Edamame Sushi

Often times when people critique a restaurant they critique the food. I think that’s fair to say however, although the food was great, and the décor was nice, the customer service that day was just terrible.
I hadn’t been to Edamame sushi in a few years and since my fiancé and I had found a different sushi spot in Whitby that’s our «go-​to» it never really crossed my mind to go here. I thought about it because we were thinking about going to Pickering town centre so I told him about this spot cause it was a bit closer to us and because I remember the portion sizes being a bit smaller and bite sized ish? and delicious at that.
So, we decided to go. It was empty and naturally so since it was the middle of the day so seating arrangements weren’t a problem. We were somewhat greeted I guess you could say. The first server we had wasn’t too bad… in comparison to our next server after he had gone home.
I want to give credit for the décor and cleanliness 5/​5, the food ⁵⁄₅ BUT the customer service was terrible which brings me to rate it as low as a ²⁄₅.
Sorry.
We at least expect you to say thank you or you’re welcome or have some sort of courtesy but this girl had absolutely none of that. Her tone and body language was just negative like «I hate my life every single day» kind of negative. Maybe she was having a bad day but that’ll reflect on your performance.
Needless to say, although my fiancé and I found the food to be really really good, we enjoy the customer service that we get at our Whitby sushi and probably won’t be coming back to this spot.

I have been to edamame about 6 times over the past few months. I think the quality of the food is average. However the service leaves much to be desired. The male servers are notably more attentive and friendly than the female servers. There is one particular lady that is always extremely rude to customers. Also why have a wifi network called «edamame» if you won’t give the password to the customers? Change the name of your wifi network!

Usually I would give this a 5 star. Nice private seating, average all you can eat prices, good service (thanks to the manager who is usually there) and good food.
However, last time I went the food and service sucked. The manager wasn’t present though… I have a feeling that they are the reason this place is awesome and the staff were slacking since they weren’t present.
That aside… I come here for the cucumber special roll (uses cucumber as the rice) which is only served at dinner and the salmon sashimi. Bathrooms are clean and overall a nice spot.

Considering this is an All You Can Eat sushi restaurant, the price and quality is definitely worth it. Lunch on Monday to Thursday is $ 14 a person, and the price goes up to $ 24 a person for Friday to Sunday dinner. The overall atmosphere is OK. To paint you a picture (literally) the walls are a salmon and light green colour. I’ve always found the restaurant to be quite cold as well, leaving my sweater on each time I’ve dined in. As for the service, it’s very attentive… almost too attentive. With servers staring at you to clear your empty plates/​glasses as soon as possible, it makes it a little uncomfortable; like you’re being rushed to leave. I’ll also mention that the ordering system consists of filling in what you’d like to order on a sheet of paper.
Overall I give Edamame Sushi Restaurant 4 stars. Not because of my dine in experience, but because the take out is always worth it. I recommend calling ahead for quick pick up.

As an AYCE place, this place is by far the cheapest during the week — $ 22 /​person Monday-​Thursday! They also have beer /​drink specials that don’t run you too much — usually around $ 3 – 5 per beer, based on what is considered the daily special. Make sure they don’t overcharge for this though — the Canadian was supposed to be for $ 2.95, but I was charged $ 3.95 and was not corrected even after showing proof that it was posted otherwise. Only a dollar, fine, I let it go — but be careful nonetheless!
Traditional ordering system — pencil /​paper. Different sections for different courses — rolls vs. appetizers vs. «hot food» vs. sashimi vs. sushi. Not great, but not a terrible way to order either. They only missed one thing we ordered! (Green dragon roll)
Miso soup was warm, but not hot enough to be enjoyable. Unfortunate, since I was hoping it’d be decent, but I came to an AYCE place, what the heck is wrong with me?
The sashimi selection and quality is pretty terrible — the tuna was basically still frozen when I was eating it (blech), but the portion sizes were expected and appropriate, given the order size. Further, they only have certain types of sashimi and other types of sushi — some aren’t available in the other flavour. Weird!
Calamari was decent, but comes in threes — and in a pretty hefty size, too! Don’t underestimate the deep-​fryer — it was about 70% batter, 30% squid. Gyoza wasn’t deep-​fried — it actually tasted more like a traditional Chinese beef dumpling. Not terrible, but not what I was expecting. I guess I expected all AYCE gyoza to be deep-​fried!
Hand roll was OK, wouldn’t order again as it was too much rice, but decent quality if I had to recommend it (dynamite is the best type, as a sushi person).
Rolls were the saving grace here — and it wasn’t the traditional types, either. The best «value» roll is the New York Roll, and here’s why: It has masago, tuna, avocado, and salmon in it. The rice wrapped around it is so minimal it’s actually almost unnoticeable! The downside to this, unfortunately, is that the rolls fall apart very easily when prodded with chopsticks — but I’ll take that over an overstuffed roll with way too much rice any day of the week! Red/​Black/​Green dragon rolls you can’t fail with, either!
Tempura (shrimp, mostly) was lightly battered and a good serving portion. Broccoli tempura and yam tempura are big — so be careful with order sizes! Beef ribs (Short Ribs) were of OK quality, but wouldn’t recommend ordering too many, since they are inconsistent with sizes — some are massive, others are tiny. Yakitori (Chicken) are pretty decent sizes & quality, as is the eggplant.
Korean Sliced Beef dish was one of my all-​time favourites — this goes for ANY AYCE place I’ve ever been to. It’s a little spicy, so beware, but dang, it was an amazing portion size (about the same size as the amount of meat you would get in a main dish for a Korean a-​la-​carte restaurant), and of decent enough quality that I ordered another one to share.
Dessert selection is minimal — ice cream flavours are standard, plus «rainbow» (strawberry /​mango hybrid), as well as «deep fried milk», «deep fried banana», and something else I totally forgot about, but wasn’t worth getting, according to the wait staff.
TL;DR: Decent price for a decent meal. Would definitely come again!

Best sushi in the area. Great service and friendly staff. Excellent fish to rice ratio (that’s important to me). Been coming since they opened and have never been disappointed!

I am not that impressed with the selection and taste of the sushi and tempura. It is a bit pricey for the kind of sushi they serve but then again what can you expect with an ayce restaurant. Nothing spectacular with the food. Just ordinary.

Not the greatest sushi restaurant around, but it’s passable.
Take out is slow slow slow. My food is never ready when they say it’s going to be ready and there is always something missing when I get the box deals.
Once the restaurant starts to get busy, the servers seem to get somewhat flustered and could do a better job at keeping their composure during busy times.
The food that I do get tastes fresh and looks appealing enough. Service is just very important to me and this place is definitely lacking in that area.

It’s too bad that I have to give this place such a low review today because I normally prefer to go edamame because of their food. Today the service was just lacking. Waited for 20 minutes with my boyfriend only to have a group of three people get a table before us because they know the manager. Ended up leaving and I won’t be back

I am never coming back here again. I used to love it especially their deep fried milk. I came here with my date for lunch and they weren’t that busy. However it took almost ten minutes before someone came to seat us. I brushed it off. My date ordered the sashimi and it was warm. Very off putting. I don’t eat fish but that lack of freshness should have been an indicator. I ordered a pad thai in which they gave it to the table next to us. I let it go. When I asked for it they were confused as to why I would want it? When it came it smelled a bit off but I thought maybe it was just in my head. I tried I and literally threw it up. It was so rank. My date who eats everything and anything tried it and he agreed it was bad. When I told the manager he smelled it and said it was just salty. No apology or anything and said they wouldn’t charge for it as if thru were doing me a favor. I was so unimpressed. They forgot to bring the ice cream my date wanted and my drink but honestly I just wanted to get out. Never ever coming back. I’ll be sticking up Dragon rolls and spoon and fork.

I eat here fairly regularly, and it is good. I regularly order sashimi and sushi, some maki rolls and recently have fell in love with their ramen noodle bowl… so yummy!!!

We are regulars here. We like Edamame for its ayce menu, which is pretty big! They have a nice selection of sushi and making, though it’s not the highest quality fish. I normally love mackerel, but it’s just too strong here. They have great salmon though, very generous portions! I love the selection of appetizers and grilled stuff (hello, grilled eggplant!). The best part though is the service, so friendly, very attentive, we never feel rushed. This place is great for being an easy, good value solution for über hungry sushi cravings!

Exceptional food. Served hot & fresh. Great variety. Order from the menu or all you can eat menu or both. Food arrives quickly with terrific service. Décor is pleasant but you’re here for the food above all. Favourite spot for lunch & dinner. Great for couples and families alike.

This is the best AYCE Sushi place I’ve been to so far. Price is reasonable. The actual restaurant is well decorated, very modern. The staff are all friendly. This has become a regular for me for AYCE Sushi. I LOVE Sushi, so I am very picky. My husband on the other hand does not eat ANY seafood but there are many other options on the menu for him, and surprisingly he continues to come back all the time when I get my Sushi cravings LOL. He says the best thing is the cheese wontons, I agree, but as a sushi eater, I stick to the real stuff. One of my favs is the butter fish and salmon sashimi. The cuts are nice and thick, not flimsy like other places. And to end it all, even though I stuff myself with rolls, sushi, sashimi and tempura, I have to order the deep fried fresh milk. A must try.

Our review would be 0 of we could. Food was awful and service was worse. Worst spider roll I have ever tasted & I mean that because I spit it out almost immediately. We paid $ 80 for dinner and probably ate less than $ 10 and not for lack of trying. Save yourself some money & frustration — just don’t go.

Im not giving a 5 star because Im fan of the Pepper beef and it was tough :(Other than that, I’m ok with that restaurant, we only go there for lunch and the service is quick enough and we have plenty of time to come back to the office. Prices, flavour and portions are not huge different from the big restaurant around the corner. I will go again.

This is def my fave sushi in the Durham area. Their sashimi is always fresh and tasty… Specifically the butterfish and salmon! The service is always prompt and friendly too.
My group of friends and I love this place so much that we’ve been there every sunday for the past 2 months

I love sushi, and I don’t expect to have amazing sushi in Durham, but I do have my places that I go to for my raw fish fix.
Edamame will not be on that list.
Nice enough décor, friendly staff, great array of dishes on the all you can eat menu, and actually a big plus was that the maki rolls had a great proportion of rice to filling, but the fish quality, and flavour combinations just didn’t do anything for me.
We did the lunch all you can eat buffet, the price was good, and the menu of items to choose from was long, so great to have a lot of variety.
Unfortunately, we found the items we ordered very heavy, and halfway through the meal we were full, even though the portions were small. The Pepper beef was tough, and the fried items were heavy on the batter.
Not that anything was horrible, but nothing to write home about. If you love sushi like me, I would suggest other places in the area. If you are just trying sushi for the first time, this place is great for the all you can eat to sample a bunch a things without encountering any strong flavours. A «Vanilla» sushi experience if you will.

I’ll put the good first: The butterfish sashimi and the white tuna were delicious. Well cut, very tasty. The eel rolls were also excellent. The manager was super friendly and tried her best to ensure we were looked after.
However, despite the fact that their website says «Let us know if you are allergic to any products «and the fact that I spoke with the waiter, the manager, and wrote several times on my order card that I was allergic to shellfish, something must have been overlooked during the prep of the food. At first my order came out plated with other shellfish items, and we were told the wait staff thought that shellfish allergy just meant that I was vegetarian. The manager assured me that the chef would take care of my allergy needs, but when my food was remade, it had been contaminated and I was ill within minutes. I ended up in the hospital that night for anaphylaxis.
Upon calling the restaurant the next day, the manager said she would speak to the owner and get back to me, but that was a week ago and I haven’t heard a peep back.
You might wonder why someone with a shellfish allergy would go to a sushi restaurant. In my experience, when the kitchen staff understand what they are doing, there is no problem with preparing an order in a clean area with clean tools. This was the first time I have ever had a reaction to food prepared in a restaurant after notifying the wait staff of my needs. The manager was well intentioned, but there isn’t much that she could do to compensate for the poorly trained staff.
I would definitely go back for the quality of the food if I weren’t afraid of a slow, painful death as a result.

Edamame Sushi’s grand opening was on June 18^th of this year and since there’s not really much that competes with the larger Sushi restaurant just down the street from these guys, I was eager to give them a try.
We went on a Saturday evening at around 7:00pm only to find the restaurant pretty much empty (needless to say, our service was quick and friendly). The décor is modern and unique with a pleasant colour palette however, the benches are quite uncomfortable, but not that much different from what seems to be the trend at most Sushi places.
They offer an ‘all-​you-​can-​eat’ menu as well as an ‘à la carte’ menu with a combination of both Korean and Japanese dishes. Both menus seem to be almost exactly $ 1 less than that of it’s competitor (with the exception of the Bento Boxes which are definitely higher in price for less food).
What we had:
Beef Bento Box — $ 12.98
Includes: Black Pepper Beef, 6 California Rolls, 2 Shrimp Tempura, 2 Vegetable Tempura, Rice, Salad and Miso Soup.
When our order arrived I noticed that we had received Spicy Salmon Roll instead of the California Roll so I clarified the order with the waiter. He stepped away to verify and upon his return, was eager to correct the mistake. Since it didn’t really matter to us, we stuck with the Spicy Salmon Roll… we would soon find out the error of our ways.
The Miso Soup was really flavourful and served with an asian style spoon which was nice for a change. The salad dressing was more of a cross between Thousand Island and Catalina and not at all like the dressing typically served at other restaurants.
The Black Pepper Beef, on the other hand, was not flavourful at all and left somewhat of a greasy, fatty film on both the serving dish and the roof of my mouth.
The texture of the Spicy Salmon Roll was that of shredded salmon; rather mushy and undesirable but they had a nice ‘kick’ to them. The seaweed in the roll was a bit soggy which made me wonder how long ago they had been prepared.
As for the Tempura, the vegetables were fine but the shrimp was over-​battered for my liking.
Although my husband finished his meal, I left quite a bit of mine, especially the meat. It really is a shame; I had such high hopes for this place but I don’t find that they are even remotely comparable to other Sushi places within the area.