Matsuyama Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Richmond

Used to be amazing. If anyone knows where the previous chef went, please let me know. He was a humble man who took pride in his work and the kind of chef that I would always tip at least 20%. I brought my fiancé here as I previously had fond memories of coming here with my dad; they use to have the most amazing motoyakis. I've attached a picture of the last one I had, let me tell you, it was always so amazing that I'd happily pay 8-10 bucks for one again.

Maybe it was just how the chefs there were feeling at the time. Maybe it was because we were in the very corner.

The nigiri and cones we had were very sad. There was clearly no pride put in it; sloppy, the ginger thrown on, mayo and ebi on the wasabi. The chopped scallop cone, smoked salmon nigiri, and tuna nigiri were not as fresh as I expect. My issue is that they weren't cold. They felt like the kind of fish that was just left in a container out on the prep table. My fiancé did have issues on the toilet later, as I write this he's regretting out lack of Pepto.

The tamago was okay, just very poorly seasoned; not true to standards normally met, like it was just egg instead of egg whisked with mirin, salt, a bit of sugar, and whatever other magic restaurants normally put in. The agedashi tofu was okay, a little smaller and harder than I'm normally served, nothing special. The chicken teriyaki and tempura were okay; the chicken was a tiny bit dry but it was tasty. Tempura was basic, okay. We did not finish the teriyaki or tempura. The bacon wrapped scallop robata was good; though with the combination I imagine its be pretty difficult to make awful; to credit it though, the sauce was good. All the cooked foods were better than the sushi.

The service was very slow, the servers were friendly and did come when I caught them. Though after being seated there was quite a wait, took us a while to wave someone down to take our order. The servers were easy to talk to, but only one of the guys was constant in his rounds.

To end this, my fiancé was having stomach issues for 28 minutes after we got home.

Oh and when they initially brought out our sushi they had...

Ever since my usual comfort food restaurant (Silver Tower Cafe) increased prices to an absurd amount while the portion sizes and quality of the food continues to reduce, so took that as an opportunity to switch over to dining at Matsuyama more often, and I'm glad I did because ever since then I have never left Matsuyama feeling hungry or disatisfied. My budget means I can't dine-in or get take-out too often, but whenever I can, I'm always left feeling happy after dining here because it's not just the food, it's the amazing service from the wonderful staff and talented chefs, but most importantly the soothing atmosphere that draws you in and makes you want to stay for dessert (I'm not exaggerating when I say that the dessert here is absolutely heavenly). This is by far the only place to get good quality sushi without breaking your budget. It's not just the sush and sashimi, the other items on the menu are just as flavorful and mouthwatering from the spring rolls all way to any of the grilled or deep fried items. This place has become one of my absolute favorites for comfort sushi in Richmond. Some may debate that Vancouver has better options, but I'm not interested in commuting all the way to Vancouver just for sushi. The only downsides are that they only open after 4:30pm on weekdays, and it's always super busy during peak evening times (though I do understand why there is always a huge crowd here for most of the week since people love good food and the food here is just that damn good). 💗💗💗 THANK YOU,...

i went yesterday to have dinner with a few of my friends to celebrate a graduation. we were really hungry so we expected to eat good food, only to be met with terrible service and bland food.

the lady who took our order was rude. being as i also work in a similar position, i understand being tired at work constantly having to be on your feet and still provide good service. but this woman acted as if it was the biggest nuisance in her life to take our order. not even a friendly greeting, pointing at us and saying "you" as she rushes us to say our orders. there was barely even anyone in the restaurant at the time. if she didn't want to take our order, then she shouldn't have taken it. i even overheard her treating other customers at the other tables the same way.

when our food arrived, it was different servers who gave us our plates. one server was very nice, but the guy who gave us the rest just dropped our plates on the table, not even bothering to wait as we pushed our other dishes aside to make room for it

and the food was horrible. aside from the sushi, i ordered a katsu curry. this dish was what i always ordered here because it tasted good. but my last two visits, it was so bland and watery that i might as well just dip my pork cutlets into actual water. the breading had no flavour either and it was just not an enjoyable meal.

i left the restaurant still feeling hungry because i was not satisfied with the service and the food. if i could give this restaurant 0/5...