Ohana-Ya Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in St. Albert

Normally don’t write review. Just couldn’t help but writing one though after noticing an excellent Japanese restaurant in Edmonton/St. Albert being victimized and slandered here in Google review over the past week by either anti-mask cyber bullies or a competitor.

Japan being my favorite vacation destination, I’ve travelled there a handful of times. The Japanese food has a big part in making me going back again and again, and will be in the future as well. When I am home and craving for Japanese, Ohana-Ya is my Go To in Edmonton. I have tried pretty much all Japanese restaurants in Edmonton and this is the place I always come back to over the past 10 years.

The food here are fresh, made with care, and of great quality. With the geographic location of Alberta, the quality of some of the seafood will never be as good as fresh-off-the-ocean seafood from Japan. However, Ohana-Ya’s are as good as they get here. They quite often have express air shipment of a variety of fresh seafood from Japan and other parts of the world that are absolutely fantastic. My personal favorites are bluefin tuna, uni (sea urchin), large Japanese scallop, and the Super Dynamite roll. And their Ramen has improved over the years to a point where it would fully satisfied my ramen craving during cold weather.

The service here is always wonderful and everyone here serves with a smile. Their politeness and mindfulness towards the customers remind me of the service of the restaurants in Japan.

During this last little while with the pandemic, rather than dining in, I’ve been ordering take-out basically every second week. Whenever I went to pick up my order, I noticed how they have created extra space between tables with maybe a 30 to 40% of normal capacity following public health bylaws and guidance. And they seems to fill up all available tables when I normally come pickup on Friday or Saturday evenings.

I feel very safe going in for pick-up with everyone wearing mask whenever not eating at the table or those who go in to pick-up. They would also provide free mask to customers who have forgotten to bring one, as well as deliver the pick-up to customer waiting in a vehicle outside.

After the one cyber bully attacked last Friday on Google Review here, and with the owner responded in a firm manner not backing down on their the mask wearing policy, within 2 days, there were 4 one-stars reviews popping up. This restaurant has never received such reviews ever up until now when they stayed firm against that cyber bully attacks.

Clearly, these (5 in total) one-stars reviews were slander where these cyber bullies are trying to damage the reputation of this restaurant due to its mask wearing policy.

If anything, these slandering one-star reviews actually have helped confirming for us this little Japanese restaurant is a place that absolutely cares about protecting the health of their...

Always love going to Ohana-Ya! Great customer service - it is always friendly and welcoming in there! Since the pandemic, we haven't gone out to eat at any restaurants, nor done much take out. Ohana-Ya is one of the select few places we will get take out from because we know they are safe. Lately people have been complaining and giving this restaurant a one star review because they weren't allowed in without masks. And I am so proud that Ohana-Ya has not faltered in their commitment to stand their ground in keeping all their customers safe and healthy. They would rather lose out on a bit of money rather than risk themselves, their families, their staff, and their customers and customer's families that go in there. That to me shows how much they care about their customers, and I have full confidence that I will not be at risk while I order takeout from them!

As for their food, the chirashi-don is a must have. The fish is fresh, and they never skimp out on the toppings. Croquettes are my all time favourite and it is vegetarian friendly. Pressed Avocado Sushi was my newest discovery and it is absolutely delicious. There's something for all types of sushi lovers, whether you are a traditionalist or prefer...

Service was horrible. Food was ok for the adults. But we came with our three kids. And felt our presence wasn’t wanted in the slightest. I was stacking our plates and cleaning up, pulled my card out and just sat there while our server just watched me do all this for at least 15 minutes, never came to check on our drink situation. Had barely any ginger and wasabi. The whole family started to leave before she finally came over. (I should mention we were the only people in the place most of our meal)The kids meal portions (15$)are incredibly small that I had to stop and get them burgers on the way home to get them to stop complaining. Bathroom toilets are completely covered in very old pee.

The rolls seem to be getting smaller and smaller. We’ve been coming here for over 10 years with this place always being my favourite, but after tonight I don’t think I’ll waste my time coming back which makes...