Nao Sushi — Restaurant in Burnaby

I have been a regular customer at nao sushi since last couple of years. I would say the food is pretty good but the customer service is horrible. Twice I have had really bad customer service. Today I went there with my 18 month old child for lunch. It was pretty busy. One couple was ahead of us. I asked the waitress about the wait time she said it’s going to take about 10 to 15 min. I said that’s fine. You can imagine how a yoddlwr is when it comes to waiting. Anyway it took way longer than 15 min. When t was our turn the server who’s name is Sarah ( hopefully it’s her real name ) asked us to sit at the bar. I said ok as it was getting late for lunch for my daughter almost 2 pm. The spot was pretty squishy at the very end any how . I got my daughter to sit there and as I was settling down my daughter bumped her head pretty hard. I took my daughter out and one of the customer said they shouldn’t have suggested to sit my daughter at the bar as the bar is quite high. I took her out and told the server that we would like a proper table. Any ways we had to wait again another 15 to 20 min. At this point my daughter or pretty agitated and hungry. The server didn’t even bother to ask if my daughter was ok or simply say I am sorry. Nothing ! At a point I told the sever if it’s taking too long to get a table we will just take our food to go. Finally we got a table and a different server asked us to sit down. There were lots of people behind was waiting. Sarah gave me a look and said I thought u r leaving and I said my kid is too hungry we will eat here. She wasn’t too happy that we stayed. We ordered our food while we were waiting to get a table. I had to remind her to bring our food. After we ate our lunch I was telling Sarah that I have a suggestion please don’t get another mom with a small. Good to sit at the bar. She pretended not to hear me, ignored me. So I told another waitress next to her and I said there’s a word called sorry which I don’t think Sarah is aware of. Then she turned and said oh my grandson sits there all the time and he’s always fine. And I said my hood wasn’t fine. Then she tells me “ JUST LEAVE”. What a service ! And how dare she speaks to a customer like that? I asked her for her name and I said I will inform your owner. She said go ahead. How do these restaurants get away giving service like this ? If the owner is reading this review please contact me. The first time I experienced bad customer service Was when I was pregnant. I went there to eat and the male server asked me to wait. I was waiting for a table. He asked me to sit at the bar and I refused becaus I was 8 months pregnant and wouldn’t have enough space to sit. The couple behind me who got at the restaurant after me got a table before me. How is this fair ?...

Visited Nao Sushi on Christmas eve and it was packed! Luckily, we snuck in before 6pm so we got a table right away but if we came in 15 minutes later, we would've had to wait ✌️

Anyway, onto the food! We've always gotten the lobster sashimi and udon so this was a must have and knowing the portion size, we knew not to order too much so we only tacked on a few pieces of nigiri on the side (and they were amazing btw)! Also, they're having a sale on the lobster sashimi as the usual price of $45 is now a over $10 off!

The lobster sashimi boat consisted of a variety of sashimi, not just lobster, and there were probably 7-8 kinds if I recall. It's been a while since we've had good sashimi as we've been living in Toronto this past year so it was a welcome change and each bite was soooo good! However, the disappointment was probably the lobster itself as the sashimi lacked flavour. I'm not sure if these lobsters are freshwater lobsters or not but I felt that it was definitely missing that sea water type of taste to the lobster meat.

Our nigiris came shortly after the boat arrived and each piece was delicious 😋 I especially love my toro and it literally melted in my mouth - just as I want it to with all that yummy tuna-fattiness (if this is even a word lol). 5 stars for their nigiris as each piece was big and the ratio of rice to meat was perfect.

Finally, when we've finished the sashimi, a waiter came to take the boat away and the kitchen cooked the lobster shell in a dashi broth, with udon as our last course. We were pretty full at this point but still managed to finish it! The lobster didn't have too much of the meat left since we had most of it as the sashimi but it was fun picking it out of the shells as bigger pieces were found in the claws/tail. The legs though - it was a PITA to find any meat so my suggestion would be to just place it in your mouth, bite into it and suck whatever you can out.

Overall, this meal satisfied our cravings and we'll definitely be back. Service-wise, it wasn't the greatest but I honestly expect this at most Asian restaurants. The most important thing for us was the food and whether this delivered...

I've been to this restaurant many times and overall, I do enjoy the food. The quality is consistently great, and the portion sizes are decent for the price - especially considering that many sushi places tend to be on the more expensive side. I often go for the bento lunch boxes, which come with a good variety of items and a bowl of miso soup, making it a satisfying meal.

That said, while the food and general service are solid, I’ve noticed a recurring issue that affects the dining experience. There seems to be an excessive level of commentary from the staff about how much food we order. On multiple occasions, when dining with my mother and ordering our usual bento boxes along with a roll or two to try something new, the server has made remarks like “That’s a lot of food” or “Are you sure you can eat all that?”- always in a joking tone, but still unnecessary and a bit intrusive.

Even today, we were met with the same kind of comment despite ordering what I would consider a perfectly normal amount for two people. While I understand that cultural differences may play a role, these repeated remarks feel more judgmental than friendly and don’t align with what I’d expect from good customer service.

Constructive feedback aside, I do think the food is worth trying—just be prepared for a bit of...