Bistro Taiyo Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Nanaimo

I don't know what's going on with the five star reviews of this place, but that was not my experience! In all seriousness, this is the first time I have ever thrown out food that I paid a premium price for.

I went on a Wednesday mid afternoon and it was not busy. But no "irasshaimase" for me! Instead I had to seat myself, wait a long while and then ask for a menu. 10 minutes went by and no water or anything. Then I had to ask the sushi chef. That is not his job and I can tell you he wasn't pleased with his staff.

I ordered the bento box to go because I felt like the service would take much too long. And I was right. While I was waiting I ended up ordering a piece of sashimi. The quality was ok (thats why 2 instead of 0 stars) But Im going to go with something was lost in translation because I got what I think was a single serving that was sliced into two pieces. At least that's what I'm hoping it was .As opposed to a double serving that was so thin I could literally see through it .I took a photo as it was so odd

The Bento Box was worse than the cheapest sushi place ive been. The temperature was lukwarm, the tempura obviously old that had been refried and soggy, the tiny cali roll falling apart amd the rice was not cooked right .

The gomaea was a literal cold lump of spinach with a congealed glob of thick, solid seaseme seed something on top . And a chinese style spring roll (why?) with mystery sauce .

I suspect that this place probably has decent Sushi because the sushi chef himself was aware of what he was doing. However you cannot call yourself an Izakaya if you can't even turn out a couple hot items that are made properly.

Won't be going back for a second chance on this one because there is too much competition that can do such a simple thing so...

As we get settled in to Nanaimo life, we once again fall victim to our regular cravings.. this time, for sushi!

We thought we'd try out Bistro Taiyo based on recommendations from a colleague.

It's a cute space in a great downtown location.

We started with some Potato Croquettes which were on special and quite tasty, and some crispy chicken skin, which was terrific. You get a huge portion for your dollar, too.

We followed that up with an order of the mixed tempura, which nets you prawns, yams, broccoli, asparagus and pumpkin.

The tempura is great and crispy, though a little bland. The pumpkin is the standout.

Sushi wise, we had some mixed salmon and tuna sashimi. The salmon was not great but the tuna was tasty.

We tried 4 rolls, all fairly simple, and they were all a bit underwhelming. The spicy tuna roll was very uneven and I managed to get a piece with no spice whatsoever.

All in all, it wasn't a bad meal, and you get ample food for your money, but it doesn't rise much above the median.

Service was acceptable.

I will still be back to try some of their non sushi dishes, and eat some more chicken skin.

Above meal with two sodas was $64...

First of all, gorgeous food. I got the chirashi don some time ago and its honestly the most gorgeously presented chirashi don I've found yet in nanaimo. The restaurant itself is a neat little place in downtown heritage Nanaimo, which actually works against this place sadly as the building is old. The interior seems a little odd for a sushi place with its chess-like floor, but there only so much you can do in an old building. The restaurant also has some tricky hours at times so you have to watch when you're going. But the food is simply amazing! Still, prepare to pay for tea, which some restaurants don't charge for depending on their owners. Also? They serve takoyaki here. It's a traditional japanese treat/appetizer that's very hard to find in Nanaimo so grab some if you drop by!

Edit I love this place even more. They've updated the interior since my last review, and its gorgeous...