Fish On Rice (Kingsway)

Added Nov 7, 2009 by tabocat of Vancouver, BC (1 Reviews)

Poor Service, Expensive and Food was below standards
I went their friday night with a group of ten people and left very disappointed. Here is what happened in the two hours I stayed there...

1. The waiter and waitress messed up the drinks, our glasses were always empty, nobody bothered to fill them as it is all you can drink.

2. We got double order of rice sushi and unknown fish heads that came out of no where. We got our sashimi at the end when everyone was all full. Sashimi was not not fresh and did not taste good.

3. We had dirty plates in front of us 30 mins at a time, we had to clear the plates our selves.

4. They forced us to pay 10% tips when were only going to give them 5% for their bad service.

5. Nobody bothered to come and asked us how we were doing.

6. The mango pudding was cut into bite size pieces, they were hoping we would eat only one piece.

7. We asked about our sashimi order over five times, and took them forever to make it.

8. The food was not great compared to other japanese buffets in Richmond.

9. The servers did not split the food for us, they threw everything on a big plate and expected us to pass it around. If the food was one two separate plates, they just give it to one side and were lazy to bring it to the other side of the room. Talk about self service.

10. We did not get everything we ordered. We had to write the sheets many times to get what we wanted.

I do not recommend this restaurant to anyone unless they get new servers!

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Added Jul 20, 2009 by ngibzak of Burnaby (21 Reviews)

Mediocre Japanese for less
I readily admit that when it comes to sushi, I’m a bit of a snob. I'm not a fan of all-you-can-eat, and prefer to see my sushi made before my eyes, or at least within easy view. Part of this preference is due to freshness, and to reassure myself that everything is made to order. But part of it is also for entertainment. Watching an experienced sushi chef ply his craft is just plain fun to watch. That said, it was with some hesitation that I went on an office outing to Fish On Rice on Kingsway. I’d been there once before – a visit that was surprisingly passable – and didn’t want to press my luck. As it turned out, the second visit was a mistake.

Maybe it was the size of our group (there was a dozen of us), but service was chaotic. Food arrived which we hadn’t ordered. Orders we made never came. It seemed like we had three or four different servers bringing out food, which resulted in confusion regarding who was to receive what. At one point, dishes were simply dropped off at one end of the table, leaving us to figure out to whom it belonged. It wasn’t as if we were being particularly difficult patrons, either. Despite our group size, we were well organized, placing all orders at the beginning rather than tossing them in during the course of lunch.

As for the food itself, the hot items were mostly okay. The high point, personally, was the chicken karaage. It came out hot, crispy, and delicious. The veggie tempura was also decently made. The chicken teriyaki was only so-so, no better or worse than you’d find at most Japanese restaurants. And I was advised by several that the beef teriyaki, which I didn’t try, was not very good at all. The biggest disappointment was the gyoza, which came out deep-fried despite us not ordering them that way. By consensus, they were awful.

The sushi received a similar reception. The sashimi tasted alright, although there was something a little off about their textures. The salmon was gummy, and the tuna gritty, as if it hadn’t been properly frozen/defrosted. The dynamite rolls, which normally are among the first to disappear, were only half-eaten. The BC rolls, which again I didn’t try, were hardly touched by the person who had ordered them. And all the other nigiri and rolls were only average, at best.

Service, as noted above, was spotty. Even though I know it was unintentional, it still left a bad taste in my mouth that my debit card was almost charged $150 instead of $15 due to the careless push of a button. Ambiance-wise, Fish On Rice looks exactly the way you’d expect a high volume Japanese restaurant to look. The one area where Fish On Rice does excel is value – as long as you’re interested in quantity over quality. In which case, I’m in no hurry to return for a third visit.

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Added Jun 4, 2009 by buckeyes1 of steveston (2 Reviews)

Just decent and nothing more
The service here was decent, actually not too bad for an AYCE joint. However, the food was mediocre at best. The sashimi was not as fresh as it should be, which is a big negative for me. For sushi & other cooked items, the quality was good and they also have free pops.

One thing worth mentioning here is the food doesn't always come in the quantity you've ordered. I think this is their way to make sure you don't over-order.

Added Mar 16, 2009 by franklovesfood of Richmond, BC (9 Reviews)

not "THAT" bad
although there are many negative reviews out there, I still wanna state that this restaurant isn't "that" bad. Yes, their serves did take the wrong orders, but why would it matter if they were willing to accept the fact that they made a mistake, and brought back the right order a couple minutes later. Overall I think their food was decent, well, not as good as the regular sushi restaurants in richmond but we're only paying $12 for it. In fact, I liked the way they served beef teriyaki on a hot iron plate, keeping the beef hot. Overall their attitudes are good, even to those who took longer to finish their food. I also like the way they arrange their seats, unlike some other ayce places, you don't have to sit like 30cm away from a stranger from the table next to you.

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Added Mar 3, 2009 by CaptainNemo of Vancouver (46 Reviews)

Go without any expectations!!! That's what it gives you!!!
Food there is pretty decent, but the service there is absolutely ridiculous!!! A little bit of a smile would not hurt, I'm sure. They have most of thier stuff as sushi (with rice). If you don't finish all the rice, you will need to pay for it. I was there and left 3 pieces of rice, they told me that I had to finish it, or else I will need to pay for the rice. Not impressed.

No smiles. They look like they hate working there and that they are doing you a favour by serving you. Why are they working there, if they hate it so much???

The value is quite decent, but for the attitude they give you and the stuff that they make you pay for if you don't eat as it comes, is it really worth it???? It's really up to the individual to judge.

Added Feb 17, 2009 by gwkb of Burnaby (1 Reviews)

After all the chances we've given them....
Every time we go, the service and food are worse. I've walked out after waiting 10 minutes for someone to walk by to take an order before, gotten cold food, gotten bad food, and just generally been peeved when I'm cut off. But after tonight, that's it. 3 of us went in at 7pm (yes, it was still busy for some reason) for AYCE. Finally had someone take our 1st order slip at 7:15 (I swear you have to grab them and force it into their hand). None of the food showed up until after 7:45 (not even salad or miso soup) and to boot, I think we asked 6 times to get Diet Pop, 6 freakin times. The amounts of things we ordered were wrong, and not just by an order or two, and some things we just never got (like miso soup on 2 different slips). By the time we left at 9, the 3 of us hadn't eaten as much as 2 of us normally would, we were just so fed up. Go anywhere else, at least you run the chance of getting hot food and your entire order. I like fish on rice on broadway, it's just totally different. If it's the same owner, go to the Broadway location, and see AYCE done right, and please learn something and apply it to the Kingsway location.

Added Feb 4, 2009 by xbunnyx of Burnaby (8 Reviews)

an "ok" AYCE sushi place
I've been to Fish On Rice in burnaby a few times and once at their broadway location and their food quality and service is about the same.

Its not bad value when their price was about $18, has all the popular items and sashimi too! and unlimited pop. But now they raised their price to $21 which is not really worth it anymore, becuz for $2 more you can go to other AYCE place and get like kaki pon, unagi sushi and more sashimi variety.

I would recommend B.C. Sushi on broadway over this, unless you don't eat kaki pons, unagi and wild sockeye salmon and more grilled items then you can save a few bucks here.

Added Feb 2, 2009 by sfustudent208 of New Westminster (18 Reviews)

Decent sushi place
We like this place for sushi and its the only sushi place we frequently visit. The food value is decent for all you can eat and if you know to speak up when you arent receiving what you want it still works out. Its the only sushi place I have found that serrves free beverages- water, pop, tea,- with their meals and the value is worth it. The variety is decent we really like the ribs and the cones. It is decent value for all you can eat, and we ve never had a disasterous experience. Some servers are more calculated then others and dont really care as much. But others are so sweet and sincere it makes up for the bad ones.
Good value, good variety, and decent service with a decent facility ad excellent sushi will keep me coming back time and again

Added Jan 22, 2009 by foodnme of Vancouver, BC (13 Reviews)

Pretty good for AYCE
We've been looking for an AYCE for a while. We decided to try this place during happy hour, which is 4:30 - 6:30pm, for $13.95 pp. Not bad in regards to pricing.

Food: It was pretty good considering it was AYCE. We ordered quite a bit of food. The cones are great, I love them. The sashimi was ok, the teriyaki was pretty good, and the ika karaage's are good.

Service: The food came out so fast. Our drinks came right away. Our first order came out in less than 10 minutes. Our second order came in 5 minutes after we placed the order.

Value: For $13.95 for AYCE, I say thats a great value. And the food is pretty good, so well worth it.

Ambiance: Private seating, not so exposed to others around the office. But just like every other Japanese restaurant.

We'd definitely come back again, food was good, and service was good.

Added Jan 14, 2009 by eatery of Burnaby (4 Reviews)

One of my favourite AYCE
The food is actually rather above average quality, and I say this because I usually come in big parties, and we ask for a lot. Although they do give us less than what we ordered sometimes, I can't blame them. Most people can't finish over 150 pieces of sashimi, but we did. And the quality was always consistent.

The point is that everyone tells me so and so does something better, or in that particular way. That's all fine and good, but frankly speaking this place is pretty solid. The service is good, food arrives quickly, the atmosphere is good, and very casual. The decor is very traditional, and the place is kept clean. There are obviously probably better places out there, but for the price this place charges I'll take this over any other.

My favourite is the Vancouver Dream Roll, questionable when you think of the ingredients, but just order one and see how it goes. Warning, there is cream cheese in it for those with allergies. If you haven't tried this place, I'd recommend you try it out, and don't judge it with the highest of expectations. It works.

Added Dec 22, 2008 by InuKing88 of Burnaby, BC (15 Reviews)

Pretty cool
I kinda like this restaurant. It's great.

Lunch Food: For lunch I order a lunch combo. It contains one order of seafood fried rice, one order of tamago, and one order of Alaska roll. If my sister is eating too, we order two lunch combos. The first one contains one order of seafood fried rice, and two orders of ebi tempura rolls. The second one contains one order of tamago, one order of gyoza, and one order of unagi don.

Dinner Food: We order the Dynamite Dinner Box. Going to try the California Dinner Box soon.

Service: The waitresses are really nice and they speak Chinese and English.

Ambiance: I like it because it has two floors and I like their hallway and I love it because the second floor is way bigger than the first. I like it because it only has one elevator since the first floor is too small to fit two elevators.

Added Dec 10, 2008 by Vancouver_foodlover of Vancouver (47 Reviews)

Nice AYCE place
We have tried out this place as it has been advertised numerous times in the local papers.

We were expected sub-par quality compared to other AYCE jap restuarants. But were we wrong.

The food was good. The service was great. Food came quickly and finished dishes were taken away in a prompt manner.

For the price you are paying it is good value. Would consider coming here again.

Added Dec 9, 2008 by genji of vancouver (1 Reviews)

Extremely Disappointing Service
First time and my last time of visiting this place.

There actually wasn't any customer service, other than unfriendly reminding of their last call. We went there to celebrate my friend's birthday and it turned out to be an unhappy ending. Be honest, the food there is not bad, not outstanding either thou, but acceptable for the price. The service on the other hand, is extremely disappointing. Nobody comes to clean the table, nobody cares to ask how you are doing, and nobody shows up when you need something such as napkins. You are there ALONE. A rude waitress finally shows up but leaves right away after saying "our kitchen is closing, last order?"
I was gonna tell her how disappointing we were for the customer service. But she didn't care to wait until I finish my words and just left. WTF?

Let's be fair, it's ok to try the food there. But if you were to expect some good quality dinning time with your loved ones, they are certainly not my choice, nor my recommendation to others.

Result: Money and time wasted in exchange for an unhappy day. :(

Added Oct 31, 2008 by hungryjo of Vancouver (142 Reviews)

Mixed feelings everytime
I've been here four times. Two times were regular menu and the other times were all you can eat.
The first time I went, which was years ago, we had regular menu and I was happy. The food was good and service was good.
The other three times gave me some mixed feelings. My family and I came here last yr for regular dinner menu and the food sucked! The sashimi and rolls were nasty. I think they took it from their all you can eat tray or something. My dad ordered meat w/ rice and the rice was DRENCH with some sort of soup or sauce! What the hell? We asked a server why it's like that and she couldn't answer. Then some guy came along and explained to us in a way that somehow made me feel like it wasn't their fault. Overall, we were unsatisfied.
Third time we had all you can eat w/ 10+ people. I don't remember much about that experience.
The fourth time we had happy hr (5:30pm) on a Sunday for $13.95. We thought that was a good deal cuz normally it's $19.95-24.95. The food was acceptable and it came out pretty quickly. The rolls seemed to look better than last time. They also have sashimi and unlimited pop.

Added Sep 21, 2008 by casale of vancouver east (3 Reviews)

rice on fish
it should be colled rice on fish. Small portions orrible service, yes is all you can eat but to get full you have to order about 20 items.
In resolt you can not help filling like a pig unconfortable, cheep, and at the same time you feel ripped off.
Lots of better sushi places where you end up spending less money all over the lower mainland

Added Sep 18, 2008 by nextnumberone of Vancouver (4 Reviews)

This place is a rip off.
I planned my birthday in this place and it happened to be on a holiday. We reserved the seats a week before. It was supposed to be for a happy hour which is like almost 10 bucks cheaper than regular dinner. When we arrived, we were told that this is not happy hour as it is a holiday and we need to pay more than regular price dinner. They even admitted its their mistake but did not do anything about it.

The food did not taste good, felt like it was not fresh. Service was bad, no one ever coming to take orders or ask if everything is ok. At the end we got a bill with the TIP included! I was like whatever, let them have it, never will come to that place EVER, even if it was free.

Added Jul 14, 2008 by ronperron of vancouver (1 Reviews)

Disorginized
This place needs to get their act together. The food when ordered from the standard menu was the same crap quality as the all you can eat food. The waitresses did not seem to know what they were doing, and they were very rude.

I felt ripped off, and I felt uncared about as a customer.

I will not return.

Added Jul 9, 2008 by DineOutGirl of Vancouver (1 Reviews)

Unhappy with experience
This was my first time dining at this location, I usually eat at the Vancouver location (which I LOVE), however the Burnaby location made me very unhappy.

I was there this past weekend during their lunch time menu and we had a reservation, however, it took a while before being seated and my husband had to track someone down to find out about our reservation because there is not a host when you enter the restaurant.

After being seated, I went to use the ladies room and was really disgusted by how dirty the bathroom stalls where, the toilet seats were dirty and needed to be cleaned.

When I returned, we had some items on the table and once finished with them, the waitress came to remove 4 small bowls from the table. Since we were sitting in one of those private type booths, she had to learn far over and lost her handling on the dishes and dropped them on the table. All of the liquid in the bowls went all over me. My hair, shirt, and pants were covered in soy, vinegar and other sauces. The Waitress felt horrible, and I did not get angry with her, however, after telling the manager what had happened when we asked for our bill, he basically didn't care. He asked, "did she mean to do it?" I replied "no, it was an accident, however, I should not have to pay for my meal" The manager asked me to point out the waitress, which none of them wear name tags so I looked around the room for her but could not see her so the manager said "sorry that happened, here is your bill" and made us pay for the whole thing. I was very unhappy and could not believe we had to pay for my meal.

The food was not very good either at this location. We ordered items that never came and some of the items that did come were not very good. The shrimp still had some shell on it, the sushi was not super cold and honestly, it wasn't very good at all.

(This rating is for the Burnaby location only. I am VERY happy with the service and food at the Vancouver Location).

Added May 5, 2008 by tastethehappy of Vancouver (2 Reviews)

Discouraging all I can from ever eating here
When this restaurant first opened up, it was actually fairly decent. However, in the past couple years, it's gone downhill. The food itself is passable. You get what you pay for at an all you can eat place. The service on the other hand, is horrendous. Here are the highlights from my last visit:

1) Went for dinner with a group with a reservation. Took probably 5 minutes to get our table. Not a big deal. But took another 10 minutes to flag down a server instead of having one come to us to take our order.
2) Our server spilled hot miso soup on one of our friend's legs.
3) The same server returned with a tray of pop and spilled it all on the seat, drenching another friend's pants. No apologies from a manager or any form of compensation was offered.
4) And the last kick in the junk was when we asked for our bill, they left the gratuity on it! There was no way any of us were leaving a tip for that kind of service.

One more story, though not mine... A co-worker just went there for lunch last week. He had made a reservation for 26 people, but only 19 showed up. At the end of the meal, he was still charged for the 26 people instead of just the 19! What kind of policy is that?

I beg you all not to ever eat at Fish on Rice!!

Added May 1, 2008 by willtryanythingonce of Burnaby (14 Reviews)

Will not be going back EVER!
My experience started and ended right at the door of this place. I did not even get to try the food and so will not comment on that.

There was no host to greet you so I had to ask the sushi chef to find someone to seat me. The server seated me and promptly disappeared for more than 5 minutes, this was at 4pm on a weekday afternoon! There were 2 other people here.

So after checking the menu and asking for one thing to be changed prior to ordering was told that it could be accomodated.

I had enough and left. So I still did not taste the food.

Based on this miserable service, I would not recommend going here nor will I EVER be back.

Added Mar 23, 2008 by prtyfly of Burnaby (2 Reviews)

Total Miss
This was a total miss for me. The quality of their food and service were anything but acceptable. I mean, even if the food was good, I would have not cared about the arrogant service. The sushi, totally warm - DISGUSTING. Previous reviewer got this right. It used to be a decent place years ago, but every since it changed hands it is definately something worth avoiding. With so many competition out there, you've got a lot of choices.

Added Mar 7, 2008 by japanesefood of Vancouver (1 Reviews)

Bad Service, inconsistent food
We had reservations, but even then the one in charge of seating people seemed to be so busy as to honor those who havereservations. I had to follow up to make sure we weren't going to wait for our supposed reservation. Next, we ordered the food, the food came out fast, but some of the things ordered were cold such as the the beef short ribs, the fried scallop, and the edamamame. It was rather cold and was tasteless. Next, we asked for a drink and had to ask three people before finally getting one drink back. We had extra food lying around, and were charged for it. Combine this with non-existent service. I'd much rather go elsewhere. If you wanna go to all you can eat. I suggest going to Richmond or Downtown instead.

Added Feb 25, 2008 by vancouverpiggie of burnaby (34 Reviews)

Average AYCE
visited this place last week and was not really too impressed. we got in first but after waiting 15 min, the server seated a couple that came in after us. i asked the server we got here first and he just ignored me. i asked another server that i would like a seat right now since it's already been over 25 minutes and i still have not gotten a seat. of course this server also happened to be the manager so he promptly seated my girlfriend and i.

the food was decent, but on the salty side. one thing about ayce is these places purposefully forget some things you order. than when you try to ask them about the missing order, they ignore you and drag on - 2 hour limit of staying in most ayce places.

most of the servers here are inexperienced and seem to be right out of highschool type who have nothing better to do or don't really care about their job. nobody pays attention.

Added Feb 1, 2008 by marspball of Coquitlam (38 Reviews)

Update
Wow, I'm surprised to see all the recent terrible reviews about this restaurant. I thought I would give some insights and warnings about Fish On Rice. One, it is not a fine dining restaurant so don't go there expecting good service. Two, Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest so avoid going there during these times. I tried going there on a Saturday night once, will not do it again. I had to wait 45 minutes for a table and spent 2 hours for dinner not because we were taking our time, but it was because the food was very slow to come out. Third, only order what you're going to eat. The servers have a tendency to reduce the amount you ordered if they think that you're ordering too much. Which I think is frustrating. And they don't tell you this. My best advice is to stagger the order. Start with the cold items first and when you're halfway to finishing them, then put in the order for the hot items.

As for the rude treatment by staff, personally, I have never experienced it. It is true that tips must be earned and if they ever give me a rude treatment like that, I'll just take my business elsewhere.

Also, the happy hour is a gimmick. I purposely went there early once to try the happy hour thinking that I will be able to order from the dinner menu at a reduced price. WRONG. The happy hour is for ordering from the lunch menu during dinner time. The selection is severely limited.

Overall, I go to this place for the food only. And if you go there on Fri or Sat night and had a horrible experience, don't say that you didn't get a warning. For $21/person, it is still the best japanese AYCE for its value. Try comparing it to other AYCE restaurant that charges $28/person and they don't even let you order the prawn tempuras by itself....

Added Feb 1, 2008 by snow of Vancouver (1 Reviews)

WORST Service in Van
I went there with a couple of friends today and we experienced the worst treatment ever, the waitress literally humiliated us.

we were in a hurry to leave. we gave them $66 when the bill was $62.

The manager came with $2 change and said rudely, "keep the change." confused but we had to go so we just left.
The waitress CHASED us to the door with the $2 change.she said:" take your change we dont want it." she rolled her eyes and grabbed my hand:"ur bill was $62 and you only gave $2 for tips? it's too little we dont want it! take the money." then she just poured the money into my hand and turned away.

i used to like this place a lot. This has never happened to me i guess bcus i've never made a mistake on tips. Me and my friends feel insulted, which should never happen at a restaurant when you are a customer. We understand being in the service bussiness is hard, and the waitresses and waiters count on the tips, we would never purposedly give less than 10% tips. and that's what you get at fish on rice if you make an honest "mistake" (and are they even supposed to count the tips before they get the changes back to you?!)--a little drama and insult in front of all those other customers (the waitress was loud).

I have to say the food is good. but we are not going there ever again.
if you dont mind a little insult, just leave poor tips and you will get your money back at the door. =)

Added Jan 20, 2008 by FunnyAngel of Burnaby, Vancouver (5 Reviews)

This place sucks. Try all you can eat
Nothing much to say except that they were rude and the food was crap.

aeis2000: Just to let you know, Fish on Rice is NOT exhibiting HK culture. I've been to HK many times, the service there is exceptional, fast, and polite even at fast foods like McDonalds. In HongKong, if your manners suck you probably can't land a customer service job. There's too many unemployed people--competition is insane over there, unlike in Vancouver, where even 12 year olds can get 10 dollar jobs.

Added Jan 10, 2008 by apple63 of Burnaby (1 Reviews)

All youcann eat issooo goud
THis was my first time thera! Tha food wasso freesh. My motha and a fotha told me that it was not as goud as a grandmothas. I found that food was freesh and came quikly. the seating was very comfortable. Overal it was worth the 8 persent tip.
Job well don.
See you agane soon.

Added Dec 27, 2007 by aeis2000 of Burnaby (4 Reviews)

Not too bad / service needs improving
We went for the AYCE menu and food was decent.
A previous reviewer said to try the Spider rolls and Prawn Tempura, well both these items are not on the menu (at least not for lunch).

I think the staff is manned by HK citizens and not true blue japanese.
Is that a problem you may ask. Not if you are used to the HK culture.
Otherwise sharing your table with other customers and not a friendly face will bother you.

I had 4 different waiters coming up to my table but only one actually looked cheerful.

We had the free flow pop and my only gripe with this is, when they fill the glass a second time round and brought it to the table, the old straws are still in them. At least they should put in new straws.

Overall i would say it will be ok to give this place a try.

Note: The reviewer has submitted a more recent review for this restaurant. This review does not affect the overall rating and is displayed for information purposes only.

Added Dec 22, 2007 by msc of Vancouver (3 Reviews)

Discrimination
My younger brother and his friends went to eat and after paying the bill, the manager went up to their table and was scolded that if they cannot afford to pay tip, then they shouldn’t dine out. What the restaurant was not aware was that tips were going to be left at the table before they left instead of including it on the tray where the bill is. This in my mind is not an out of the ordinary thing to do as I have done this many of times at restaurants. Just because they are a younger crowd didn’t mean they were not including tips. As another reviewer on this site had said, “they should not depend on tips for revenue”. Tip is a gratuity. Who would want to leave a tip after being scolded to not dine out?

Added Nov 28, 2007 by xlee8 of Delta (112 Reviews)

Good Value for AYCE
Food: $21 for week nite dinner. quite an extensive menu for AYCE. had quite a few things we dont normally see elsewhere for AYCE (ex. unagi rice). didnt see anything on menu limiting sashimi which is always a plus. food is quite average which is to be expected at AYCE and i think when ppl are evaluating restaurants this should be kept in mind. i would avoid the beef tataki (too thick), tuna tataki (mushy) and beef ribs (fatty). items we enjoyed were bbq blk cod, salmon & tako sashimi (fresh), chicken karage (juicy), red bean spring roll.

Service: standard. sashimi took a while to come out since there was only 1 sushi chef on a wed nite.

Ambiance: wasnt that busy on wed nite which was good. not too loud and plenty of servers. music was a nice classic mix. there are rooms available if you want privacy or for larger groups.

Overall: def will return for AYCE fix.

Added Nov 8, 2007 by cherrybomb143 of Surrey, bc (154 Reviews)

Great for All you can eat!
The "better" all you can eat japanese restaurant. While it is not operated by "real" japanese people, the food is good compared to the same type of japanese food in this catagory. I go here for lunch whenever I have more than an hour to spare....The quality is consistent (although my green salad today had way too much sauce) They have fresh sashimi, a great ika karrage (japanese calamari), and I especially like their robata (bbq'd skewers). For 12 bucks, this is a great deal as it also includes pop.

Their dinner all you can eat menu has a few more items and is worth checking out if you are really hungry (for 20 bucks you should get your money's worth) =) A must for dinner is the hallibut steak.

Note: The reviewer has submitted a more recent review for this restaurant. This review does not affect the overall rating and is displayed for information purposes only.

Added Jul 16, 2007 by Agenta of Vancouver (12 Reviews)

It is alright
This place is good when you are really hungry for Japanese food and don't want to spend loads of money on higher end cuisine.
Excellent selection of all-you-can-eat items on the menu, price is good too. Although very varied, the food could be a bit fresher though. Ambiance is casual, and not for a romantic date. Service is suffering too.

Added Jun 1, 2007 by cariba of Vancouver+ (16 Reviews)

one of the better all u can eat sushi place
I've been to this place quite a few times and i hafto admit their food quality has remained consistently good. Their all you can eat menu is definitely worth the money. Choice of food is excellent for all u can eat. Their night menu for all you can eat is one of the best i've seen so far. Their service is their biggest weakness and remains inconsistent. a WARNING: the only reason i don't rank their food higher is because i have had motoyaki oysters gone bad on one occasion. eat them at your own risk.

Added Mar 19, 2007 by Kujibo of West Vancouver (134 Reviews)

Good value
I've been to this place many times since it opened. I had been to all the previous occupants going back to Kamei owned by Japanese owners. In those days service was great and the food good. True Japanese service is very polite, you can't get much better.

When we first went to Fish on Rice we were nicely surprised. The first thing that struck me is their AYCE portions were HUGE. I mean you ordered a teriyaki beef and they gave you what you would normally get for an ala carte dinner. This was actually a bad thing as we over ordered, and you couldn't sample variety as you'd be full after 3 items. They changed to smaller portions after a while and I'm glad.

Service is a bit hit and miss. You have to have realistic expectations given the value for the money. Don't go here if you want true Japanese service. Be patient and accept you might not get everything you ordered - I know many people would over order so understand them not bringing everything. Just order again when done the first round. That said, there are a few very nice servers/managers there. And they seem to stay working there, there is not a huge amount of turn over. One of the fellows with grey hair is a really nice guy. I think the guy who I think runs it is probably a prick though. And I can definitely imagine him rubbing people the wrong way. To date we've never been so upset with the service we wouldn't come back though and we have been there a lot. All I can say is it better service than most other places I've been such as Taisho, Sui Sha Ya, etc.

The food is OK. Not spectacular, not bad, but it certainly satisfies my Japanese food fix. The absolute best thing is pop is included. I'm a pop freak and this is heaven to get all you can eat Japanese with all you can drink pop. I'm pretty sure it's just PC pop out of a bottle though, too bad it isn't fountain pop.

In summary I think for a $12 lunch the selection and quality of food is amazing. I'm not sure how they make money.

Note: The reviewer has submitted a more recent review for this restaurant. This review does not affect the overall rating and is displayed for information purposes only.

Added Mar 13, 2007 by pachowhi of Vancouver (13 Reviews)

You can do alot better!
I have no idea why anyone would give a place like this a second try when they live in Greater Vancouver. There are SO many good sushi restaurants here and this is not one of them!

The sushi is not very fresh (the california rolls were big - which is not usually a positive indicator in my book as it usually signifies to much rice - and okay tasting, but the scallops were not fresh), the edamame was overcooked and oversalted. And the worst thing was the udon - we had to send it back because the pork was bad (was overbearingly gamey). My husband thought this place was okay. i thought it was poor. Neither of us will be going back.

Added Mar 1, 2007 by k-dawg73 of port coquitlam (62 Reviews)

one of the better ayce sushi places
Just went here today with 4 other co-workers for lunch. The place was packed, which is a good sign for a restaurant.

Food: we all had the all-you-can-eat menu for $11.95, which includes an bottomless pop. Selection for the lunch menu was huge for such a small price. The california, bc and prawn tempura rolls all came out and were good, not great. Salmon nigiri sushi was okay, not huge piece of salmon on top of rice. We had ordered both salmon and tuna sashimi, there is a 6 piece per person limit for each, but we didn't order the maximum. Sashimi pieces were fresh and very large pieces.

All the other hot stuff, like chicken teriyaki, chicken karage, ikka karage were all pretty good. Like other reviewers complaints, the servers never bring you everything that you ordered. You almost have to take a photocopy of your ordering sheet to confirm what you ordered. Nonetheless, I do understand why the management there feels they have to do this, to prevent people from over-ordering and wasting food, which I have seen other tables do. Sometimes, your eyes are bigger than your stomaches, especially at all you can eat sushi places.

Service: was okay, not great. But better than I had expected. They brought refills of water pretty quickly when asked and refilled my pop too. Just flagging someone down seemed to be the issue, but once they go our orders, food came fairly quickly.

Ambience: what do you want? Venice, Italy??

Overall, a good $14 after tax and tip well spent...would definitely come here again.

Note: The reviewer has submitted a more recent review for this restaurant. This review does not affect the overall rating and is displayed for information purposes only.

Added Dec 13, 2006 by Magoo2u of Lower Mainland (2 Reviews)

Used to be better
This place was a lot better when they first opened up a couple of years ago. Decent value for the money, but food quality is mediocre...very typical of many AYCE (All You Can Eat) sushi places in the Lower Mainland. I was there with my wife & my Dad about a week ago, on a Tuesday evening. Food came out pretty fast, though we didn't see much of our server after food was delivered. Food quality is not what it used to be here -- some of the hot dishes were not so hot, and very lacklustre-looking. The restaurant was pretty dingy-looking, not overly clean. Washrooms were the usual mess, and the kitchen didn't look so hot, either.

Added Oct 12, 2006 by Lise of Burnaby (24 Reviews)

Not the Best but Not the Worst Either
When Fish On Rice first started, we were pleasantly surprise. The food was excellent, we were greeted with smiles and seated right away. One of the highlight was the non-stop pop which was a fantastic addition. The robata selection was one of the biggest selection we had seen in any all-u-can-eat Japanese restaurant.

Both dinner and lunch buffets are good value for your money. Go to either one and you'll be satisfy with the quantity offered by this restaurant.

Alas, my complains are many. After being a patron of this place for many years, I find that one of the owner (the one who greets you at the door) rude and arrogant. We had arrived with our child (under 3 years old) and was not greeted properly. We got the feeling that we were not really welcomed. Nevermind that the restaurant was not as busy, we were shackled off the worst part of the place.

We had asked for a high chair which came to us dirty and smelly. Upon seeing the chair, I changed my mind and asked for a booster seat instead. The owner gave us a dirty look but complied.

The last time I was there, there was a very strong smell of fish from where we sat. I lost my appetite to say the very least. Our food came in drips - it took a long time for my husband's second order of teriyaki to arrive. When we finally had enough waiting, we decided to pay for the bill... while waiting for the bill, our salad arrived. Goes to show how organized they are.

And don't even mention the bathrooms. Dirty. Disgusting. As you pass the kitchen on your way to the bathroom, you can get a glimpse of what goes on the floor.

Overall, the place is ok if you don't have too high expectations.

Added Sep 8, 2006 by Bobeater of East Vancouver (64 Reviews)

I HAD better service...
I came here for a farewell dinner with some friends for a friend that was leaving. The leaving friend picked this place.

The Food was pretty good, but every sushi restaurant to me taste the same. I am usually on there for the salmon sashimi. Which we were only limited to 20 pieces, but it was really fresh.

The Service was pretty much like most all you can eat places, it was quite slow for that day. It seemed that there were only four servers working that day. We had lots of time in between orders as food came really slow.

The ambiance was quite good in a way that it was really quite in our little reserved area. We really couldn't hear the people beside us and the restaurant was as loud as I thought.

I would give this place a second chance...

Added Aug 21, 2006 by asian_representative of Saskatoon, SK (1 Reviews)

True insult to Japanese people.
Upon arriving, we were greeted with a harshly cold shoulder from ALL the staff. The cleanliness of the restaurant was below par and was a complete disgrace to the dining industry. We ordered quite a bit of food on 2 order sheets on our first round. Only one order sheet was fulfilled, meaning only half of our group was fed. Absolutely unforgivable. We were given 2 pitchers of pop, one of pepsi and one of ginger ale. Is it not a tradition to put ice inside a pitcher of pop? As well as to give an appropriate amount of cups so that people do not get left out? When we decided to retrieve 4 more glasses, we were scolded harshly from the server to let the server handle that. Each dish we received was... opposite, to the point where the cold dishes were warm and the hot dishes were cold. It felt unhealthy and unsafe to eat anything. As each dish came to our table, our server literally threw down the dish as a bag of garbage. It was disrespectful, rude and disgusting having the sauces fly everywhere. I will never return to this restaurant and I strongly encourage other Japanese food patrons to do the same. It is absolutely a disgrace, shameful and a blemish to Japanese Cuisine.

Added Jul 18, 2006 by gecco of New Westminster (7 Reviews)

It WAS good.
The first time I went there, I thought the place was awesome. We didn't get all-you-can-eat, so maybe that's why the quality was good and we found the price to be more economical than some other places around that area.

The few times after that, I don't know what happened. The food just didn't taste as good. But this restaurant is still far better than the two Japanese diners in Metrotown (shogun and suishaya), in terms of money's worth.

They give you 10% off for take-outs, I think that's nice. We had a very satisfying dinner (of chicken teriyaki, asst tempura, sushi combo, etc) for 2 at around $20.

Added Jun 26, 2006 by mouse of langley,b.c (3 Reviews)

service needs attention (sat 06/24/06)
I'm a sushi lover and have tried many all you can eat all over vancouver. My first time here the service was great, the food was fast portions excellent, overall I was totally impressed. The place was clean. This was a thursday night around 7pm. So I tell my friends how great it is.... we go Saturday just after 530 pm. Not impressed 2 of the waiter and waitress stood behind the partition talking non stop ....waiting for them to take our order, finally ....food comes...we wait for her or him to come again to order more.. still talkin,we call over someone else they give us the lunch menu to fill out now im ashamed..... finally we get the right paper been here 45 min no refills on tea no removal of finished dishes then i dropped something on the floor it's filthy, not impressed at all. Especially when they close down between lunch and dinner you'd think they'd clean the place for the next rush. I will give them one more try then move on to seek a better place to satisfy my sushi craveings.

Added Mar 5, 2006 by epicurious of Burnaby, BC (523 Reviews)

Don't expect service here either.
Another classic example of an all-you-can-eat japanese restaurant gone bad. This restaurant is fairly new in the neighborhood and when it first open, obviously everything was great. Then they got lazy and sloppy. I don't think anybody there likes their job. If you're not happy, don't work there! During our recent visit, our server never smiled once. And gave the huffin' puffin, eye-roll combo everytime we stopped her for some tea refill. Everytime, we put in an order, she didn't seem like she wanted to take our order. She would be very impatient and say "is that all" after every item ordered. And when we discussed amongst ourselves how many of an item we wanted, she would roll her eyes and lean to one side, tapping her feet. After our meal was finished, we ordered ice-cream for everyone and she only brought 6. We didn't even bother asking for the rest since it took her almost 15 minutes to get the first 6.

Added Feb 14, 2006 by jubeejube of Surrey (2 Reviews)

UGH!
Horrible, just horrible. The all-you-can-eat is an ok price, but the food is definitely not fresh. The only perk here is the unlimited pop. The sashimi is questionable, and the bathrooms are downright nasty. The atmosphere is strange because if feels as if I were eating at a Japanese cafeteria. Definitely wouldn't eat here again.

Added Dec 31, 2005 by bcgurl of Vancouver (8 Reviews)

Better places available
I didn't eat the all you can eat but the sashimi is not that good - I have had better sashimi elsewhere for a better price. maybe the all you can eat is a better deal I don't know.

Service was OK.

Note: you have to pay for parking.