Before ending our camping trip, we stopped by this cute Japanese restaurant before our ferry. The restaurant is very spacious and clean with modern decor. There wasn't a lineup when we got there, so we were seated right away. Their menu has lots of options of different rolls, udon, sashimi etc. Because it was lunch time, we ordered some bento box. I ordered bento box A with California roll for my daughter, and chicken udon for myself. My hubby ordered some sushi taco, and a Ubuild bento box. The food came pretty slow, which was strange. There wasn't a lot of customers when we got there. The bento boxes were pretty fresh with good portion. The sushi taco was a little yummy, however, the deep fried seaweed is on the greasy side with lots of batter. I was a little disappointed with the chicken udon, it was pretty standard and the chicken was pretty soggy. However, nothing beats a hot bowl of soup in a rainy day. Overall, we still enjoyed our meal. Not sure if I will go back, but I'm glad we got to experience it. read more

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This was our second time eating here, we had mid expectations. We ordered two bento boxes to share. The deep fried components tasted like old fryer oil. Which was 90% of the bento box. When we told the waitress we didn't like it she took it away and just brought us our bill without offering us anything else. There was no discount or compensation. We left hungry and sad. read more

Haven't dined in for a while but was impressed by the quality and presentation of the food. I think they renovated the inside a bit, so it feels more spacious. Staff are friendly and helpful, albeit service was a bit slow. Onto the food! I got a Chirashi don ($23) and it was aesthetically packed full of fresh sashimi. There was hamachi, Atlantic salmon, sockeye salmon, tuna, octopus, surf clam, scallop, tai, shrimp and tamago! I love the sauce it comes with, probably a ponzu style light soy sauce? We also got a scallop oshi ($19) and Salmon oshi ($18) which were delicious, they melted in my mouth and had a perfect ratio of fish to rice. My friends got the cheese tonkatsu (limited quantities) and a volcano roll... Which came with literal fire! I left with half my chirashi don to go and we were all stuffed! Can't wait to go back again soon! read more

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Take out only, somewhat limited menu. Everything was delicious. Reasonably priced and ready very quickly. I'll be back.

We hadn't been to Sushi Ryu for a while, but we were craving sushi the other day and so decided to go. It was a late lunch for us on a Sunday. We arrived just before 2:00pm. The parking lot was basically empty, which is unusual. Inside I saw only two other tables. We were greeted, seated, and given menus in under three minutes. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. No water, no tea. A waitress walked by and smiled but kept walking. Finally I stepped up to the front to request some service. The young guy who had initially seated us was up there yukking it up with a cashier. By the expression on his face, it was pretty evident he'd forgotten about us. One of three tables in the restaurant and we'd been forgotten? He finally brought our tea, but then scurried away without taking our order. After another few minutes, the server who had cruised by earlier stopped by. She asked if we were ready to order. By this time I was getting annoyed by the whole experience and truthfully told her we were ready ten minutes ago. As we had an interminably long time to look at the menu, we noted that it looked new and somewhat truncated. A reduced selection of rolls in particular, from what we could recall. Favourites that we'd ordered previously weren't there. We ordered the house roll and a selection of nigiri. When the food arrived, the roll looked nice but we noticed right away that the nigiri pieces were smaller since our last visit. Shrinkflation? We had to ask for side plates. The table hadn't been set properly and it obviously hadn't occurred to the server or host to do anything about it before the food arrived. More waiting. Then as we were ready to leave, we had to ask twice for the check! You can kind of see how this dismal level of service might occur if the place was full and they were short staffed. But as mentioned, we were one of only three tables; probably there were more staff than customers. This used to be our favorite sushi place. But the pleasant lunch date we'd been looking forward to was characterized by annoyance and frustration. I honestly can't see us returning to Sushi Ryu any time soon. read more

Made a last minute reservation at Ryu on our 1 night trip in Nanaimo Turns out half the restaurants are closed Sunday. Did not realize this when I planned.... Ryu to the rescue. I gave them a call around 6pm and they were able to secure me a table at 730. The food and service was nothing short of EXCELLENT! we had their salmon tatami roll as well as the Red delight with a few apps. Everything that came out was better than the next - sushi was of high quality (fresh) and tasty! read more

Sushi Ryu - The red delight and Salmon Tataki rolls were STELLAR - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

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For starters , We ordered the hamachi Kama, which is a Favourite dish of ours. What arrived was a massive work of art. The portion was huge and the fish was prepared perfectly. It was so crispy and fatty that it set the tone for an incredible meal. I have to admit I didn't have huge expectations on a quick sushi meal passing through Nanaimo but this place FAR exceeded expectations. The sashimi cuts were chunky SLABS and the okonomiaki was so big we took it to go. 10/10 would 100% recommend. read more

Sushi Ryu - Hamachi Kama - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

On the evening of July 24,I was repeatedly asked if I needed a takeout box while we was still eating, which felt very rude and like we were being rushed to leave. This happened a month ago as well When my friend and I came here for lunch. There were a lot of empty table in the restaurant at that time.Seems it's becoming a pattern, and it's really frustrating.The sashimi was very stale and fishy.We returned it, but after arrived home and found it was still being charged.Very bad experience will never go to this restaurant again. read more

Stopped in here as the other sushi place nearby was closed. It was fabulous! Waitresses and other staff were masked, social distancing adhered to and most importantly the food was fabulous! This may be our favourite new sushi! Hubby loves the Bento Box! read more

Sushi Ryu - Bento Box yummmmmmy! - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

Really fresh seafood, great flavors carefully made sushi, quality environment, friendly servers and reasonable pricing!

Had heard only good reviews...It was late evening & other restaurants crowded... I dropped in...Austere at first glance but Oh ....I was wrong...such perfect decor & lighting.... Warmly Welcomed. Being very hungry, the friendly server suggested the Bento Box My eyes grew larger with each layer of serving. All of the many offerings were among my favourites. Carafe of tea, miso soup, Teriyaki beef, 2 salads, sushi rolls......on & on & on!!! Delicious! Have been back time & time again craving this special feast. Maybe tonight's the night read more

Sashimi and nigiri were quite good, but rolls were huge - too big to eat without deconstructing. One of my biggest pet peeves is when restaurants cram a roll full of fake crab to the point where the roll is impossible to eat as it should be, in one bite. The other thing that turned me right off is the staff started doing all their end of day cleaning while multiple tables were still eating. They do close at 9, and this started around 8:50/8:55. One of the girls had the dirty mop bucket out and was washing the floors, while another swept around our table and others. We had to watch our step on the wet floors on the way out so as not to slip. I used to work in restaurants myself. When closing time was posted as 9, that didn't mean everyone out the door at 9. Guests finished their meals and staff busied themselves prepping tables for the morning, or did unobtrusive cleaning so guests were still able to enjoy their meals. Heavier cleaning like mopping the floors was done once all guests were gone. I'm not one to normally leave a review and I certainly don't want to make restaurant workers' lives more difficult, because they deal with a ton of crap and do it with a smile. All the staff here were absolutely lovely and pleasant to deal with - just some business practices may need to be dealt with to improve the customer experience. read more

We came here for lunch on our way to the airport. Service was friendly and attentive. We ordered the red dragon roll, chicken teriyaki bento box and beef udon. Food came out promptly and generous portions. Presentation was very nice and everything tasted delicious. Covid protocol was followed with staff wearing face masks and tables spread out. Would stop by again the next time we are in Nanaimo. read more

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This place is way underrated. The sushi is an excellent value, being both reasonably priced and generously portioned. Don't be fooled by the casual ambiance, this place a true hidden gem. We were especially impressed with the salmon tataki roll with seared salmon and a slice of lemon. We asked for the sauce on the side and got a homemade pear dressing and homemade hot sauce in addition to the standard wasabi mayo. The service was fast and friendly, but be patient with them as it seems they can get a little overwhelmed when there is a big rush of customers. Overall we left extremely satisfied. read more

Sushi Ryu - Japanese Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

Don't go to Nori. Come here. Better food, prices and way more chill. They care about your patronage. read more

We've made this our regular sushi haunt. Great sushi, great service, decent prices. Can't go wrong here. We always let the server recommend one new roll each time we visit, last time we got a salmon roll with mango, it was delicious. If you're in Nanaimo, you should give this place a try. read more

We went for lunch the other day. Sushi was fresh, rice seasoned perfectly. Toro sashimi was the favourite - delicious! They also have gluten free soy sauce if you need it. read more

I don't normally review restaurants, but this could be one of the best sushi restaurants I've ever been to, and my experience actually made me want to write a great review. In BC, there's a lot of sushi places, but pretty much all of them have some flaw that keeps me from wholeheartedly recommending them to others. Tojo's is too expensive, Oyama's service is not great, and the so called good ones near Metrotown are either poor quality, or requires a long lineup. The ones downtown are just "meh" in terms of the dining-out experience unless it's one of those really expensive joints (again, for those places, the same complaint about Tojo's applies. Ajisai's awesome, but I hate waiting 30-45 minutes in a packed line to eat. Thus, to find such a great place in Nanaimo was a pleasant surprise. This place has tremendous portions, great prices, fantastic service, and most importantly, INCREDIBLE QUALITY! It's the complete package really. The chef obviously knows what he's doing, and everything tasted incredibly fresh and well crafted. This place is at least in the top 3 for sushi places in the Vancouver/Vancouver Island area. I predict this place will be very popular once the word is out. I highly recommend it. read more

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Really slow service. It took over an hour for them to make a bowl of chicken udon. By the time we were done, we had been in the restaurant for two hours. read more

MY FAVOURITE SUSHI RESTAURANT in nanaimo! i love the mood here, the weird little shoes on the platform at the front door, and the pink flowers in the bathroom. the sushi is so good, & fresh every time i have had it. i love coming here. the waitresses are all very nice and accommodating to vegans. read more

Not fresh avocado. Had to pick out the brown bits. Some of the Veg tempura was inedible because it was too hard to eat. Skimpy sushi rolls (although most sushi places are in Nanaimo). Staff was friendly. Never going back. read more

As a self proclaimed sushi aficionado who has had to travel to the mainland in order to get reasonably priced but still high quality sushi I am ecstatic to have found this restaurant. Let's hope they don't do what the others have done and start to shrink their portions because right now the quality and portion size are excellent. Hands down better than the other Sushi places in Nanaimo. read more

Poor service (after making eye contact with 4 employees, had to approach one to ask if I should be seated or find one myself. There was only one clean table and it was for 4 people... I was alone. Was asked if I wanted water/tea twice after ordering a coke and having to remind them. Took over 5 mins to get the coke after reminding them, which arrived with the miso, over 10 mins after I'd placed my order) When the food finally came it was very average. Overpriced. read more

The sushi was decent, but we sat there for 50 minutes waiting my my children's (aged 4 and 7) chicken donburi which never materialized! When I eventually queried it the waitress apologized but simply said they were way behind. They also forgot my agedashi tofu. Very clean restaurant. read more

Great food but wow the service is horrible. Been here three times and the day time server was just horrible. Would drop plates on table. Wouldn't come by to check on food or if wanted to order more. Hoping they train their staff better to how to treat customers read more

This might be the best food we have ever had!!! The service was great. The sashimi was amazing. So fresh. Price point was very good!! We will be returning often. read more

I found this sushi really yummy, nice take-out in North Nanaimo. The restaurant looks nice.

Maybe just hit a bad night, but food was super slow taking over 45 mins to get. Had to walk up to the counter to get refills on our drinks. Place was only 1/3 full on a Friday night. Have to say when the food finally arrived it was good. Not a great first experience though. Will likely try it again, hoping for much better next time. read more

we ate here as a large group. service was friendly and courteous. we had a variety of sushi between the 10 of us and shared the selection. food quality was very good (but nit the best i have had, but very good). the biggest surprise was when the bill arrived. this was some of the cheapest group sushi i have ever seen. so to sum up: very good quality sushi, good service and excellent pricing. read more