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Ajitaro Japanese Bistro
Category: Restaurants Japanese Japanese [Edit]
4940 No 3 RdRichmond, BC V6X 3A5
Neighbourhood: Golden Village
(604) 273-3838
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Quiet
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
20 reviews for Ajitaro Japanese Bistro
20 reviews in English
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Review from Peter W.
Vancouver, BC
12/27/2011
first time going back in the last two years, food quality has improved and fresher ... services was prompt and good (you have to wave your hands several times to catch their attentions as they speed passed by), the only complaint was the last order for tuna sashimi was more stale (not edible). AYCE price went up too, Worth going back - would try lunch next time.
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Review from Ben Y.
Burnaby, BC
3/12/2012
This place has seriously become a "RED FLAG FOR SUSHI" place. There are a lot more better all-u-can-eat restaurants in Richmond. Their food has really gone down in quality for late night since it first started along with their service as well! Their menu lacks to describe any limitations on food quantity as they advertise to be an "all-u-can-eat" japanese dining. It's understandable to have limitations on certain items, but at least decribe it on the menu. Also if customers want to order a certain quantity of the same item (within reason accounting for people) then the staff should comply. A suggestion from the staff about quantity is ok, but don't just cut the customers orders without giving notice. The staff here lacks training on how to accommodate customers on seating as well when clearly if a table is not big enough to fit a larger party, simply suggest a bigger table or just add extra tables without jeopardizing the availabitlity of tables to other customers (if it's busy and if the tables aren't reserved).
Overall, I would not recommend sushi at this place any time unless this place has had some serious retraining of their staff and a complete revision on how the business is run. -
Review from Cody S.
2/3/2012 1 Check-in Here
There are many better all you can eat places in Richmond. This place reminds me of a business owner that just expects to have business. This has become a problem in Richmond. The service is below almost any average you can come up with. I am surprised it is even in business.
We came here to eat lunch. Besides the service, the food was ok, not the best.... But combine that with the service and most reasonable people wouldn't come back.
Overall, it has a good location along No. 3 Rd. and nothing else. -
Review from Joseph H.
Richmond, BC
10/10/2011
Some of the previous reviews were pretty good so I thought I would check it out. I think my expectations were too high.
Its $14.95 for a weekend late night ayce with a limited menu, which is a little bit expensive imho. Ebei Sushi at 41st and Granville is a few dollars cheaper with a much more extensive menu.
The rice and the fish in the tuna and salmon nigiri sushi tasted stale. I think this is one of the few places in the Lower Mainland where you can get both aspects of the nigiri to taste stale. Usually its just the rice or just the fish.
The seafood in the chopped scallop and negitoro rolls also tasted like it was at its expiry date and the chef was trying to cover it up with the mayo and sauce. I really couldn't take more than a bite of each. The motoyaki is also unpalatable.
If you are forced to come here, I would focus just on the teriyaki and the skewers. They do a pretty decent job with the chicken teriyaki, the yakitori, and the beef skewers. The jello was also pretty good. I think as long as the ingredients are not too expensive, then the chefs are able to do a good job with it. I have a feeling their tonkatsu will be pretty good.
yeah, its kinda funny, but this would be a good ayce if you just ordered their grilled and bbq stuff, and none of the seafood.
The waitresses here are probably the prettiest that I've seen at a japanese ayce. But I don't know if that's really worth the stale sushi. -
Review from Abbe W.
7/11/2011 2 photos
My fiance and I were vacationing in Vancouver over the 4th of July weekend. After a good walk through Granville Island's market and Standley Park, we certainly built up an appetite for AYCE.
We were going to check out a Malaysian restaurant in downtown Vancouver but at 7pm, it's cutting really close to "questionable" hours for tourist to be in the not-so friendly neighborhood. Instead, we decided to drive back to Richmond and circulate for anything that looks interesting.
We passed by the place and decided to check it out. My fiance and I just wanted a simple ramen initially but after looking at their AYCE menu and their price, we decided to give it a try.
Some of our favorites were grilled black cod, salmon sashimi, hamachi sashimi, tai sashim, etc. We weren't that crazy with the negiri but the sashimi were definitely really tasty! The tuna was OK and I didn't like the spicy tuna at all. Other hot food we enjoyed were short ribs and chicken wings.
There were a few (maybe be negative) things that stood out from dining here.
1) Not all items are unlimited. Black cod has a limit to 2 pieces per paying customer and hamachi has a limit to 3 pieces per paying customer.
2) Everything is 1 piece. If you are ordering a gyoza or short ribs, it's really 1 little gyoza and 1 segment of the short ribs. Pretty weird but so make sure you account for how many pieces you plan to have.
3) 2-hr limit. Even though, it's AYCE, there's a 2-hr limit of how much you can have. Which also bring up the next negative point...
4) Inconsistent service. Our first order, the food came like super fast. Second order was slower and even brought the wrong items. Third order took them like forever to bring out and it was supposed to be our desserts. I felt that they purposely did that so you won't have the full 2-hr limit dinner experience.
Overall, we were quite impressed with the quality and price. For $19.99 and get somewhat unlimited sashimi, that's like a steal. If they have that kind of price and selection in CA, they will be so packed all the time! -
Review from Amy K.
7/22/2011
I came here for lunch with my parents and it was just okay. Granted, I am sick so my taste buds have been off but I did eat pretty heartily. We came here for the lunch buffet but the menu was more limited than I thought.
All the food was mediocre and okay, considering lunch was only 14 bucks a person I guess it was decent. Service was good and prompt.
I think the real allure of this place lies in late night dinner buffets after drinking but I didn't have a chance to experience that but for lunch it's okay. I would go for more quality food than quantity. -
Review from Edward L.
Stuff your face. Get fat. Leave happy~
That is what Aji Taro is all about. They do have an a-la-carte menu, but I can't say I have ever tried it in over 8 years. It's all about the late-nite allyoucaneat baby.
The place was recently renovated, and while the number of seats is lower (there is one less row of tables), the increased leg room and booths are greatly appreciated.
So, what keeps my friends and I coming back? Fast and consistent service + food quality. This is no 5-star teppenyaki, but for those who love stuffing their faces, you seriously cannot go wrong. Oh, and this places is open late (I think 2am iirc) EVERY DAY.
My favourite items on the menu? It must be the wide selection of cones (chopped scallop, negitoro, spicy salmon, spicy tuna) and the BBQ salmon skin. Their BBQ beef ribs are also cooked just right. Fresh and juicy. I also enjoy their beef skewers. They are sometimes a little dry, but no other ayce sushi place seems to offer this item.
The bite-sized nigiri sushi are nothing special, but this is just the way I like them. There's nothing like stuffing these down, a dozen at a time. This alone is what keeps me coming back. Another unique item found nowhere else (other ayce sushi places) is the bean sprouts. They're served covered in sesame oil, and remind me of the appetizer dishes in Korean restaurants.
Another unique feature of this restaurant is that 1 order = 1 piece. Why do other places make you order in batches of 3? I'm sure some other table will order the other 2/5 of that BC roll you sliced up for my order.
Most times I come here, they're out of Jello, so be sure to order these early. I can see why this happens though. Each Jello is actually made in its own cup, as opposed to a pile of cubes mixed in a bucket and served in a bowl. While it is a nice touch, I must say I personally prefer the latter as there is more Jello per serving, and there is more than 1 flavour per order!
The staff are all pretty friendly, but this might be because they do recognize me as a regular. With that said, I have not seen them treat any of the other tables badly, and so they do deserve a special mention.
Definitely one of my all-time-favourite ayce sushi places in Vancouver. See you there~Listed in: AYCE Sushi
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Review from Dru C.
9/29/2010
I went to the resutrant with me and my average sized party. (Four people) and they treated us very badly. We entered into a very empty resturant with no one there. We tried to ask because we were confused about what was their menu We decided to have a la carte anyways because they were being very mean about waiting for 1/2 hour until we get the late night all you can eat. They gave us a bad look for being curious.
We sat down at our seat and we relaxed a bit. At least 20 minutes pasted and they didn't serve us tea or water to our table. We were a little bit disappointed at this point already. As I first stated that the restaurant was empty already, and they couldn't even serve us. That was just not in tip top shape in service. It was atrocious. We chose a la carte since they made us wait for more than 20 minutes and we already decided what we wanted to eat in that time period. We waved down the waitress who was right behind the counter, we had no idea what she was doing...
We ordered and then the amount of people started to roll in slowly. The restaurant filled up with late night sushi eaters, and the restaurant got into the groove of serving other people already. We got partial of our orders and we were really confused what happened to our other half of our order. Only 2 people got food and we waited for the other to get their food at least.
It was to the point where it took so long my other friend were already finished with the dish. It was totally unacceptable at this point. I told the waitress to cancel my order. We paid for our bill and left. It was really to the point where the service was utterly horrid.
I didn't even want to try their food at this point. I used to go to this resutrant for late night sushi, but for this time to do this to a customer. It was terrible.
Will never go back after this type of service.Listed in: Nihon ryori tabe tai desu ka?
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Review from Tim L.
8/29/2008
Their AYCE special and relatively late hours draws me here often. The sushi is certainly better than most other places, however the service is usually pretty terrible.
On top of that the shared parking lot is so small that you pretty much need to just park across the street at Lansdowne instead.
Elaborating on the service, I mean you'll sit down and be ready with your order and they won't come by to take it for another 15 minutes. After which another portion of time will slip by before you get your food and of course only part of the order will arrive in a timely manner leaving you wondering what happened to the rest of it.
Then when you're ready to order again of course no one is available. Forget trying to get more tea.
However the food is tasty and that's what keeps drawing people here. Service is really only this bad when it gets busy or late at night. -
Review from John S.
Richmond, BC
11/1/2011
The service here is so bad that it's become an inside joke within my group of friends. Basically I asked the hostess what time the late night menu started, she looked me right in the eye and walked away. LOL. It was pure comedy, we laughed about it for the next hour. Fortunately, the food is above average for an AYCE sushi restaurant (not saying much, but hey...) and the price is pretty good, so we come back.
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Review from Lauren N.
11/6/2008
I wasn't expecting much from Ajitaro, as I've been to one of their older locations and was never really impressed. But I happened to be in Richmond at the time, and my boyfriend suggested this place, so I figured what the heck.
Seating was quick, but it took awhile for the food to come out, even if we weren't doing the all-you-can-eat. Whatever was left of a good impression went out the window when I went to the bathroom, saw our waitress, and realized that she didn't wash her hands before stepping out. Ohhh my ....
So what was I left to do but rush out and tell my boyfriend that we had to leave right away? He said it was fine, since technically the wait staff don't touch your food, they just serve it. So we staid, but I was not happy and highly uncomfortable the rest of the meal. We were both fine after the meal, it's just not pleasant to know that your waitress doesn't practice good hygiene. Needless to say, not going back there again! -
Review from Peter H.
Vancouver, BC
1/15/2012
I went with couple of friends last week. All you can eat for $25 was a bit expensive, but we were feeling good so we went for it.
Sashimi was tolerable. I have had better, fresher ones, but I do not expect much from ayce.
Rolls were horrible thou. They were tiny little things, and had so little filling. I usually do not have any soy sauce for rolls, but for those, I had to. They tasted just like a spoonful of rice.
Service was OK at the beginning. They were a bit slow, but was tolerable. However, starting about half way through our dinner, the services started go south. They started to forget our orders, give us food that we did not order, and just slowed down horribly.
The pinnacle of the night was when my friend found a rubber band in gomae. He spat everything out in his mouth and politely sent it back. The manager came over and offered us an ice cream to our disappointment. I was expecting something more than a bowl of ice cream.
When we paid the bill with no tips, the manager stopped us for a second as if we had forgotten to write the tip. She realized what was going on after a moment and gave us a $5 coupon.
Overall, I expected a little more from the service and definitely for the response for the rubber band. -
Review from Jenni B.
3/14/2010
Gawd, I'm high maintaince.
I went to Aji last night for a friend's birthday. I heart sushi, but I get sick when I eat something that has come into contact with seafood AND I have a gluten allergy, so sushi can sometimes be challenging for me.
Everyone was doing the all you can eat, and I was hoping to as well. Before I looked at the options, I asked the waiter if I could have a seperate form to make sure that my order came on seperate platters (because all too often my veggie rolls come out with salmon sushami touching and I get sick). The waiter was a little confused, and another staff member came over to tell me, yes it could be arranged but they would not guarantee my food did not come into contact as the chefs use one cutting board. They suggested teryaki... but their sauce contains wheat so that was not an option either.
Have I mentioned it gets to be embarassing when eating out with a large group of people?
So, I decided to risk the cutting board and ended up ordering a la carte just due to better options for me. I know a lot of AYCE does not allow you to when your group is having AYCE, but they were accomodating in that regard and just told me I couldn't eat any of the constantly ordered food, which was totally okay with me.
I got edamame, which was easily the biggest serving of edamame I have had, and it was good, but it wasn't really warm when it came out. I also had an avacado roll and veggie roll, which were both good but not the best I've had.
Service was really good, and this place is awesome for late night all you can eat. I wouldn't go out of my way to go back, simply due to my food-special-needs, but would eat there again if my friend were. I wouldn't recommend this sushi joint to someone with gluten or seafood intolerances, but anyone else would enjoy the value priced AYCE. -
Review from Sandy C.
1/11/2011
RUDE servers who are not competent in basic English. A friend and I were visiting from Vegas and just arrived from Seattle. Since it was late evening, I wanted a small meal (Yakisoba) and my friend wanted to do the all you can eat sushi. I explained to the server that we are not sharing and if they even suspect that we were sharing they could charge us for two AYCE plus the Yakisoba I wanted. The server said we must both order AYCE or I need to move and sit at the bar while my friend sit at the table.
Not knowing that we are fluent in Cantonese, the two servers talked trash right in front of us. When I insisted I am not capable to stomach an AYCE meal and that no where on their menu did they specify the entire party must order AYCE, her exact words were "You choose. You eat or you no eat and get out."
They did not deserve our business, we left. -
Review from Amanda K.
8/30/2010
My orchestra friends came here for dinner on a night during the orchestra trip. We were able to choose where to eat dinner, and my buds decided to eat here. My buds came here for dinner before, and really liked it, so I was excited because Japanese food in Vancouver is some of the best!
This place is a buffet styled restaurant, where you can order as many items off the menu of your choice. We chose the pink menu!
We ordered tuna and salmon nigiri, beef tartar, spicy tuna, chicken yakitori, beef and chicken teriyakis, tempura udon, kalbi, and mango pudding for dessert.
Everything was decent, but probably not the best quality. The mango pudding was DELICIOUS though. Fruity, sweet, and the perfect ending to the meal.
The owner of the place remembered some of my buds, and decided to give us free mango ice cream. It was some of the best mango ice cream I've ever eaten!
I'd come back for dessert. (= -
Review from Julianne C.
7/18/2009 22 photos
I love this affordable, all u can eat sushi place. We were outer-towners and our friends recommended this place. Their sushi is fresh and good, their rolls are great. I love their beef sashimi--we ordered 3 plates of that. Their black cod is so tender 5 of that we ordered. I likes their cold noodles, great for the hot summer. Plus this place is near the flea market so before leaving this place, leave some room for more food at the flea market.
see my pictures... 6 people with numerous delicious foods... priceless! -
Review from Cicero D.
10/5/2008
After finding out that Richmond Sushi closed at midnight, we hauled ourselves over to try out Aji Taro's all-you-can-eat sushi special.
Not as big of a selection as Richmond, but you can pretty much expect the same quality when it comes to food. The biggest difference I saw was that their oysters still came in a half-shell.... rather than those dishes RC puts them in.
Anyways, the service was ok and the food came out on a timely basis. Nothing too extravagant. -
Review from Jennilee B.
6/9/2010
Hi, I'm Jenni and I am a recovering sushi-a-holic. Unfortunately, this place did me in- and in such a wrong way. Last weekend we decided our last dinner on our mini-vacay would be to totally pig out on sushi-and pig out we did. I am amazed I didn't need a wheelchair or some four wheeled contraption to get my self out of there. Sad, but true. I totally took advantage of their all you can eat what-cha-ma-call-it and I'm suffering from it still. I don't think sushi is in my stars for a few months or so. Okay, I admit I'll give it a few weeks- two at the most and I'm sure I'll be craving spicy tuna and unagi.
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Review from Stephanie M.
Vancouver, BC
3/10/2011 1 Check-in Here
I took some visiting family here for a late dinner on the way back into the city from the airport. They have a full all-you-can-eat menu that includes all the usual items (rolls, cones, sushi, sashimi, robata, tempura, etc.), as well as a cheaper late night all-you-can-eat menu which includes almost everything except sashimi and a couple of other items. The latter is available after 9:30pm but they let us start ordering a bit early. The "smaller" all-you-can-eat menu had more than enough variety to make us happy, including my brother, who tends to go crazy at these places. My personal favourites were the house roll, the spicy tuna roll and the kimchi. The atmosphere is a bit tired and the servers are usual "drop and run" (ie. they drop what you ordered off at your table and run away before you can request anything like water or napkins) type that you tend to find at a AYCE place, but I was very happy with the quality of the food and would definitely come back if I'm in the vicinity and have a sushi craving. As mentioned, the late night menu is great value for the money.
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Review from sue c.
Richmond, BC
11/1/2009
Seating was quick for Sat night around 9pm. There were 3 different AYCE menus but we decided to eat basic one for 19$. I don't know what they did to all the food but from sashimi to tonkatsu, all the food tasted blend. Never tasted tasteless food in BC. Service was good and quick but sorry.. not going back again.
