Ami Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Roseburg

I used to live in Eugene where there were "popular" sushi-island restaurants (technically one was in Springfield) and I loved them both because both also served Udon (with Tempura). When I moved to Camas Valley, those stores were now much too far to visit on regular basis.

That's when I searched, and found, this amazing place.

Nestled in Roseburg, amidst nearby winerys and brewerys, is this amazing restaurant that ive made habit of going to nearly weekly at this rate.

First off, the staff is super friendly, and they recognize every customer from near to regular with great attitude and service from the time they come in to the time they leave.

The sushi here, always fresh, made to order, has never dissapointed since my first visit a month ago. If anything, it was astonishing the sheer SIZE of my first ever roll I got (a staple I always enjoy and get: a Dragon Roll). They are so large that gripping them with the supplied chopsticks is a little daunting, but the mouthfulls of delicious seafood, rice, etc just explodes flavors in ones mouth. I even tried "smaller" rolls, like the Kabuki and Tempura Shrimp. Fewer "pieces", but still mouthfulls per piece alone and were just as equally amazing.

And then I got my Udon (Tempura Veggie).

Oh my goodness, it was disasterously GOOD.

The portion of the bowl is wonderful, the noodles thick and filling; the size of the tempura-fried veggies wonderfully large and portioned; and they even season it with spicey pepper of some kind that ive gotten before at other locations on the side, and how much Ami adds is perfect each and every time.

Now price is understandably on the minimum $5 to start depending on the order you get, but the atmosphere, either alone or with others, the taste, the service, everything makes the experience great each time I go.

Thank you guys for your wonderful food...

Everything you heard about Ami Sushi is true.

The sushi roles are huge. Compare them to mini bread loaves or baby’s chubby arms, or whatever best suits the story you’ll share with out-of-town friends who might be circumspect of eating sushi in Roseburg.

A Korean family has operated Ami Sushi for more than a decade. In addition to sushi, Ami offers Japanese (teriyaki and tempura) and Korean (bibimbap and gogigui) dishes.

I favor the sushi rolls and nigari. All sushi rolls come with crab, cucumber, avocado and masago. Our family's favorites are the Rainbow roll (tuna, salmon, red snapper, and shrimp), the Moby Dick roll (salmon, red snapper, shrimp and tuna), and the 5th Avenue roll (topped w/salmon).

Wow. As I typed these out, I had an epiphany. There's a lot of commonality between sushi rolls and Mexican food as the same ingredients appear in many dishes. The result is delicious, so there’s no reason to dwell here.

Unfortunately, what Ami hits in cuisine, it misses in hospitality.

Typically, the waitresses are pretty and young, and slow, inattentive and lacking command of the menu. The service is detrimental enough to the overall dining experience that I prefer to order dinners to go rather than suffer through another bad hospitality experience. It is undeniably challenging to find good wait staff in a rural town full of fast food restaurants.

The restaurant updated its ordering system using mobile devices to speed up orders. That’s a step in the right direction.

Ami Sushi’s bright exception is Riko, a late-30s Japanese waitress who provides professional customer service. She knows the menu line by line and makes persuasive recommendations. I recommend you look for Riko and be sure to request a table in...

AMAZING! I travel for work a lot, and I eat A LOT of sushi. It’s my favorite and travel too many many sushi spot around the USA. This place took me by surprise, complete surprise.... When working in Roseburg I just had the thought there wasn’t going to be very tasty food or much out here in general, boy was I wrong!!! Came to this place with doubt, I ordered their house salad and ended up having to buy the dressing from them (that good), 2 orders salmon nigiri and a order of the house special roll. I wasn’t expecting them to be huge! You get a delicious generation cut of salmon nigiri. Plenty of left overs. I was little skeptical at first thinking they’re we’re not going to be much flavor in the from the size or the salmon was going to be bad, but like I said I was surprised. Salmon nigiri was my favorite of the night, you can just tell by quality; it just melts in your mouth. I couldn’t thank the chef enough, it brought nostalgia to a sushi restaurant in Alaska I went to that was outstanding, that’s how the salmon tasted to me, fresh Alaska salmon!!! It might not be that but it was fresh and yummy! I was literally having the time of my life eating there, sounds so dumb but it was a fun delicious experience! Customer service was outstanding as well. The place was super cute, and clean. I hope to work in Roseburg in the future so I can eat here again, or I’ll just make a 5...