Nami Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Toronto

I would have given this restaurant a 5-star 8 years ago but now I want to give it a 2-star!!! We have been Nami customers for over 8 years, and the recent 2 visits were too disappointing. 1. Our last 2 visits were told that the regular menu could not be offered due to the restaurant was busy. Instead of reading a regular menu, we were given some loose white papers and were so confused to look at (All the papers looked the same except those stained with soy sauce and watermarks - disgusting!) 2. My water glass had a big lipstick mark left by previous customer. When I asked the waiter to change it, she took it away without apology. 3. The party room requires customer to remove shoes to enter, but the floor was full of food crumbs left by previous customers. I dared not to look at what I was stepping on with my socks. 4. Our expensive grilled wagu beef order was cold when it was served. 5. We ordered a bottle of sake and asked to serve it cold. The waitress told us that the bottle was in room temperature, and we expected that she would put the bottle into the bucket of an ice bath to make the sake cold. It ended up she gave us a few high ball glasses and expected us to put ice directly into our room temperature sake. 6. The Robatayaki section was simply NO choice. We had to stay at whatever those loose paper menus offered. No more fresh catch of the day offered. Some dishes we waited so long that we had to cancel it. From the hygiene of the restaurant, food selection during the weekend, staff knowledge about how to serve in a fine Japanese restaurant, food quality and temperature, waiting time and THE PRICE THAT WE PAID FOR!! SORRY! I can only rate...

After reading a friend's review on a sushi restaurant, I was craving for it myself. Decide to head out to Nami. Nami has Winterlicious, but since I'm by myself, might as well treat a little better. I've ordered the Chef's Special, ranging from $70 to $90 per person for main course of about 13 to 15 pieces of sushi, sashimi and/or maki. First came the miso soup, a typical taste, nothing special. As I look around taking pictures, saw this chef making a boat of sushi/sashimi. I assumed it was a love boat for another table, but little I know, the boat came to me unexpectedly. It looked amazing. The chef suddenly came to me explaining each of the sushi/sashimi and how to eat it. I was very impressed even though I had to ask someone at the end what I had due to my forgetful brain. Start eating from top-down with the sashimi first, and then top to bottom from left to right for the sushi.

First Row: Chutoro Sashimi, Albacore Tuna Sushi with Pickled Wasabi, Ocean Trout Sushi, Jumbo Shrimp Sushi

Second Row: Kampachi Sashimi, Hamachi with Hokkaido Hotategai Sushi & some kind of egg, Madai Sushi with Charcoal Seasoning & Sesame Oil

Third Row: Salmon Sashimi with with Charcoal Seasoning, Marinated Akami Sushi, Unagi Sushi

They gave me the real wasabi that was just grind and changed the soy sauce to a more rich and authentic one.

The experience was fantastic, and the waitress keep pouring my tea as I...

TL;DR: Place use to be good, now it's an average restaurant serving average food made from average ingredients charging you a premium price. Great service though.

We ate at this place a couple of years ago and it was a great experience. It was expensive sure, but the service, presentation and quality of food was definitely worth it. I still remember the botan ebi which they would fry the head after you were done with the body and it was unique and delicious. Fast forward to 2021. We were craving good japanese food. We found Nami on ubereats and thought we'd give it a try. After all, we have had Covid era take out from places like Yasu and Skippa, and they were great. What we got were some of the most overpriced and poor quality sashimi I've ever had, with the Otoro sashimi been the worst offender. OK, we thought, maybe it's a problem with take out. We decided to go there and dine in. What a mistake that was! Basically 1/3 of the already limited menu was unavailable. The main dishes all have the exact same sides, just with the different protein plated onto it yet still somehow took forever to serve. Our entire meal consisted of mediocre food we could have probably gotten at any other half way decent japanese restaurant for half the price. The only saving grace of the night was our waitress who was great, and the only reason I gave Nami a 3 stars instead of 1. We will not be giving Nami a...