Sushi Oyama — Restaurant in Burnaby

I went here the other week with a party of 3. It was during the heat wave so we were all sweaty from our walk to the restaurant. The food court at Metrotown was way too hot, and I heard this place had great sushi, so I recommended it to my friends. (I regret it!)

When we arrived at the restaurant, there was a server taking care of the takeout orders. There were two other parties waiting prior to ours. No one greeted us, but that's alright--they were busy, I get it. I worked in the food industry before, it happens.

One of the party before us decided to leave, and so my friends and I got to be seated at a table maybe 15 mins or so of waiting. When cutlery came out, a friend noticed a salmon egg on her soy sauce plate, and because it was so hot, I finished my water way too soon. So we asked for our server to refill the water and get my friend new cutlery (little did I know, that'd be my last refill).

My friends and I ordered a party C try, I believe. Was supposed to be a party tray for 3. We waited approximately 35 mins until having to press the "help" button, to the left of our booth, where our food was. A new server came and told us she'd check on it for us, and that they were backed up with orders.

Some time later, a portion of our order came out. They probably planned to take it all out together, but you could see that the rolls were obviously rushed. Portions of the rolls were uneven and some of the filling in the rolls were not even inside the roll. Looked like it was merely smeared onto the roll to make it look like it was full.

Just when my group and I thought it was the worst of it because 1. Our server was not present at all, since she dropped off our first portion of our meal and got occupied taking care of takeouts or something. 2. No water refills, no other server checked on our table. Then finally, this tall female server came out with two of our final rolls in her hand. She shoved the roll right in front of the little table space my friend had between her sharing place + soy sauce plate and the shared meal we had set up. Doing so, pushed the rest of the sushi boards back and without even batting an eye, telling us what the rolls were, helping us organize the table (because now it's just a cluster of sushi boards and plates), or even making eye contact with us, she turned away and left immediately.

My friends and I were dumbfounded. We organized the table so it was less of a cluster, had to look up the menu to see what the two last rolls were and that we had all we ordered from the party tray and settled on the decision that we weren't going to tip.

Personally, I would never want to waste my time writing a bad review unless it was truly worth it. But to have my friend be disrespected like that, especially when I was the one that recommended the place really pulled the last straw for me.

Sorry, Sushi Oyama, I really wanted to see your potential. But my friends and I are definitely not...

I have been there over 5 times, the food was good, the service is ok depending on if it is rush hour or not. However, tonight i have seen the true face of their services, after finding living worm in the raw oyster. The story is as such: My wife and I ordered a dozen of raw oysters in dinner, i have noticed that the oysters that served were not "sanitized" (usually the oysters will not be completely attached to its shell when served), and then I found there is a little black worm twisting dance like it does not care on the edge of one oyster... that is after my wife ate 4 of them...It is a great protein add that we don't need, and we don't deserve! I knew that it is awkward for the restaurant as well, so i politely ask one of the waitress to take the order away. Maybe i was expecting too much from the service, the waitress seems knew this happens often, and offer us to exchange one...but my wife was so petrified that she refused to eat any other oyster. The waitress left with no words, I was shocked about their responds, I started to get uncomfortable about the service. I decide to leave, so we called service again, this time it is the classic waiter we met every time (seem like the head of the waiter team), we refused the last order and we want the bill, that waiter surely need some serious career training because his classic behavior, he was like too busy to solve this, he told us that he could take the last order out of the bill, at the same time, he was very impatient and full of emotions "it is because the oysters are fresh!"and turn around left with jabber. I was not even finish talking about they should sanitize the oyster before serve! It is like "you don't know oyster may have worms?" and left us alone. THAT MADE ME FEEL I WAS SO WRONG I SHOULD NOT EVEN MENTION ABOUT IT! I find worm in food and i became the cheap picky customer! I became upset and went to the counter to pay the food we already eat, the waitress at the counter, her attitude is so cold with a poker face, like there is not enough blood flow in her body. After we paid the bill, I did not even have time to take the bill, she throw it away already...WHAT A GREAT TEAM WORK!!! I think I might get better service even i was enemy of the restaurant! ONE OF A KIND IN BURNABY! Strongly recommend...

What should have been a simple dinner turned into a 45-minute neighborhood treasure hunt that tested both my patience and my faith in Google Maps. The address led me to what appeared to be a regular residential street in Burnaby, complete with driveways, mailboxes, and absolutely no restaurant signage.

Spent twenty minutes walking up and down the block, checking house numbers twice, convinced I'd made some kind of GPS error. Started ringing doorbells asking if anyone knew where the sushi restaurant was. One elderly woman thought I was having a senior moment and offered to call someone for me. Another homeowner suggested I try the mall "down the road" because "there's no restaurant on this street."

Finally spotted a tiny sign on a residential window that said "Oyama". Even then, I stood on the porch for five minutes wondering if this was some kind of elaborate dinner party scam or underground restaurant situation. Had to psych myself up to actually ring the doorbell of what looked like someone's family home.

When I finally entered, the other diners seemed oddly comfortable with the whole residential setup, which made me question whether I was missing some cultural dining trend. Kept waiting for someone to introduce me to the "host family" or explain the house rules. The server looked confused when I asked if I should take my shoes off (seemed polite, given we were literally in someone's living room).

The Red Dragon Roll was perfectly fine, but I spent the entire meal distracted by the surreal experience of eating sushi next to someone's fireplace. Every time I heard footsteps upstairs, I wondered if the actual homeowners were just living their normal lives while strangers ate dinner in their front room.

Great concept, but seriously needs better street signage. I've solved insurance fraud cases with fewer clues than it took to find this place. Maybe invest in a proper restaurant sign before someone calls the police thinking there's suspicious activity in the...