Review Itami Sushi - Victoria

We are absolutely surprised by how amazing food here now with a completely different menu. Ingredients they used for Sashimi and Nigiri are super fresh, which you can easily tell the difference from other sushi places. Eel Don and Oshizushi are also must-try. We were secretly told by the chef that fresh Uni is only provided on Thursday. Definitely will come back! Great place, tasty food and great service!

Everyone should try this restaurant, it's completely different from the previous menu. The restaurant environment is pretty and the interaction between the chef, the waiter and the guests is very good.

One of the best sushi experience i’ve been to. This place was under new management, the owner was very friendly and welcoming. The food were prepared with a lot of care and passion. Will definitely be back when I visit Victoria again.

Big space and great interior. Kind and well trained staffs. Reasonable price. Good lunch combos and great choice. Clean space and fast service. Try their yakiniku don (marinated beef rice bowl) and fried ice cream for dessert.

I've been here quite a few times already, and each time I've had a great experience. The atmosphere is amazing! I like the interior design and the lighting... Not every Japanese restaurant in town has such environment. The prices, I would say, are fair (but not cheap). I like the menu as well. So many options for lunch and dinner separately. One of my favorite items here is their deep-fried milk, which is a dessert. Staff are nice and friendly too. That said, in our last visit, I found this place under staffed.

Unlock new menus! The dishes are all beautiful, the chef is very nice and the food is delicious! Will come again next time!

Nice restaurant, friendly service, good food. Open for takeout, delivery and in-room dining (December 2020) with limited capacity due to COVID. Service was fast - less than 15-minutes from ordering to ready-to-go. I could see the chef's making my order. I ordered Chicken Katsu ($8), Tuna & Salmon Sashimi ($14.50), and Dynamite Roll ($8). I'd recommend Itami Sushi and will re-visit.

Haven't been here in a while. Was amazed at their new menu (or new to me anyway). Food delicious service awesome. I'll be back and bring friends next time.

That would be my favorite Japanese restaurant. The food is best and fresh. Warm and friendly servers, I would recommend friends to come.

Absolutely amazing delicious food. Everything is so fresh. Service is outstanding. My favorite place in Victoria for sushi!!

Went there for lunch on Friday, there were two or three servers at the place was pact. My friend had been waiting there for 15 minutes before my arrival with not even a drink served, she told them she was ready. I arrived i had to stop a server to request water which did not come for an additional 7 or 8 minutes. My friends sushi never came, our food took forever, my tempura prawn was frozen, very disappointed in the service and food quality.

This was some of the best Japanese food I have ever had. You get above what you pay in food quality; the service was on point every time I have had the pleasure of eating at Itami Sushi.

Amazing food, excellent service and great prices :) I found my new sushi place! Beautiful inside as well!

If i could give no star i would. Ive been here 3 times and apart from one time where i enjoyed myself ...every other time ive had horrible service and equally bad food or they somehow managed to screw up a very simple order. Argumentative rude staff with very little english speaking skills. Avoid this place if possible. 3 Strikes u are out!

Chris and I went there to satisfy a bet lost by Dave Costa. Traditional Japanese ambiance and spectacular service only exceeded by the food. Chris is a sushi snob and was totally impressed. Great place!

Enjoy this excellent restaurant - never disappoint!

Great time great food

Service & food was awesome. Look forward to returning very soon.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.mmmmmmmm Bento Box!!!

We ordered delivery through Just Eat. The sushi was good, but when it was delivered, the driver told my husband he had to pay for the delivery, and my husband didn't have change so have him extra money. However, we had prepaid for it when we ordered, and the payment had included the delivery fee, so the driver scammed us out of money. Not a huge deal for a few dollars, but still not acceptable. Wouldn't want to order again due to this.

delicious food at affordable prices and great service experience!

Uses fake crab. Not recommended.

I've never had service this slow. Sure, we were a large group, about a dozen, but there were no other patrons on a Friday night. 30 minutes to take our orders, about 45 to get our food. And we were never asked if we wanted a drink refill. My spouse and I only got half of our order, and the fried portion was cold. <br/><br/>Then a mouse scampered by our table, and bold as you please, stopped to nose around for scraps before continuing on his way. When my spouse mentioned this to the manager, he hardly seemed concerned.<br/><br/>The entire meal seemed like a scene out of a sitcom it was so ridiculous.

WAY TOO SLOW! have been here a few times for lunch and they can be extremely slow. Went on my lunch break last week and ordered a tuna roll and 5 Nigiri and it took over an hour to get our food. We had to call our supervisor to inform then we'd be late getting back to work. What really ticked me off was that I saw a woman come in after us and get a menu and place an order before we even got our menus. Food isn't bad but permanently off the lunch break list.

Terribly overpriced food. I can't believe I wasted my money going here. Tuna tataki tasted like eating tuna out of a can. I've eaten better rolls at Save-on.

Going down hill with new cooks and bad servers i waited 45 min at lunch time for 6 nigiri got it tasted like the fish was dry and had no moisture

Good food; bad service. I went there on my lunch today, or tried to. I waited 10 minutes for the waitress to take my order. When she finally came to take orders, she took the order of customers that had arrived well after me, and then left without even looking at me! This is the second time that I have experienced this less than stellar service at Itami. They have good food, I will give them that, but they need to hire more wait staff! I left without ordering and won't be back for a while...

My go-to!. Delicious, affordable, and fast service!

Good food, poor service. We went in just after the "lunch rush" and there weren't many people in the restaurant eating - and also not very many staff. The hostess seemed to be doing double-duty, and we waited a while for her attention before being seated. Our server was also really - either forgetful or distracted.. or... something. We waited for a fork - it never came. We ended up going up to the counter for forks. Likewise she didn't come by to check our order, offer more water, etc. Just bad, apathetic service. The food on the other hand was quite good... but surrounded by other sushi places, I'm giving a thumbs-down for the service.

Best California Rolls in Victoria!. I don't know why this place only has 58%! It's our favourite sushi place! I always order the same thing and it's delicious each time! Veggie tempura, Pork Gyoza and 2 California Rolls. So delicious! The service has been pretty bad a few times, but the food is so good, we don't mind overlooking that every now and then.

Love this place the most. I didn't really pay attention to this place till my friends invited me to go for a birthday party. Actually, it is very beautiful and relaxing in the dinning room! The waitress are very friendly and helpful, very attentive to come around to clear the empty dishes , filled up the tea, meal checking . The presentation and the taste of the food is absolutely awesome ! The sashimi was very fresh and thick cutting, that made me feel it's worth of what I paid for. The rolls are tidy and neat! The price is quite reasonable compare to some other Japanese restaurant! Oh! I have to mention the toro sashimi is the best in town, 7 pieces for only $9.95, $1.5 for a bowl of miso,$1.5 for rice with steak sauce. Nowhere can bit it in Victoria ! Itami is the only place I will go for sushi now!

I like this sushi place a lot! Come here quite often because the sashimi are really fresh. I guess the sushi chef cut each fish every couple hours, not like someplace, cut for the whole day. And I can see the tempura are fresh cus the color is clean and bright, which means the oil is fresh. Also the sesame sauce and spicy mayo are awesome. For the waitress, they are friendly and smile all the time:). But sometimes is too busy, the food can not come soon, probably waited for 30mins which lost my patient, I will still wait for the good food.

Good food.. terrible service! Worst service I've had in Victoria and I've lived here for 18 years. Too bad.

Hard to believe so many negatives. I've been twice and found the food and service excellent. Great value as well. Definitely will be back!!!!

My family have visited this restaurant twice now, both times having had great food. We like the ambience, the service is amazing and lucked out with parking right in front.. My 5 year old was having so much fun that I even got him to try sashimi :)

I wanted to like this place... ... because the prices seemed very reasonable. Alas, my sashimi was far from fresh, the broth for my soup was too sweet (they had to use soba noodles, as they were sold out of udon), and the service was friendly yet unattentive. I would give points for the modern, clean design and decor.

Doesn't deserve the negative rating.. Definitely one of the better Japanese restaurants in town, I must conclude, after having eaten there four times now, and the interior decorating is in the top 1%. range. Maybe it wasn't great a few months ago based on some of the reviews I have read but it sure is now. They must have gotten their act together. I guess when you spend what looks to me like a few hundred grand on renovating a place you don't want to go screwing it up with bad food and service in a hyper-competitive environment like Victoria. Food was excellent and so was the service. Well deserves a second chance.

Had the Phoenix roll and it was one of the best rolls I ever had. The spicy tuna was perfect. A beautiful restaurant and will definitely be returning.

Fake another Japanese Restaurant. I visited this restaurant last week because I was interested in outside decoration with JAPANESE words.<br/><br/>Kidding me? This is another Chinese-owned Japanese restaurant in Victoria. They should be embarrassed they are trying to trick you as "Japanese restaurant" even with Japanese characters. <br/><br/>Food was OK but expensive. Comparing to Senzushi or Uchida (real Japanese restaurants in Vic), service was awful, well it's just typical Chinese customer services, like talking so loudly, not placing dishes softly, not smiling, not caring etc.. As someone wrote a review, there were so many cleaning supplies piled up and it looked so dirty. <br/><br/>Do not go and get tricked! Save your money for real Japanese food. And I wish people would not think that is Japanese customer service and food.

Best Sushi in Town!. The staff here are wonderfully friendly and they know how to do Japanese food right. The food was fresh and light with just the right balances of flavours and textures. I've been to a lot of Sushi restaurants in downtown Victoria but this one has got me hooked. The ambiance is great for date nights but it's great value for the cost, unlike places like Shiki or Japanese Village.

Very Underwhelmed. Be warned! I ordered the teriyaki dinner. First came the miso soup which was very watered down. The bean paste present in the soup was barely detectable. The sesame vinaigrette salad dressing on the green salad tasted very vinegary (without the delicate sesame taste) and made me gag. At that point I wanted to walk out but decided to stay as my co-diner decided to wait for the entrees to arrive and give the place a chance to redeem itself. Well, the teriyaki salmon lacked flavor -- the sauce was more reminiscent of that found in a Chinese seafood meal. This came as no surprise as no one in the restaurant appeared to be Japanese. Rather all spoke fluent Mandarin...one spoke Cantonese. My co-diner's sushi roll featured salmon that was far from fresh. It was very rubbery in texture and looked like it was sitting in the cooler for a number of days. He ended picking out the fish from the roll and just eating the rice. The decor was pleasant and the service was great. Avoid this place. There are too many other great sushi restaurants in Victoria, Sen Zushi being one of them. I rate this restaurant - 2 out of 10.

Pleasantly surprised!. After reading the reviews on here, I was worried this place would be terrible and almost changed my plans to go elsewhere. I'm glad I gave this place a chance, because it was great. First off, the menu is on an iPad- so that fun and different! The food came quickly and everything I had was quite good. Definitely better than Shiki or Azuma. (Ebizo is my favourite) My yam tempura roll was fresh and crispy. The service was great, no complaints. <br/><br/>Anyway, I would say this place is definitely worth a shot- I'd go back for sure.

Meh. Save your stomach, time and dollars. We can all do better.

Another Mediocre "Japanese" Restaurant. We went on a Sunday lunchtime. The restaurant was extremely quiet but we, along with many other reviewers here, waited too long for our food. Service was friendly but a little confused. Décor is OK, but bulk supplies, empty beer boxes and cleaning stuff piled everywhere when going to the washrooms is unappealing. The 5W lightbulb in the washroom makes for a distinctly gloomy visit.<br/><br/>Chefs and wait staff are all Chinese, they talked loudly in Cantonese to each other throughout the meal. It seems to me they had not appreciated the subtleties of Japanese food. Sushi was a little cloying, tempura was a little oily and soggy, and they use the same claggy "steak sauce" that causes me to avoid the Japanese Village like the plague - disgusting.<br/><br/>The whole experience left us underwhelmed and we will not be back. Bon, Izuma, Shiki, Azuma are all better choices.

Went today at around noon (Saturday) and say right down across from the bar. The atmosphere was terrific and the ambience was great! Got our tea right away and found the service excellent as our server was very attentive. <br/>My order, chicken and shrimp teppan came very quickly, my lunch partners sushi however took much longer to arrive, at least twenty to twenty five minutes. He did say when he finally got it and sampled it that it was definitely worth the wait! While we ate a couple came up to the sushi bar and commended the terrific fresh sushi they had just eaten. We too were extremely impressed. The restaurant and the sushi is beautiful! A must try!

It's beautiful!. They did an amazing job on the decor. I absolutely love it! Everything looks great, down to the very small details. The service was excellent and the prices are very reasonable. The restaurant itself is in the heart of downtown, but a little bit tucked away on View St. I tried a little bit of everything, from chicken, sashimi, sushi, appies, desserts. The food was good. My favorite thing was the green tea pudding.

New Favourite Sushi Place!. Best sushi in town!<br/>Love the atmosphere and layout. Excellent staff and service. Wonderful dishes, great quality sushi with decent prices. I have been there 4 times and have thoroughly enjoyed it every time. I highly recommend Itami Sushi to all sushi lovers in Victoria!! Will definitely be going back :)

Lost my business. My girlfriend and I sat at the sushi bar march 30, funny enough next to the couple who posted a review a few down from this one (saltytowers1101)<br/>We too ordered our food and each a drink, the drink came eventually, but after half an hour even our sunomono salad had still not come, a dish that Ebizo sushi has prepared and at your table in minutes.<br/><br/>After 45 minutes we asked for our drink bill because our poor server didn't know when our food would be up (not her fault, just understaffed in the kitchen and inexperienced management)<br/>But then 5 minutes later she appeared with all our food<br/><br/>Sunomono salad, beef tataki, 2 rolls<br/>50 MINUTES TO MAKE<br/><br/>the fish is good quality but the overall dishes just okay..<br/><br/>Go try Ebizo or Koto for a great sushi experience!

Went to Itami Sushi for my anniversary and had a wonderful time. The service was great, everyone was very attentive and we felt well taken care of. The food was delicious! We tried the cheese spring rolls and was pleasantly surprised how tasty they were. The prices were quite reasonable too, we had wine, a few appies, and a couple rolls and it was only $60! I will definitely be back to Itami!

Itami - a return to great sushi. We have been away from the local sushi experience in Victoria for some time - too long perhaps - and I know all too well that there are some places downtown that need to be explored.<br/><br/>So - we dropped in on April 1st (ironically the first day of a new tax regime...)<br/><br/>Seated immediately - drink and food orders taken within about 5 minutes - ordered 3 classic sushi rolls and some Nagiri sushi - as well as a pork gyoza to start. Food and drink arrived in under 15 minutes - and the room (which is a very, very large room!) was at about 50% capacity.<br/>I have had some great sushi in places like Vancouver, Whistler, Seattle, Portland and San Francisco and I think these examples compared quite favorably - We will be heading back in a few weeks.<br/>Meal with a shared large bottle of Sapporo beer + tip: $40.

Great potential. Wow, our experience at lunch on a weekday was totally different from that of the preceeding reviewers who went for dinner Saturday evening. (Believe me, I would be upset, too.) We were one of the first ones there, so the service was excellent. The chirashi sushi, tuna tataki and tuna sashimi were some of the best we've ever had. We also enjoyed the fresh-tasting "cuke maki" made without rice. Unfortunately, as someone else mentioned, the sunomono salad was a disappointment. We could not detect the slightest hint of vinegar, which for us, is a must. Once they work out the kinks, Itama has the potential to become one of Victoria's top Japanese restaurants.

Dissatisfying Service. We figured that based on the articles in the newspaper and a sensational looking decor and menu, that this place could even try and compete with Japanese Village. Boy, were we wrong. The place was packed when we arrived, but there was fortunately a table available for us after not too long of a wait. It became immediately apparent to both of us that the place is severely understaffed, as there seemed to be almost nobody working the tables. Those who were constantly flew around the restaurant and vanished in the blink of an eye. <br/><br/>After about five or ten minutes, we received our water, tea, and menus. The tea was lackluster and was watered down severely. I was not dissuaded at this point though given the quality of the dishes, surroundings, and great looking menus. We decided to order standard entrees in the hopes that we'd be able to compare them to other restaurants in the region. There's great teriyaki in this city, and Itami wouldn't have to do much to impress us with their beef and chicken entrees.<br/><br/>Another ten minutes go by and we finally receive our miso soups. Small in size and lacking in flavour, it became worrisome to me to think that our waitress barely knew we existed. I saw her maybe three times over the course of our meal, and she seemed too apologetic for her own good... indicating some serious lack of experience or management issues above her.<br/><br/>By this point, we've been in the restaurant for 25 minutes, and all four beverages are empty on the table. Our salads arrive and were quite tasty, but little did we know this would be the last time we'd be seeing food or our waitress. I opted to use the washroom a couple times, hoping to just pass the time and pray for food to arrive... given we were both hungry.<br/><br/>Another twenty minutes go by, and there seems to be food flying out of the kitchen... for everyone except us. No sign of our rice, vegetables, or actual entrees... and our table remained ignored whilst our drinks remained empty. By this point, we were growing pretty agitated... so we asked a hostess to talk to our waitress about the status of our order and whether something had gone wrong with our order, which would be totally understandable given how busy they were.<br/><br/>Another five minutes go by with no contact, no manager, and no nothing. By this point, my partner was growing very upset and I was starting to lose my patience. Having never encountered this situation before, and aware that something was wrong and the customer is always right, I walked up to the front and after asking three unique waitresses for a manager to talk to, I was informed that he was busy and wouldn't be able to talk to me. <br/><br/>It seemed apparent that the waitress had merely asked a chef who promptly told her to make up an excuse. There were a couple of servers who I anticipated were managers, but it was impossible to tell because they were moving around so quickly and a lack of formal dress made it hard to tell whether they were superiors or higher-ups.<br/><br/>At this point, I had lost all faith in the restaurant. It's one thing when a restaurant cannot produce food and beverages, but when they cannot produce a manager to remedy the situation when something goes wrong, that's a fatal flaw if you ask me. I didn't even want that much, just food for my partner and then maybe me if they could swing it. <br/><br/>No manager, no service, and no hope. My heart was the only thing emptier than my stomach at this point. We informed the waitress that we were leaving, and with no sign of any food arriving on our table over the last half hour of waiting and talking to waitresses, we walked out. I've never had to do this before, and felt awful having to.<br/><br/>We felt terrible for the lineup of almost a dozen parties waiting for tables, knowing that they might likely end up in the same situation as us. The two tables next to us seemed to receive no food either, though they hadn't waited as long and seemed a bit more patient. This place may be experiencing a bumpy takeoff or some growing pains, but they will not be receiving any of my business in the future.

Out of Control. My wife and I went there Saturday night..March 30..the same day as a positive article appeared in the TC. Not having made reservations we were seated at the counter. After 10-15 minutes, we ordered 3 starters and 2 rolls, along with a bottle of wine. Five minutes later our server told us they did not have the wine we chose, which was surprising as the wine list is quite short. We chose another bottle, which came at the same time as our first starter, Soft Shelled Crab. The wine was fine, the crab terrible. Had water in it (from defrosting too quickly?)..next starter came 10 minutes later..Tempura Shrimp..which was ok...followed by stir fried asparagus..also OK. At this point we had been there nearly an hour..and then the frustration began, as we waited forever for our rolls. By this time the wine was finished, and when we asked for our rolls status, (a full 90 minutes after we ordered) we were told we had cancelled them. We paid our bill and got out of there. Granted it is early in the cycle for a new restaurant, but there did not seem to be any real organization to what was happening.And it was tough communicating with staff with limited English language skills. Really too bad. We will stick to our favorite,..Shizen Sushi!

Left Hungry. It was our first time here, and everything I had read pointed to a good experience. We waited about 15 minutes to be seated. This is not uncommon in downtown on a Saturday night, so that was ok. The issue began when we were seated. Ordered drinks and they came, had to ask twice for refills. We ordered our food and after waiting about half an hour, I chose not to order a second Sapporo and just see how things went. We got an order of spring rolls, which was just a small portion of our full order. Ok they would bring it out as we ate it...no, that did not happen. During the full one hour after we ordered we watched two other tables leave. The people next to us (couple) got one of their orders while the husband sat and watched his wife eat. 10 minutes later he got his dinner and she was almost done. I finally gave up and left. We decided to go to our "go to" Sushi place Azuma and ran into two other tables of people who had left Itami out of frustration like us. During the hour of waiting I noticed confusion among the staff. I think they were still on a learning curve. I was watching waitress cleaning tables. There did not seem to be a dedicated "bus boy" to allow the waitress more time to deal with orders and getting them out to the tables. I have no idea what was going on in the kitchen, but it appeared that those sitting at the sushi bar got much faster service.

Welcome to Victoria!!. Seven of us arrived last night hungry and left full but not stuffed. We had the combination dinner and the boats kept arriving. I've never seen so much sushi on the table before! From the delicious miso soup to the dessert it was all so fresh and tasty. Some of the fish I had never tried before but it was too tempting to pass up and I'm glad I tried the ones I did. Didn't know what I had, but that was all right! <br/><br/>Husband's chicken/beef dish was a little slow in coming, but it was worth the wait. <br/>Would highly recommend!

Promising!. I've been to Itami twice now, once for dinner and once for lunch and both times it was solid. The Phoenix Roll and Sushi Pizza were both highlights and the toro sashimi was excellent as well. For lunch (I work about 10 paces away which might be dangerous!) I had a bento box that was absolutely massive and all the components were really good; it came with a big container of rice and steak sauce on the side and I liked the added touch of a little tempura coconut jello desert. You can still definitely tell they are brand new though, as some mistakes were made, but they speedily fixed it and the servers were incredibly sweet. I would say Shizen, Ebizo & Sen Zushi still hold the Victoria sushi crown, but they also have the advantage of years of experience which means if they stay on track, Itami could very well be in the big leagues soon.

Fantastic sushi. Some of the best sashimi - by far. Tuna tataki was wonderful too. We go out for Japanese at least once a week and the food quality at Itami was very impressive. Loved it! Definitely pass on the sunomono, though - it left much to be desired.

Came here on opening night. Service was excellent, the interior and ambience were also quite nice. I had the Katsu Don, which was quite well done, and a Dynamite Roll, which was a little disappointing. I will definitely come back, but their sushi lacks good presentation and taste. If they worked harder on their sushi, this would be a new regular sushi place for me. The prices were also quite reasonable -- comparable to others in Victoria.

A brand new restaurant in town that I have been wanting to try out! It has a very nice decor and a very large menu with lots of pictures! I always appreciate pictures (especially of the specialty rolls as you never know what they are trying to describe). My friends got a bento box and some assorted sushi and miso soup. It was all very good and served in an appropriate time for lunch time workers. I got a special roll, the cuke maki roll - no rice, rolled in cucumber and the middle had egg, avocado, crab and salmon. It was delicious and I would order again in a heart beat!

My companion went for a bento box instead – this one with Chicken Katsu and Sesame Chicken. She said that the Katsu was amazing (I tried a bite and the sauce was great) but that the Sesame Chicken was only “ok” since they seemed to be tough and overcooked. It also came with a cube of Agadashi Tofu – which she didn’t like at all as they’d used soft tofu instead of firm tofu (I make it with firm tofu, so that’s what she’s used to…) plus a bit of salad and a bowl of rice with sauce.

The service was exceptional, our every need was seen to. It's just a shame that the package couldn't be complete. The food was lacking and I'm sure Ed will explain further. Personally I couldn't get comfortable in Itami. As nice as it is, I found the interior of nearby Shiki more inviting. I tried hard to ask our server "Alan" if the sushi chef's were properly trained in Japan but sadly there was a language barrier and my Japanese was not up to snuff.