Hi Sushi (Soho)

Me and my boyfriend will never be visiting this chain again. The 'eat as much as you want' offer is the most limited menu I have ever seen for a buffet. I had read reviews about how terrible this place was but I wanted to try for myself and the reviews and my predictions were correct.

First we were seated upstairs on two tall chairs that had no back to them and were so uncomfortable that I believe they were probably trying to make us leave as soon as possible. Then we were given the sheet of paper that you can order the buffet from with huge circles around all of the rules they have. You can only order 3 'special' types of sashimi and 'fancy' sushi once (tuna and clam is one of them I recall because when it arrived it was literally one piece each. Apparantly that equals a portion for each person) and the rest of the sushi menu is about 8 other items (mostly salmon based...or cucumber roll lol) that you can order 6 different times. My American sushi-loving boyfriend and I didn't get past the 2nd order because the sushi and sashimi is TERRIBLE. The sashimi was still frozen pretty much and if you can't get raw fish right then there's no hope for the rest of the food!! The other hot food menu included about 10 products (mostly chicken based) but they didn't even have dumplings which in my opinion was a shame. You can only order 7 items off this menu ONCE, as was circled with a black pen by our waitress. The portions were apparantly 'for two people' but one chicken stick each is not really a 'portion'.

Other customers were complaining about the portions and the response was pretty useless. Also, at the beginning my boyfriend asked for a hot water which was met with the response that they only have green tea, ha!

Finally, at the end when me and my boyfriend just wanted to leave as soon as possible because the food was terrible and we felt like we were in a cafe rather than a restaurant, we left the money and mandatory tip on the table and when we said thank you as we were leaving the staff ignored us and quickly ran to our table to check we had paid. What a joke!

All in all, I really wanted to try a sushi buffet in London after having amazing ones in New York, but I should have just listened to other people's reviews and not bothered as I paid £16 for frozen sashimi, a limited menu that was as boring as hell and sushi that was overfilled with rice.

I would say this place should just stop their buffet as they must get so many complaints in the restaurant and on reviews as it's not 'all you can eat' and one item is not a portion, but they're making enough money from their rice sushi that the staff can handle some moaning. What a shame they get away with it!
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2 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Thursday, February 09, 2012

This is one of the worst places I have ever eaten. Im not a sushi snob but the food here was terrible. It isn't 'all you can eat' at all, you are only allowed to order things once unless its cold salmon sushi, which was prominantly warm rice anyway. There was hardly any variety of raw fish in the buffet 'all you can eat' menu, in fact it was just salmon or tuna (and they had no tuna they day I went).

As for the service, what seemed like the head waitress or manager was rude and a little bit scary. She constantly reminded us that if i shared a morsel of my buffet food with my boyfriend we would be charged twice and if there was any food left on my plate there would be a £5 fine! This £5 fine would have been okay if you could order the amount of food you wanted, but the snakes saw that I had already had quite a bit to eat - all I wanted just a few more peices of cold salmon sushi and salmon sashimi. So the waitress brought out a plate of sushi even larger than the first one, smiled and repeated that there would be a £5 fine if i didn't finish it. This lead me to having to stuff bits of stinky fish and sushi into my pockets when the waitresses had their back turned.

The atmosphere was just as bad, we were crammed like sardines in a badly lit room, even our water was slammed down in front of us in pint glasses. My boyfriend and I asked to sit at a table a little less crowded, we were not allowed. We also tried to sit opposite each other to talk 'You must sit closer, NO closer' untill we were practically shoulder to shoulder.

Customers tick things off a paper a menu to order and you have to pay at the door. And to top the evening off we were charged for service! When we asked to have it taken off the woman picked a fight with us and looked very sour as we left the restuarant, not even saying goodbye. I would not reccomend this place to anyone even if you love sushi.
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Sarah aged 20
0 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Friday, January 20, 2012

Been there a few times for the buffet. Love the sashimi always very nice and fresh but the California rolls are not very nice.. Tiny rolls with a tiny piece of salmon (if any at all) and rice and more rice!!

The head waitress (could be the owner??) is a nightmare!! She's everywhere and always on standby to have a go at some customer!! Not very pleasant.
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Christine
5 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 5
Wednesday, September 07, 2011

The value is excellent and the place is popular but there are some drawbacks:

1) You must do things their way, not yours.

2) You can't literally "eat as much as you like"

3) I've seen someone actually told off by the staff for offering their partner a morsel from their own "all you can eat" plate when the partner had chosen something different.

4) You are only allowed to stay for an hour and a half.

5) The sashimi and sushi is very salmon-heavy.

6) I've been three times and the salmon has always been warm, flabby and slightly chewy.

7) Be prepared to be squashed up right next to people you don't know, so you can't have a private conversation.

On the plus side:

1) They have occasionally made duck and hoi sin uramaki which are really superb.

2) The price of the set meal is very cheap - if you don't mind salmon.

3) The hot food on the set menu is pretty good, if a little uninspired.

3) Apart from the occasional scolding, the staff are reasonably friendly.
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Dom - View all reviews by this user
5 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 6
Monday, July 04, 2011

Hi Sushi is really good value for money! I went there for the buffet, the food was fresh and really tasty, plus the ordering system was easy to use and understand.

I would definitely recommend the buffet for those considering a party with quite a few guests as the platters of sushi were huge, and you could order up to 5 times!

The hot food was also very tasty, especially the prawn tempura and chicken teriyaki.

The only downside was the service which wasn't so great, it was quite busy so we had to wait for a while if we wanted to request something, however when we did get around to talking to a waiter/waitress they were very helpful and helped us out straight away.
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Anonish
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Thursday, May 05, 2011

mustn't go this restaurant!!! you'll be dissapointed. They're making & selling FAKE japanese food. if you go you'll know. i love eating and find good thing.but this one won't be in my choices anymore. i wouldn't everyone waste money for restaurant like this.
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hadi
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 0
Monday, January 03, 2011

The portions of all you can eat were really big, too big. We could not finish it although we saw others order more. If you want quantity this would be good. Next time I will go for smaller number dishes from the main menu with more variety.
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Whatever
6 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Saturday, December 11, 2010

Just came back from my "dinner" at Hi Sushi... Me and my boyfriend opted for the Eat as you can buffet but I am not sure if the owners know what EAT AS YOU CAN mean!!! : We could only choose among 9 cold dishes and among 7 hot dishes . The hot dishes can only be ordered once and the cold one ( sushi, salmon sashimi, salmon nigiri for example..) for three times not more!!!

Moreover, you have a limited time to "enjoy" your meal!

Most important according to me the quality is not very good, just ok.

16 £ per head + service , we have been disappointed!

We won't come back for sure and I personally don't recommend this restaurant for the eat as you can buffet. No proportion quality/price.
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Carolina P.
3 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Friday, November 19, 2010

I went to Hi Sushi Soho on Aug 7th 2010 with my boyfriend and we loved it. The sushis are fresh and delicious, the salmon tastes really good and mealts in your mouth, service is friendly and quick and the price is great: 16,30 pounds per person on saturdays, all you can eat. On other week days the price is 14,30 pounds per person.

All the sushis are made with salmon and the sushis you can order unlimited are: avocado roll, salmon and avocado roll, salmon skin roll, niguiri, salmon sashimi, crab roll, spicy salmon roll, california roll and others.

There's a hot dishes selection that you can choose up to 8 dishes. Hot dishes include prawn tempura, fried squid, japanese spring roll, among others.

For salmon lovers, it's the perfect restaurant. Def recommend it.
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Maria de Mattos
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 08, 2010

Absolutely love Hi Sushi - I always recommend it to my friends. Their service is good and their food is amazing. Have never had any problems. They are even very accommodating on nights when the queue is half way out the door. I cannot fault them. I just look forward to any business trips I have in London so that I can make my way down to Hi Sushi for the evening. Love it!!
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Misty
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, August 01, 2010