sen zushi

quality sushi. the food, service, and atmosphere are all quality aspects. thesushiis the best i have tried [in victoria], and you can tell they put a lot of effort into making your experience a good one because of all the little details in the food presentation. the dining room is cool too, it really feels like a classic "japanese" space, i suppose; i like the skylights. our waitress was kind, and even offered to teach me some japanese; only drawback to the place is that it's expensive; you're not wasting your money if you want some good eats though.

bestsushiin town.. this is by far the bestsushiin town. the atmosphere, waiting staff, and quality of food sets the bar for othersushibars around. although slightly more expensive i would gladly pay the difference to eat here.

a++ recommended!

overpriced and going downhill with quality. i have had oksushiat sen in the past, but i echo the sentiments of the previous reviewer in wondering if they have changed ownership/kitchen chefs.

the last few times the food is nowhere near the quality i would expect, despite the price still being much higher than any othersushiplace in town.

the last experience i had with them was recently when i ordered a kitsune udon with steamed vegetables to go. when i got home and opened it up i was shocked to see that unlike every other place in town, their kitsune udon consisted of only two tiny pieces of tofu pocket. the veggies i had paid extra for turned out to be some sprigs of green onion. the broth was too fishy.

go somewhere else.

fresh!. freshestsushii have had in victoria, good combo options on the menu, good service, reasonably priced. i will be back again when i next crave some sushi.

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

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

sushi is very fresh. i love bbq eelsushiand i can taste the freshness, not like frozen one at fake japanese restaurants 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 real japanese restaurant in victoria. don't waste money going to the fake one!

my absolute favourite, most authentic in town japanese place. i cant believe i havent written a review for them yet. i've been coming here for years! high quality sashimi and well madesushirolls. 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.

i don't really understand why this place is so popular. we ordered 4sushirolls that we felt really tasteless. i picked up a piece of tuna roll, everything fell apart right away. not a good sign. their tempura was expensive for that amount. service was a little slow but our waitress was nice. but that was it.

outstandingsushiand 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 excellentsushiis 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 thesushiand 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 authentic japanese experience.

this is by far the best japanese restaurant 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 othersushirestaurants 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 two japanese classics, 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.

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

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-----

bestsushiin 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 enjoyablesushiin 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 my japanese teacher 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. thesushiis 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.

why is this restaurant way better than all the othersushiplaces in victoria? authenticity. the staff here are amazing and care so much about the restaurant that it shows in all their dishes. we like to order a few must haves (toro, hamachi, karaage) then let the staff decide the rest...and the food comes til you say stop! the last visit had us sampling the takomaki. delicious bites of tender tako. it was great! i always being visitors here and i'm never disappointed!

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 best japanese restaurant in town. theirsushican be sublime, and many of the kitchen dishes are really good too. but what makes it better than other japanese places that i have been to in victoria is that they are always trying out new dishes andsushi- 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.

sen zushi is one of the most beautifulsushirestaurants i've seen in victoria! the space is quite open, with sky lights bringing light into what would otherwise be a very dark space. although the tables are close together, they are elegantly separated by floating pieces of fabric and screen-printed art hangings.

my last review was edited?? i'm asushisnob and really not sure why this place is rated so highly. the first time i was here the service was awful, the food was over priced, small and flavorless, and nanban chicken was still raw when it was served to us. i swore i wouldn't ever come back, but a couple weeks ago i was dragged back with a friend who really wanted to check it out. once again the service was terrible and food is just not that good, certainly not at these prices. i have had bettersushiat late night all you can eat places. i guess most of the positive reviews of this place are by people that really don't know what goodsushiis... because this place is not good.


-----26 oct, 2013-----

the atmosphere is nice, the service was good but the food was marginal at best. as a vancouversushisnob, i liken the food quality here, to a late night all you can eatsushijoint in vancouver. however, here the food is very expensive for what you get.

for $5, california roll better be 10 piece or made with real crab, not here. the negitoro roll was very fresh but didn't even have a straws thickness of tuna in it, and certainly not worth the $5 i paid for it. the agadashi tofu was undercooked, lacked batter and tasted like it was sitting in brine for much of the day, not to mention the five t be coming back.

the worst part is we were served raw, not like a little undercooked, but blue-rare raw chicken!! there was a thin cooked layer followed by 80-90% of the meat being completely pink. when we presented it to the wait staff, they were oblivious the the problem. it was almost like the server had no idea serving undercooked chicken, let alone raw chicken, was a serious health code violation. then the server asked if we wanted another one or something else, to which we said no and had lost our appetite. to our shock they brought over the bill with the cost of the chicken still on it. when confronted about this, they said, "it is not our policy to discount food, customers dislike." wtf!? sure i can understand that if someone didn't like the food and was just being fussy... but they served us raw frickin chicken!?!! at any other restaruant in town, our entire meal would have been free and at the better places they would have given us gc's for 1-2 more dinners to try and win us back... this place, "the best we can do is a 50% the item in question."

i have never dined and dashed before, but we just walked out!

this place is/was a joke. we will never go back!

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 was japanese owned and operated. (other reviews note that thesushichefs trained in japan. only place i've ever been with an anglo female behind thesushibar, 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 notsushifocused, with lots of traditional main courses, appetizers, etc. that said, thesushiwas 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 nygerisushiand 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.