The absolute most horrible food. The seafood yakisoba noodles were canned seafood. There was not one fresh piece of seafood. The salmon sashimi still had skin on it (you'd think a sushi restaurant would know how to cut fish) the chicken teriyaki was mostly old battered pieces of chicken the size of a dime and dry (barely any teriyaki sauce) frozen spring rolls (I'm pretty sure from Costco) the tuna tataki salad was dry (no dressing and uncooked vermicelli noodles. I can't believe I paid $80 for food we barely touched. we just paid and left without a word and will never return. My partner is on point for saying that he wouldn't even feed that food to a dog. It's beyond me how that place is still open. It was a huge sign that at dinner rush there was no one in there. read more

Everything we have had is really good. Monkey brains and vegetarian rolls are perfect when in the mood for avocado.

Been eating there for a few years, food is excellent, unfortunately the service there has gone way downhill. Tip for management: please watch S2 EP 9 of The Bear. In fact watch the whole season. They served my husband his teriyaki immediately & brought me nothing for 30 minutes, didn't even ask if we wanted anything to drink. In fact they served the entire restaurant before bringing me anything. When I finally did flag someone down & asked for a tea they literally never brought it. The server laughed at me a couple times & was not apologetic in any way. We had movie tickets so when my order, a sashimi salad & 1 lone piece of sushi finally arrived I had to scarf it down. I hope they fix their wait staff problem. I have always loved this place until now. read more

I am so upset that I will never be showing my face in here again for my favourite take out treat 5 minutes from home. I liked the monkey brains but this business must be in a bad way to have treated customers the way they did two months ago. Yes I don't like leaving negative reviews so it took me this long to finally take the time to write even though I know it will benefit me in no way except waste another half hour of my time. I really tried to let it go but it's such cringe behavior that I just can't. It took me a long time to convince my group to forgo their usual trip to Umai and try here instead. First off my friend is Celiac and was made to feel like an absolute burden for asking questions about gluten content of menu items. Not cool and I had already had a similar experience with a vegan friend a few months before.. but I was still going to come back with people who don't have dietary restrictions. Secondly, the service was incredibly slow despite only being a few tables seated and on top of being noticeably rude.. but if that was all then again I would have been back for my favorite and maybe just not eat in again. But here's where they lost a regular and diehard customer.. I tried something new and ordered their calamari. Huge mistake for a number of reasons. It was the most rubbery squid I've ever attempted to eat in my life. Literally squeaking in your teeth and you can't get a bite to separate to swallow it. I tried to pawn it off on my table of four and no one could bring themselves to eat more than the first bite. I politely explained to the server that I don't normally send things back but it was too rubbery that I can't eat it. So she cleared the plate and came back a minute later to inform me that the chef said it's always that way. A bit annoyed now that the already rude server was back (and finally quick!) to argue I tell her that no one at the table wanted to eat it and that it was very overcooked. She assured me they would take it off the bill. Instead she sneakily charged me for it anyways. She came back with the bills, read out the items to each customer leaving me last even though I had cash in hand ready to pay.. by this time my group is very impatient with how long service took especially when we sat with an empty table waiting on bills for more than 30 mins.. and I'm also embarrassed that I had to be confrontational not once but twice in front of friends I don't see that often.. anyways she read the items aloud off my bill like she had the others, conveniently leaving out the calamari and didn't give me my slip to read for myself. Unfortunately I paid in haste with a tip even.. then realized after the fact it was too expensive for just my two other items and that the calamari was left on there. I was absolutely blindsided by behavior I wouldn't expect in Nanaimo from a business I've been supporting for 8 years over a $12 menu item and it feels very ick. Will not be back and I will be telling anyone I know that likes Sushi to go elsewhere. If you like Calamari treat yourself to Alexandra's Bistro. It's consistently amazing, I'm never disappointed with service and they show that they appreciate your support in a number of ways. read more

Been coming here every few months for a few years now. Service and food have always been good, except for my last visit. My wife and I ordered our usual but decided to try a new roll as well. Nowhere on the menu did it say anything about having wasabi sauce on the roll and both my wife and I hate wasabi. We politely asked if we could return it but was rudely told we should have said something before ordering. Our waitress then snarled and went to get a manager while they were all making snarky remarks in the back. Manager eventually took it off our bill but the whole situation has left a sour taste in our mouths. Don't think we will return. Terrible waitress! read more

This is my favourite sushi in Nanaimo by far. I've probably eaten here 10 times. Every time I come to the island, this is a must-visit! The fish is very fresh and flavourful. The service is excellent. The owner is fantastic! Highly recommended and I can't wait to come back again! read more

Dami Sushi Japanese Restaurant - Chirashi Don - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

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Stellar service and food. The large order we placed came out very quickly and it looked and tasted delicious. Our waitress was fantastic as well. Overall great experience. read more

The service was excellent, and the food was delicious, and came quickly. Don't let the strip mall detour you, the interior is well laid out with Japanese decor. read more

Pros: nice interior. Menu is decent. Cons: the quality of the food is average at best. The raw fish was just meh, the rolls were just not that great. Result: Unfortunately, for that kind of price point, i'll be sticking other sushi shops in town. read more

I'm so glad I came here! The sushi is really fresh and has a nice texture as well. I love salmon, and it tastes even better when it's fresh. My dad and I also ordered the tuna (picture only shows one slice because I forgot to take one with all of them). Their honey mustard is so good and goes so well with anything you get. As for the udon, I like how it's soft. The tempura was slightly soggy, but it still tasted great. If you're looking for great sushi, come here! read more

Dami Sushi Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

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The food was good, but not some of the best we've had on the island. I found the rice undercooked, and the salmon a bit too slimy. read more

Hours not as advertised. States 9 pm close on door and website. Apparently 8:21 is the new 9. Said we missed the 8:30 last call even though we appeared to be 9 minutes early for such last call. Pretty ridiculous and rude behavior. Save your time, money/ effort and go somewhere that wants to be a restaurant. read more

Dami Sushi Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

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After trying several different sushi joints in Nanaimo, this is where we have landed as our regular haunt. As vegans, it's oftentimes hard to eat out, the vegetarian rolls section combined with the standard avocado cucumber roll gives our family of 6 a lot of choices. The gomae salad is solid. The vegetable tempura is decent. The cones are great value. All in all, we've probably been here 10 times, the service is fast and friendly and you genuinely get the feeing like the chefs are happy you are in their restaurant. Great experience. read more

Charleen was a fantastic server. Very sweet, welcoming, attentive and effective. The food was awesome and fresh. Mom enjoyed the sashimi, and we all enjoyed the miso soup and rolls. Great vegan options. I like the seaweed salad! Top notch avocado. So creamy and filling and great prices. I'd come here all the time if I didn't live in California. Thank you! read more

Dami Sushi Japanese Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

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We visited this place based on Yelp reviews when shopping in North Nanaimo. Delightful bento box selections for lunch, topped off with the 'monkey brains' deep-fried avocado and fillings appetizer dish (nothing to do with either monkeys or brains by the way). Cordial attentive service even though the place was packed. Reasonable prices. We'll be back and we'll recommend this one to our friends. One hint The restaurant is in a little strip mall across Rutherford Road from Rutherford Mall (Sears, etc.). It's a bit tricky to get to, so here's the drill ... drive up Rutherford Road from the Island Highway and take a right turn when you get to the 4-way lights leading to the Sears side of Rutherford mall. Stay to the right all the way around the back of this small strip mall and take the first right entrance into the strip mall. Dami Sushi will be on the right hand side of the parking lot. Leaving, just reverse the process. read more

Love the bento boxes here. Fast fresh and delicious for lunch. They have a few booths and tables. It's a small restaurant but big on flavour. Highly recommend their spinach gomae read more

You know those "Chinese" restaurants where everything is deep fried and coated in sweet sauces? Dami might be the sushi equivalent. The restaurant's most popular appetizer is a tempura-battered, deep-fried avocado stuffed with crab salad, topped off with a mixture of eel sauce and mayonnaise. Quite good if you eat one slice, but it gets overwhelmingly oily if you go beyond that. Unfortunately our other appetizer is just as cholesterol-heavy: jalapeno peppers stuffed with spicy tuna tempura, deep-fried. Then our sushi, which was supposed to be a dynamite roll topped with an array of raw fish, came drenched in eel sauce, spicy mayo, hot sauce and what I think might be a combination of condensed milk and kewpie sweet mayonnaise (yes, I counted). (By drenched I mean the sauces soaked the rice such that picking one up with the chopsticks was difficult.) On top of all that was a mountain of deep-fried sweet potato shreds and tempura batter, which we had to clear away to get to the sushi. We also had some less oily choices, but unfortunately none was very impressive: The sashimi has not entirely defrosted by the time it came to our table. The spicy salmon roll did not fully close. Given how small the roll is, we decided to give the restaurant the benefit of the doubt and conclude that since we came at a weird hour, it was probably an apprentice making the roll, not the chef. In all, Dami appears to be a restaurant that depends on the deep fryer and an overdose of sauces to give its sushi some "flair". It's largely up to one's personal taste whether such a style appeals to one's taste buds. On the plus side, the restaurant decor is very pleasant and the service is impeccable, but I don't think that quite makes up for the food. read more

I can't emphasize at how fresh the fish is. I had a big feast at the restaurant. The restaurant is just off the highway and tucked away in a plaza. The place was not overly busy but they had a people coming in and out throughout the evening. I had tuna & salmon sashimi, spicy tuna roll and a kamakazi roll. In Japan, apparently sushi rolls are not dipped in soy sauce as the sushi is eaten for its flavour. You can tell how fresh the fish is by its odour (should not have a fishy odour) and the texture. the sushi had no odour, and the texture was firm, like what fresh fish should be. The best part about the experience was that on Tuesday nights, hot sake was $2. Eat up and drink up everyone. This is place great. read more

Fantastic place to have sushi. Have it here or take it home. Reasonable prices and great quality. Located behind north town centre it is convenient when your short on time. Great selection of rolls as well as bento boxes for lunch. read more

Dami Sushi Japanese Restaurant - Nice atmosphere and quick service. - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

One of the best sushi places in town! Excellent menu with a great variety of items. Fresh fish and fantastic chicken karrage and tempura. Best operating hours of any place in Nanaimo. Super fast with take out as well!! read more

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I had the tuna nigiri, salmon nigiri, gyoza, and chicken yakidori. The attention to detail in the decor and customer service was delightful. For a new restaurant (there is also one in Qualicum Beach) the owners are clearly passionate about what they do. The Gyoza was the best I have ever had. The pastry was a little bit crumbly and almost seemed baked with a perfect inside. The dipping sauce was a tangy spicy pleasure. For the chicken yakidori the chicken and vegetables were perfectly cooked and the marinade deliciously barbecuey. I am a sushi snob from Vancouver and I was very impressed with the quality of the tuna and salmon. The texture was melt in your mouth with a fresh flavour on par with the top Japanese restaurants in Vancouver. Dami in Japanese means the people - the same as Nanaimo. I think that is a great tribute to this city. I come to Nanaimo on business regularly and I will go out of my way to eat at Dami Sushi every time. read more

Wanted to let anyone else living in or visiting Nanaimo (sadly not well covered by Yelp), this place is great! We have not had 5 huge pieces of salmon sashimi for $6 in a long time. The bento boxes were also a terrific deal. The cooked and uncooked food is of very high quality. We especially love the tuna up here in Vancouver area, totally different than the states - a whiter, more fatty quality than the lean red cuts we are used to eating. When you put great quality, traditional sushi together with great prices, you have a fantastic place. Add on incredibly nice service, and it gets into the 5 star realm. We have eaten at many restaurants in Nanaimo, and this is one of the best - regardless of cuisine type. If you like sushi, get over here. read more

Incredible! Everything was great, one example I had assorted tempura - which included shrimp onion broccoli yam zucchini and bean.... Nice Had many samples of everything and all was super tasty and fresh including the Monkey Brains - WOW - get 'em Service was fast and very friendly too Can't go wrong here! read more

My daughter is on a sushi kick these days so on our "Girls Day" she chose Dami because she likes the sign (she is 5 so sometimes that's how we choose). We shared: Tuna Tataki - tasty tuna but we are a saucy family so would have loved more ponzu Prawn Tempura - tasty but not much different than anywhere else Philadelphia Roll - awesome. My daughter ate all but one of the pieces Dynamite Roll - also good but nothing unique We will be back as it has been a reliably good sushi restaurant. read more

Came to this restaurant based on Yelp & glad we did! Had to try the "monkey brains" just for the name! It was delicious - still trying to figure out how they did the avocado without making it greasy - so light & crispy - tempura style. Hubby had the salmon roe & tobiko sushi and we shared some tempura & sushi roll. Everything was fresh & service was excellent! We'd recommend to others who happen to be in the area. Prices are reasonable. read more

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Our search for good sushi continues... Which brought us to Dami.... and it was good. I love the use of sauces, and obviously fresh local crab. My husband loves the lame supermarket, imported, frozen crab... So he wasn't as keen about the fishiness of it.... The fisherman in me rejoiced! The sashimi had the most beautiful presentation I have ever seen at a sushi restaurant. read more

Dami Sushi Japanese Restaurant - Dami roll, Alaska roll, kamikaze tuna roll - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

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3.5-4 stars, it's fresh, friendly, clean and pretty tasty. All in all decent value and I have returned a couple times as it is closer and more convenient than my favourite place north of town. Worth the stop. read more

Went to Dami on a weekday evening. The place was busy but nothing crazy. Looks like they were under staffed. Only two ladies serving the whole place. It took 20 minutes before anyone even took a drink order. Food came quick enough but they forgot our Miso Soups and a roll. Would have mentioned it to the server, but she never came around again. Many people in the restaurant were missing things from their order or requesting more water etc. The servers did not seem very experience, although they were very nice. It took us 1.5 hours to finish our meal after waiting for service and eating. Food was good! read more

What?! this is a strip mall location but it is seriously high class dining (with strip mall prices). SO GOOD. Gluten Free? No problem! They brought us gluten free soy sauce and bent over backwards to accommodate each dish. I've never seen this in years of living in Vancouver.... Then, the chef sent out an amuse-bouche for each person in the restaurant, REAL crab cakes, that were unbelievable. So good. And they were plated as if in a fine dining restaurant, with some little bugles arranged like palm trees in a spicy/sweet mayonnaise pond. Adorable and delicious. If you are driving through Nanaimo, this is the best place to stop! read more

So good. Absolutely love the sushi at this place. Service could be more attentive but the food makes up for this flaw. Best unagi ever and the basic California roll is even delicious. Love the "Hello" and "Thank you" from the sushi artists. read more

The foods are terrible here. We came to try the foods here as we are sitting at this restaurant now just because we've read so many good reviews but please people, do not waste your monies here at this one. I feel so bad at the owner of this one but they don't know anything! And the big language problems here. They are also not a Japanese. They are Korean and why all these Koreans are running the Japanese restaurant in this town as well as in Vancouver. Do they know anything about Japanese foods? I know the Korean culture and the foods very much since I've lived in Korea for 14 years and 8 years in Japan read more

Nanaimo....run, don't walk to Dami Sushi! This place is top notch....highest quality, great menu.....so impressed to find this place, in an old Taco Time no less....what a great surprise. Try the Crazy Roll, it was fabulous..... read more

Thankful for the awesome Yelp and Trip Advisor reviews for this place, which convinced my family of 5 to try it for dinner tonight. The food was absolutely delicious, the prices were more than reasonable, and the service was impeccable. One of the best parts of our meal was when the waitress brought over an appetizer roll for our group to try (on the house) while our order was being prepared... the sushi chefs noticed that I was pregnant and made a special piece just for me since I can't consume raw fish! We were so touched at how observant and kind that gesture was, and it was quite tasty! :) Too bad we don't live around here, since we'd love to return! read more

Really love this place. Sushi is always fresh, the place is clean and doesn't smell like fish(always a red flag). Yummy chef special rolls. This is our family favorite sushi spot in north Nanaimo. read more

I agree five stars. Visiting from Los Angeles and everything was yummy and reasonably priced

As I ate the unagi I was transported to a splashing river in the mountains of Japan. No really, I can't believe how good the sushi is here. The mackerel and toro were perfect; all the nigiri was fresh fresh fresh (!!) on a Sunday evening. The Dami roll is pure decadence and the monkey brains appy is just plain GOOD. This is a serious gem for Nanaimo - finally a sushi restaurant worth talking about! read more

Food taste great. Price is fair

Service was really good. Food was good. They went out of their way to change a few things up due to some food intolerances I have, without even asking them to, which I found to be a really sweet gesture. Thank you for a good night Dami sushi! :) read more

I love this restaurant! High quality food, distinctive tasting and reasonably priced. Add the friendly greeting as you walk in and it makes a great experience. This will be a frequent stop for me on my way through Nanaimo. read more

Definitely our favourite sushi place in nanaimo. Service is good and prices are great. Get the monkey brains for sure!