Sushi Panda — Restaurant in Calgary

Update Nov 2024 Large group back again. Everything was perfect except my one big complaint which has been the peice that keeps this from 5 stars. Panda, you need to bring large groups water! Lots of the dishes are salty, we waited a long time for water and even had to ask a few times... We eventually got it but it should be default to bring tables of four or more a pitcher of water on top of the first fill. We also need more wasabi and ginger about an hour in. Other then that the food was epic as usual we all left happy and full. Will be back!

Update Aug 2024 I returned with a large group for a birthday dinner, figured lunch was good why not try it when it was busy. The service was very good, not too sure why there are reviews suggesting otherwise, these folks are constantly moving and trying their hardest to clear tables, top up water and bring you unlimited food. The sushi was even better then before, no stale favors detected and everything came out with really nice presentation. I will admit two of my orders over a nearly three hour visit did not show up and I did not press the issue because you can simply just reorder it. All things considered my birthday guest had a great time and all our friends were happy with both the service and the food. We will be back again! Thank you Sushi Panda.

Update July 2024 I'm so glad I checked this place out in person. I went when it was not particularly busy and was met by a friendly waitress. The quality of the food was so much better then the takeout I had. Even the rolls had less of that panco breading in them. The short ribs were the only item I did not like, being too gristly to even eat. The twisted fish was perfect. I will be coming back with a non sushi eater as the menu also had a ton of options for Thai, Japan and even a few American Chinese options like rice stir fry.

I have eaten at a lot of sushi places in my life so I feel like I know a good roll when I see it. Now to be fair I ordered this instead of dine in but I'm still left looking at it and thinking they probably could have slowed down and taken better care. The fish was also pretty tepid by the time it make it's 10 min trek which makes me wonder how long my order sat and waited. Alas the individual pieces were ok the rice was very good but the roles were a bit of a disaster all cramped into one box and then just blasted with spicy mayo... I am not a huge fan of the crispy sandpaper filler they use about 70/30 in the spicy roles I could do without all that extra filler. Regardless I'd be willing to try this place again but I don't think I'd order...

Went on a Saturday lunch hour with my daughter to give this a try. We have been to a few sushi spots in YYC both independently and franchised based. We selected this place based on seeing it on instagram and it looked kind a funking and a fun dinning experience to try and bonus was there is also VIP rooms for parties or celebration events. The menu items were vast but small so we could try a variety and it was perfect for my daughter who had an eating disorder so it wouldn't feel so overwhelming. The ambiance was nice with the projector screen walls. Surprisingly there was only one table seated when we arrived and no others came in while we dined. This should have been a tell tale sign of our experience to come. The staff were cold and not friendly at all. The food was bland and small portions cuts on the sashimi especially. Teriyaki meats tasted boiled not grilled with sauce plopped on top. Server was not well versed in working in an all you can eat establishment based on the comment she made when dropping our order off at the table. It was a comment about how much food we had ordered (keep in mind that these portions are very small and this is an all you can eat restaurant). That ruined everything at that point. When I called her out on her comment she denied it and then expressed she didn’t understand what I was saying and her coworker then explained it in another language, but she still was dumbfounded and asked me to explain it for a third time. I’d also like to add that she spoke great English to us before this so I don’t understand where the disconnect was. At which point I asked her coworker to please just provide us our bill and box up our order to leave. To make matters worse, my daughter left in tears because of how these comments from staff made her feel. What all you can eat restaurant food-shames their customers?...

If I could give zero stars I would. I left this place in tears after being so excited for weeks to come here due to their rude and inconsiderate staff. My mom and I came here for a mother daughter lunch out. We got the all you can eat dinner menu and ordered a quite a variety of items because their serving sizes are mostly 1-4 pieces of food ( ex 1 order of sashimi is 1 piece of sashimi) so you can try a lot of different things before getting full. When the waitress brought out our food she kept making comments like “ wow that’s so much food” “ that’s a lot of dinner” and laughing at us. Which was very hurtful as I’m recovering from an eating disorder and eating is difficult as is, we thought the small serving sizes would be great because of this. No restaurant should be food-shaming people, especially one that offers all you can eat.

The food was okay ish. Not great at all compared to places like fusion, but they have a better dessert menu than most sushi places that I’ve been to. Their wonton soup tastes like it had no seasoning and pretty much tastes like wontons in hot water, same with their seafood soup. The sashimi was fresh which was good. Sushi rolls are about half the size of all other places I’ve been to though.

They are not disability friendly nor accessible. The only way to the restaurant is stairs to the upper floor and have no tables that could accommodate a wheelchair.

The atmosphere is pretty with the hologram screen on the wall but they have very strong air fresheners going in the restaurant which was so strong I felt like I could taste it when eating.

So 0/10 I would recommend going to Fusion, Sushi Ichiban,Sushi bbq Inn, Oishii or the bento sushi section at your local 7 Eleven before coming here.

And this cost us...