Aji Sai is famous for their all you can eat sushi which actually includes a lot more than sushi. Fish is fresh and options include maki, nigiri, sashimi and hand rolls; but there's plenty more on the all you can eat menu including tempura, seaweed salad and gyoza.
The Queen and Spadina location isn't the only one for Aji Sai. There are a few others scattered around the Toronto area.
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WOW is this the ONLY SUSHI place located near downtown ???
I mean I know its your TOP 20 and all, but there has to be another one that is really good in the Harbourfront area......??
I really can't comprehend why this was #1 on the All You Can Eat list. Absolutely horrible selection, and small pieces. The fish isn't that good either. I guess I'm just used to Shabusen in Vancouver...
I make it a point to not bring people here when they come to visit Toronto.
the sushi and selection is great. but you can only order once which sucks big time.
This place is by far not the greatest in Toronto but good for beginners I guess. A lot of their rolls are loaded with mayo or made with smoked salmon and banana has absolutely no business in a sushi roll. For the $20 diner menu price tag, the sashimi selection is weak at best. If you are adamant on AYCE and love sashimi like I do, I'd recommend Asahi long before Aji Sai.
My personal favorite is Kokyo on Alexander at the corner of Yonge. You get very generous portions and high quality fish for a very reasonable price. I recommend their Premium Sashimi combo that they load up with much more than what the menu says, add a roll to the order it's enough for 2 people to dine on... for less than what you'd pay at an AYCE.
You can order more than once @ Aji Sai.
Last time I went there - they kept coming over to our table asking if we wanted anything more.
The service can be a little on the slow side - but it also depends on when you're visiting. I've gone 2-3 times now and only once has the service been horrible.
I can't believe this is number one. I have never been more disappointed in a Sushi Restaurant. There portions are paltry at best. Their service is horrendous (I think I got served twice within one hour). Their prices are not even competitive. I guess they have to pay off those high rental prices on Queen.
If you're going for AYCE, you're usually not looking for the best quality of sushi (which this is NOT). Let's be honest. You're looking for decent sushi and a lot of it. So don't waste your money on miniscule portions of sub-par Sushi at ridiculous prices. Going to Queen West for All-You-Can-Eat Sushi is sort of like going to a Ferrari dealership and looking for a Honda.
I'm usually same-minded as the good folks at BlogTO, but they sure missed their mark on this one. Save yourself 20 bones and go elsewhere.
I'm very surprised at a lot of these comments.
I went yesterday for a work lunch with 8 of us, and really enjoyed it. IT WAS GREAT.
Why someone would complain about portion size at an all you can eat is not only stupid, but mostly just ignorant. ORDER MORE if you are still hungry. We orded 8 times in the course of 1hr45min lunch during peak time (noon). They did not rush us, they were helpful explaining items to our table, and we did not have to wait too long between servings.
Not the best quality I've ever had (Maui ftw), but defintely worth the $11. I will continue to go at least once a month, if not more.
There's one west of Yonge and Dundas. It's on Elizabeth and Dundas, it's all you can eat during the lunch rush hour. I went there a couple of weeks back, and I found it was quite delicious. The price of their meal was only $11 as well, as I recall. It was across a Subway store. I thought I'd let you know since you're looking for other convinient spots. I also spotted a few other AYCE sushi restaurant along Dundas St W, a bit past University St, but I've yet to try them.
agreed... not the best ayce out there.. maaaybe in toronto(?!?!?!), but ive def had better . maison du japon and kaze are waaay better than this place, even wasabi...
good price for lunch though, i guess....
The service at Aji Sai is horrendous; the staff is very unfriendly and rude. The food is mediocre at best and certainly not good enough to tolerate the abysmal service staff. We were told that any left over pieces would occur an “additional” charge, very odd for an “all you can eat buffet.” Would not be going there, anytime soon.
For about 8 months now, I've been going to Aji Sai pretty religiously (almost weekly). While they have great sushi their service isn't the best. Though, they are quick and diligent in getting your orders, they certainly need to do something about making their guests feel a little more welcome. Since I'm a regular, they are a little more friendly to me - but yet I do still feel very rushed, which makes me wonder what it's like for those just coming their first time.
Their goal: Get as many people in and out as possible within the rush hour. The feeling you tend to get is that you only have 45 mins to 1 hour to eat, they will come around and tell you "Last Call" hinting that you've outstayed your welcome, and they will rush to clean and wipe your table while you're just getting out of it, stretching over you if they have to. The solution? Don't go with a big group, OR don't go expecting to stay longer than 45 mins to an hour with your guests, OR don't go during rush hour. They don't seem to care how long you stay if it's not crowded and there are no line-ups at the door.
Usually, if I ever have somewhat of a negative experience at a restaurant I wouldn't ever go back. However, what keeps me coming back is the wide (and delicious) selection that Aji Sai offers, the fact that the bad service days don't happen *all* the time, the fact that I think they have some of the freshest sushi in town (especially out of the all you can eat places), and their hard-to-beat prices.
It still remains one of my fave restaurants despite of all I've mentioned above. In fact, I'm going there tonight. Their suhsi = melt in your mouth amazing. And to me, that's what matters when it comes to sushi... it's gotta be good. And if it's good, anything else can be overlooked :)
lol, obviously you can't even compare toronto's sushi with vancouver 'cause vancouver is by the ocean and you guys have much easier access to fish so your 'shittiest' sushi place is probably even better than toronto's average place. i have relatives in vancouver and i go there all the time. their sushi is good stuff.
most sushi restaurants charge you regular price for left overs.
ajisai on yonge st, north of bloor st is pretty good.
I always order multiple times. The only time I was told I couldn't was because it was really close to the time where the ayce was cut off. It's only ayce between certain hours (lunch & dinner)
I've been to the one on Bayview south on Hwy 7 a number of times and won't be back.
During the week, lunchtime is full of loud kids from the school across the street. Last time, went for dinner on the weekend hoping for better and the atmosphere was worse. I commented to my dining companions that a sign warning of a need for earplugs should be posted at the front door.
The service is usually bad: we never get everything we order and no one comes around to ask how we're doing or if we want more. A server needs to be flagged down, occasionally more than once, and there's never one actually assigned to a table.
The food is usually not bad: the sushi is usually fresh-tasting while the sashimi tastes as though it hasn't had enough time to thaw. (Major problem being that government regulations require that fish is frozen before being served raw. Better restaurants get around this by allowing more time to thaw.)
The cooked food isn't great; being mostly vegetarian, with the exception of fish, the menu is limited and the choices aren't particularly tasty.
And given that after the last couple of trips that my entire party was sick shortly after, I'd recommend against experimenting by trying out different menu items.
The price for getting sick for dinner over the weekend was unreasonable given the quality and quantity of the food received: $20.99 pp. A service charge is usually automatically applied to the bill during the week as the clientele is usually kids who supposedly wouldn't tip otherwise.
This place is not even close to being top 3... I'm afraid that most of the selections made on here are terrible... also most sushi buffets or AYCE are only good for the first month or so of opening. After that they all go downhill at a really fast rate.
I would be inclined to disagree with anyone who thinks that Aji Sai is not a decent restaurant. As a serious AYCE fan (I love green and black dragon rolls, tuna, white tuna, eel, crab, butterfish...well you get the idea) the lunch price is phenomenal and dinner is still reasonable as I would be paying upwards of fifty dollars at a non-ayce sushi joint. Compared to the 15 other ayce places ive ventured to in Toronto, the only other place I would recommned is a seldom dead but rather decent place on college called Sushi Q. Lunch is 11.99 and dinner is 17.99
WORST SUSHI EXPERIENCE IN TORONTO!!! DO NOT COME HERE!!! THEY ARE SCAMMERS!!!
-unhygienic: found multiple strands of hair in all of the kitchen food
-unfriendly: all the servers were rude
-all about business: all they care about is taking your money!!!
My girlfriend and I had dinner there on a friday night and it was the worst experience of our lives. It took the server 20 min to notice that we were even there. We asked for water and tea after ordering and it was never brought out to us. I understand you might be busy but it doesn't give you an excuse to not pay attention to customer's requests.
When the food was brought out to us half of it was not there. THEY CUT YOUR ORDERS TO SAVE THEM MONEY AND PROFIT OFF OF YOU!!!
We only had a couple pieces of sushi when we found MULTIPLE STRANDS OF HAIR in the KITCHEN FOOD. It was in our NOODLES, TEMPURA and even the DUMPLINGS!!!
We told the server and all he did was take the plates away in a hurry not saying anything. what kind of customer service is this? We asked to talk to the manager about it and only to find that "she is really busy right now and can't talk to you" STRIKE TWO!!! so we actually got up to go over there to find her sitting on a chair sipping on tea! this is is what you call busy? we told her what happened and this was her reply: "we can't be for sure whether its your hair or not" SHE ACCUSED US OF PUTTING HAIR IN OUR FOOD!!! this is ridiculous.
After all of this we were furious and decided to just leave. On the way out the manager pulled us back and demanded that we pay! We refused cause we hardly even ate and the food was DIRTY! Whatever, so we decided to end this and give them the money only to find that the bill had an extra charge of $20 for the food that we ordered and didn't eat BECAUSE IT HAD HAIR INSIDE!!!
Believe me when i tell you that THEY ARE SCAM ARTISTS!!!
NEVER COME HERE! if you want better service, better food and a better atmosphere GO SOMEWHERE ELSE!!!
FOUND ROACHES IN MY FOOD!!!
All those considering trying and returning to this place should stop immediately!!!
On my first and last visit to this place we found roaches in our noodles. THIS IS DISGUSTING!!! All those raving about this place should consider again, maybe what your eating isn't what it seems to be!!!
Whats worse was that when we told the manager she didn't seem to care at all! She didn't say sorry, didn't comfort us, didn't even discount our bill. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS!!!
This place is only interested in TAKING YOUR MONEY!!!
Use you hard earned cash elsewhere, NEVER HERE AGAIN!!!
I absolutely love Aji Sai sushi, I usually go to the one at Yonge&Bloor though. The selection is great, love the food, the service is friendly and attentive, and even if the portions are small: who cares -> you just keep ordering till you've had enough.