Samurai Sushi & Teriyaki - Parksville

Samurai is a quick lunch or dinner stop that offers quite the bang for your buck. My wife and I shared a specialty roll and a Bento box for a quick lunch while visiting Parksville's beach parks. We were treated to some complimentary green tea and our food was prepared reasonably quickly. The roll perfectly prepared (and was the most excellent thing we ate, even though I often prefer teriyaki over sushi or sashimi most days) and a decently portioned size. The Bento box was exactly what I expected (though the salad was much better than most; I enjoyed their dressing choice). In all, though the food was of very excellent quality, we were most impressed with the value coupled with that quality. If you enjoy either sushi OR teriyaki, it is worth a stop.

I dropped into this place for lunch on July 18. First time. Last time. It is counter service. Everyone behind the counter was speaking Beijing Chinese (and I know because half my family is from Beijing). I ordered three things. The portions were meger and lackluster. The presentation was flat and unappetizing. Nothing tasted fresh. The food came to my table in a haphazard way. It was just wrong on so many counts I am not going to belabour the point. Steer clear. Gak!

Used to go to Samurai a lot but the last few times have shown a definite decrease in quality. They forgot one of the rolls we ordered and we sat for quite awhile waiting. We then went up and asked about it and the girl said they would have it made. We waited as she went and sat down at a table on her phone. They never ended up making the roll and we asked about 20 minutes later to the chef and he was unaware that we had even ordered it. Got a refund and left. The staff was just sitting around chatting. The food quality was subpar as well and was much better in the past. Need to get new staff who actually care about providing service.

Samurai sushi has been a favourite of ours for some time as we are locals. However, over the last few months I have noticed that the prices have gone up slightly, the staff is not as attentive as they used to be, and the quantity and quality of the servings has, in some cases, been reduced. The last two times we had dinner there, we ordered sushi cones and found that the quantity of seafood in the cones was markedly reduced over previous times. We also noticed that tables were not being cleared and wiped even though new customers were coming in but that the staff had time to stand behind the counter chatting with each other and using their phones. I would say, disconnect and see to your customers first. Certainly there are many other options for sushi in town and in Nanaimo.

I came for dinner and as it was my first (and last) visit I asked the cashier if they had any bento boxes that included salmon teriyaki. She told me to look at the menu. Fortunately another cashier stepped in and made a couple of helpful suggestions. The food came out very fast and like another reviwer noted "needed to be shown some love". During my meal I watched as 3 staff ate ice cream behind the counter and my original cashier was texting on her phone. I guess for the cheap prices the owners dont expect much from their staff and even dont really care of the perception of customers.