Sakada Sushi Teriyaki Restaurant — Restaurant in Pickering

My wife and I went for the "All You Can Eat" lunch for $11.99 per person on July 3, 2013 around 1:20pm. The restaurant wasn't very busy. All You Can Eat is advertised from 11:00am-3:00pm.

The waitress seemed nice at first. Our food was hot and better than expected.

I asked for ice, extra lemon and had to ask her to replenish the ginger and wasabi. I mean no disrespect. This has been the case at the other Japanese restaurants we've dined.

We finish our first serving and expected she would return, she didn't. This was about 40 minutes later. She checked on other tables, took walk-in/take-out orders. It seemed she purposely found other things to do not to return to our table.

I went to the washroom. As I passed by the front, I said to her, we would like to make our second order please. She came with the bill. I told her we weren't ready for the bill, we wanted to make our second order. This was around 2:15pm. She told us the hours for "Alll You Can Eat" has ended. I was of course surprised, then referred to the their All You Can Eat lunch menu and showed her the time that states 11:00am-3:00pm.

She went and talked to who I believe is the manager. We figured, this was an honest miscalculation of time on the waitress's part. He came over and said the same as the waitress and added that the waitress has been back and forth 20 times getting things for us. I relaxed, smiled and said, I think 20 times is an exaggeration, and said, she came to our table three times, which was when I asked for extra lemon during our initial order, ice because my water got warm due to her not returning to take our second order and having to request that our ginger and wasabi be replenished.

He told me that their prices are some of the lowest in Pickering. She has been back and forth, back and forth. I was unsure where he was going with that, but said, If you are referring to gratuity, I have no problem paying gratuity when I receive good service. I brought to his attention their lunch menu and the time, which was around 2:30pm, which contradicted his claim that the All You Can Eat time frame had expired.

He then said, well pay what you want. I decided to entertain that and said, okay then, how about I pay $20. He said, if you pay $20, I'll called the police. I chuckled and thought, if my wife wasn't with me, I'd tell him, call the police. I told him, this is not about the money, it is the principle. You advertise the All You Can Eat lunch from 11:00am-3:00pm and you should honor that.

I paid him the $26, he brought back my change and repeated that the waitress was going back and forth, and their low prices. My wife said to them, we were sitting here waiting for the waitress to return but she didn't. I thought to myself, my wife and I have more class than this, I'm done. I said to my wife, honey, let's go, while he was still talking. I said to my wife, how's that for adventure. We had a good laugh afterwards.

That was the worst customer service I've ever seen. We will never return to this restaurant.

I hope my review is helpful.

God...

From poor service to kitchen errors, I was quite surprised that Sakada has been rated higher than better alternatives within the same community. The staff seemed very pleasant, lots of smiles until we asked for service.

First, they completely forgot to ask for our beverage order, and when we asked to get a diet coke and tea, the staff seemed taken aback. We requested the all you can eat and were given the order sheet without a pen or pencil. We waited a while before asking for one, but again, we were given the look of disbelief for our asking. From the menu, it stated 2 pieces for each order, so we ordered one of each. When we got the plate, it was just one piece of each type. We asked for a second plate of the same order, but when we got it, there were differences in the fish selection. We also ordered a beef on rice but never received the rice. Near the end, I was also not offered any more tea, and to add to that, they took away my cup before my husband was even finished eating. In all my experience eating out, the cup is the last thing to take away as some people like to enjoy their beverage after finishing their food.

Aside from our direct experience, I also noticed that the staff allow customers to take the sauce bottles to their table and take as much as they want into their plates or takeout boxes. This is highly unhygienic as the bottles are passed around outside of the kitchen to people who are not trained in proper food handling and hygiene requirements. I also found it surprising that people who order takeout are able to open them up and dine in from their takeout boxes.

In all, the price is slightly lower than some other sushi restaurants, however it is not worth saving a couple bucks for the poor experience, mediocre fare, and questional...

Great sushi for a VERY reasonable price. I would say that the specials and combos are some of the best deals I've seen in any sushi restaurant in a long time. I had the Salmon Teriyaki & Tempura dinner bento which included Salmon Sashimi, California rolls & Spring rolls and a Wakame (seaweed) salad and everything was very good. Other than the salad dressing missing something (sesame comes to mind) this place is a new favorite of my 8 year old and myself. John is very accommodating, friendly and extremely polite and professional. I really appreciate that in the staff of any establishment.

Update I have also now had the Gyoza, BBQ Eel and Deep fried squid and all were extremely delicious. The squid was perfectly cooked, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The BBQ Eel is my favorite of the places I've tried as well. I'm quite sure that soon enough I will have eaten most of the menu, I'm actually thinking of heading there for...