I've been to this location a few times and agree with most of the reviews. The food is not the main problem but it's the service. We usually arrive at 11am when there are no other customers and it takes 20 minutes for them to deliver something to our table. When we came at 12pm it was kinda busy and took 30 minutes. I saw the couple beside us just stare at the table the entire time. Even the miso soup which simply needs to be poured from the pot into a bowl, takes a long time (isn't served until you're halfway through your meal). Ordered a club soda to drink and the cup was pretty dirty. Has some white flakes, I think they call that calcium buildup from the dishwasher. The tea cup was clean and I enjoyed the green tea very much. Aside from the service, the food is generally decent. Not a place to bring your first date but it's fine if you're going out with friends. My Philadelphia roll had browning salmon inside which I quickly realized after eating one and tasting something weird. I'm a vegetarian so I did not try any of the chicken or beef items which they have a lot of, but the man beside me ordered some sour chicken which looked delicious. Overall it's not a bad place. I don't recommend going alone because you'll be sitting at the table like an idiot waiting for your food unless you have some emails to tend to. TIP: When they start bringing your first order, send in your second order on the paper since that needs another 30 minutes to be prepared and you need 10 to devour the food. read more

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They tell you they close for an hour between 3:30-4:30 but can't seat you after 2:45 even if it's one person. They close 45 minutes...before they close for an hour. Service is shit, nothings fresh. Walk 100 feet over to pho thi fusion. Sushi is still shit over there, but atleast the pho is ok. read more

1000 sushi island is extremely disappointing. The server named JIT is extremely rude!!! I suggest to send her in training to speak to the customers properly. Food is not good at all read more

1000 Sushi Islands - Food - Sushi Bars Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

I went for supper and ordered from the a la carte menu. The food was delicious, all of it. Miso soup, mushroom and seafood soup, battered scallops, and a sushi platter. I barely touched soy sauce. I didn't wait for more than a minute for the miso soup, and my other soup and appetizer followed shortly after. Upon seating you're provided with ginger slices (refreshing and delicious), wasabi, and soy sauce. Also a pair of chopsticks and a napkin. You have to decide before you order if you're ordering a la carte or ordering all-you-can-eat. With all-you-can-eat there's an extra charge if you don't eat everything you ordered, I think that's standard practice among sushi restaurants. The all-you-can-eat price per person changes depending on the time of day. The miso soup is in a regular small bowl, but note if you order other soups they may involve a lot of (delicious) liquid. So you have to manage your appetite and expected intake in view of that. I arrived before 5pm and the place was filling steadily through the hour I was there, a very popular place. There's no particular server assigned to you it seems, so whomever is nearest can help you. read more

I honestly only ever come here when I'm absolutely desperate to fill my sushi craving and too lazy to drive further, or if the people I'm with are buying. It's the only all-you-can-eat sushi in the immediate area, otherwise, Pho Thi Fusion next door is an Asian fusion restaurant that does decent rolls a la carte. All the times that I've eaten here, which have been few and far between, I've had the weirdest experience. I went to the one on Carling once years and years ago and also had a strange experience, so I thought I'd give this one a shot, but it's about the same in terms of quality and service. The first time, I had ordered about 10 slices of sashimi each of white tuna and salmon - what came was not only half frozen, but looked like not even a quarter of an average slice, about the size of a small fingernail, and obviously difficult to pick up and dip into the soy sauce. My husband, who at the time wasn't eating sashimi, couldn't believe it, or my face. I was appalled and ordered maybe 20-30 more "slices". They also threw the plates at me to the point that some of the items were sliding out of them, and though they clear the tables quickly, they take awhile to fill up your water or tea and walk away so fast that it's hard to ask them for it - running themes for every visit afterward. Another time, they didn't bring at least three of the items we ordered, so we started to keep a second sheet to keep track of what was/wasn't coming. A time after this, we didn't think an order came, but it came late after we had already gotten the ice cream (which is always freezer burnt anyway), and they took all of my cutlery and were cleaning the table as I was trying to eat, so I ate the siu mai with one chopstick and zero napkins or anything around me. The second last time, my husband ordered "BBQ sausage", which ended up being a dinky hot dog (not even the good kind) on a stick with barbecue sauce drizzled on top. I laughed so hard I cried! I'm even laughing as I write this just thinking about it lololol Needless to say, they've since removed it from their menu. The last time, they gave me a pot of tea instead of just filling my cup as they usually do, but it was cold, so I had to ask for another pot, but no biggie. I put in a few orders myself after my husband was done eating because I'm such a slow eater but I do eat a lot, and the servers actually turned to our table and pointed at us as they spoke to each other, not one time, but two times throughout dinner. They probably realized they were losing money on me, but I will say that's probably the first that's ever happened. It seems the portion sizes, quality of the rolls, and the service are all toss-ups. It varies a lot depending on the staff working that particular shift on that particular day. If you want a bit of a change from the sushi, the siu mai and har gow are surprisingly good, and my husband is a fan of the (cream) cheese wontons. There's also an item that's just called "dumpling", which I only recently found out is cream cheese, shrimp, and pineapple in a spring roll wrapper and fried. I gave it two stars instead of one because sometimes it's absolutely terrible, and other times it's fine enough. It's about $30 with tax plus tip for dinner, regardless of the day of the week or holiday, which I think is more expensive than it used to be. It's comparable in price to 168 Sushi on Merivale, which WAY better by far, so if you're willing to drive there instead, I would forget this place. read more

1000 Sushi Islands - "BBQ sausage" .. LOL since removed from the menu. Was not touched - this is exactly how it came aka thrown on the table - Sushi Bars Near Me - Ottawa, Ontario

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My boyfriend and I went for lunch buffet. It was mildly busy. Sushi had Adequate taste. No real flavour tho.. The foods issues were: the rice was mushy and gloopy, it must've been sitting for a day or two at least, the seaweed was unusually difficult to chew and the Individual rolls broke apart even with an experienced chopstick eater.. The wonton soup, pretty hard to mess up. Thankfully, it was great and hit the spot. We also ordered some fried shrimp tempuras that come in the baskets(tip: don't write just 1 for the shrimp tempura basket, I put that number of shrimps you want. I wrote 1 and literally got one shrimp ) I want to point out that the servers were.. let put it this way: The Rudest Service I have EVER experienced. Point form info because I'll end up writing a novel * Servers avoid you almost at all costs. They will go and hide behind the sushi counter * I was charged for 2waters ... * The server who tends to you is never the same, they alternate frequently; probably to confuse customers. * They tend to miss items from your menu sheet!! I missed 3 dishes.. pretty disappointed on that one. * They chuck.. yes CHUCK your plates on the table as they're running around looking confused/angry/hopeless/ECT.. with the food being practically frisbee thrown onto the table, 3 shrimp tempuras and a whole plate of sushi fell onto the ground... Server just looked at me like it was my fault. Even though she had thrown them onto the table like an animal. * They don't ever check on you unless you wave them down like you're hailing a taxi. * I was in the process of eating and a server came by with the dishes trolly and took all my dishes.. I still had food on some plates! I politely asked "please wait, I'm not done" and then she took my chopsticks out of my hand!! I was blown away.. $60 for two- alright food if you're desperate and hungry for anything I still tip at least 10% everywhere I eat because I'm a decent human being but mannnnnnnnnn that was one of the most hectic, intense, rushed lunches I've ever had! It's sad because I will spend very decent money on food that's amazing, Not returning. read more

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Went with my boyfriend for a lunch and it's a pretty standard sushi place with high ceilings and some really cheesy decorations. I was told it's the go-to place in Barrhaven so I decided to try it. We were seated immediately in a large booth table and around us were families and friends, so it looks like a great place for all types of groups. The service was a bit slow at the start, I found the servers weren't paying much attention to people who wanted to get their orders for sushi picked up and that they actually forgot some of our orders (or ignored them) and we had to re-order them. The sushi itself was pretty standard, I'm not a big fan of sushi restaurants that put too much rice in their sushi so this place was good in not doing that. Their tempura shimp could have definitely been a bit crispier as I felt it was a big soggy. The lunch menu isn't too comprehensive for lunch, I found that a lot of the items I wanted were on the dinner menu (fair enough, dinner is a bit more expensive), but it's good if you want a quick fix with all of the standard sushi stuff. Fairly a-ok place, very standard, nothing that was super wow. If you go there quite often, you can get a loyalty card that they stamp, and after 10 meals, you get the 11th one free! read more

I normally don't write bad reviews, but this place was so bad that I feel it is my civic duty to warn others. Husband and I were there for dinner tonight, the service was horrible and very unfriendly. We ordered a variety of dishes. The wonton soup was like hot water with 2 flavourless wontons drowning in it. Chicken wings were super greasy and flavourless as well. The variety of rolls we ordered were all bland and boring. The wasabi didn't help either, it tasted off and not right. The only thing that we did enjoy was the general Tao chicken. They have a large fish tank in the back with koi in it. Those poor fish are suffocating in their own filth. The tank was half empty and so dirty you could hardly see the fish in it. read more

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Food is decent. Lots of variety. Service is not great - typically slow and not friendly. Lunch is a decent price but dinner is pricey because I don't eat enough to make it worth while. read more

The food there was really good but their waiter is really rude, since they got mask I can't hear a lot of stuff they said and I asked them if they can speak louder, and he didn't rise his voice or something and just kept saying stuff that I can barely hear. I have to keep asking about can he be louder, he seems really annoyed to us after I asked few time. read more

Keep losing some of my order every single time I sent. Now I think they're doing this on purpose to basically frustrate people to leave as quickly as they can make them. You wait until your blue for the rest of your order comes only to be told 15m later that you needed to order again. read more

At 1000 Sushi Islands sushi you can either order your sushi to fit your style or use the buffet. I have ordered sushi from this restaurant 4 times. Through all of these experiences I didn't find that the sushi at this restaurant was surprising good. I would say its average. The only reason I went back was for a roll which can be hard to find in my favorite Barrhaven sushi restaurant. The salmon sashimi didn't smell very tasty and the tuna sashimi was seemingly tasteless. I wasn't crazy about any of the rolls I tried. Another strike against them was that the first time I order from this place, they ended up getting the order wrong. Instead of substituting avocado for cucumber they made the order with extra cucumber... And then when I called about it, since I drove home before opening my order, they said I could come back and have the order replaced but didn't offer any additional reparations for the extra driving. Overall I wasn't pleased by the experience. read more

Close to my house but I rather go elsewhere The cleanliness of the place - the chairs, the tables are sticky. By the time you left this place. Your clothes, your body are covered by the fishy, oily smell. Your hands, your arms are sticky (don't put your jackets on those booth seats, you will regret) Food -Not outstanding. Sushi - Sushi rice under the raw fish are always warm. (Kinda make me think before I eat that sushi, will I get sick) Service - the server always in a foul mood. we will not go back. read more

Mediocre sushi with horrific service - this branch continues the tradition of the Carling location. They forgot about half our order, and then forgot about our desert order until we reminded them 15 minutes later. The sushi is truly mediocre and I found some of them (the mango roll being one) were truly horrific. Looks like my vow not to return to 1000 Sushi Islands will extend to their Barrhaven branch. read more

My family and I decided to give this restaurant another chance and again, it was a waste of time and a huge disappointment. When they finally found a table for us..it took them about 10min before they ask if we wanted something to drink. By that time we had picked what we wanted for our party (6 guests). After 15 min, we asked if 1 out of the 9 items we requested was coming and the guy left. After 45min of waiting they brought 2 items, we gave them another order and they brought 3 out of the 10 new items...they just ignored the first order. When we asked they had no idea and they asked me to re-order it. Well it never came..like come on..this is a joke..this same thing has happened all 5 times that we have gone there. Waiting 45min for a cup of green tea is a bit ridiculous. We learnt our lesson..that's it..I'm telling everyone not to waste their time and money there. Did I mentioned that they decided to mop the floor with bleach while we were eating and the tables are always sticky. read more

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I'll start off by saying I love the sushi here and the cheese wontons are to die for. The prices on the other hand are expensive and I don't find it fair. So every now and then I go. The service is quick but not very personable or friendly. It's a hit or miss though. There is a limit on the amount of ice cream you can order and the ice cream is very good. The washrooms are not clean, so in and out very quick. Last time I went half the lights in the washroom didn't work. read more

My first visit to this restaurant was several years ago and even then my husband and I said we would not be back. Since they are still in business after all this time, and it's close to home, we decided to try again. The restaurant was very quiet and even as a few more guests filtered in, it was not "busy". Initially however, we were pleasantly surprised: The staff very fairly attentive and the sashimi that arrived first was pretty good. Then the hot options and maki made their way to our table and I began to feel ill. It was just not good. The steak teriyaki was chewy and cold, the tempura tasted like it was stale/overcooked (I'm not even sure how to describe it) and the unappealing maki tasted similar to maki purchased from the "to go" section in Loblaws. I can't say we were disappointed because we went in with no expectations at all and the sashimi was ok. Later that night, both my husband and I had upset stomachs so sadly, we will not go back to 1000 Sushi Islands. They must be doing something right to remain open after so many years; they are the only all-you-can-eat in Barrhaven, but I choose to travel the distance for better food. read more

Good sushi with cheap price. The staff is friendly. I will come back. You can eat everything you want without limit

Went here with my boyfriend after staring at it for 5 years while sitting at the Pho Thi Fusion. Immediately noticed how vacant it is in here, and how slow the service is. Took too long to pick up our a la carte order for the amount of people actually dining in the establishment. Sushi was good. A little warm but nothing immediately screaming red flag. The waitress forgot one of my 3 orders, which I assume is one of those tricks to make you less hungry and thus pay 30$ for 4 pieces of sushi. It eventually came around and it was kind of average at best. The maki rolls fall apart and so it's kinda this mush that, texturally, made my gag reflex flare up. Overall, I think I'll be sitting in Pho Thi instead. read more

It seems hard to come by a decent AYCE sushi restaurant in Ottawa these days. Those that used to be good have gone down in quality/service which is really disappointing. Boyfriend's brother had mentioned this 1000 Sushi Island in Barrhaven so we decided to give it a try. It was Saturday night around 6h30pm and the place was packed. There should really be more sushi places in Barrhaven... We waited for a little while and things seemed to calm down around 7pm so I would suggest aiming for this time if you want to come out here on a Saturday night. The service was standard and the sushi was A-OK. There is nothing special, nor nothing disappointing either. Since we drove out of our way to come try it out, I won't be returning since I can have similar experience and sushi elsewhere closer to home. read more

Ate at 1000 sushi islands tonight and was fairly impressed! they have upgraded a few things since my last visit. they now offer you reusable plastic chopsticks instead of the one time use wooden ones. and have some new menu items. the service was pretty good if not a little slow. none of our items were forgotten and they didn't bring us doubles of any items, which usually happens. the food was good aswell. of course, you can't expect top notch sushi here, but it is good for what it is. when you come to1000 sushi islands you're always getting more quantity than quality. another nice upgrade is that the staff seem to speak more to you than before, where they'd hardly say a word. One big downside was that the place was SUPER cold. I had to keep my coat on the entire time, and they don't offer tea here, so I couldn't order some to warm myself up. overall my experience here was pretty good :) read more

My boyfriend and I tried this place last Tuesday for lunch. We wanted a greasy spoon/sushi fix and decided to give this place a shot. To put simply; it was not good. The place looked pretty dirty and there were fruit flies everywhere! We were almost hesitant to order after seeing the condition of the place, but gave it a chance regardless. Some of the sushi rolls were half decent, as well as the tempura, but everything else was quite bad. All chicken dishes we tried were extremely dried out and flavourless. The service wasn't great either. We received food we never ordered, some of which we didn't like and therefore knew we didn't order it. They also forgot to bring us some dishes.. I was hoping to comment on the spring rolls because in my opinion a good spring roll can really up the anti for me, but unfortunately the four we ordered were never received. I would like to add that there was one other couple in the restaurant while we were there so clearly it wasn't due to a rush. They also didn't check on us, explain how there ordering system works (it was a little different than I am used to), or ask if we needed anything. Pretty bad all around. They were talking amongst themselves in the front for the majority of the time we were there. I also got a glass of house red wine with my meal. This was the only option for red wine. I tried ordering sake originally but was told the machine was broken... Anyway, the one good thing about this place is that it was quite a bit cheaper than some other all you can eat sushi places. For myself and my boyfriend for lunch and one gross, although quite large (8 oz) glass of wine, as well as tip, came to $50. We also didn't get sick despite the fact we thought there was a chance of that going into this. If you want something subpar, but on the cheaper side, this might be the place for you. Just make sure you don't mind eating food you didn't order, not get food you did order, and be ignored the majority of the time (but not by the fruit flies) read more

Enjoyed our visit very much. Great quality food, as well as a wide menu section. Our waitress was very sweet in character, adding to our enjoyment. Would go back. read more

So myself and my partner went in for lunch. Lunch ends at 3:30 and if you don't finish your food in time they will charge you. As a loyal customer to this restaurant it was incredibly disappointing to have a nice lunch and then asked to leave when we didn't finish our food. Overall poor service. So if you go late it will cost you. I don't recommend this place for a dine-in experience. read more

If you want great sushi, the go to ichibei or genji. Great sushi is not what this restaurant is about. All you can eat good sushi is what 1000 Island Sushi is about. For one reasonable price you get all the sushi, rolls and tempura you could want. I liked the tempura shrimp, the dragon roll and the spicy salmon hand roll. read more

This is our go-to Sushi restaurant whenever I am in Ottawa. Not necessarily for the quality of the food (don't get me wrong - the food is good, but nothing outstanding) but more so for convenience (about 5 minute drive). We usually go here for lunch, which is reasonably priced for the sushi. There's a few things on the menu that are not available for lunch; similar to other sushi restaurants. The quality of the fish and the rolls are good. My favorites are the spicy salmon and spicy tuna maki rolls. They are absolutely delicious! I also like a few of the other sushi's (eel!) and some other things on the menu (chicken fried rice is delicious here but very heavy!). The desserts (ice cream and orange slices) are delicious as well (especially the ice cream which is very smooth and creamy). The service is average - they are slow sometimes to come by and grab your order. Overall, we will continue to go to this restaurant due to the fact that it is close by and the food is good. I recommend this to anyone in the area to satisfy your sushi craving! read more

1000 Sushi Islands is a pretty typical AYCE place. The decor is pretty forgettable, the staff are alright, but nothing special. The food can be hit or miss to the point that I've ordered the same thing on different occasions and found the quality to vary. I wouldn't go out of my way for this place, but if you're in the area and craving sushi, it's not bad. The one thing they have that makes them stand out though, is black sesame ice cream. I haven't seen it at any other AYCE places, but it's really good. read more

Ottawa sushi's scene is pretty grim, and AYCE sushi is even worse. I've been here over a dozen times, and on average, 1000 Sushi Islands is par for the course. Not only is the food mediocre, but the service is poor. I tolerate coming to these establishments because they're popular with my friends who appreciate quantity over quality. It's very difficult to get fresh fish in Ottawa at the best of times, and you're definitely not getting the finest catch here. The "White tuna" is actually escolar, which is generally fine in small quantities, but can give you gastrointestinal issues when eaten in large quantities. The salmon is low-grade farmed Atlantic salmon. The cooked food is generally geared more for Chinese tastes, and completely misses out anything that makes it "Japanese". Taste the broth in the soba and udon noodles, and they're clearly Chinese, not Japanese. In the dozen-or-so times I've been here, I've only had "decent" service once. That meant that the server greeted you at the table in English, smiled, and didn't treat us like a nuisance. Any finished dishes were cleared off the table promptly. Sadly, this only happened ONCE. Every single other time, the servers simply slapped the plates down when delivering the plates. Most of them can't barely speak English. Once we finished each plate, the servers rarely bothered to clear them. As the servers brought more food to the table, the less and less room we had. We had to stack the finished dishes ourselves. Once the table was completely full, the servers became annoyed, and seem to blame us for the problem, but never bothered clearing the dishes. If you're looking to guzzle supermarket-grade sushi, then I guess 1000 Sushi Islands is a restaurant you can eat at. If you're looking for anything remotely with quality or authenticity, go to Toronto or Vancouver. read more

One of the saddest experiences I've had with Ottawa restaurants... All I ordered was different kind of sushi: THE RICE WAS HOT (not spicy, but it was not cooled before the sushi were made). And I'm not talking room temperature, I mean HOT. The pieces of fish on each sushi was literally paper-thin and of the lowest quality I've tasted. Almost un-eatable, I'd say almost gone bad. The spicy tuna and salmon rolls were nothing but greased tempura crumbs scraped of the bottom of the frying pan and rolled into seaweed. I had to spat one out... Servers were extremely rude and inattentive. They also lacked English comprehension. Advice: stay away from this place. Our family of 3 paid $81+TAX. We left NO TIP. One person felt sick in 15 minutes after we left this place. I am never going back there ever again. read more

Everyone is right lol worst service ever , takes forever for someone to serve you. Food is good but portions are small like they dont want you to eat or come back lol. Not worth the money at all!!!!! read more

Not actually all you can eat: for example, they won't serve anybody more than one dessert. This arbitrary limit isn't actually posted anywhere, of course. The food is firmly mediocre, and the staff are often unable to communicate and rude to boot. read more

This place has t b e worse customer service I have ever experienced. I have seen collection officers with more customer service than these peole. read more

Very poor service. I went with my sister who has a 11 month old baby. We asked for a few slices of avocado as she was nervous too pick them off of the sushi rolls to give too her baby as she had never had fish and we were worried about allergies and contamination. They wanted to charge us $1 per slice for the baby which was ridiculous! All we wanted was 2 or 3 slices. We will never go back again. read more

We waited over an hour (along with about 10 other people) for food that we'd ordered earlier in the day to be sure it would be ready at a certain time. We were not acknowledged while we were waiting, and even after paying, no mention of how much longer we would have to wait. So rude, so unprofessional. What is the point in ordering for a time if it's not going to be ready?? Very disappointed. read more

One of my go to ayce sushi restaurants. Good menu selection. This restaurant offers some of my favourite "Special Beef" (beef sashimi) and mango salad which you can't find often at other ayce sushi places. They have a frequent visitor stamp card for lunch and dinner. I believe it's either 8 or 10th free. Service is the same as all other ayce sushi restaurants. read more

Had to reorder miso soup three times before it came. Didn't get half of our items, our first waiter refused to serve us after inquiring with a second server about our soup and our items. We left still hungry because we didn't feel like waiting 30-45 minutes for any more items. If you're in that area for sushi, drive the extra 10 minutes to get to Merivale road if you want better quality food and better service. The only "good" item was the seaweed salad which was about two bites big. Don't waste your time. read more

Terrible service, food is not good quality. I went after the supper rush and our cups were empty, plates left on the table for way too long, food didn't come as described on the menu. I paid $62.00 for the worst dinner I've ever had. Don't go here. read more

I'm utterly disappointed and appalled by the treatment, customer service, and hygiene at this restaurant. If one can even call it that. We ordered the food and when it arrived there was a long black straight hair on the sushi, when we brought this to the servers attention, she and another coworker examined the plate in front of us for several minutes and came to the conclusion that we should eat around it. When we stated that we did not want to do that they walked away angrily and ignored the other orders that we had put in. We were given so much attitude that we were so shocked we couldn't even respond. Needless to say, this is the worst sushi restaurant I have ever been to. Me and my friends will never come back here! I recommend not coming here. Other issues: All water glasses had lip stains The food was poor quality Things were forgotten The restaurant is very dirty The fish tank water is so blackened with dirt that you can barley see the fish, speaks to their overall hygiene! read more

So my boyfriend and I have tried a lot of AYCE sushi places and this is by far the best one. They are fairly quick with orders, food tastes good. The only thing I would change is the soy sauce they have. They should get the one that is less salty. read more

Just don't waste your time going there. Not clean, not good. Place is hard to find, no external lighting. We left a bit of rice in the plate and they said next time they will charge us if we do it again. Looks like the place may close at any moment feel. Service was slow and the waitress barely spoke English. Too pricy for what they offer, ( Sushi 168 has salad bar and snow crab on the menu for the same price.)We won't go again. read more