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I've been reading the reviews about this place and I have to say my experiences don't match up. I've been there twice now and both times the food service and prices have been very good. The environment is nice. I had the fresh oysters and they were really good and cheaper than anywhere else in Victoria. I also had sushi rolls terryaki chicken and many other items and all came in perfect timing and excellent taste.
Restaurants can go through staff issues and clearly whatever they were doing wrong they got it sorted out. I hope it stays this way.
Heres the play-by-play
3:00pm. Long day of Christmas shopping, wow am I ever hungry, I'll just google sushi in Victoria, hopefully one will be open.
3:02pm. All searches come back negative except for Azuma sushi, therefore Azuma it is!
3:05pm. I walk into Azuma, I think to myself, this is really nice, have they ever put a lot of work into this place. -Please wait to be seated- said the sign
3:15pm. I look back at the sign to see if I maybe read the sign wrong, nope. I look around there are empty tables everywhere.
3:17pm. Oh how wonderful, my date and I are situated right between two very young couples. I feel out of place because both sets of couples are talking/texting on their cell phones. Oh, what's that I hear? *No! I told you I dont like him, I'm with my new date right now, fuck off!* You go girl, that's exactly what I was thinking.
3:20pm. How did this cold cup of tea get infront of me? I look around but see no one, someone must be practising there magic skills in here.
3:25pm. I feel the warmth of this friendly waiter in here. I know she must have a thing for me because she doesn't want to make eye contact, I dont blame her seeing as how I'm out on this date. "Oh hi I'm doing gre.... Oh I'm sorry, yes to start off could I have *this*, and for my entree I would like *that* and *and some of those*" We kept our conversation to a minimum, save the small talk for later, when she wasn't so busy with her other two tables.
3:35pm I bowl of soup arrives, the waitress said it came with what I ordered, or so I assumed. I couldn't understand her, I think she finished her sentence while she walked 10 ft away from me. Maybe something smelled bad?
3:36pm My taste buds hurt, what did I just put in my mouth?
3:40pm One portion of my entree is here, I'm excited, but where is my appetizer? My waitress must be one of those desert before dinner kinda gals, I like that, it's spunky.
3:45pm Another entree arrives, I don't recognize it. Said it went with my soup. I'm confused now, did the entree come with the soup or the soup come with the entree, either way I didn't order either of them. Here's my chance to return that liquid thing on my table, I don't know what it is, tried googling it but nothing came up. My waitress politely accepts my return of this mysterious entree and the unknown substance. She didn't seemed surprised, I think she's heard it before. I'm trying to come to terms with how this could have happened, I mean her not looking at me meant she liked me, right, Right?
3:53pm I'm done my entree just as my appetizer arrives, perfecting timing! I bet my waitress is impressed at how fast I can eat one roll of sushi.
3:54pm I remember I'm on date now, "Hi Hunny, how's your sushi? Oh you don't like it.... Ya I dont think it's suppose to come completely unrolled on the plate, but I'm no sushi expert, maybe we should notify the waitress?"
3:58pm Very sneaky! She slides past us without making a sound
4:00pm I caught you! I knew she couldn't escape me forever. My waitress seems to have the giggles as I explain the problem with my date's sushi, boy am I ever good with the ladies. She explains to me that a new sushi chef is behind the counter now, apparently much better at rolling sushi, but my date politely declines. You know what they say "wait twenty minutes and you won't be hungry anymore". I guess this holds true even if you haven't started to eat yet.
4:03pm My date complements that her pop taste great. I'm happy for her, she's enjoying it a lot!
4:10pm Everything is gone from the table, my waitress asked if that will be all, I feel like her opinion on me has changed. But I can't quite put my finger on it. I avoid notifying her of my missing food that was supposed to come with my entree, I think she knew tho.
4:12pm The cheque arrives, I eat both chocolates on the bill tray, boy do I love those chocolates, best thing they have put on the table yet!
4:12pm The waitress shows up quite fast with the debit machine. She is being very nice now, a little too nice in fact, seems a little fishy, I contemplate the possibility that she is finally attempting to make her move on me. I look at my date, she is paying for us, very 21st century I think. Maybe I should probably just stay with the one I have now.
4:13pm I leave the restaurant, I'm in a haze, I say bye to my date, I don't know if I'll see her again. Still hungry, but nowhere to go, I guess I'll just head home and throw in a pizza.
5:30pm Mmmm frozen pizza. The bus ride was long and lonely, I did done a lot of soul searching. I write done my thoughts on todays outing so other hungry people will be able to avoid this place and more importantly, frozen pizza.
Went to Azuma to check out the renovation after having a mediocre, overpriced experience one year ago. Sadly, things have gotten worse. I could write at least a dozen complaints, but for expediency's sake, here are my 4 in chronological order:
1.) Staff, including chefs, didn't know any of the items on their own menu. While I understand that many are new, and the menu has been retooled, at least they should hire people who know the basics of a Japanese restaurant, like "tuna nigiri" "uni" and a number of rolls and appys on their own menu. Not only did the servers need to be shown the menu when ordering, the sushi chef messed up one of the most expensive rolls on the menu (see complaint number 3).
2.) Bar staff were immature, clueless about their own jobs and inattentive, save for the occasional "how is everything?" to which we replied with bewilderment "ummm ok..." We had to wait for them to finish taking pictures of each other before ordering. The head bartender came in with a hat and coat on after his break to print our bill, which was wrong, but in our favor so we let the mistake go unnoticed. The other 2 bartenders were new and in dire need of training, which the head bartender was too busy texting on his cell phone to see to. I don't blame the newbies--clearly this is a management issue indicative of systemic failure.
3.) The food. The food. The food. Oh lord, where to begin...? First, the "kenko" roll which costs upwards of $11 is a hollowed out piece of cucumber stuffed with tuna, salmon and avocado. When it came, the roll had no avocado in it. We had to ask that they add avocado, which all the staff were confused about until I pointed it out on their own menu. Then when we finally got it straightened out, the roll came back to us, the chef having simply stuffed avocado into the same roll, making it virtually impossible to pick up without all of the stuff falling out, not to mention an $11 eyesore. No experienced sushi chef would ever allow such blasphemy. Literally everything we ordered was A.) disappointing in taste B.) REALLY ugly and poorly displayed C.) overpriced (See complaint number 4) and, when from the kitchen, D.) cold, having obviously sat out under a heat lamp for an obscene amount of time. Also, for those people who have ever been to Japan or have any affection whatsoever for Japanese food--DO NOT EAT HERE. It will make you sad to even see the insjustice and utter contempt with which the chefs serve what is meant to be beautiful, delicious, lovingly prepared food. I would expect much, much more from a prepackaged sushi box from Safeway.
4.) The prices were insulting. Everything except the ikura was rip off. A big one. The final straw was dessert. We ordered a flourless chocolate cake for 6.95. What came out of the kitchen was a sliver of half-frozen, hard as a rock, utterly tasteless chocolate-flavored garbage on a plate with nothing on it but a blob of (also frozen) whipped cream. If you're going to serve dessert, better make it memorable for reasons other than the horror with which we walked away from our meal.
Never. Ever. Go here.
FYI My favorite places to eat in Victoria are: 1.) Brasserie L'Ecole (prices slightly higher than what we paid tonight--though not by much!!--but for an incredible experience you won't soon forget), 2.) Sen Zushi (twice the serving sizes at comparable prices, for actual (REALLY DELICIOUS) Japanese food prepared by actual Japanese people, with love you can taste) 3.) Hernandez (just damn good burritos and stuff) 4.) The dim sum place in the Red Lion on Douglas (cheap, fast, a little ratty-looking atmosphere but that's what makes it fun, and most of all amazing tasting food)
I hope this review saves someone out there from the disaster that is Azuma.
I want to like this restaurant...I have TRIED VERY HARD to like it. Three times in fact. Each time I am blown away by the blandness and lack of creativity of the dishes. The location is central and convenient for me and the place is packed most of the time which is most likely due to it's great location.
The last time I was there(2 days ago) I ordered sushi rolls, sashimi and vegetable and tofu udon soup. The yam rolls looked like sloppy blobs of rice...had to look hard to find any yam inside, the sashimi was the tiniest portion i have ever been served(and I eat Japanese alot) and the soup arrived with noodles and a few sliced of tofu on top. No vegetables whatsoever..not even a few slices of green onion for color. I asked the server if she could add some vegetables to the soup(as the menu did state bean curd and vegetable udon) and she said they didn't have any vegetables!! I just stared at her in disbelief, as my daughter had ordered chicken vegetable don and it clearly had carrots, brocolli, and bean sprouts on it at least. So, thinking maybe there was a language barrier or that she hadn't heard me correctly, I requested possibly some carrots, brocolli, bok choy, ...anything(!) She took it back to the kitchen and it was returned to me with 2 raw brocolli florets and a few bean sprouts. Not one to make a fuss, I started eating. With no exaggeration..I could have been eating noodles in dishwater. $9.00 for noodles in dishwater.
I have tried many of the Japanese restaurants in Victoria and have NEVER felt a need to write a negative review until now. SAVE your money...but be sure to try one of the others. There are several outstanding ones that serve creative and authentic cuisine. This just isn't it.
The reason I gave 1/5 for service is because we were treated very rudely last time I went to Azuma for dinner with my girlfriend. To avoid specifics as per dinehere.ca guidelines, there were no pleasantries, thank-yous or politeness period from our server. We felt as if we were unwelcome for the duration of our meal and we are well-dressed, polite people who do not swear or yell or smell so we expect to be treated like human beings.
The reason I gave 1/5 for value is because the food at azuma is DECENT but it is priced as authentic high-end japanese cuisine, which it is not. The salmon sashimi is fresh but very expensive for the size of the portion. Azuma charges upwards of 10 dollars for a small bit of sashimi which would be 5-6 dollars in most places in Victoria.
The rolls have too much rice and only a small amount of fish or crab, the only rolls we got which were of a decent rice/content ratio was the yam tempura roll and obviously yams are cheaper than fish.
Because of Azuma's location in high-traffic tourist area on Yates street, they will get tourist business no matter what, but as a local I will not be back and I will do my best to make sure nobody I know does either. In the restaurant business if you can't provide good service to your customers you deserve no business at all.
After several disappointing meals from this place I was finally fed up enough to register and add to the chorus. You will notice a great divide in the reviews for Azuma. Some people really like the steak sauce on the rice; and some people really like well made authentic Japanese food.
Yaki Soba should be fried Soba noodles, kind of like chow mein. Not soup. There is a sauce that is always used in Japan (lived there for a couple years) for this dish. What I received at Azuma did not resemble it at all. I received dark brown noodles in a mystery sauce/soup with some Chinese vegetables mixed in. In Japan it has cabbage and some meat, and it is delicious. My meal from Azuma was not worth eating. It went in the garbage.
As mentioned elsewhere the sushi is acceptable, not great, but not horrible I suppose. The gyoza dumplings were ok, which I would hope considering they are a chinese dish (jiao zi) appropriated by Japanese chefs, but the sauce that came with them was another example of either corner cutting or misinterpretation. It simply wasn't a good sauce, tasting like vinegar and little else. Nothing else I have had from the menu is in any way up to par.
If having steak sauce on your rice is what makes a meal for you, then by all means enjoy Azuma. But Japanese food lovers be warned: you will not be impressed.
On a weeknight in Victoria is it really necessary to wait over one HOUR for your sushi in a restaurant that is only 1/2 full? Really?
When it came I wasn't even hungry anymore. Then when I picked it up it fell apart. What I finally got in my face was good but the whole experience just sucked by then. When we ordered we were told it was 20 minutes if we ordered sushi NOT 60. Plus other people that came in after us and ordered sushi got theirs first. One couple came in ordered, ate and left before us. That just makes me angry and I wiil not go back.
Having spent a year in Japan I know a little bit about Japanese food, and what Azuma serves up doesn't even come close to resembling proper sushi, with the fish cut far too thick for the unseasoned rice, and taking over 40 minutes to arrive even in a half-full restaurant. The staff are unfriendly; the menu is way overpriced; I don't know what the "yakisoba" dish that they serve is meant to be, but it doesn't even vaguely resemble real yakisoba... The only good thing about this restaurant is that it looks pretty and has a trendy location.
Avoid at all costs.
Stop in almost daily for the bento box. Quick easy lunch. Easy to do take out as well. Servers are you usually nice, not overly friendly and always seem to be in a rush. Food is always amazing, rarely have their sushi but when I do it's delicious. Just recently started doing take out, so convenient. And they're part of the dine in victoria thing for when I'm feeling especially lazy.
I went to Azuma on a friends suggestion. The sushi was boring at best, and not very good. The service was mediocre, and the only thing I mildly enjoyed was the tempura vegetables, but how hard is it to find vegetables. What I was horrified at was the fact that they serve shark fin soup there. I was already on the fence about giving them my business, but when I saw that disgusting meal, it sealed it. They will not get any business of mine, nor anyone else I know as much as I can help it, if that isn't taken off the menu. Anyone thinking sharkfin soup is something to try.. a delicacy.. should consider watching the movie Sharkwater, which you can find anywhere. The fact that they serve this unnecessary and cruel dish is the number one reason I won't eat there.
went on strong recommondation from a friend and was disappointed. food takes forever to come. sushi menu was basic with no special rolls of any kind. ingredients were not as fresh as they could have been, which for sushi, is a must. had a few questionable bites of salmon. gomae was watery and bland. oh, and the tea pot pours all over the table. (not their fault)
The food here is definitely not as good as other sushi places I've been. You also get much smaller portions, and at greater cost.
I've been here a couple times. The first to try it out. The second because I was really craving sushi and this was the only place still open, and therefore my only option outside of grocery store sushi.
The second time I went I ordered salmon and avacado rolls but received spicy salmon rolls instead. The waitress also forgot to refill my glass both times I went, and neither time was the restaurant busy.
All in all, its a decent place but definitely could be better, and in my opinion is overpriced for the portion sizes.
The service is a little slow here. I hate places that have servers who never remember to fill your water. It's so simple yet here it's not done!
Also, the sushi is just average. One time the rice was not fully cooked yet and was still warm. Sushi shouldn't be that way. I got 3 different rolls and they all tasted exactly the same. I couldn't taste the flavour of any of them! The sashimi slices are so small too and are not worth the price they make them as.
However, if you get a donburi of any sort, it is pretty good. The steak sauce they put on the rice really compliments the meal too.
It's a really nice place in a nice area but they need to do some upgrading on their sushi rolls.
Sadly, this town is solid B grades across the board not only in Japanese but Vietnamese cuisine as well. Avg food. You leave without feeling you've had good value. Nice service. With the options in Victoria you're better off here than most - Living on the Ocean, What has gone wrong w// restaurants here?
Azuma is yet another example of a weak sushi restaurant in Victoria. This city should be full of excellent sushi restaurants but sadly is not. I was perplexed to look around mid meal and see a handful of diners. Do these people not know any better or were they first time customers like myself? The menu is outdated and the quality of sushi poor. The sashimi was cut so thick I almost needed a fork and knife to get through it. Quality over quantity does not rule here. The atmosphere is akin to a late night college hangout where faux japanese fixtures abound. If you are drunk and it's late this may pass as a good place to nosh before passing out but if you know good sushi you will disappointed.
I'd heard a bit of a buzz about Azuma and had quite high expectations about having dinner there, boy was I disappointed. One waiter seemed to be serving the whole room, while three female staff members stood at the front till, chatting and yawning. When I asked one to get me some wasabi, she did so but acted very sullen. The soba was over boiled and soggy, the agadashi tofu looked simply plopped out of a package and served with no presentation. The waiter failed to bring hot towels (oshibori) and said it was because the owner was trying to cut back on expenses. the sushi all seemed good, fresh, but not great. There was something strange about the sake, it seemed to have a sour taste, unusual. Nice location, but there is no way I'd go back
Craving some steak sauce, but not wanting to shell out $25+ for Japanese Village, I headed to Azuma. The $7 bento boxes aren't as complete as some other sushi places: my tempura box came with salad, fruit, tempura and a bowl of rice. My friend's box came with miso soup, chicken teriyaki, salad, fruit and a bowl of rice. That was okay because what I was there for was the endless steak sauce-covered rice. The food wasn't anything special, but I will be back for the sauce when another craving hits.
Maybe my judgement is clouded by the fact that I'm from Vancouver where good Japanese restaurants flourish while bad ones just wither away but was that really Japanese food or was it the "Chinese chop suey" version of Japanese food?
There were 4 of us. We ordered a couple of lunch bento boxes and two Don bowls. Usually we clean the dishes but this time there was plenty of food left over. The rice with each of our meals was mushi and tasted old. The chicken teriyaki was hard and salty. The salmon sashimi lacked that buttery feel that makes it easily glide down your tongue past your throat. The tempura batter was heavy, almost like fish and chips batter.
The service was non-attentive. We had to flag the waitress several times before she would stop by. At least the washroom was clean.
I guess as long as tourists come to Victoria they'll get their share simply because they are on a busy downtown street but I won't be back.
I used to be a fan of Azuma (which was before the renovations). Since renovated it appears the restaurant has taken some cutbacks. I quite enjoy the gomaii its one of my favorite dishes. On more than three occaisions I have been informed that they had run out. This happened twice on a Friday night before the major dinner rush!!! I think Azuma is a good restaurant for people a little "weary" of japanese cuisine because the dishes are much more heavily infused with salt than more innovative and eclectic Japanese restaurants such as Kaz Ebizo or Futaba,
Coming from Vancouver, I'm constantly on the search for a good sushi restaurant in Victoria. Sadly, I've yet to find one. I've been to Azuma once on a Friday night. It was pretty busy, so I assumed it would be quite good, and I'd heard from a few people that it was so. Our server was great - super friendly and interactive. The food, however, was a little lacking. The sushi, as with all the sushi I've come across so far in Victoria, was just meh. It wasn't horrible (not T&T sushi), but it was only about on-par with the Clark Drive Fujiya's better days. I was really hoping for more, and Azuma, despite recommendations, just did not deliver.
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| 3. | Passero's Restaurant (117 m) |  |
| 4. | Orale Tacos, Tamales and Deli (144 m) | |
| 5. | Panago Pizza (149 m) | |
| 6. | Golden Dragon Restaurant (152 m) | |
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