sen zushi

do not go there! warning. sen zushi used to be our bestjapanesefoods spot for years. i've recommended this restaturant to many friends of mine. until last night, i will never ever go back to that restaruant!!!! being a old customer of sen, i can tell you they've changed their kitchen chefs recently!!! the prices are still the same, expensive, but the quality of foods and ingredients are terrible and horrible. the services are getting worse too. we had to stop our waitress many times while she walked by our table just for refilling our teapot! we ordered beef undon and kazudo (the dish i always ordered at sen for years). the beef slice were way too tough, i can't chew them! i swallowed them, no kidding, i swallowed! the deep fried breaded pork chop were overcooked too. it was dry and tough. i can cook better breaded pork chop than sen now at home. besides those 2 dishes, we ordered mackeral sashimi (i loved this dish so much before, i had it everytime when i was at sen). at that night, both my husband and i got food poisons because of this dish. my tummy was hurt like i had colon disease. my mouth was full with smell of that mackeral. we also had to return one of the dishs, vegetable tempura. i was speachless when i saw that dish. the dish costs $8plus tax, 7 pieces vegetables. and last night, that dish had 1 brocoli, 1 green pepper, 1 zucchini , 2 lotus roots (1 inch small). that wasn't even the point to return the dish. the brocoli was plain, no batter at all! yes, no batter, plain green brocoli. i asked the waitress to look at the dish by herself, she said to me, "well, it is sometimes like this." we returned and cancelled that dish. i'm not going to pay $8 plus tax for those 'steamed' vegetables! and, its soy sauce, which is on each table, is no longerjapanesesoy sauce. it's more salty now. before even it was little pricy, the quality of foods was worthy of the prices. now, sen zushi is foolling its customers and destroying its good reputation that was built up for so many years.

never disappointed!. this is the place i never get disappointed.

people are so great and reminds me of japan and how high qualityjapanesecustomer service is. although i order exactly the same things, it's always great and consistent.

sushi is very fresh. i love bbq eel sushi and i can taste the freshness, not like frozen one at fakejapaneserestaurants in downtown.

only thing they can improve is waiting time. sometimes it takes quite long to be served, but it's not a really big deal because i know it's worth waiting:)

we love senzushi! i believe this is the only realjapaneserestaurant in victoria. don't waste money going to the fake one!

my absolute favourite, most authentic in townjapaneseplace. i cant believe i havent written a review for them yet. i've been coming here for years! high quality sashimi and well made sushi rolls. even my dad enjoys the donburis and he's quite critical on food. the people are long time servers, it's nice to see familiar faces and they all look happy to be working there. i generally get the same server and he's always pleasant with a smile on his face.

outstanding sushi and fresh japanese. very friendly and helpful staff. the restaurant underwent changes and making it fancier than before which is nice. it is not stuffy. it was busy and noisy on the last two occasions we went with the family but i prefer a quieter environment. the menu is very large making it hard to choose. however it does not compromise the quality of the excellent sushi is served. the rice is always super fresh and tasty, cooked to perfection. the fish is the freshest and you can see the care put into the sushi and nigiri. i also like the chef recommendations, the starters and the wine was very good. i would recommend sen zushi for families and couples looking for an authenticjapaneseexperience.

this is by far the bestjapaneserestaurant i have ever been to. the servers are incredibly friendly and the food is the most authentic around. this restaurant is better than most in cities 3 times the size. when all the other sushi restaurants in town use variants of the same menu, it's quite refreshing to discover a place that chooses to do things differently. they have so many inventive dishes that add their own twists to well tested classics. tonight i had the don don combo which is one of those dishes. it combines twojapaneseclassics, udon and donburi in a way that shows its own inventiveness while giving hints to what the server told me was a traditional dish from a region in southern japan. some of the options like ochazuke and nanban are things that are common staples in japan, but that seem to be very hard to find across the pacific. a special shout out to 2 servers who i have had on a few occasions, maiko and randie, who have been absolutely outstanding every time i have visited. i will be back soon for sure.

yummy shushi. ourjapanesestudent frequents here with her friends. she swears by the chicken dishes. we tried various sushi's, tempuras and a few other things. every dish was good which i find is unusual to find in victoria.

very clean food, and well executed. the grilled squid is excellent. the temporary space is a bit crowded but you can tell by the clientele, this is very much a crowdpleaser and authenticjapanesefood.

past glories can't keep working. sen zushi was possibly the best sushi in victoria before a kitchen fire forced them to renovate and relocate. i happily recommended it, and it was first recommended to me by myjapaneseprofessor.

but since opening their new location, they've been forced into a new business model. smaller location, less atmosphere, poorer product. we went for the first time since they re-opened a couple weeks ago, and they used imitation crab meat, lacked some victoria staples like salmon & avocado rolls, and charged 40-50 cents more per roll than the now-nearby shizen sushi.

what was kind of sad to me was that the chef is still the same, and i could tell the care put into each dish. perhaps it wasn't the best day for ingredients, but the imitation crab begs to differ. cuts were thin with slight gristle. everything was still fine, good even. but no longer better than other options. and at inflated prices, not worth recommending.

a sad day. i hope they can go back to their former business model of a semi-formal atmosphere with a dimly light dining room, larger space, and a push for the same quality they once had.


-----20 jul, 2014-----

best sushi in victoria, and i don't say that lightly. i've tried almost every place in town, and i have 3 places i would recommend. ebizo, shizen and senzushi. by and far, senzushi is consistently the tastiest, the freshest, and the most enjoyable sushi in town. they also have a great variety of hot food for non-sushi eaters, and probably the best oyako don in town to boot. but almost everything here is just awesome from their salmon to their unagi. the only reason i don't go here all the time is because it is a tad bit pricier than other places. but the quality is well worth it. i was enthralled to hear they've re-opened at a temporary new location after the devastating kitchen fire in april 2014. if you're looking for a nice dining experience with a group of friends or just a significant other, senzu is a great place to go.


-----10 aug, 2010-----

i'm writing this review to dispell the myth that the last two built. i was recommended sen by myjapaneseteacher back in the day, and it's been a regular evening out whenever we go for sushi. tonight we have visited to confirm it's state, and the chefs are still here. the sushi is wonderful and though a little more expensive, well worth it. though i'll admit the service has always been a little slow. overall, highly recommended.

wow!!! hands down bestjapanesecuisine in downtown victoria. tempura was lightly battered, perfectly crisp, with juicy and tender prawns, fish and vegetables. edamame: good, miso soup: good, salad: good, karage chicken: best i have ever had straight up!! service was personable, efficient, and pleasant. i haven't had such an enjoyable and authentic restaurant experience in a long time. eat here!

i am sitting in zen sushi, in their newly renovated premises on fort street 🤗, and it's great, a different layout, more tables, many of the old staff back, with some new ones too. this my second trip and so far the food is excellent - just as before!


-----01 sep, 2011-----

a favourite. this to me is the bestjapaneserestaurant in town. their sushi can be sublime, and many of the kitchen dishes are really good too. but what makes it better than otherjapaneseplaces that i have been to in victoria is that they are always trying out new dishes and sushi - not all of them are successful, but many of them are, and this is what nudges it above other places that serve mostly teriyaki and tempura dishes in plastic bento boxes, or are really korean restaurants in disguise.

greatjapanesefood. i lived in japan for a year and miss the food since returning to canada. sen zushi was probably the bestjapanesefood i've had since coming back (and i've tried a lot). decent price for what you get, and the sushi/sashimi was top notch quality.

bestjapanesefood i've had in victoria to date.

service from maiko was excellent. we were made to feel welcome as soon as we entered the restaurant.

i had the sen zushi lunch special plus tuna sashimi. each course was fresh, to temperature and well presented. i ordered my steak rare and it was cooked perfectly.

my wife was equally impressed. it was so good we will make the trip to town again tomorrow just to eat at sen zushi.

rice needs improvement. i'm japanese, so i adjust (=lower) my expectations when eatingjapanesefood in a foreign country. no offense, it's a mere self-defense mechanism, just like someone from montreal wouldn't expect to find authentic smoked meat in japan.
i had dinner here a few times mostly ordering sushi, and my experience so far had been ok. today for the first time i went to try their lunch menu. i ordered one of their lunch combination, and while the food was acceptable, i was *extremely* disappointed with their rice. it was stale and dry, and basicaly ruined the whole meal.
this happens when the rice is left in the rice cooker on the warm setting for an extended period of time. we were one of the first customers served after they opened for lunch, so i can only guess it was leftover rice from yesterday.
what a disgrace for a restaurant of that stature. i was quite embarrassed i brought my friend telling him it's one of the betterjapaneserestaurants in town.

good sushi, surprisingly traditional. we chose sen zushi based on several reviews and blogs listing it as victoria's best sushi. made a reservation in advance for a saturday evening. based on reviews, we had incorrectly expected a more contemporary atmosphere. it was very traditional japanese, decor reminiscent of 20 or more years ago, but the food was solid. we were told it wasjapaneseowned and operated. (other reviews note that the sushi chefs trained in japan. only place i've ever been with an anglo female behind the sushi bar, but the results were excellent, just an amusing observation.)

it was crowded when we arrived at 7:30pm, but had cleared out in about 45 minutes. it closes at 9pm, and the kitchen made last call at least 30 minutes in advance, so plan to go early. we were tourists in victoria, but, in general, we were surprised at how early people ate and restaurants closed.

the menu was not sushi focused, with lots of traditional main courses, appetizers, etc. that said, the sushi was quite good, with a wide variety of options, many contemporary specials. some of our crowd needed some quick calories, so we started with both pork and prawn gyoza (pan fried dumplings), which were excellent. one in our crowd went traditional and had a braised beef donburi dish with egg, she said it was quite good. the rest of us ate sushi, all were pleased. we focused on sockeye salmon, given the region and time of year. traditional nygeri sushi and sashimi were both quite good, larger than the normal pieces we were accustomed to, but who's complaining? a nice variety of rolls, and they volunteered to customize, since i don't like cucumbers. quality of fish was excellent and preparation showed attention to detail.

service was not polished, but trying hard, willing, with a great attitude.

wine list is very limited, but focus was on premium sakes, so we drank the recommended bottle. i'm not experienced enough to provide an informed review, but we enjoyed it.

i would recommend this restaurant without reservation. willing service and sound cooking/food preparation, quality ingredients.

one of the bestjapaneserestaurants in victoria. probably #2 next to ebizo for food quality, but then again ebizo is crammed and crowded and the service there is beginning to slip in a major way. one drawback here - employees have a nasty tendency to slam the door in your face though (not literally) if you show up right at closing time. not putting up with any of that after i put money in the meter. other than that, the service is excellent and the staff is friendly, if not a bit too friendly.