Volcano Sushi & Grill — Restaurant in Vancouver

An okayish joint that feels a bit worn. My party was in the area and looking for some sushi and decided to try this place. Upon arrival we were seated pretty quickly - after that, the service went downhill so fast it essentially fell off a cliff. It was fairly empty when we arrived, maybe three other tables. After asking for tea, we waited until after the first of our food had arrived, and then I had to ask for it again. It was some of the most bland and diluted tea I've ever been served, it might as well have just been hot water. It's complimentary so it's not a huge deal, just something I noticed.

I ordered the dinner special with sockeye salmon sashimi, tuna sashimi, and volcano roll. My friend ordered the spicy roll combo and an order of salmon sashimi. The dinner special comes with miso soup and salad. The miso soup arrived within the expected time frame, everything else came out much later. My salad didn't come at all until after all of our food had arrived, and again, I had to ask for it. Our server was not any kind of apologetic, rather acted as if I was inconveniencing him, and told me it was on its way. This is not a fancy salad. It is literally bagged mixed greens with a bit of dressing piled on top, the kind that usually comes with your appies or miso. It's not mixed, and requires exactly 3 seconds of prep time. I'm not sure how it could have been "on its way" after we got all of our food, including a roll that was deep fried.

During the extended wait for our food, I had time to check the reviews for this restaurant. Any mention of sashimi was negative, and I can see why. The salmon sashimi was fine, nothing to write home about but we're in BC... It's kind of hard to find bad salmon. It wasn't great but it wasn't terrible. The sockeye salmon and tuna sashimi were colder than they should be. Not frozen, but definitely came directly from the bowels of their fridge... where it had sat for some time. It was passable at best. Definitely not fresh. There were 4 pieces of each type of sashimi but the pieces were about half the size of their normal order of sashimi. I kind of wish they would have just listed them as 2pc sashimi and just served them as the normal size, but this is just nitpicking at this point.

The only redemption this restaurant has is that they have decent rolls. The volcano roll that I had was not my favorite but not bad. I tried some of my friend's spicy rolls and they were fantastic. Decently sized, reasonably priced, fairly fresh.

The server never once came to check on our table, didn't ask how the food was, if we needed anything, etc. After the meal was done, we waited for a little bit but our server was nowhere to be found. We ended up just going to the front to pay.

My final takeaway is this: don't order sashimi, just get rolls and get it to go. The table service is awful, the sashimi leaves much to be desired, but if all you want is some rolls for takeout, this is probably...

From the outside of this place is run down and probably a place you would never want to eat at. However, the inside is better but still run down. Hey, this is East Vancouver so expect to lower your expectations towards décor. The bathrooms verging on unacceptable and you will not want to eat here after looking at the bathroom so maybe head over to A&W down the block. The seating is limited and kind of cramped.

The reason this place is so popular is the food. This is a great value sushi spot with larger than normal portions, at prices that are below average. If you like none traditional Japanese speciality rolls like BC Rolls, Dragon Roll, Pink Lady, and Nanaimo Roll this is the place for you. All the chef special rolls, I have eaten, are massive and tasty, but not very authentic Japanese. I would especially recommend the Volcano Roll and Pink Lady but I like the ingredients, so judge accordingly. The visual presentation, flavour all deserve a strong four stars but note the rice is a little sweeter than high-end sushi restaurants in Vancouver. The lunch specials offer exceptional value for the price.

They are trying their best to deliver good service but they get a ton of takeout orders so they are almost always too busy. So I would not describe the service as fantastic but...

I gave this place 2 stars, because of the rude staff. Unfortunately, I do like the sushi but after my last experience, inconveniencing the young waitress, while she ate lunch and then proceded to play with her phone. I had had it - not to mention crunching through crab shells in the volcano roll and finding a long piece of fuzz as well - that was enough to make my decision to never return. Every time I come to this place, at least 3 times a week, I have dealt these miserable staff members who make no effort to be courteous or friendly. I have always let it slide but seriously, going out to lunch after a long day at work and to be treated with such disdain. They have just lost a regular customer and somebody who had no problem referring and bringing friends to their establishment. As I mentioned I do like their sushi, its decent, but with so many choices in the area seems silly to spend my hard earned $$ where it's NOT appreciated. I hear Namaimo Sushi is great and friendly! and have heard this from many people. Volcano Sushi and Grill needs a major attitude adjustment. They also need to clean the cushions on the...