has tough days, but that's no excuse for poor treatment of customers. Overall, while the food was enjoyable, the experience was overshadowed by the staff's rudeness. We chose this restaurant to create lasting memories for our baby's first birthday, but it was ruined by this unfortunate incident. I appreciate the manager who stepped in to assist us but our celebration was...