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Sen Zushi
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
18 reviews for Sen Zushi
18 reviews in English
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Review from Jon H.
9/14/2011
Wasn't sure what to expect re: sushi in Victoria since I hadn't visited in a long time. However, coming to Sen sushi based on a few reviews, I was pleasantly surprised.
Run by predominantly Japanese staff (always a good indication of authenticity... MOST of the time), the ambience was very typical of a 'traditional' japanese restaurant ie. typical decor of dark wood paneling, japanese artefacts/paraphernalia literring the walls.
The food was really fresh (of course, BC is known for its seafood), and the ratios of rice to fish wasn't too shabby (i.e. too much rice and too little fish is bad rice to fish ratio).
Their sockeye salmon chirashi don was delicious as well as their bbq squid.
I'd probably go back if I visit Victoria. -
Review from Ryan W.
Brentwood Bay, BC
8/24/2011
Great food and no waste as a result of the real chopsticks and cloth napkins. About the only thing I would like to see is the teriyaki dinners served on a hot plate.
An "A plus" for serving wild salmon over farmed.
Victoria lacks many quality Japanese restaurants* so this was especially refreshing.
*ironic since we are surrounded by ocean. -
Review from Dustin D.
Victoria, BC
Wow, talk about showing up all the other places we've been to in Victoria (that are still open). Although it's only been one visit for take out, I have nothing but good things to say about Sen Zushi.
We placed 3 separate, very large take out orders, the guy taking the order on the phone got everything dead on correct the first time, confirmed it all with us, and even went directly to the sushi chef while we were still on the phone to get an accurate pick up time straight from the chef's mouth, Thank You! Last time we placed 2 large orders at another popular sushi place and they told us 30 minutes, we got there, got told to go grab a coffee because the order "wasn't quite ready yet", we returned after our coffees and still ended up waiting another whole hour. Not so at Sen Zushi, the professionalism was impressive, they had every order packaged, labelled clearly (even the sauces said what they were for on the lid), billed out and ready to go within 5 minutes of their estimate.
Although I only got a glance, the interior is very impressive, probably the nicest sushi/japanese restaurant in Victoria, it's also deceptively large once you get inside.
The rolls were all quite good, probably a 4 out of 5 and the hot dishes were a definite 5. Oh, and the pricing is equal to or lower than many places that serve inferior product. We were all impressed overall.
It just so happens that Sen is very near my workplace so I'm destined to have many lunches there.
I whole heartedly recommend Sen for their food quality, professionalism, price and décor. Barring future issues, Sen will be my top sushi spot in Victoria. -
Review from Jason H.
9/5/2011
Great Japanese food! We had the spider roll, squid tempura, veggie gyoza, and ginger beef don. Everything tasted good and we had take -out so I imagine it would be better in the restaurant. I really appreciated the time they took to clearly label every dish and sauce. To make this 4 or 5 stars I would recommend reducing the salt in the sauces including the salad dressing (very salty) and taking another look at the recipe for the spider roll. I wasn't a big fan of the smoked salmon draped on top. A word to the wise - reserve! This places was hopping on a Monday night.
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Review from Doug G.
9/1/2010 1 Check-in Here
Friendly staff, nice decor, good selection.
Sen Zushi is a great place to pick up reasonaly priced sushi in Victoria. If you are looking to avoid having to decide, go for a combo box. They have a good selection of them. Otherwise, they have a great selection of fresh, tasty food. We were treated very well, and left satisfied. -
Review from Beth C.
Victoria, BC
7/10/2010
What they're getting right: the food, especially the hot food. Their noodles dishes are to die for, especially the Bukkake dishes (yes, really, they're called that). The soups, gyoza, and agedashi tofu are also excellent. The sushi rolls are good, but I will agree with whomever said they put over-large cucumber pieces in the rolls sometimes, making for an oddly crunchy experience. The fish has always been fresh and tasty, and their spicy tuna rolls are garlicky, spicy and delicious.
The decor is lovely.
What they need work on:
-I think they either need better sound-absorbency, or fewer tables. When it's busy, it's so loud that it becomes hard to even hear oneself think.
-The service, when it's busy, can be pretty dismal. My last experience there found myself and my dinner date ordering, being brought tea and water, then waiting 35 minutes for our food with no server checking on us in that time at all. Then our food was brought, and the server never came back to ask how it was (which really bugs me), and we had to flag someone down and ask for our bill 15 minutes after we finished our food. We were there, in total, for 2 hours.
Food-wise, it's among the best Japanese bets in the city, for sure, with an enormously varied menu, and the food is almost always spot on. But it's not great for intimate conversation, and sometimes the service is pretty lacking. -
Review from Kat S.
5/25/2010
I would love to like this place more, but for now it's a 3-star...
It is beautiful inside, and as my friend who worked in Japan said, it's fairly authentic looking. I liked the nice purple cloth napkins and the real chopsticks, too.
The tea came in beautiful pots and was really good quality tea. I loved the little pottery soy sauce and spice jars, too. Nice touch!
The great thing about this place is that the menu really caters to vegetarians. My dining companions were both strict veggies and didn't want any trace of fish or meat in their food (egg in the tempura batter was okay). The waitress was very knowledgeable and was able to advise them about what was in each item. And you can request to have any item (if reasonable) vegetarian-ized, ie no bonito flakes on your tofu agedashi, etc.
There were some very creative rolls, and they were quite good, especially for veggie rolls. So big kudos for that.
Why the 3 stars? I found the pricing rather inconsistent and at times very over-priced. I always order gomae wherever I go, and it tends to be my bench mark. This gomae was not pleasant. It was dry, if blanched spinach can really be dry... It had no sauce, just a bit of flavouring and too many sesame seeds. Was I supposed to grind my own tahini? Bleh, and for $5.50, I was supremely disappointed. The other let down was the mushroom appy special. This was delicious, mind you, but the portion was sooo tiny. Not worth the price, when the agedashi tofu was huge and cost the same (I had been contemplating that option but changed my mind at the last second). I tried a piece of the agedashi at the table and it was good.
My dining companions ordered the gyoza but it was forgotten. I would have eaten it, since I was still hungry, but it was okay since my companions were paying.
Anyhow, it's a nice place to go, and has a great atmosphere and nice staff, just watch out, as the bill can add up fast. -
Review from christine c.
Victoria, BC
Updated - 8/17/2010
As I munch on my takeout lunch from Sen Zushi I feel compelled to write this update.
My simple order, dynamite roll, spicy tuna roll and one piece of unagi is blowing my mind. My unagi, for example is (or was) maybe four inches long and so friggin' fresh. In fact it's all so fresh it blows my mind. Nothing compares. It is love.Listed in: Best Evaaaaaaa!!!! In VicCity
1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/5/2009
Its difficult to express my love for Senzushi so I'll just make this feeble, unworthy attempt.
… Read more »
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Review from Julie M.
7/3/2009
I make a point of going to Japanese restaurants everywhere I go, if for no other reason than I can't get enough Japanese food (and that's saying something, because I'm pretty big). When I was in Victoria for a few days, I knew I'd probably only have one opportunity to check out a local restaurant, and I'm glad my friend suggested SenZushi. I warned her that I eat like a pig when sushi is involved, but she didn't seem to mind.
I had a sushi/sashimi combo sampler, crispy roll, and dynamite roll. My friend had one of the grilled fish dinners and some nigiri (I don't remember which). We both had black sesame ice cream for dessert. I was full, happy, and wanted to come back the next day for another meal or two, but alas my time in Victoria was over. -
Review from Jules S.
Coquitlam, BC
2/10/2011
The worst Japanese restaurant I have EVER been to. The staff pretty much ignored us when it wasn't even busy, the food was below average, took forever to get to us and it was expensive compared to most other Japanese restaurants. One of the worst experiences I have ever had at a restaurant!!!
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Review from Ashley W.
Victoria, BC
2/12/2011
Best Japanese in Victoria. If the Japanese consulate brings their visitors here to eat, it's good enough for me. Try the unagi bateira for something different and delicious.
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Review from Matthew L.
Edmonton, AB
12/24/2008
i like Sen Zushi. It has an understated, elegant dining room, and many inexpensive lunch options. I also like how the menu contains vegetarian-friendly notes regarding the meat content of its dishes.
I found my tempura to be perfectly crisp. My sushi (Sake) was fresh, but not mindblowing.
And my water glass was always full, but the service was far from intrusive. -
Review from Clayton E.
Victoria, BC
10/11/2010 2 Check-ins Here
Ive been to Japan on several occasions and I love the food. After discovering Sen Zushi I have given up all of the other Japanese restaurants in Victoria as I have found it to be the only really authentic source for both modern and traditional Japanese food in town. The service is great and it's not overly expensive either.
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Review from Jennifer W.
Victoria, BC
12/20/2009
We tried the Spicy Tuna Roll, Sunset Roll, Salmon Maki, and Vegetable Tempura. The tempura was great, but the rolls were so-so. I found the nori too chewy, and the cucumber in each was such big pieces that it was too oddly crunchy.
The ambience, service, and location are great though. Lots of free street parking in the evenings. -
Review from Weirdie B.
Victoria, BC
5/6/2009
We waited about 20 minutes to get a table, but learned our lesson about the need to make a reservation on a Friday night. It was a full house until about 8pm, so the service was as fast as they could be considering the workload. Our server was very friendly! We had a variety of different things, from seaweed salad to tempura, sashimi to rolls, and everything was fantastic. Also: Best. Desserts. Ever. I had the chocolate dipped hazelnut pear and NOM! Seriously. I will definitely recommend Sen Zushi to my friends.
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Review from Antonia W.
Toronto, ON
5/4/2010
OK, I'll start off by saying that I REAAALLY wanted to like this place. I mean, I even picked it for my anniversary dinner because I heard some good recs from people and here on Yelp. Anyway, on with my review...
Got there and got seated right away. The place is pretty beautiful... It was really busy when we got there and a small lineup at the door so I was happy that I made reservations. Another thing, I thought it was a sort of fancy-ish type of place based on the outside. It's not really... and it can get pretty loud in there. It's not a bad thing, just threw me off when I went in :)
We ordered a whole bunch of stuff between the two of us: chop chop scallop roll, spicy tuna roll, half unagi don, and the $28 sashimi platter.
The rolls came out first and there were 8 pieces of each. The spicy tuna was actually pretty different than some other places I've had. Instead of mixing it with some hot sauce/mayo mix, they used something else, I can't quite put my finger on it. I like that they didn't use the mayo stuff to drown the fish in. The chop chop scallop was pretty straightforward, scallops wrapped in seaweed and rice.
The half unagi don was alright as well. Not amazing good, but not bad. The sauce didn't have that much depth and they didn't put enough sauce to go around for all the rice in the dish. The eel itself was good.
Then we waited.... and waited.... waited for 30 mins after we had finished all our food...... We were talking so it wasn't like we were twiddling our thumbs, but it eventually dawned that they probably forgot all about us. So I waved to our waitress and after a few moments she came by and said "Oh, you're sashimi will be out" and my bf said "You guys forgot about us, didn't you?" and she said "oh no, they're making it now". So we waited, I would've cancelled it actually because after eating and waiting I'd already filled/lost my appetite and wasn't hungry anymore. So we waited. They most definitely had NOT started making it because it came out after another 20 minutes. Meanwhile, we drank tea and tried to make the best of it because it was our anniversary celebration.
The platter was probably the most disappointing part of the meal. For a chef's choice of fish, it was dismal. A mix of 4 different white fish, tuna, salmon, and scallops. This wouldn't pass for a sashimi chef platter anywhere else. uni? amaebi? anything interesting? They also didn't cut one of the fish properly ... too close to the skin that there was skin on the pieces... chewy and not edible.
The waitress was sorry about it though and offered us green tea ice cream for our patience.
Their menu really is gigantic. I think I should have tried more of their cooked stuff, perhaps they're better at that? But I'm so disappointed with our experience that I'm not running back any time soon. -
Review from George I.
6/28/2009
Very authentic Japanese restaurant. The atmoshpere is great. Whenn we got there, we had to wait a line for about 20 mins. The sushi was great, in fact one of the best i've ever eaten. Started with Gyoza with pork, which was fabulous. Ordered the special Captain Ken Roll, which amazing. The only dish that was so-so was the chicken salad. The desert was icecream - black susami flavor. I'm very happy with the food overall. The only reason i'll give 4star on this restaurant is the stuff - they can do better job for sure.
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Review from Paul H.
Victoria, BC
9/21/2009 3 photos
Excellent variety of all your Japanese favourites. Reasonable price, authentic, delicious food, a perfect mix of modern and traditional decor, and friendly staff.
