M Sushi Cary — Restaurant in Cary

I rarely leave reviews, but after my recent experience at M Sushi in Cary, I feel compelled to warn others. I visited with a friend, and we were excited to try the food. However, the night quickly took a turn for the worse.

We both, ended up getting sick shortly after eating. I don’t have a sensitive stomach, and I had eaten nothing else that day, so I’m certain the food was the cause. It was incredibly upsetting to end the night hovering over a toilet, especially after having been excited for this meal.

I informed the manager, David, the next day hoping he would take the situation seriously. Unfortunately, his response was completely dismissive. He said, "Nobody else has said they got sick," and didn’t ask for any details like our names, if we sought medical help, or even how we were doing. It was clear he didn’t care at all about the health of his customers.

At a minimum, I expected the manager to follow up, take some responsibility, or show concern. Instead, it felt like he brushed us off, and I was left feeling completely ignored.

I urge anyone considering dining here to think twice. You deserve to eat at a place that serves food in a clean environment, values customer health, and takes customer concerns seriously. Sadly, this restaurant does none of those things. I won’t be returning and highly recommend you find somewhere that genuinely cares about the safety and well-being of their customers.

MANAGERS REPLY TO MY FEEDBACK

It's unfortunate that it is flu season and many people are sick at this time. No one else did call and say they got sick from our food. I will not take blame just because you make an accusation. Any person who knows the law understands that. I am sorry you became ill however, my staff works tirelessly to ensure that we do not serve food that will harm people. We served many people that evening that did not have any sickness. It is unfortunate that you are given this medium of giving your personal opion and are upset that you didn't get what you wanted. You asked me a question and I answered it professionally like I have for over 46 years in this industry. I hope others reading this understand that we in the restaurant business strive to serve the public in the very best way to ensure quality product and served to you safely. I hope you understand that this is a disguntled guest.

MY RESPONSE TO THE MANAGER

Thank you for your response, though I feel there are a few things that need clarification. First, when I initially contacted you, I did not ask for anything—no compensation, no special treatment. My sole intention was to inform you of a concern. So, let’s start with that clear point.

Your reply comes across as defensive and somewhat dismissive. While I respect your many years in food service, as you mentioned, I would hope you’re aware that it only takes one person, one set of unclean hands or utensils, to potentially cause a health issue. Just because you haven’t received numerous complaints doesn’t mean nothing happened. That’s why I took the time to reach out—because customers who care about your establishment should be seen as assets, not nuisances.

It was never my intention to accuse your staff of being malicious or outright unsanitary. However, we both know that health code violations can and do happen at any business, including well-regarded ones. I checked your record, and yes, there it is—so let’s not pretend these things are unheard of.

I urge you to consider approaching customer feedback with more care. When someone takes time out of their day to raise a potential concern, it’s an opportunity to show your commitment to excellence, not an invitation to be defensive or refer to them as a "disgruntled guest". Telling me about "flu season" as an explanation was particularly off-putting, as it feels dismissive of my concern.

Next time, I hope you’ll take ownership of the issue, acknowledge the customer’s perspective, and address things in a thoughtful,...

One of the celebratory events that we planned for my daughter’s graduation from college was to have dinner at M Sushi. My son heard about them on social media and made reservations a couple weeks back.

My daughter‘s graduation was yesterday so our reservation to M sushi was last night. Our original reservations were for 8:00 pm, but due to graduation activity delays, we called in to have the reservation changed to 8:45 pm. We didn’t have any complications changing the time.

We arrived a bit earlier than expected; however, our table was not yet ready, so we went across the street to another restaurant to have some drinks. We came back at exactly 8:45 pm, but our table was still not ready. We ended up waiting another 15 to 20 minutes before our table was ready.

The ambience in this restaurant was nice and had a modernized feel and look. It is not a spacious restaurant.

We ordered several things from the menu: Small Plates - Edamame and Scallops; Maki - Truffle Seared Tuna, M Special, Spider Roll, Dynamite Roll, and California Roll; Nigiri - Shime Saba House Cured Japanese Mackerel; Specialty Drinks.

No one in our party liked the scallops. They did not taste fresh and did not have the seafood flavor. It was a bit bland and the texture seemed off. It was a little better with the sauce but still nothing that was appealing to anyone at the table.

The edamame was good, but needed some sea salt on the top or mixed in consistently as only the ones on the bottom had the flavor of sea salt.

The Maki we enjoyed. While they all tasted good, our favorites were the Truffle Seared Tuna, the Dynamite Roll, and the M Special. The Truffle Seared Tuna was unbelievable. It tasted fresh and was the most flavorful of all the other Maki.

My ultimate favorite dish of the night was the Nigiri Shime Saba House Cured Japanese Mackerel. This was hands-down the most flavorful and best tasting dish. The texture was perfect, and it almost felt like it melted in your mouth. It was incredibly good.

Overall, we enjoyed all the dishes we ordered with the exception of the scallops. The next time I visit this restaurant, I will definitely be getting a double portion of the...

Echoing the exact sentiment of another 1 star review on here by Darnell B four months ago, he seems to have had the exact same issue as us. My girlfriend and friend dined here for dinner and BOTH got sick that night with mild food poisoning. Obviously ate nothing out of the ordinary that day or I wouldn't be posting this. She called and David was dismissive and unhelpful, didn't seem genuinely concerned and immediately became defensive regarding the situation (huge red flag). She didn't ask for ANYTHING by the way, and only wanted to inform the restaurant as is the responsible thing to do.

I then called to follow-up for some kind of restitution/any kind of apology or bit of sympathy and without hesitation he continued his rehearsed defensive lines, first saying we needed "proof" (sure let me fish it out of the toilet...). Throughout our call he failed to demonstrate a modicum of professionalism you'd expect from any place of business. He actually had the audacity to hang up on me TWICE, claiming I was "yelling" when I immediately called him back. Similar to the other review, he tries to dismiss our experience again by claiming "no one else has called about this" (I've found that often people let these things go so to me that's irrelevant, probably saving themselves the hassle of dealing with the Davids of the world).

Well I for one don't tolerate his intolerance so I've already filed a complaint with Wake County's Health & Safety Department. Agree with the other reviewer that it's good practice to ask for more specific details of any incident like this and treat health & safety seriously. You'd think his "46 years in the industry" would've taught him this alongside maybe a dash of empathy or perhaps some compassion if we're lucky. I expect a colorful response to this review to paint me as the bad guy and further dismiss what he calls "claims" as he did with the other review. Flu season as an excuse for food poisoning is a laughable response to that other review. David, don't waste the time, clean up your kitchen and maybe your act while...