Richmond Ninkazu — Restaurant in Richmond

I’ve ordered take out from Sushi Ninkazu on UberEats about 5 times over the past 2 months thus far. This is reasonably rare for me given how many good restaurants there are in Richmond mostly concentrated around No 3 road.

I’ve walked by their store numerous times prior for months but never ventured in because it was a cheap sushi buffet. (Even when typical buffet has sushi, as many Chinese buffet do, I give it a pass for this reason.) Sushi is not typically something I am adventurous to try with unfamiliar cheap sushi because of the risk of parasites. About 70% of salmon have parasites (you must properly freeze it to kill the parasites; apparently most sushi restaurants source from the same one or two suppliers) however tuna is more resistant to parasites hence when trying an unfamiliar cheap sushi restaurant, I typically go for spicy tuna (and that’s what I did here when I first ordered - and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the tuna the first time. Subsequent rounds were still tasty just not as fresh as the first). I typically order spicy tuna, negitoro (they don’t have) and spicy salmon when eating sushi. I’m not exactly a fan of raw fish but I like that it’s healthy and tasty with the spicy seasoning.

However one time I wanted sushi and this store was open late on UberEats. So I figured I’d give it a try with spicy tuna, Alaskan roll (I thought it would be smoke salmon but note they use regular salmon), and chicken kaarage. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality.

I’ve since gone back and ordered their chicken don (part of their $20 combo with shrimp tempura and spring rolls) and beef don and more chicken kaarage. All their cooked food are great. The spicy tuna was very tasty but the quality of the fish really varies by the day. Still fresher than my experience with Ajishou.

If you get any of their cooked food catered or delivered, you’d never know it was a cheap sushi buffet. The quality is on par to most average Japanese restaurants.

It’s quickly becoming one of my favourite take out restaurant because their food is actually surprisingly good and unbelievably cheap and the service is friendly. All the staff are always excellent and attentive. With the quality and service of their take out, I’ll probably try their buffet some day for the lunch or late night since I mostly only eat cooked food and spicy tuna which is both on their lunch and late night buffet.

Would I recommend Sushi Ninkazu? Yes. At least for the cooked food and friendly service for quick and easy take out or delivery. There’s 20% off pick up on UberEats and prices are same in store. Oh and they also really pay attention to order notes like if you ask for chili sauce....

Went to Richmond Ninkazu for the first time in quite a while. Years ago used to go to Aji Toro & Ninkazu regularly. It was my Wife & I's 16th Anniversary & we somewhat recreated our first date at Aji Toro but instead at what is now Richmond Ninkazu. We went for 9pm Late Night & I was actually happily surprised with how it turned out. The restaurant hasn't changed much in the last several years still the same loud sliding door to walk through getting into the restaurant. Overall layout is the same. Staff greeted us promptly & initially we were sat at a table that had a wobble/loose table top but we asked if we could move to a booth instead which wasn't an issue. The booth was much better but the padding on the seats of the booth was very worn & almost non-existent so kind of hard to sit on. They have brought back the Self Serve Station which had Miso Soup, Fish Soup, Seafood Fried Rice, Noodles, Waffle Fries, Ice Cream, Bubble Tea Toppings, Mango Pudding, & Serve Yourself Cans Of Pop. They still do the Order Sheet Self Ordering which is nice but it is a bit difficult to get the Attention Of Staff to take the Order Sheet. They also still cut down your orders but you can always order more. I've attached Pictures of the current menus/prices as of 2024-JUL-20 when we went & you can see on my Order Sheet atleast for the first round what we ordered & what we got on the left after they cutdown our order, lol. Overall the food was good, better than expected, a few dishes were disappointing such as the Dynamite Roll was chewy & Kani Cream Cheese Roll was too much chewy cheese taste & not to my liking paired with the Kani & somehow we got some old chewy Age Manju that we didn't even order but on the other hand everything else was good & in particular all the Nigiri Sushi's were good with rice balls an appropriate size, Short Ribs were very good, & all their Chicken Dishes were well done. Staff are friendly & provide service when you can get their attention but it's not very attentive. The atmosphere is average but again that hasn't changed in years. We left very full & happy & would come back again particularly for Late Night because you can't beat $21.95/pp for the amount of Food you can get. Also we will have to go for AYCE Sashimi on their A or B...

All I CAN’T eat…

I guess I am one of those who loves buffets during my youngling years and I can only imagine the buffet places would rather not have me back the second time around lol. Fast forward it to nowadays, I am having a hard time getting by the first round?!?

My buddies and I used to frequent Kingsway sushi and this place (when it was Richmond sushi before). I haven’t been back here ever since they changed management.

Coming back here, this pace was more of a rearrangement rather than renovation as far as how I remembered it was before. A casual atmosphere with a spacious layout. There’s a little self serve session for soups, salads and desserts now.

Here was the food I ordered, AYCE $43.95/person;

Miso soup, surprisingly it was quite hot at the self serve station. Grilled garlic mussels, chicken wings, prawn tempura, oyster motoyaki. All were lukewarm, a couple of the oyster motoyaki had a bit of sands?!? Bbq beef ribs, deep fried tofu, beef udon, mango pudding. Tofu was hard as a rock, beef ribs were okay, beef udon was cold and the beef was dry, mango pudding was good. Salmon teriyaki was overcooked and dry, pan fried vegetables were undercooked, beef teriyaki was old and dry, vegetable tempura was lukewarm. Salmon, tuna, hamachi, hokkigai, saba, tako, toro, amaebi sashimi. Everything was okay except for the amaebi, it absolutely wasn’t fresh! The hokkigai was a bit wrinkly and chewy? Beef tataki. Was kinda tasteless and still semi frozen. Unagi, chopped scallops, masago, tamago, ebi nigiris. They were okay. Salmon oshi, tempura roll, avocado roll, salmon crab roll. Pretty basic.

Overall, it was a very causal atmosphere, however, it’s missing that vibrant busy energy that it used to have when it was Richmond Sushi.

The service was okay, a bit on the low energy side but had attempted efforts.

As for the food; the sushi could be a bit more fresh, especially the amaebi, toro and hokkigai. The cooked food was obviously precooked and place on warmers to serve when ordered.

I didn’t know why I even ordered the 2nd round, maybe my Asian side kicked in, needed to stuff my face till I feel belt unbuckles itself?!? Anyways, it’s more of an All I Can’t...