Great selection of food items on the menu and I always enjoy it here especially because the ambience is really cozy.
I would really recommend trying the avocado salad, it's so delicious :)
Sushi 99 can set itself from other all-you-can-eat dinner buffets by improving the service. Servers can be more friendly and attending.
However, they make up for it with the food and atmosphere although the choice for top 40 music is a little odd and does not fit the theme.
Well, we are completely hooked and this has become our favorite place to eat. Absolutely delicious and every new thing we try is better than the last. You know it's bad when all the staff greet you with big "hellos" and warm smiles... :-) Really good food here! We tried Ye's in the past and found their food tasteless so Sushi 99 has been a wonderful surprise. Also - CLEAN! We witnessed the start of the weekly cleanup near closing Friday night. They scrub this restaurant from top to bottom, once a week. Never seen anything as thorough as this anywhere!
Well, we bit the bullet and did the all you can eat. Since we have never been sushi or sashimi lovers... we started out ordering onesies to taste first LOL. Well, we fell in love with the Dragon rolls and ended up reordering 2 kinds. The spicy crab rolls were out of this world delicious. The butter shrimp yummy, the kalbi beef and the chicken teriyaki gorgeous. Since it was all you can eat, we sampled many different sushi and sashimi choices and enjoyed every single one except the edamame. These turned out to be salt crusted partially cooked green beans in the shell. Ugh. :-) Anyway - it was a wonderful meal and we can't wait to do it all over again.
We aren't sushi or sashimi eaters (especially after watching an episode of "House" - the night before ) but we thought it was about time to try Sushi 99. I ordered the Bento Box 'A' and my daughter ordered the Kalbi beef. The Kalbi and veggies were excellent. The miso soup and salad better than most we've had in the past. My Bento box was loaded with- more than one person could eat, with dumplings, California rolls, delicious chicken teriyaki, and veggies perfectly cooked. We were very very pleased. We also ordered a side of crab - real crab! and all was great. The whole thing came to about $30. a real bargain in any one's books! Also, mango ice cream for each of us for dessert. This was all ala carte not AYCE.
It's a classier version of Ye's, but falls short on the food
Atmosphere- pleasant
services- mixed
food- poor. too much rice in their sushi and maki. I do love their Galbi though- can't lie I was slightly impressed. But after all, this IS a sushi restaurant and their sushi is subpar at best.
And try finding a parking space during lunch/dinner hours...I almost had to run someone over to beat a car to the spot.
Although familiar with sushi places, we had never been to Sushi 99 before. One side of the restaurant was empty, so we asked to sit there, as it was more protected from the front door, and because we have two kids under six thought it might be quieter for other patrons. However, we were told this wasn't possible, so were seated in the central section. (foreshadowing alert)
We began debating the merits of "all-you-can-eat" versus the a la carte options. We assumed "all-you-can-eat" couldn't be shared, (although there was nothing written about this on any menu) so made up an order from the a la carte menu. Our original sever took this order.
A few minutes later a second server came and asked us if we would like to have the AYCE option as well, and worked out which items my wife would keep on the a la carte order, and which items I would be able to put on the AYCE order sheet. We were confused by this, so questioned her about being able to split AYCE items with the kids, but she said that was fine. Her English was very poor, so it was difficult to clarify anything with her.
The orders began coming out, and most of the items were fine. The edamame was limpid, but the sushi and rolls were what one would expect. However, my wife had a piece of my AYCE - mistake - the first waitress came over and angrily told her she was not to eat from those portions. My wife told her that we had tried to clarify this, but she was unreceptive, and for the next 15 minutes we were treated to suspicious, accusatory glances.
Although I had ordered more items, nothing else was coming. My wife mentioned this to a third server, who smiled and said, "Ok". After waiting a few more minutes, we assumed our orders had been cut off due to our criminal activity, and were feeling pretty unwelcome. We duly paid our bill, and I wrote my concerns on the back of it, and suggested that they make their policy clear on the menu, or train their servers to adequately explain that policy. In any case, we won't be going back to see if they've taken us up on our suggestions.
I will chalk this one up as a "what did you expect from a factory sushi joint?", and spend my money at smaller, more personable restaurants in the future.
Oh, by the way, several patrons were seated where were had asked to be as we left.
I went for All-You-Can-Eat (AYCE) one night with my bf. The hot food came out first. When the sushi eventually came out, the fish was warm. The fish was also very thinly sliced to the point where it was see through and had holes. I felt uncomfortable eating warm unfresh fish. The fish had a strong taste. The server assured us that the fish was fresh but it was hard to say since it was odd tasting and warm.
I am a huge Sushi fan, and I recently got my BF into liking sushi, so we came to this restaurant to give it a try.
We got the sushi buffet, and by looking at menu, we were a little confused as to what each item on the menu was made of. We asked the waitress, and she helped clarify a few things. Too bad we couldn't understand a word she was saying, she had a very strong accent.
The sushi was good. I've tried alot of sushi before and this was good/average. Nothing special however.
The service was a bit on the slow side. We'd have to flag the waitress down.
The ambiance was very very nice however. Really good atmosphere.
Overall, I'd definitely visit again. I am not to picky about things, and as long as they continue to have decent sushi and a decent setting, I'll visit again.
The food was pretty good. The sashimi and rolls were well-made. No major complaints about the quality at all. The quality is as good as any place in town.
Quality is not so impressive. It was very slow and inattentive. The place was very busy, so they were a bit overwhelmed. That is no excuse. The service needs significant improvement.
Decor was nice enough.
I've been to many sushi places in Waterloo.
Ye's sushi (Waterloo/Kitchener), Yummyaki, Sushi star, Watami sushi, etc.
And sushi 99 is the worst place I've ever been to.
First time I went there was with my family and my relatives. They connected two tables for 10 of us. Then, only one table would get all of their food and the other table didnt get any food so we had keep telling them what we ordered.
Second time I went there, it was even worse.
Me and my bf found a piece of hair in the sashimi plate. So, i called the waitress, showing the plate and she jus said "ok", took the plate and walked away. No apology, no nothing. Not only that but also my bf felt sick after eating red tuna sushi. Apparently it was not only him who felt sick because my other friends felt sick too.
I hope the manager of sushi 99 sees my review
I found that Sushi 99 was the best all-you-can-eat sushi place that I've been to in Waterloo. Portions are perfect, entrées were delicious and dessert was amazing. The Waterloo Roll was probably the best roll I ordered, but overall everything was fresh and tasty. California Salad was the perfect appetizer and deep-fried ice cream was a great dessert to end off the meal. The service was less than spectacular, with some of the orders getting lost, but eventually we got everything we wanted. They're always there to fill up the water glasses and take dishes away. I will be going again!
Sushi 99, seems like the kind of place that has the potential to really set itself aside from all the other sushi places in town. It has a fantastic atmosphere, modern look and a cool vibe. The servers are really polite and welcoming, and fun. Except for the fact that items that are ordered sometimes never make it to the table, the service is great. The food however is horrible. The sushi is loosely rolled and falling apart. Bits of seaweed are sticking out the ends. The chefs seem to be fairly inexperienced; as I am confident I can make better sushi than them. The wasabi tastes bland and expired. When wasabi is fresh, all it takes is a pin head size to bring tears to your eyes. The wasabi at Sushi 99, I could eat with a spoon.
The tempura is fried in heavy oil. The strong flavor of burned oil overpowers the tempura and makes everything taste like onion rings from Harvey's.
All other portions are very small. 1 portion of calamari rings = 1 calamari ring. 1 portion of salmon = 1 mouthful of salmon... you get the point.
Unless this place hires new kitchen staff, I am never going back. If these goofs can't prepare quality food, then I'm more likely to get food poisoning than to enjoy a meal there.
I had heard some good reviews about this place, so I was really excited to go try it. The interior was really nice. We were greeted by friendly waitresses. However, we were seated at a really small table. And when we asked to switch, they said they couldn't move us because it would mess up their food system...So our table was a part of "A11" but since they separated us from "A11" we became "A11A." This whole system they had was messy and unfunctional. Our food kept getting mixed up with the "A11" and vise versa.
I first started with ordering an avocado salad. I was shocked at the size when it came. There was literally less than 5 piece of lettuce in that little bowl. There was so little in it that you could see the bottom of the bowl before you started eating. We also ordered some salmon sushi and a variety of rolls. They were all just average. The tempura and any of their deep fried dishes were just disgusting. They were all drenched in oil! Half of the vegetable tempuras weren't even crispy, same with their spring rolls and dumplings. Their meat dishes were actually quite good, especially the kalbi beef.
About 5-10 of our dishes never came, even after we asked the waitresses about it. People around us were having the same problem. In the end, we just got our ice cream and left.
Their food system really needs some fixing. You get 2 sheets of paper and you tick off what you want and how much of it you want. And then, the waitresses put your order into the computer, which usually takes a while. And some how, even though your order is placed in the computer, it still gets lost. And I'm positive the waitress didn't lose any of our order because we sat right next to the computer, so we watched them put our order in.
If you want to try a new sushi place, then maybe try it out? You might have a more pleasant experience. But if you want to skip the whole issues of mix ups and missing orders, then dont visit this place.
