I came back twice because I didn't want to go to Sui Sha Yuck.
Both times I was given a better service, but still I was ignored as I asked for assistance. The food still is not worth the 12.95. The last time I went here...Last month, a few people at the table beside ours wasted a whole order (probably 4 rolls) of california rolls. They said it sucked as they left to pay their bill. When the waitress came to clean the table she mumbled "oh my goash....what a waste" like it was a big deal. I told them the reason they wasted it because the food quality sucks....she looked at me a ran off to he boss. He came over and asked if there was a problem. I said no and left puking on the entrance of this restaurant. Seriously, why is this place still running? The service is still terrible and the food is horid.

I will stop posting my opinions about this place as I have not returned since. Thanks for reading!

One thing Taisho has going for them is its convenient location. Their late night menu at 8:30pm is a great ending to a shopping trip. Now don't get me wrong -- Burnaby, especially Kingsway has a lot of better sushi choices -- but that would require getting back into my car and driving, so... I ended up at Taisho.

My main issue with Taisho is the food quality. Not exactly bad, but most kitchen items (tempura, teriyaki, gyozas) were barely warm when they arrived. Deep fried items like the karrage and katsu looked like they were fried twice and tasted like it too -- resulting in a hard, not crispy texture. Both were also luke warm. Rolls fell apart easily and we had to send back the toro sashimi because it really didn't taste "right" / fresh enough.

As for service, our server started talking to a friend in the middle of taking our order. (We sat by the mall window and he happened to pass by and they started to have a conversation with me and my partner in between) She then later realized this was wrong and apologized... Tea was refilled and she was nice but just a little inexperienced. Wrong food was sent to our table and the wait was long for some items. I agree with others that the 10% tip is silly -- especially since we were a table of 2 not 8. Judging from the way the restaurant is run I guess not everyone tips 10% with good justification.

Value: $12.50 for the late night all you can eat menu. While this looks cheap, the menu is limited with no sashimi unless you add on 5 pieces and a pop for another $2.25. They have sashimi salad, which is a few pieces of sashimi on a bed of greens / spicy salmon sashimi (Limit 1 order each). Both weren't very good btw.

Paid $31.40 for two people (inclu. 2 pops)... considering the quality of the food, I would rather spend a few bucks more and go elsewhere.

Ambiance was good -- washrooms were clean and the restaurant was clean.

Tried the AYCE. Very disappointed in the tempura prawns and veggies. 1 small limp prawn and 3 veggies. Every thing else passable but table service was slow. Almost like they want you to fill up on the sushi rolls. 3 menu items per person at a time. Small portions. Might go back in a pinch but not voluntarily.

Waitress I dealt with in my last visit was insulting - an awkward and unpleasant experience. Food was sub-par as well - think factory sushi with a hard skin on top.
They should do away with the conveyor belt if they're not going to have any variety. If Sui Sha Ya (Metrotown Centre) is their direct competition, which ain't much of a benchmark - which can easily explain the overall feel of this establishment.

Food: If I could, I would've given this place no stars. Enough said. The sushi chef needs to go back to school and get an accounting degree or something cuz his/her rolls were terrible - mushy, fell apart, bad ingredients and the list goes on....

Service: What's with having to beg and scream for some tea? Especially when there's no one in the restaurant and you should then be receiving some impeccable service!! Orders were forgotten or taking forever to arrive.

Ambiance: Blah. Nothing special.

I've been to this restaurant quite often, and it's not for the food, but the convenience. If it didn't have a good location, the business would be closed pretty fast with the way things are going. Luckily, this place is right beside Silvercity Theaters and with it's enticing, yet semi-clean setting, it's like tempting a baby with candies - or in this case, many babies.

Although I've been to this place many times, like I said, I am going to write a review for it this time (don't think I wrote one for it yet lol)

This review will be based off of its ordering menu and not buffet. I will add the buffet part in part two.

PART ONE - First the pros -

#1 - PRICE - price was fair for its location and the amount of food given, but did not justify the quality. I had a hard time choosing whether to place price within the pros and cons section but seeing how most of the people who come here are young and, pardon me for saying this, 'inexperienced or lenient' japanese cuisine munchers, i thought perhaps quantity was more important.

#2 - portions were quite enough, although not as generous as they used to be which i thought were probably due to the price of oil spikes.

#3 - spacious. the tables are nice and big for, normally, a party of 4.

PART 1 - Cons -

#1 - lukewarm food - the foods seem to be heated up in the microwave, meaning everything is pre-prepared. Normally, single order menu items are better than their buffet versions but seeing how I tasted no difference, it was quite a rip off here.

#2 - quality was definitely not good. I'm not saying you'll get stomach aches but what I mean is the quality of the ingredients used. Sushi rice falling apart, wrong or wrong portions of rice vinegar, and overall fastfood quality japanese cuisine.

#3 - sanitation was moderately clean, some areas having moldy corners and sticky floors are common - missed a spot perhaps?

PART TWO - pros

#1 - amount of selection on the menu

PART TWO - cons

#1 - price - this place's all you can eat is very high for the quality of food you get.

#2 - quality - poor, sashimi tasted lukewarm...and there the color was wrong

#3 - presentation - not good, looked messy and sloppy compared to other AYCE

#4 - taste - this place's taste are saltier than most other places, which requires you to drink lots of water.

#5 - service - bad, inattentive.

#6 - gratuity - definitely does not need to be automatically added especially when their service does not match up to it.

I will not come here again (repeats to self again and again) but seeing how it's a convenience after a late night movie, it's very hard to not get tempted.

Taisho is permanently closing on March 21/22 of 2009. They have stopped serving the ayce portion of the menu and are now only focusing on a la carte items, with every item being 10% off.
The food is basic, and the service is extremely lacking, no refills offered, and in order to get any service whether that be being seated in the restaurant or having the order taken, the food delivered or even corrections to the order- like you forgot my miso soup- you practically have to hit the server or other staff over the head.
Nothing remarkable about this place,
and then comes the bill- let me tell you right now
please don't even ask them to remove the 15% gratuity to the bill, just tell them you don't want to add more to the bill, and that you want the ordinary total. I did this tonight when we went, and she readjusted the total without argument. She would have had a huge problem should she have fused, I know my rights and I know the law and I know how to file a complaint where it will sting.
If you ask nicely for them to remove it, and then they disagree this is grounds for a complaint to the Better Business Bureau. No business can adjust your total and add a tip without giving you the option of deciding for yourselves what you would prefer to pay.
Like some of the previous entries, I had her remove the tip and left paying the total bill only with no extras.
I am sorry the restaurant is fallen on hard times and has to close, Im sorry that the cranky people they did employ are losing their jobs and Im even sorry that they didnt practice excellent customer service skills at the best of times, but what makes me the angriest is the fact that they are screwing people out of their hard earned money by these unscrupulous acts.
I would recommend people never eat here again, but since it's not going to last long it doesnt matter but please WATCH YOUR BILL, AND TIP WHAT YOU WANT NOT WHAT THEY SEEM TO ADD!!!!!! YOUR THE CONSUMER AND YOU HAVE MORE RIGHTS THEN THEY DO WHEN IT COMES TO DECIDING THE TIP!!!

My family have visited this places since it was opened, since my mom has always loved to come here for Seafood Nabeyagi Udon, since we all know the sushi is just mediocre quality, not to mention watching the moisure in those plate on the food belt. On a Sunday lunch, my mom had the craving for her udon again, so we went Taisho once more. It wasn't a busy day, no line up, not fully seated yet as well. Everything is "ok" as they always were, not very attentive, took our order, brought the food to the table, and left us all along.
My mom dislike shellfish, so the clams are always given to me or my dad. The problem smack right into me and my dad mouth when we were eating the clams from the seafood Nabeyagi udon, it's full of "SAND"!!!!!! Not one, or two, all three of the clams had mouthful of SAND!! It just totally turned down my appetite of the day, and wondering what are the cook doing (isn't it basic knowledge to put clams in salted water so they would actually spit out sands). And the sledge hammer wack in our face when we called the manager, and he dared to give useless excuse "we can't guarantee every clam is without sand, since we bought them in"!!!! And refuse to do anything about it. I pretty much argued with him, yet he doesn't seem to care beside adjust the bill by like $5. I also called him over once more to removed the 15% Gratitude they dare to put on my bill, and I gladly left the place wihtout any tip, and convinced my mom never return again.

P.S. I'm working in the restaurant field as well, and everything goes out of the kitchen to the customer has to be cleaned, cooked, edible. It's NOT acceptable when the clam has sand in them at all.

...for sure, because it's in the mall near the theaters since the food is not that good anymore. I started coming here a few years ago when I started working at the mall. Back then the food was way better and so was the selection going down the moving belt.
I haven't worked at the mall for a year now but I paid a visit over the holidays and decided to eat here....what a disappointment !!!

For starters, they charged $2 extra for AYCE (holiday surcharge) but the food was no different than any other time; I agreed to pay because I thought they may have special "holiday" items...NOT. I think it's just an excuse to scam up a few extra bucks. I think they do this on long weekends too.

The food on the belt consisted of the same tired 4 items going round and round (tuna sushi, ebi sushi, tamago sushi and endamame). We saw a few salmon sushi which quickly disappeared never to be seen again for the 1.5 hrs we sat there. Only 80% of the cooked items we ordered actually showed up even though they claimed they were delivered...must have gone to a table beside us.

Next time, I'll eat somewhere else before heading to the theaters. Don't think it was worth the regular price anymore and the $2 "holiday" surcharge is a kick in the teeth.

btw, I can't remember a time when most of the tables around the belt were occupied by toddlers whose parents were not managing their kids and so they were nosing and poking at the food on the belt as it passed in front of them...next time I go for AYCE, I'll go to one of those where you order and a server brings your food.

Not having been here in a while, and remembering a decent deal of a $10 lunch, my boyfriend and I decided to try it again. Bad idea. The hostess informed us right away there would be tip included (which, as other people mentioned, is unfair as a tip should be given at my discretion). The air conditioning was on way too high, making my food cold before I was halfway done. My beef short ribs were unbelievably dry, salty, and fatty. My boyfriend's chicken (teriyaki) was even drier. His udon was soggy and disintegrating in the soup. The california roll, green salad, and tempura were of normal standard (but who can go wrong with that??) and the service wasn't horrible. Anyway, we ate lunch maybe 5 hours ago, and our stomachs are still complaining. NEVER, EVER going there again.