Sushi Toshi — Restaurant in Edmonton

Sushi Toshi used to be our favorite sushi restaurant. We always go there in a group of 10. We have been going there for a couple of years but we are never going back there for a couple of reasons:

1. We understand that it gets busy during weekends so we always made it a point to make a reservation 2-3 weeks ahead. Unfortunately, for the past 3 visits we had, we were still made to wait for 30 minutes even if our reservation is at 6pm, our table was not ready until 6:30pm. They have very poor reservation/seating/waitlist practice as they do not consider the 2 hour allowed time for customers to eat and just kept on accepting walk-ins and ending up giving your reserved table to them.

2. They arranged their place in such a way that they could accommodate more customers leaving very small room to eat comfortably and very little space for servers to go around. We were always worried that when servers walk beside or behind us, that they would spill or drop the food/drinks on us because that is how congested it is now in there.

3. They do not have enough servers. Their servers are so tired and serve multiple tables. Because of this, they mix up and forget orders. They also ignore calls from customers because they are so overwhelmed. However, they still try to smile and be happy but you could tell it was all fake because you could see it on their faces how tired they are.

4. Our visit yesterday was our last straw. Only half of our orders were served and we followed up 3x but they just ignored us. Only when we complained and showed how upset we were that they finally attended to us. However, that was after 1.5 hours and they even gave us the wrong order. Imagine, waiting for your orders for 1.5 hours, of course, you are not hungry anymore! I am guessing they lost our order form. The group of 15 people sitting behind us were also complaining and they lost their order form as well. And they expect us to leave after 2 hours! We all ordered for drinks and asked several times for refills, our drinks were only refilled once. Our stones were cold and we did not get them after 1 hour. They served us a pot of tea which we never ordered but the server said it is free, only to see it on our bill that we were charged for it so we still paid for it. We asked for an extra form because we were thinking they lost the first one but they did not give us a new form until after our 2-hour allowed time is almost done. They also cut our orders in half. For example, we ordered for 20 tempura shrimp and we were served with only 10!

5. We were always charged 18% gratuity, which is fine but getting this kind of service is so not worth it as they charge almost $45/person. We always spend almost $600 everytime we go there which is fine because the food tastes good but we expect better service.

6. They have very poor management and they do not care about their customers and servers. They only care about the money...

In all my years of eating sushi, I've never went to an AYCE sushi place until now. So this was my first AYCE experience here. And after our dinner, this place will be pretty difficult to beat.

We came here for our anniversary dinner. My boyfriend put in a reservation earlier, and once we arrived we were seated pretty quickly. It was a Monday night but I was so surprised at how packed the place was. This was our first time here so the server explained how ordering on the slip works. Wait time wasn't terrible. And like I mentioned before, this place was so packed and full of people. All the servers that night were weaving through aisles, delivering food, and taking orders. They were all hustling.

Food was delicious. We started off with a couple of rolls like California Rolls, Avocado, Tuna, Salmon, and Tamago. The sushi rolls were pretty small, but I didn't have a problem with it. Since it's AYCE, I knew that we'd have much more food coming. I was very impressed by the quality of fish. It tasted very fresh. Also we ordered the seared Beef Nigiri and that was delicious. We ended up ordering more of that later.

For the next round, we ordered Edamame, Beef (? it was like a beef galbi cut but I forgot the name of it on the menu), Chicken Skewers, Green Onion Cake, and Tempura. For our Tempura veggies we chose pumpkin, yam, and eggplant. I loved the tempura. It was definitely a highlight of the night. The batter was very crispy, light, and all the tempura came out hot. It was wonderful. We ended up getting more after the first round of tempura because it was too good. The Chicken Skewers were phenomenal. My boyfriend and I were saying that if we had the Chicken Skewers with rice, that would just be enough. The flavor of the sauce was great: savory, slightly sweet, it was reminiscent of a teriyaki flavor for me.

And lastly, we had the BC Roll, Alberta Roll, Crunchy Roll, Philadelphia Roll, the seared Beef Nigiri again, and a few other rolls. At this point of the dinner we barely had any steam left but somehow we managed. Every single we thing we ate was just amazing. I wasn't disappointed by anything we ordered actually it was just great. I will say the Crunchy Roll had this smokiness that scratched my brain in the best way possible and I was so impressed by that bite.

This was such an unforgettable experience and the best place we've spent our anniversary haha. 10/10, take my money. To Sushi Toshi, I'll be...

“Next time ask for it all together.” - server

Truly disappointed with tonight’s service. I was told our server, Rosie is new and in training, however that is not an excuse to be rude and impatient.

My friends and I often Sushi Toshi, though sometimes food items are missed it is understandable and usually not a big issue. Food itself is good.

However tonight, service was terrible, rude, and passive. Our server Rosie, after we had requested water for 5 people, we were brought 5 empty glasses and a jug only enough for 2 glasses of water, which is fine, we simply can ask for more, so we did.

After making about 2 requests for extra napkins, more water, Rosie sighs and demands, “next time ask for it all together.” What an impression she has left us at the beginning of her service and our dinner!

I had complained to the manager before leaving my party behind as I had to leave first. After I left, the manager told Rosie about my complaint. She then did not bother serving the rest of my party, not clearing dishes even though she cleared everyone else’s around my party’s table. Rosie came back to my party’s table and said “I heard you guys were uncomfortable with my service […] My legs were sore I did not want to go back and forth” In a place that is All You Can Eat, you go back and forth, as a server, you go back and forth to tables, that is part of the job. She also passively asked “do you not like it” after I simply asked if they changed their soup recipe as it tasted off. Rosie brought +$1 upgraded ice cream for free to make amends for her service. A $1 ice cream will not make me happy. If she wanted to say sorry to my party, apologize, do not make excuses. As a server you are on your feet, its really not our business you picked server as your job.

What a shame for tonight’s service. Crystal, Alycia, and Paige has always been the greatest servers for us. Michelle has also helped us a couple times. Will only come...