Takumi Sushi & Buffet — Restaurant in Salt Lake City

If I could rate zero stars, I would. I saw the incredible reviews and thought I would give this place a shot. I realized the moment I walked in the door why there were so many 5 star reviews - there is a giant sign stating you get a 5% discount if you leave a review.

I stood at the counter and was greeted within 30 seconds, and when I confirmed I was dining alone a placemat-like menu was handed to me with a "Look at that, someone else will get you" and was then promptly ignored for a solid five minutes. Another waiter saw me and asked if I wanted to be seated. Uh... yes?

I was taken to a table and the host immediately walked away. FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER, a waiter approached me (after I watched them greet tables that had arrived after me) and asked me what I'd like to drink. I asked for Diet Coke. They walked away and I went up to the buffet to get a plate of food. The options were limited, but I will say that was the only redeeming factor about this place. You're not overwhelmed with 4 lanes of options.

I got back to my table to discover a cup of water. Not sure how Diet Coke translates to water, but ok. I need to drink more water anyways and it did save me the $2 for a soda (which is not included in their $30 buffet price). What I did not discover were napkins or chopsticks, neither of which are available at the buffet. Since I'm not a toddler and don't eat sushi with my fingers, I kept trying to flag down my waiter to no avail. About 10 minutes later I was able to flag down another waiter who provided these to me.

The food was beyond abysmal. Everything that was supposed to be hot was undercooked and cold. Everything that was supposed to be cold was room temperature. The sushi was very obviously not fresh.

I decided I would try one of the sushi rolls, hoping that something made to order would be better. I waited another 20 minutes before yet another waiter approached my table and asked if I had enjoyed the rolls I ordered, to which I responded "Well, nobody has asked me if I even want a roll." He apologized profusely and took my order.

I decided while I waited I would give the buffet another go. Bad choice. I chose all different items including the egg drop soup and it was the same result. I've gotten better food at truck stops.

45 MINUTES LATER. My rolls had still not arrived. The same waiter who took my rolls order (which was not the waiter who asked me for my drink or the other waiter who provided utensils) came up and asked again if I had enjoyed the rolls. At this point I had had enough. I told him my rolls still had not arrived and that I'd just like the check. He apologized again and immediately went to get my bill. While he was doing that, another employee (not a waiter, possibly kitchen staff) approached my table with a fistful of receipt paper and looking like he had just finished a marathon. He asked me if I had ordered rolls and I simply told him I did but that the other waiter would be canceling my order.

The waiter returned with my check and vouchers for a discount (not even a comped meal) for my next visit. He apologized again and I thanked him because he was the only person I interacted with that showed any kind of customer care. I did leave the vouchers behind, because I have zero interest in returning.

I live about 10 minutes away and by the time I got home my stomach was churning. And then, without being too graphic, the churning proved to be food poisoning.

I can't say this emphatically enough - DO....

The high reviews are not representative because they incentivize people to leave a high rating in exchange for a free key chain at the counter if you do.

While waiting for our rolls to be made we overheard two employees talking about how the boss was going to be mad because someone had called the health department and the health inspector was going to come. I'm not sure the context of the complaint, but this was concerning to hear.

The quality was just okay for the rolls, but they were very expensive for such quality. The wasabi was terrible and nothing tasted very fresh.

Additionally, the vegan roll isn't vegan because it has honey. We placed a to-go order and one person in my party ordered a roll with caviar and I ordered the "vegan" roll. They packaged both rolls in the same container and every single piece of my roll had caviar all over it as a result.

Finally, you can't sit and eat in the restaurant unless you order the buffet, so if you only want to order one or two rolls you need to take them to go as there is no...

Beautiful interior, clean bright, decorated nicely. Our waitress was very good, knew the menu, explained everything well. The buffet is pretty limited, 3 soups, 4 kinds of buns..odd flavors, a handful of choices of regular Asian dishes, all were at room temperature, I think they use of heat lamps instead of steam tables, so the temperature was off. A better selection of sushi items in the buffet area, and a few limited seafood items. Desserts fairly limited as well. If you're going to order sushi rolls off the menu, the price is probably worth it if you can eat a lot of rolls, my rolls were pretty good. My biggest issue is that the owner/manager was walking around yelling at everyone. He also grabbed a handful of ice with ungloved hands and threw it into the salad..? To keep it colder I guess, but yuck. All in all meh, the sushi buffet in Sandy is far superior. We spent 75 bucks...we did get a $4 saki. Probably won't return, but if you want decent rolls, and a lot of them the price is...