I just had the 2 worst (take out) sushi rolls that I've ever had. Both were dry, bland and tasteless. Threw half away and regretted not ordering from Fuji Grill after the first bite. Live and learn. Sayonara, Samurai! read more

This place is located in a strip mall near Tops and the Dollar store, so on the outset, isn't somewhere you would really go for sushi. The inside of the restaurant is pretty clean, but quite dark (the lights are quite dim). The employees were friendly and checked in on us a couple times while we were eating. I ordered the Chirashi, and my husband ordered dontaksu, and we didn't have to wait too long for both dishes to come out. Coming from the west coast, I think I had a high expectation for the freshness of the sushi...but the freshness of the sashimi at Samurai was average. Also, the Chirashi costs about $20-ish (with tax), but I don't think the amount/freshness of the sushi was worth that much. The presentation is nice with vibrant colors, and the sashimi cuts are on the thicker side, but overall taste was just average. Nothing that really melts in your mouth. :( I think the biggest advantage this place has is the accessibility to Transit and also how fast the food can be made. If you're lookin into a quick pick up meal like sushi rolls, I don't think this is a bad place, but if you're craving fresh, good sashimi, I wouldn't go here. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Chirashi (approximately $20 with tax) - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

We went here tonight and it was horrible. We hadn't been here in years. The food and service used to be so great. After tonight, we will never go back. We ordered food for 4 people. After a while, my son's food came. 15 minutes later, the three of us were still waiting for our food. I asked where it was and it got chaotic. The waitress who was now helping us, who was very nice, began running around showing different employees our order. She came back over and said it will another 5-7 minutes. My wife's and my food finally come. It is now a half hour since my son's food came. We assume our daughter's food is coming. 15 minutes later, no food. I had to go through the same process again. In the end, my daughter's food came an hour after my son's. How did the waiter not follow up?!? How does this happen?!? In the end the bring the bill and don't comp one item. The food wasn't even good which is sad because the food used to be great here. read more

I love it here. I have been coming for years. The owners are so sweet and the food amazing!!!! I can have gluten free things here and everything is so good. Highly recommend read more

The food here was tasteful (and a little pricey), I would recommend the hibachi out of what I ordered. The chicken curry was a little bland to me. I ordered takeout so the chicken and curry arrived separately, but I was not aware the chicken was breaded. Maybe I missed that on the menu? I would have preferred grilled chicken. It was a decent meal, although I would not order again due to lack of flavor. The sushi came in a generous size and was pretty tasty. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Hibachi Chicken with Fried Rice, Angry Dragon Roll, Japanese Chicken Curry - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

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Raw fish heaven. I don't remember enjoying sushi this fresh since Florida. In land locked Buffalo, I didn't expect to find this high-quality of fish in a little plaza next to a Subway. Thank you to Lindsay A and Yelp for getting me to drive half an hour to try this place for date night. We came in and there was some confusion with the hostess not having our reservation (we made them using OpenTable's integration), but despite that we were seated right away. There's seating at both regular tables and hibachi-style. Being seated in a regular table, we ordered an appetizer to start with: the wasabi shrimp dumplings. The menu said there would be six to the order, but we only had four. After bringing this up to our waitress, she let us know they used bigger rolls this time, so we let it go (even though we still would have preferred to have been forewarned). The rolls themselves were DELICIOUS, but they had such a huge kick to them! So intense! For our main entrees, we both ordered the sushi & sashimi combo which came to $21.95 per person. If you're thinking about ordering the "Love Boat for 2" which comes to $69...don't! Just order the Sushi & Sashimi combo for each of you instead. With the Love Boat for 2, you only get an extra piece of sashimi and an extra roll, but it's definitely not worth the extra $20! Anyway, we asked for one of the tuna rolls to be substituted in our roll for the spicy shrimp roll and the waitress informed there would be an extra $1 charge. I got a little upset with the up charge (even tho it was small), especially considering that I already felt a little stiffed with the shrimp wasabi rolls. I let her know and they ended up taking off the $1 charge and giving us 10% off the bill (which I did not expect at all and they didn't have to), but kudos to them for the great customer service! The sushi/sashimi plate came out....and it was grande! Tuna, Salmon and Yellowtail sashimi. All large cuts and glistening with freshness. You can tell the tuna cut was prime as there was very little blood/darker spots on it. Every single piece melted in your mouth, but the most flavorful was probably the yellowtail. The nigiri was equally delicious and the rolls we enjoyed were divine. Even the ginger tasted different than the sushi I'm used to. A+ food and great service. If you're looking for the freshest sushi in Buffalo, look no further. (FYI, their menu also has some Thai, filet mignon, etc, but I can't speak for any of it or their hibachi). read more

Samurai Buffalo - Wasabi shrimp dumplings - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

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One of my favorite spots for sushi. While the hibachis and bento boxes here are good too, I don't think they are as good everytime as sometimes they are overly sweet. But their chef special sushis are always great to my opinion. My personal favorite is the Geisha roll which I really recommend. The service is spot on too. read more

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The food here is not good. The ramen was overcooked and tasted like bad eggs. Sushi had a good flavor, but was just a mushy mass. Service was not great either. Server was impatient and didn't check on us after our food came. The place was not busy. read more

We were very worried when James and Laurie sold the restaurant, but the new owner maintained the excellent quality of the food. Whew! The new owner is not warm and welcoming as Laurie was, which takes one star from my rating. read more

No complaints whatsoever about Samurai Buffalo - they delivered (literally) a great experience. When I travel, I am lazy and love to order delivery, specifically sushi - so I was happy to find a well-rated place that would deliver to my hotel. I was promised delivery in 45-60 minutes, but my order arrived in less than 45m which is always a nice surprise. Everything was nicely packaged too - with my sushi separated from the hot stuff. I ordered miso soup (your basic, but served piping hot and in a pretty large container), wasabi shumai (better than average) and a Volcano roll. The Volcano is a spicy tuna, crab and avocado roll topped with sriracha. As you can see in the photo, they cleverly formed the roll into a "mountain" shape and piped on the hot sauce as if it was lava - I always appreciate a creative presentation. As to taste, it was excellent. The roll was absolutely packed full of tuna - almost too much for a single bite and it was fresh and tasty. Prices are pretty reasonable too with most specialty rolls under $12. A winner all around. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Volcano roll - looks tasty! - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

Very competent and good food. Eel bowl, various rolls and bentos were tasty and well done. On the list for returns. Only give 5s to culinary epiphanies, so a 4 is doing good from me. read more

Hands down best sushi!!! My Mom and I have been coming here for many years now, it is our favorite sushi spot! I have tried a lot of different sushi places even in Florida and nothing compares for me. We love Laura, she is the greatest server and so attentive and efficient. She has become a friend to us! We dine in, but during covid we have been doing take out and it's just as amazing! A must go to, highly recommend! I would give 10 stars if I could.. read more

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Had to try this place after all the high Yelp reviews. We weren't disappointed. All of our Sushi was fresh and delicious. This will be our new go to place for sushi. read more

From the outside it is a nice spot tucked away in a strip mall. I ordered take out so I can't tell you much other than the Interior looked nice and well kept. The food was on a table waiting for me. I have to be honest it wasn't the best. Maybe because it was take out, maybe because I ordered pad Thai at a sushi restaurant. It lacked flavor and I couldn't even finish it. Not very impressed. read more

best sushi, love all the noodle dishes and the salad is amazing too! Owners are fabulous, always there!

Omg!!! I just had Ubereats deliver and boy I was not dissapointed. I forgot to take pics...but I had the soft shell crab roll, gyoza, Shumai, Mango salad and chicken bento box....EVERYTHING was delish!! I want to go back for hibachi and more items on the menu! AAAA+++ read more

I can only speak (type) for my takeout sushi experience. I ordered the eel avocado roll and the crunchy crab roll. I was a walk-in so I looked around while waiting. Nice comfortable atmosphere. The sushi was fantastic. Fresh and flavorful. A perfect amount of each ingredient (where some places use too much rice). I plan to come again and likely as a seated customer. read more

Everything was just O.K. To me there was not anything special about this place and it was my very typical Chinese food experience, it just more expensive. read more

Excellent sushi and sashimi! Great service and very friendly staff. Quiet and easy to talk to your group. Great place

I understand that times are hard now and all restaurants are trying their best to give food to people but if you do not have the staff or the ability to produce orders please do not allow more orders than you can handle. I ordered at 3PM asked if I could pick it up at 6PM and the woman was super nice and said yes. Asked what I wanted and to confirm the time. When I arrived at 6, a guy in front of me said that he did the same and that he was supposed to get his food at 5:30PM and was still waiting. No one knew if their food was ready or if the food, which is raw fish, was just sitting in bags waiting. They are doing online and phone call orders and cannot keep up. I understand they are trying but clearly you cannot keep up. I can't even get ahold of someone to cancel my order and I highly doubt they will even call me to say it is ready. This is the second time this happened. The first time, they told me they were not taking orders for at least 45 minutes. My suggestion is that if you want to stay open, re evaluate what you can do so that you don't make orders, like mine today, to then find out I would not be getting it. Correction... just got a call, 35 minutes after I was supposed to get my order, the girl asked if I still wanted my order. Clearly they didn't even make it yet. No asking if I was there or if it was ready. I said well you promised me 6PM and she started to laugh and asked if I wanted it still. I said no because I was afraid to eat it if it might have been sitting out. She laughed again and asked if I still wanted it. I said no. She then laughed again and said so your cancelling. Clearly I am! Good luck! read more

Came here for an early lunch on a weekday. I ordered a 3 maki roll combo (along with miso soup) for about $10. I chose Eel & Avocado, Crunchy Spicy Tuna, and Philadelphia (w/o cuke). My fiancé ordered the 2 maki roll combo (along with salad) for about $7. She went with Crunchy Spicy Crab and Spicy White Tuna. All 5 rolls were very good. My favorite (as always) was the white tuna. The eel & avocado was a close second. Incredible value! read more

Samurai Buffalo - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

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Such a great local restaurant! The host is always quick and helpful! The food is great and they are very accommodating to food allergies!

Samurai is a gem in the suburbs of Buffalo. I've been coming here for years and have never been disappointed with their sushi. I brought my mom here for lunch and we were seated right away which was nice as I was starving! I love their lunch menu! Short and sweet! One of their best lunch deals I would say is their bento box, it comes with sushi, entree rice, gyoza, tempura and soup! Plenty for less than 15 dollars (depends on the entree). It seems to be one of the cheapest lunch bento boxes with plenty of food! Having said that, this time I had gone for sushi. I love their lunch deal on sushi. I got the sushi lunch which comes with 5 pieces of nigiri and one tuna roll. I asked for the salmon roll to be substituted for tuna and they changed it, this is nice as not all restaurants accept substitutions on lunch. The sushi was fresh, with an amazing presentation. I love the little details they add to the plate. Fresh and light, this filled me up. One critique I do have about the restaurant is the service can be a bit slow during dinner, the food however is always spectacular. I choose to come during lunch for an amazing deal and a filling meal! read more

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Have to deduct a star for the SUPER long wait time for dinner deliveries. I don't care how good your food is, if I'm constantly waiting an extra 20-30 mins -- on top of the estimated hour wait time -- to get food I have to reheat, mama will likely not be happy. My first time ordering here was fine, but things have gone downhill fast. (Paying the same menu prices as dine-in patrons + $5.99 delivery fee + tip = please try to get here a little faster.) On a positive note, their three sushi roll lunch special is the bomb [dot] com. I've ordered it many days in a row and am unashamed. read more

Best lunch specials hands down! So much so that me and the fiancé came here for lunch the last two days!! :) Today he got a three roll combo which is $9.95 for lunch and comes with your choice of soup or salad ... He got the white tuna roll, the spicy crunchy salmon and the yellowtail scallion. The salmon was the best today I have to say, beating out our beloved white tuna! I ordered the pad Thai which was 6.95 and also comes with a choice of soup or salad. Then we decided to be really bad and ordered dessert: the exotic bomba with mango, passion fruit and raspberry ice creams all in a ball that's dipped in white chocolate and frizzed solid. Def worth the meager $4.95 that it costs! Seriously best spot for lunch! And they even have these lunch specials on the weekends too!! Best deal and fresh fish! read more

Samurai Buffalo - Spider roll (soft shell crab) - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

I've been frequenting Samurai since it opened a few years ago. I've lived in Japan in the past, so I'm always craving something resembling the dishes you would find there. Samurai comes pretty close. It is one of my favorite Japanese places in the area, mainly because the prices are such a great deal, particularly the lunch bento boxes, and they have a variety of sushi and other Japanese dishes. I also like the fact that you can order their food online and pick it up in person (a perfect solution for me during finals week---no time to cook or go to a sit down restaurant) I recently came back to Samurai after a few months away from the Buffalo area and noticed a complete menu change, so I'm going to write the rest of the review on the dish I had with the overhauled menu. I ordered the chicken katsu and my brother ordered the chicken teriyaki. The portion of the chicken katsu was just gigantic--enough for probably 3 meals and also came with miso soup AND salad AND rice. It was a little strange because it was served over a bed of shredded lettuce and mango pieces (I've personally never seen katsu served this way). The katsu was not quite crispy enough for my taste but still pretty good. My brother was IN LOVE with the chicken teriyaki. Although this was one of my first times introducing him to Japanese food, he just could not stop raving about the sauce. My brother is not one who normally raves over food, so I was surprised how much he loved the chicken teriyaki. I believe with the overhaul they also have hibachi, but I have yet to try it. I have not had their sushi with the new menu but I can't imagine it has changed much --- fresh and delicious! The service here is also the best I've had compared to similar restaurants in the area. The hostess (who I think may be the owner/manager..) is always so kind! Even when I went to pick food up after ordering online, they are super friendly. read more

This place is worth a try or few ;) . The atmosphere is very fun especially with a big group at the hibachi grill. I have had the chicken, shrimp, vegetable and steak hibachi. My favorite was the steak and shrimp hibachi.DELICIOUS! I would not recommend the calamari. My friend got it and it seemed to rubbery. Then again it could have just been a one time thing or how it was cooked on the grill. So Keep that in mind when you order! On a separate occasion, I tried the geisha roll instead of hibachi. The geisha roll consists of crunchy spicy tuna, spicy salmon, and avocado rolled special Kombu seaweed. It was very tasty and had just the right amount of heat but for some reason I was not full. I would suggest ordering 2 rolls: one special roll and one standard roll if you are on the hungrier side. read more

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I am now a regular here. I go here at least once a week and I am confident this place is in the top 3 sushi restaurants in Buffalo and at the top in the northern suburbs. The sushi is always fresh, service is impeccable and super friendly, and the prices are on par for sushi in Buffalo. I recommend the rolls and my coworkers recommend the Bento boxes. It's a perfect place for lunch in the $10 range. You will not be disappointed here! read more

Today, I smartened up and asked if I could replace the cucumber in their Philly rolls with avocado, and they were more than happy to oblige for no extra cost. I also tried the spicy salmon rolls, which were pretty good but start to pack a punch by the time you're halfway through. Their plum wine is red, sweet and a little spicy. Very nice. The ambiance is cozy. The bar is somewhat separate from the restaurant portion. Service was good. read more

I used to come here weekly. Amazing prices for good food. My go-to order is salmon teriyaki bento but the sushi is good too. The tempura ice cream is a must! The staff is friendly. I never had a bad experience here. There is also free wifi. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Salmon Teriyaki Bento Box - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

This experience was simply outstanding. The quality of sushi is excellent, it could possibly be the best sushi in the area (for an affordable price). The speed of service was excellent, and the Miso soup is always hot! read more

It's sometimes really hard to write a review of a place like this. We've been coming here since it opened (I didn't have yelp at the time, haha), since before they had a hibachi (I mean, it wasn't that long ago, but still). This is the first place that ever convinced me to actually try sushi. Their fish is fresh. Like actually fresh. You're not accosted with fishy smell when you walk in, you can't even smell the fish when they bring it to the table. No fishy smell means very fresh fish. The yellow tail, that's the gateway fish. That's what got me to try sushi, that's what I convinced my friends to try, and it's what got them into sushi as well. It's so good! The hibachi is consistently delicious, and all of the other food I have had here has been a hit. I don't think I have ever really been disappointed with anything I've ordered, except maybe the eel. But that's not really their fault, eel's just awful (unless you like eel, then it's probably great). If you're new to sushi food, try the yellow tail à la carte, just to get a taste. If you're not new to sushi, try it anyway. It's very good. Also, the butterfly roll. Frankly, I could (and often do) make a meal out of some sushi and a few rolls. Yellow tail! read more

Samurai Buffalo - Butterfly roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

I ordered the shrimp tempura bento to takeout. Five long pieces of shrimp tempura plus assorted tempura, 6 pieces sushi, 3 pieces gyoza, miso soup or salad, rice. $16.95 but lasted for two meals. I can't wait for this place to open up after the pandemic ends. Been there several times and always good. Service excellent. Short waiting times for the food to be brought to the table. read more

Don't pass this Sushi place up. It's fresh and owner is very engaged in servicing. They have all kinds of options and tempura is excellent, lighter coating. read more

So good! I work at steak stone but wanted to try a differential place. Still thinking about it the next day. Usually eat all raw but the Happy Girl Roll was so freakin good. Can't wait to go back. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

Okay so the fact that I don't already wast have a review from 2009 is ridiculou, like how'd i miss this place in my review process?!?! So first of all this place is AMAZING! I love the Bento box and spicy crunchy crab roll! This place used to deliver to me at whatever job I went to!! I made sure they had multiple orders from others to make sure the trip was worth it!! Food was always fresh whenever I ordered! I can't wait to return here bc it's been a little bit since I ordered last. read more

This is my favorite place to get Japanese food. Samurai is not only affordable but high quality. I was happy to find them open on the 4th of July so I could enjoy lunch with my family. Being a holiday, the place was quiet, we sat comfortably together and felt quite at home as we ate. The server was excellent today, she walked us through advice to ensure I would not have an allergic reaction to any of the shellfish. Thankfully they brought the kids food our first (without us having to ask), if you are a parent you know how important that is. The food has always been consistently delicious every time. I have eaten here. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

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So glad I discovered this place! I've been dying for sushi and landed on this gem! They have the most amazing sushi lunch special. Super fresh tasting sushi rolls and great hot entrees! Ordered their 3 sushi roll lunch special and the chicken with peanut sauce. Everything was extremely delicious! Can't wait to order again!! read more

Really enjoyed the sushi and discovered a new roll. We came for late dinner and lobster bisque was gone, but that was my only dissapointment. Upscale atmosphere. Plaza, so easy parking. Reasonable prices. Both Habachi and sushi are available. Well decorated and clean restrooms. Enough on the menu for anyone to find something they can eat. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Sushi side - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York

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Love this place, service is friendly and it is usually quiet (not sure why because the food hasn't disappointed), the chicken hibachi is large enough for 2. read more

Samurai Buffalo - Yummm never disappoints - Sushi Bars Near Me - East Amherst, New York