When you’re craving delicious and authentic Japanese cuisine, come visit Memories of Japan in North York. With room for over 300 diners we have been one of the largest Japanese restaurants in all of Ontario for over 15 years. Our menu is full traditional Japanese favourites made on our Teppanyaki cooking tables and sushi. You can come enjoy the experience at our clean and friendly restaurant or you can place an order for delivery or pick-up. We can also provide catering for parties and special events. Visit our website to view our full menu and call today to place an order.more...See more text
fun for large groups that are into a bridge between Japanese and Canadian north American culture. teppenyaki chef kept getting laughs from his lines. solid place to go.
I would have to say this has been by far THE WORST restaurant we have been to.
First thing: our first order from the AYCE menu consisted of 8 different things. We only got 4. 15mins later, the waitress finally decided to come ask us if we received everything we order. WELL DUH! OBVIOUSLY NOT, THAT'S WHY YOU ARE ASKING!
Second: worst service EVER! We had to ask for our water to be filled numerous times. I had asked one of the waitress for 3 spoons for my kids and tells me to wait 1 minute because there were more important people she could serve. Guess what? We never saw her and was never brought to us the spoons that was requested.
Third: Food was not the best. Again, ITAMAE sushi Down the street offered better sushi and better options than this place.
All in all, avoid this place! SAVE YOUR MONEY. You will be better off eating at Mc donalds than spend $60+ on garage!
Memories of Japan has excellent food at a very reasonable price. Service is excellent and unlike other Japanese restaurants, I never leave Memories of Japan hungry. I usually eat in the dining room where you can get a 4-course lunch for less than $10. Parking is free and plentiful.
My family and I have been going to this restaurant for a while. After not going back for a year, I was shocked to see how far downhill the service had gone. We had a teppenyaki dinner. The service was okay, they got our orders mixed up a bit at first but nothing that couldn't be fixed.
What was most shocking to me was that at the end, my dad had given the chef a tip of $5. He was planning on giving our waitress a tip on the way out as well seeing as she haden't returned to our table and we really needed to leave. To our surprise, as we were getting up and putting our jackets on, the waitress as well as the manager approached our table and personally ASKED for a tip because the extra service charge that was put on our bill due to our large party was not enough.
Not only were we rushed by the end of our meal to leave, but I personally thought that it was absolutely disrespectful to have to even ask for a tip especially since there was a service charge included already.
We went to memories of Japan to find a place to...
We went to memories of Japan to find a place to host an upcoming event. When we went in, the restaurant was very promising. The atmosphere at the entrance looked nice and clean.
We soon were seated at the tables to the right of the entrance. The tables looked pretty nice I have to say, the chairs were kinda strange, and the tableware was nice.
We looked at the menus and found them to be lacking in many areas. There was no drink section with prices, besides a page of cocktails (which nobody would drink). The pictures of the food didn't look too nice, the nice lighting and photography didn't make up for the poor food which we saw.
The service was decent. Not too fast, but the waitress didn't leave us waiting to long (the restaurant was pretty empty at 6). She brought water, and we soon ordered our meals. They came in an average amount of time.
Now...heres the problem: the food. First of all, the plates were mostly 75% BROCCOLI. Nothing but broccoli on them, seriously. It didnt taste bad, but only because there was so much salty soy sauce on them. There was also a pool of sauce at the bottom of the plate with a soggy piece of lettuce. The chirashi then came, it looked like regular rice with the scrap pieces of fish tossed it. Seriously- the pieces of salmon and tuna were the pieces found at the end of one as you cut it, or scraps which couldnt be served with anything else. The sashimi then came-which was supposed to have 4 types of different fish. All it had was about 12 pieces of salmon and 6 pieces of tuna. The fish was moderate quality-however there was no selection of fish. The quality of rice overall was pretty poor. Overall, a very poor meal for such moderate prices. It was over $100 for all of this food.
By this time, the nice atmosphere was starting to bug me. The sunlight was dimming outside, and there was very little light inside the restaurant. We could hardly see anything by this time. The music was getting on my nerves- slow low voice singing with soft trumpets in the background. I hated it.
So, we chose that we will NOT be coming to memories of japan. Not only for an event, but simply never again.
We were in the neighbourhood with a pair of hungry and slightly tired preschoolers and thought teppenyaki would be a good way to keep them entertained and get them well fed.
We arrived at about 11:15 and evidently the restaurant had just opened as we were the only ones there. We were seated and our order taken and then we waited and waited and waited. Finally our chef appeared, walked head down to the table, poured some oil out, slapped the food down and spent the next 5 minutes staring at the grill before pouring some soy sauce over the lot, squeezing some lemon juice on it and walking away.
The food tasted like meat with soy sauce on it and the entertainment value was zero.
Not an experience I'm inclined to repeat!!
Good luck to others... it all depends on the chef and ours was def a dud.
After going to this restaurant since 2005, I regret to admit that I have had two poor experiences in the past two months, but one will never be forgotten.
In November 6, 2008, we happy ordered a take-out dinner from what was one our favorite restaurants. Upon returning home we excitedly began to eat our dinner. But to our surprise the fish in our "spicy" tuna and "spicy" salmon rolls was not fresh. Upon calling the restaurant, the management argued that the fish was fresh... however, 30 minutes later, the manager called me back and admitted that the fish was indeed not fresh... I am not sure if they stopped serving that fish... I hope I don't get sick. This restaurant has gone downhill in the past year... so sad.
I have gone to Memories of Japan about 4 times. This review is based on my most recent experience.
The decor is really quite nice. There is a fountain at the front of the restaurant, with a little Japanese-style garden. There is a lot of other things that reflect the type of restaurant this is, such as the walls, ceiling lamps, even the tables. The restaurant is very clean, very organized.
The service for the most part is quite good. The restaurant was about 80% full, and our waitress still performed at an impressive speed. The waiters/waitresses are friendly, but they will sometimes have trouble understanding English. They speak Japanese very well. When ordering in English, try to speak more slowly and you shouldn't have any problems.
The food is very good, not quite authentic Japanese but it has a good taste and is always served hot. The portion sizes are adequate, but not impressive. My gripe is the overall cost of the food- it costs about $17-$22 per person, which does not reflect the quality or the portion sizes. After eating, I always feel as if I've been ripped off a little- the food was good, but not amazing; the portion sizes were average, not big.
Overall, Memories of Japan is a good restaurant. It's not worth a trek across the city, but if you're in the vicinity, why not go enjoy a semi-authentic Japanese meal?
We go to this restaurant often. It really does depend on the chef you happen to get, both in the presentation of the meal (for instance, one might serve the rice first, another might serve the rice later in the meal), as well as the actual cooking of the food, i.e. how much butter, or soy sauce they use, etc.
If you get an experienced chef, he will be constantly filling your plate with little or no lag time.
I've never felt rushed in this restaurant. Typically takes two hours from the time you sit down to the time you leave.
Sushi and Sashimi platters are excellent and I recommend the sirloin rolls for those who love garlic.
Service is very good and unobtrusive.
Very clean, and the people are friendly. If you don't have 8 people, you will be seated at a table with another smaller party, which can also be fun.
I highly recommend this as a nice restaurant for friends, family and maybe a date (when there is a pause in the conversation, you can both pretend to be engrossed in what the chef is doing!)
Very reasonably priced for a meal with so many courses. Won't break the bank.
Teppanyaki cooking tables, private booths, regular dining room and private dining room available. My favourite is the cooking tables. The chefs are clean, professional and entertain with comedy and tricks such as flareups and tossing the cuisine into your plate in a dramatic way. Always a good time and great food. Reasonably priced and fast seating.The waitresses are hard to find though and sometimes forget to bring the rice lol. However, the restaurant is always clean and the ambience is beautiful. Overall a pleasant dining experience .
Very busy night, so there was a wait of about 15 minutes. Service in the table section was excellent - responsive without being intrusive. Food was excellent.
The restaurant itself was very tasteful decorated and very clean. I recommend for a family gathering or a date.
-The food is too expensive!!
-Nabeyaki Udon doesn't contain much seafood and it only has really tiny pieces of chicken
-Rice was hard
-The servers spoke poor English and also poor Cantonese..it took us so long for them to understand what we wanted!
-The food wasn't very special
-Servers never came to automatically refill water for us
Pretty good Japanese restaurant. Good food, enjoyed my dish very much. Service was a bit slow considering that the restaurant was only half full when my party and I were dining there.
We sat at the teppanyaki table where the chef came to cook at our table. The food was excellent. We had a mixed party with different dietary needs and the service accomodated us with no problems. For the price, everything was spot on. And the chefs were very entertaining while being very professional and meticulous. Kudos!
