I've been coming to Aikan back when it was called Aburi every so often when I wanted to eat a lot of sushi all at once with their AYCE format. My last trip on Sunday was a good time, and Gita did a heck of a job getting my food out as fast as I could eat them (even though I came in at 8:35pm and asked for 40 pieces of sushi in 2 rounds lol) Their food and service still remains a good reason for me to come back from time to time. read more

Natari give a really good example of what good service is, great food and awesome service. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

Got the premium and those pieces alone are worth the price of admission. Quality of cooked foods, sushi, and rolls was impressive. Also the service from checking in and our servers were awesome. We had a large group and they took care of us really well. Highly highly recommend for AYCE sushi. read more

the best all the time great service and food My family loved the food here Very clean and fresh and delicious for sure read more

Service is slow. Waitress that we have is not attentive and doesn't even make eye contacts when she brings water or food. I see she serves other tables with a smile and no issues, they seem like return customers She warms up at the end of our lunch.. guess she doesn't like to serve first time new comers. Other servers are not as attentive.. took us 5+ minutes to get a waitress to come assist us. Food is above average. Ordered several nigiri and doesn't have any fish taste so the quality is fresh. The speed they serve food.. makes me sleepy. I stopped at round 2 cuz I got tired of waiting for my food and I just wanted to leave. read more

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Aikan's food is one of the best, if not the best AYCE sushi spot in the 626 area in my opinion. Food is always good, but my experience this time was lackluster. The front desk people are always friendly and helpful, but the service was lacking this time around. I felt that I was waiting around for a while for our server to take our order. We eventually flagged down a separate waiter to take our order... and then someone approached our table and asked to take our order, but we informed them it was already taken. The food coming to our table was very slow and... for the lack of a better word, suspicious. In previous times, and photos via Yelp, the kaarage, and fried squid appetizers ordered... feed one. However, the orders we received were about 3x the quantity. Granted we were a party of 6, this is not the norm. If we wanted more than one serving, I think it would make sense that we'd have ordered more than one serving. I also noted that we ordered four California rolls, but ended receiving 6 or 8 (I could not quite recall, as I ended up eating them anyways). After giving us some appetizers, and California and Unagi rolls, we waited for a while before the second wave arrived. I couldn't shake it off that it was a tactic to let us eat the "cheap" stuff and have us get full quicker.... but I guess this is typical of an AYCE spot. I just had to point it out since the experience was lackluster. Last thing that stood out to me was one of the/our waiter. Maybe it's a language barrier thing as he carried a Chinese accent, but I felt that the waiter was direct and as a result, condescending towards our table. Our table was relatively "empty," with a plate of one takoyaki left on it. He was pointing out and stating "there's one left." I was confused as to what he was talking about, and he repeats there's one left. If he wanted the takoyaki, he could've just asked. Jokes aside, I found it to be rude as this was the way he spoke to us throughout the night. read more

Great hight quality food and sushi, well made woth patience by chef. Service is amazing and attentive. Ambiance is great, not too loud and chaotic . Definitely coming back again . My favorite is seared sushi such as tuna and fresh eel. Fried oysters was delicious. Broiled muscles is good and small kinds . Will update more later read more

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This is my favorite AYCE sushi chain. Every location I've gone to has hit the mark on what you need for an AYCE sushi experience. The menu is extensive and the quality of the food is always excellent. There's also plenty of non-sushi options as well such as ramen bowls and meats. Not everyone at the table has to order AYCE as well which is nice. It's also fairly priced at $36 during lunch and $43 at dinner. The inside of the place is classy but casual. This Pasadena location , though, didn't have the best service. Especially what seems to be the manager at the front desk who was heavily talking down the couple in front of us. She even had to go "crash out" in the back and was very rude to her coworkers. Besides that I recommend this spot (or any other Aikan location)! read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Aikan Special Roll, Tonkotsu Ramen, and Chicken Teriyaki - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

One of the best AYCE sushi places that I have been too. I actually want to come back while writing this review. Everything was fresh and great tasting. The service was excellent. The place was clean and welcoming. I recommend this place to everyone and can't wait to come back! Hopefully they open one in the inland empire and I'll go every week read more

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I came here the other day and I took away one star because they said it would be a 20 minute wait we waiting like over an hour. I understand that that's not their fault. Always because people don't leave but what a terrible time estimate. Once we sat down, though the food came quickly and it was really good. The server even let us know that a large party came in to get an order in before the large party did. Everything was really nice and fresh! I always enjoy the scallop and Ikura options on the premium menu. I'm sad that the soft shell crab is only one serving, but I understand it cannot be unlimited. Inside is a fun atmosphere. Everyone seems very jovial. Parking is pretty bad around the area, but it's possible to find some free or pay by the hour parking. read more

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My coworkers and I celebrated our two interns graduating at Aikan on a Thursday night. We were a party of 9. We did the regular AYCE dinner. 3 rounds in 2 hours. Our favorites were the salmon kama, yellowtail kama, tonkotsu ramen, udon, and seared tuna poke, salmon poke, and yellowtail poke. My coworkers complimented the flavor of the beef teriyaki. Thank you to management for comping us dessert: 9 macaron sandwiches filled with different ice cream flavors (green tea, mango, strawberry, and vanilla). You made this an unforgettable experience for our interns. We look forward to future celebrations at Aikan. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Food ordered (Party of 9) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

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I went on a Sunday night, it was a calm atmosphere. The staff was very personable which is nice. This location is bigger than the one in Northridge. I did AYE regular. Baked mussels very good! karrage chicken could improve as well as octopus balls, less breading more meat pleaseee. edemame was great too. The sashimi so good, The spicy tuna was really good too. Overall I would recommend sashimi, nigiri and fresh rolls! read more

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Food came out on time and great quality sushi for the price. I love their jalapeño shrimp and their mussels. I totally over order the seared shrimp since we love the freshness. Also when ordering the sushi, it comes in half orders so you don't get too full. read more

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First time came here to try this all you can eat Japanese Restaurant everyone is raving about it located in Pasadena. We ordered a Premium tier for 2 . Food was fresh, some were too spicy and the squid legs were too tough ! And the sushi, rice were a bit too thick as compared to their competitors which is a thinner layer, but the all the fish was fresh and savory! Service was excellent! We were given 2 hours to enjoy our meal. At the end I spotted the coffee macaroon ice cream and gave it a try, it was delicious and perfect sweetness ~ you gotta try it~!!! It was full house on a mid weekday. Parking was a pay per hour stall by the curb. They're aesthetic pictures on the outside of the restaurant. Come check it out yourself ~! read more

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We came here to celebrate of our dear friend's BIRTHDAY. We got there at 5:30pm on a SATURDAY and there were many tables open. However, one of our party member wasn't going to arrive until 6:30pm so we decided to walk to TARGET and come back! LINES FORM at 6:30pm!!! Very busy during dinner hours!!! AYCE: 10/10 half of our table eats only cooked foods and the other half can eat raw foods. We enjoyed ordering the FRIED OYSTERS, DYNAMITE, SHISHITO PEPPERS, BAKED MUSSELS, TAKOYAKI, etc... SASHIMI: 10/10 Looks very fresh! My party really enjoyed all the sashimi that they can eat. They enjoyed the squid nigiri, salmon, toro, surf clam, eel, etc... SERVICE: Excellent! Food kept coming continuously. Very attentive service even though gratuity was automatically charged 18% for a party of 6... Worth trying!! Great place to bring your friends and family too!!! PRO TIP: Get there early to avoid lines! AIKAN SUSHI & RAMEN IS WORTH THE TRIP, NO COMPLAININ!!!!!!!! read more

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It's 2026 and I see the prices go up again! AYCE price for dinner, weekends, holidays: $42.99 regular , $54.99 premium Lunch: $35.99 regular, $47.99 premium Premium (13) items include: uni, bluefin toro, ama ebi, ikura, truffle halibut, Japanese scallop (big ones), sea bass, salmon toro, yellowtail toro, oyster, soft shell crab, shishamo tempura, and gyu-don (small bowl). The order form has 3 rounds, but there's a 2 hour limit. The whole party must order the same option. Service is good. read more

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This is long overdue, we've been to Aikan at least a dozen times in Pasadena and to be honest it gets better every time. The quality of the fish for AYCE is amazing and the prices are reasonable as of 2026. Staff is always friendly and the food always arrives very quickly. Our go to AYCE spot for myself, family and friends. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - AYCE 1st round - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

Totally worth the premium price. The selections are great. The taste & quality is great. Staffs were great. We went on a weekday lunch (the cheapest option!). I think it was $35 per person. It was surprisingly quite a full house, being it was a weekday lunch. Upon seated you'll get a sheet of paper. Jot down the quantity of what you want. You get 3 rounds on the first paper (but the server should tell you, don't worry if you need more rounds, they'll bring you a new paper). After you write down your first round, they'll take it to the kitchen, then bring it back so you can write down your second round, and so on. We notice other tables order pretty much everything on the menu. Their table was full that you had to stack the plates. Other table order a bunch of rice rolls or fried stuff, that'll fill you up quick. We know our limits now at age 30s... so we mostly stick with the carpaccio and poke and nigiri. They're so good quality fish & not overpacked with rice. The rice is nicely packed, loose but not too loose. Perfect. We were actually super stuffed after the second round, so we just left. I know it's ayce, but honestly we'd rather leave feeling good with delicious food than feel sick trying to overstuff 'getting our money's worth'. We parked at the street. Make sure to have the app so you can just pay online if you need to top off. We didn't exceed the 2 hours (but if you're walking around anywhere else, it may be handy). read more

The all you can eat menu is worth the wait! The fish is so fresh and tasty. Staff were consistently checking in and making sure we got everything we ordered. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

One of my favorite AYCE sushi spots! The quality and taste are always super consistent, which is honestly hard to find with ayce. The fish-to-rice ratio is perfect- not too heavy on the rice, so you can actually enjoy more variety without getting full too fast. I also really like their appetizer selection- there's a great variety, and the portions are smaller, which is perfect for ayce since you can try more dishes without filling up too quickly. It does get really busy, but the service never disappoints. Everyone is so friendly and attentive, from the bussers to the hostess, servers, and even the manager. Always a great experience coming here! read more

This is the cutest little restaurant in Pasadena. Perfect for family dinners or date nights! I am absolutely impressed by this place. Their food was amazing. Everything we got, including the ramen and udon was delicious and not lacking flavor. The crispy rice with salmon was my favorite thing ever. The mussels were cooked perfectly, and flavored well. The sushi rolls were good in portion. I cannot wait to come back to visit Pasadena just for this place. I wish they had anything comparable in Sacramento, but no we don't. It's a must try! The service was quick and awesome. All you can eat, 3 rounds. We were full by round 2. I LOVE this place! read more

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Aikan is our go-to sushi place with consistent quality at a great price. Our server, Hans, reccomended the bluefin toro and it was our favorite bite of the night! As usual, we had a night of great vibes and excellence service! read more

It's been a while since I came here for lunch and dinner. I was here for lunch on the July 4th weekend. Food was great, so was the service. I like how spacious the restaurant is. When we got here for lunch, it wasn't crowded at all. For lunch, we had the bento box (steak and shrimp tempura), fried squid and soft shell crab. The steak was a bit overcooked but had lot of flavor. The tempura was light and not greasy at all! The batter was perfect. The soft shell crab was great, 2 in one order. As for appetizer, they were ok (a little on the small size) but ok for the price. The squid was so tender! I would get this and the soft shell crab again. We didn't do the AYCE, but did see other customers got them. Overall, I had a good time here, and would come here again for sure. read more

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Didn't do all you can eat yesterday & ordered 3 specialty rolls with 12 dozen oysters The food was good & tasty. The oysters has a lot of sauce on it which tasted good but I would prefer less or on the side because I personally like raw oysters plain with lemon. My table had 3 people & it was about $70 including tax. I would have just opt for AYCE because my 2 friends weren't full read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - raw oysters, ultimate salmon, tiger roll & philadelphia roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Food is great. Wait kinda sucks but its expected for a place that people actually want to eat at. Jared took care of us and provided great service. If you like drinking get the AYCE drinks too. Best part is they have UNI on their menu. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

This is my family's favorite AYCE sushi in Pasadena! The trick is to go during odd hours so you don't have to wait long. I appreciate that the menu has pictures, which makes the ordering very user friendly. The portions are smaller, but that means you can try more things from their extensive menu. Super modern and up to date interior, so it's nice to bring ppl here. Staff is wonderful, especially Natari. Very engaging, helpful, and great service! Always recommend this place :) read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Salmon sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

Even though Fenny wasn't working today, we had a great time - as usual!! We ordered an amazing variety of sushi, salads, rolls and appetizers. Everything was excellent!! Edgardo did a great job as well. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

I don't usually try all you can eat sushi spots just the thought of the quality being not so good. Gave aikan sushi & ramen a try and was not disappointed. Actually great quality, great service, very clean bar by the sushi chefs, and a good menu with a lot of choices. We got a bunch of different fish's, sushi, hand rolls, and rolls. Everything was good read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

We came here for AYCE sushi and were not disappointed. Their Sushi is typical of most North American Japanese restaurants. Ramen, appetizers and a sushi menu featuring Complex American style Maki rolls, nigiri, sashimi and appetizers. They also feature a robust selection of no rice sushi choices. Now when your first round arrives you will note that some items like the Nigiri are 1/2 size pieces and the rolls have 2-6 cuts. This is a feature and not a bug. Remember this is all you can eat so taste everything and order more of the items you like best. Smaller works better here. Less commitment to overeating. Service is fast and friendly. Highly recommend. read more

The waiting is always too long the food quality change all sushi sashimi I even complained about their rice for sushi is very soft it falls apart are and very thinly sliced like paper slices this is our 4th time to eat here the service kinda slow the bathroom always a mess it's just disappointing read more

Solely based on service today. My family often visit and today was the first time we truly experienced terrible service. There seemed to be a lot of miscommunication regarding seating our party. Our server ignored our group for over 15 minutes while attending to tables who sat after us. We were genuinely shocked at the service today since it's never been this bad. The restaurant wasn't busy, we were there at an off hour, when we sat half the restaurant was empty. Food in general was tasty as usual. Our original server disappeared at some point and we had a new server who was far better. Street parking only. Free Sunday parking. read more

Not anything special about this place but it's reliable! The sushi was fresh and flavored well. No complaints , the rice portion of the nigiri was small! :) sashimi is super small and thin unlike the picture of the menu, veggie croquette was yummmmmy Service was fabulous they were nice!! @ Lily my girl !!!! Highly recommend . Went during the lunch special 35.99 (regular) AYCE The songs they played could be a lot better to set the mood I wasn't a fan it made me emotional #womeninstem Bathroom is private and clean! read more

My favorite AYCE sushi place! Our server was Mike and he was attentive, the service was super fast for AYCE. I've come here a lot and they have great value ($36 for weekday lunch). The ambiance is great and very chill restaurant with bar seating too. The fish is high quality and not too much rice to fish ratio. read more

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This is a great spot if you're looking for a variety of all-you-can-eat sushi options. The sushi is fresh, and the appetizers are surprisingly good too. One of my favorites is the fried squid legs--they're always crispy and flavorful. The prices have gone up compared to a few years ago, but I still think it's reasonably priced for what you get. Honestly, you don't have to order the premium menu; the regular AYCE menu has plenty of good choices and is more than satisfying. The only downside is parking. They don't have their own parking lot, so you'll need to find street parking, which can be a bit inconvenient, especially during busy hours. Overall, it's a solid AYCE sushi restaurant with good food, plenty of variety, and fair prices. I'd definitely come back. read more

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Theres never really a right and wrong time to come...Lol... Depending on wait time and if there's a holiday, weekend. The last time we were at this location I believe it was Father's Day weekend. Boy was there a wait for a table but we got lucky as there was seating at the sushi bar. Fast forward to today. There were a good amount of people in line for a table which we asked if there was a wait at the bar area. No wait, that was perfect for us. Bar seating is good as there's usually not a wait for it but it tends to be tight as in food layout. If they bring out a lot of the food at once, it's tight. The seating tends to be for two as we've never seen more than that. I'm sure they could seat more if you have a bigger group. You have the à la carte menu, AYCE both regular or premium. They normally ask which one you want before seated as it's marked on the ordering slips. They pretty much have everything for everyone. For the price of regular AYCE, it's worth it. It's basically the same as ordering 2 rolls and a drink. But instead, you have unlimited options for 2 hours. Premium, there's about 8 or so extra items available. First round comes with it but second and third is an additional fee. I've tried the premium before which was nice but the regular is always worth it. I'm not a roll person so bring me the nigiri. Lots of them please. They have loads of starters which we do order a few. But don't get full beforehand. The mussels is a major must. The way it's prepared, it's amazing and always must for us. Shishito peppers, the Portuguese sausage, jalapeño shrimps, and popcorn scallops were excellent. Salmon collars is also part of starters which was very tasty. Nice big chunks with ponzu sauce. With rolls, there's a good amount of rice hence we never order it. But they do have some options which has no rice. Bite size of goodness. Recently at a few other locations, we've noticed that the potions of the sashimi is non existent. They've cut down on portions big time. It was pretty much a sliver of fish...lol... Still tasty with the sauce and crunchy garlic. Then comes the sushi. It normally comes out in sessions if you're ordering a lot. There's been time when some items never came out but this visit, we received everything. For the price, quality was great. Everything was tasty and not too big which makes it good for having a lot. Service was always great. Plates are alway cleared out when it's empty to make room. We noticed that they didn't have any of the low soy sauce on any of the tables. Not sure if it's available. And lastly, a full portion of the spicy tonkatsu ramen. Broth was quite tasty and the all condiments added were perfect. It's quite filling. Food was great. Service was excellent. Street parking available. Pricewise, it's worth it for AYCE. read more

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All you can eat premium $54.99. If you'd like all, you can eat sushi you might want to try this place if you're a little high maintenance and you prepare more premium cut then I would pass. I tried the all-you-can-eat premium for $54.99. The first set was Premium cut and that was the best. The rest were mediocre. The cool part is that you get to try every single thing if you wanted to - if your stomach can handle it that is. They also had options for noodles. I tried the ramen and udon. Not all of your party need to partake in the all you can eat. Making it pretty nice to go in a big group. Parking can be challenging. We found street parking that was close by. read more

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There were crumbs in our booth. The hostess just stood there watching us clean off the booth with our hands so we could sit down. Never offering or asking if we would like someone to clean the seats for us. She didn't even offer us a napkin. Just watched us the whole time. And because we took too long cleaning off our own seats, she put the menu down and said "don't forget to eat of your food because we charge for leftovers." RUDE. read more

Been wanting to try this place for a while now, and it was all right. The sushi here was what you would expect from a AYCE sushi joint, it is was not bad. That has a lot of different apps that were not bad. I enjoy the super Philly roll and their regular Philly roll. The inside is spacious and looks modern. Service here was good. read more

Aikan Sushi & Ramen - Philly roll and super Philly roll and half udon - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Okay, so been meaning to try this place forever. Luckily my son was off from school on a weekday so we could try the lunch, which is a mercifully reduced cost from the dinner and weekend AYCE prices. I believe you can go with the AYCE menu or the a la carte way. This is on Green Street in mid-Pasadena, where there is lots of construction, parking laws, those stupid covid outside dining areas that no one uses anymore but take up blocks of parking spots (Aikan doesn't have this but go up one block to Colorado and the fact is the city council needs to have these all removed now!). Anyway, went on a weekday for lunch and mercifully found parking on the block (one and only spot), so we got lucky. The restaurant itself is very nicely decorated inside and the service is very friendly, although I did notice that while the older Asian gentleman was working his butt off delivering dishes, a couple of young Asian female servers were either working slow or too busy talking to off-duty female workers who came in just to chat. So, while I wouldn't complain about the service, a tough manager could get it running much more efficiently. But let's get to the food, since we did AYCE, which is always great for trying lots of stuff. I will say from the start that I only eat ramen and cooked Japanese food. I'm not a sushi person, mainly cause I hate the taste of seaweed. Probably due to growing up in a beach town, swimming in the ocean, and having to end up with that stuff in your mouth as a kid. Anyway, I don't like seaweed. However, all the food we tried was generally fantastic. The highlights right off the bat were the spicy tuna on crispy rice, the beef teriyaki, the cucumber salad (sunomono), and the spicy tonkatsu ramen. The jalapeño shrimp was good. The shrimp are giant, and the sauce is as described. It maybe isn't the most shining combination of ingredients, however. Maybe some kind of wasabi sauce might work better. I don't know. The gyoza were good, but once again no pan fried option (which you know is always points deducted from me!). You can get them boiled/steamed or the way they come, deep fried. Sorry, but deep fried feels like a lazy way of cooking gyoza. Then we get to the chicken. No white meat. Sigh... I really hate dark meat chicken. As always, it proved to be chewy and rubbery, though I will say it wasn't the worst. Still it put me off the chicken teriyaki, and karaage, which would both be home-runs with white meat chicken. Finally, there was the "spicy chicken" which is listed as spicy teriyaki chicken on the ordering sheet. It's not bad at all, but it's not teriyaki and it's not even Japanese. It taste literally like fajita style Mexican chicken. So, it doesn't fit in flavor-wise with the rest of the dishes. So, to sum it up, it is way better than Mabu Sushi and Ramen in El Monte, who seem to be an exact menu rip-off of this place. Lunch is totally worth it. Dinner, I don't know... cause not only is dinner pricey but there seems to always be a huge wait any night of the week especially if you dare coming on the weekend. I also cannot rate the sushi, so keep that in mind as most people would probably be focused on this. And, to be fair, I don't regularly eat breakfast or lunch, so I don't feel I made the most of this lunch experience since a late night AYCE would be the ideal time for me rather than lunch. Also, I will just add that of all these Japanese AYCE I've tried, I personally think the champion for food quality and price is Orange Fish in La Verne. I'd probably head there first for dinner, but would come back here for a lunch as long as I was hungry enough to really make a go of it. My recommendation, give them a try, especially for lunch. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. My recommendation to the restaurant... get white meat chicken and pan fry those gyoza and you'll be the champions in town my friends. Give it a try! read more

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Service was horrible ... never again .. I never thought it could be that bad........I had to wait for everything and I had to ask for wasabi three times read more