Seto Sushi

I ordered the Hotate Sanshoku Don it was supposed to come with 3 pieces Urchin but they told me they couldn't provide it; however, they offered to substitute it with farm salmon. They said they could only offer it in Nigiri form. I agreed to have just the Don. They then didn't offer a price correction for 3 pieces of salmon in the sea urchins place. Service was okay, but for the value of the meal it was much over priced. I didn't tip, and then the waitress asked why I didn't tip. I explained to her, that the dish should've been price adjusted so I had to adjust the tip. I felt bad initially but good that I stood up for what makes sense. Anyways, I'll stick to other sushi places.

Delicious food, terrible service. (scroll down for food review) To the employee that asked why I didn’t leave a tip and started preaching to me about Canadian culture: if you’re expecting that “Canada culture is tipping” then perhaps you should also follow Canadian service cultures. As a Canadian who has worked in the service industry for years, I feel I have a decent idea of what those are (to name a few, you should at the very least be accommodating and friendly and definitely not hostile or judgmental). I had a reservation for 5:30pm (I have proof that I called in my call history which they even asked to check at one point, although they didn’t follow through). When we arrived, the employee at the front seemed confused after finding some sort of problem in their list of reservations. Eventually they were able to find the details - it seems they had not heard my name over the phone correctly - however the lady I had talked to while making the reservation on the phone did not indicate in any way that she needed clarification. At this point I felt that they doubted I had ever called and I did not feel welcomed at all. I brushed it off as a one off mistake and that maybe I was reading the atmosphere incorrectly. After several instances of bad/nonexistent service (forgetting a third menu for our group of three and not noticing until we pointed it out, never asking us if we’d like anything to drink or how the food was, a general attitude of hostility, the list goes on...) I had decided to not include a tip. After we paid for our meal an employee came up to us at our table and asked “why didn’t two of you tip, this is Canada culture”. She kept repeating it without really letting us say anything. I really felt like she was just trying to make a scene rather than solve a problem here despite her initial proclamation that she was asking in order to improve service. She could’ve easily spoken to us at the door, so that the confrontation wouldn’t bother other people who were eating. I was just going to leave a review on the amazing food but after this happened I felt the need to say something. If you’re planning to eat here, I would recommend take out as that way you can enjoy the food without having a traumatic public shaming event with a server. I got the Chirashi-don ($44), it was beautifully presented and the seafood was very fresh. I think the extra detail of garnishing the rice with seaweed even before plating the assorted fish on top really was so thoughtful. My friends shared the Seto sushi boat which was enormous - bigger than any sushi boat I’ve seen. The oysters and the honeydew were my favourite. The anmitsu was nicely presented, I feel it could do with a bit more fruit - but that’s just my own preference. Overall, the food was very good (although a bit on the pricey side for what you get). I would never dine in again but might consider take out.

Saba Shio Box and Box B. The teriyaki chicken was a bit dry and lacked flavour. The sunomono was not what I expected. It was not served in a bowl with vinegar rather it was served dry in my lunch Box B. The BBQ saba tasted pretty good but sadly that was also dry. They were pretty busy during the lunch hour so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they were in a rush. Overall, the restaurant was ok and the prices are a bit higher compared to the others.