Aiko Sushi — Restaurant in City Centre

I went to Oeki Ōko Sushi, and it was hands down the worst sushi I’ve ever had. I got the all-you-can-eat option, and while the service was nice and the staff were helpful, the real issue lies with the owner’s decision-making. Whether it’s budget cuts or something else, they’ve chosen to use the absolute worst rice imaginable.

The rice was drenched in some thick, gooey vinegar, making it swollen and unbearably sticky. There was way too much of it, completely overpowering the tiny amount of filling. The sushi pieces were so glued together that you couldn’t even pick them up separately—it was just one big clump. On top of that, the rice had this brownish tint that was beyond unappetizing.

I’ve had sushi all over the world, and this was by far the worst. My bill came to over 600 rand for the all-you-can-eat option, two Cokes, and a carrot juice. I tried to give it a chance, forcing myself through five pieces, but by the fifth one, I felt physically sick. The smell alone was unbearable.

To the owner: If you want to keep your good reviews, stop cutting corners. Sushi should have normal sushi rice—period. If you insist on serving this awful, marinated rice, at least give people the choice. But forcing it on customers? That’s just bad business.

There was nothing enjoyable about this experience. If you’re considering going here, don’t. I even tried to get a refund because I could barely eat, but they refused. They wouldn’t let me speak to the owner or manager and even begged me not to write a bad review. But the fact that they didn’t offer a discount, didn’t let me switch to normal sushi rice, and didn’t cancel my order when I complained after the first bite says everything. I was stuck forcing down a few pieces just to justify the money I had spent. Avoid this place at all costs. I took a friend from Dubai to try CapeTown sushi option and it was embarrassing. He said he will never try sushi in Cape Town...

When we first got there we had to seat ourselves no biggie. Then we ordered our drinks we were happy with them. Then came the food, we ordered the sushi (a platter to be specific to share with 3 people) the lady was having difficulty understanding what we wanted so I had written it down on my notes app to help explain it better. We were then chatting and having a good time and we realized we hadn’t gotten our food for an hour. We then struggled to call a waitress for 10 minutes.

There was a table in front of us that had gotten there half an hour after us and the manager came out to them saying “so sorry for the wait/inconvenience we are short staffed” we over heard it and she did not come to our table and tell us which was disappointing that we had to overhear it from another table.

Once we finally got the attention of one the waitresses she came over and we told her we had been waiting for an hour she apologized and then the manager came to our table and asked us how long we had been there. We told her what was happening and how we didn’t get our side plates nor our soy sauce. She then had to get it for us.

We finally got our food!!!! But the order was wrong.

We told the manager yet again that the order was wrong and she apologized saying we must eat half of what we got?!?!? Then she’ll remake it the way we asked.

I then had a prawn California roll. I immediately spat it out as it had a sour bitter taste. We had eaten a plate of sushi with prawn in it already but it was overfilled with mayo and a fried outer layer so we barely tasted it. We then asked for the bill and for nothing to go and the manager said “I still have another plate to give you.” “Do you want it to go” we then said no. And she insisted we took it home but we held onto our response.

Very disappointing for how put together this restaurant was. Definitely will not be going again. And definitely do...

My wife and I went out to dinner with our two good friends to celebrate our first year as a married couple. We will always remember our special day because we all had such an okay time at Aiko Sushi. The whole experience is nothing to write home about and the quality of the food is not fantastic.

Interesting that international beers are the same price as the local ones and the craft beers are so expensive for mediocre offerings. There are so many limitations on their buffet special which is really frustrating, they obviously want their customers to feel dazed and confused. They make sure you fill up on lots of rice though.

The hostess and waitresses do not communicate effectively with each other and there is much confusion with who ordered what when. For instance the hostess asked me if I would like another beer, moments after I had emptied the bottle into my glass. The waitress came passed our table to check how we were doing and I said that we are okay. As she walked away she said, "okay, if you say so!"

The most uncomfortable part of our evening's experience was the fact that the outside tables are placed on a slope, so my wife and I felt like we were going to slide off our bench and into our friend's laps! Our friends probably felt like they were going to fall backwards. The tables and benches can be levelled off very simply, but the proprietors couldn't care less because they will never sit in those seats ever.

Upon paying our bill the waitress asked my wife to use her name which she had written down on the bill, when reviewing the establishment. I am not going to name this person out of respect to her. This is the same waitress who I saw wipe her nose with her fingers in their food prep area.

We had a really okay time at Ai(ok)ko Sushi. If you are locals like us, please do yourselves a favour and avoid this over priced...