Niki's Tokyo Inn

09/25/2008 Posted by mopowa

Stay away from these crazy people. Me and my family went there, the first thing you will notice is it stinks in there, we ordered sashimi, sushi, tempura and yakitori, we are Japanese and know sushi, when they brought the food I was horrified, the sushi and sashimi platter stunk badly of dead fish, if you know fresh it has no smell at all. The tempura was soggy, the yakitori was dried up, the miso soup was watered down, I could not believe how bad ALL of the food was. It all tasted horrible. I sent back the sashimi platter and no one ate the food yet we paid the 214 dollar bill, No one cared to ask why we did not eat the food. The next day I called and asked to speak to the owner, then man that answered said his name was Pat and he was the owner, all I said is that last night we were there and the sashimi platter... Then he, Pat started yelling at me saying we mad at you, I said mad at me? he said you don't know sashimi and to never come back he did not want our business again, I told him why are you yelling at me, I am speaking to you nice, he then screamed back saying you don't know Sh__T about sashimi and if I dont like it to go somewhere else. Now I am mad and told him, you are right sir, it smelled like Sh___T you eat it. He kept yelling at me saying that I don't know nothing about sashimi. I told him we are Japanese and yes we know that sashimii and sushi is not suppose to smell like they found it dead off the beach. I have never been spoken to in this manner. They absolutely do not care about the customer, just takeing your money. Either the good reviews are fabricated or it is people that know nothing about sushi. I know for a fact they had been closed down once by the health dept for unsanitary conditions. DO NOT GO TO THIS PLACE. If you do not believe me, just call them and say your ordered sushi and it smelled bad and listen to Pat start yelling at you. He is a disgrace to the Japanese and to the community and should be shut down permanent.

Pros: absoulutely none

Cons: everything

09/16/2008 Posted by MissMaybelline

At first, I really avoided this place just because of the way it looked from the outside. Finally, I was talked into going, and boy, was I missing out! Being new to sushi, I was hesitant, but the friendly staff broke down the menu. I now go to Niki's at least once a week! Everything from the sushi (salmon skin are my favorite), to the unadon, to the Ramen soup. The ramen soup blew me away! Everything is so authentic! Yes, the location isn't the best, the service is a bit slow and food a bit pricey, but it's completely worth it in my opinion. For die-hard sushi and Japanese food lovers, this is a must!

Pros: Great food, great ambiance

Cons: small bathrooms, bad location, decieving exterior

08/16/2008 Posted by Osushi

Nikki's Tokyo Inn has the best sushi and traditional Japanese food in this town. I am from Japan and only this place serves real Japanese food, and it's because it is one of the few Japanese owned as well. I personally know people own and work there, and they DO serve fresh fish. I don't know why some review states that this restaurant doesn't serve fresh sushi... I know, for fact, they go fishing and fish market every weekend to get fresh fish. Other than that, you need to go back few times and they will remember you. And you will get extremely good treatment, like give you extra, off the menu, stuff. Try this place and you will love it.

02/16/2008 Posted by AnnieKat

I would like to warn all young women that if they are going to eat at this restaurant, to make sure they have a male companion walk them in and out of the restaurant, as it is in a very bad part of town with a very dark and dangerous parking lot. I had a bad feeling when I parked my car their at night as the area is really awful and not safe looking, and when I went back out to my car after my dinner it had been broken into. Nobody at the restaurant wanted to help me and they acted like I was bothering them. Ok, I will review the food now. The place smelled very bad, as if they had not disinfected properly. The waitresses were very old and sweet looking asian women who took a very long time to take and bring me my order, but this is ok as I was really hungry. I did not like the sushi, it was too expensive for the portion size received, and some of it did not taste fresh, especially the salmon and tuna. My waitress got mad at me when I mentioned this to her, and I did not see her again except to get my bill which I had to ask another waitress for -very unprofessional to behave like this. Then I walked out and saw my car had been broken into, and nobody wanted to help me. Don't come here, the food is not good and the prices are high, but worst of all it is a dangerous place to eat at especially at night.

Pros: I cant think of anything

Cons: Salmon & Tuna sushi not fresh tasting, sushi prices too high, very dangerous location (my car was broken into their)

09/25/2007 Posted by argokirby

It might not look like much from the outside, but the atmosphere and the quality of the food and service makes up for it in bucket loads. The seating options are great, I loved being able to choose the Japanese style (sitting on the floor). The sushi is very traditional, very fresh, and very well presented. NOTE: they dust the top of the rice with wasabi then lay the fish on top of it, so if you cant handle wasabi remember to ask them to leave it off. The price is worth it! This is not a lets go out every week and get some sushi restaurant. But its worth saving up and going. Their sushi portions are larger than most places so don't feel you have to order tuns of food. For the 4 of the bill was $80 with tip. They also have the Toro (Fatty Tuna) which is a treat that most sushi restaurants just tell you is out of season and if you have never had it...splurge and try it, you will fall in love.

Pros: Its supper nice inside and very friendly

Cons: The outside of the building and neigborhoo is kinda scary

09/09/2007 Posted by rcdwilliams

A group of us went because we had heard some good things about this place. First the building is so old it looks condemned. As we walked up there were a combination of odd smells. As we were lead to the area where there is floor seating I noticed that the room is covered in carpet--something you really don't want in a restaurant. The small room is cooled by a wall unit and the vents are covered in black dust. Edamame was WAY overcooked and the eggrolls were soggy. Sushi was not fresh and the service was slow. In my opinion, STAY AWAY.

08/18/2007 Posted by kokeshi_doll

Most Japanese restaurants in San Antonio are owned by either Mexicans, Koreans, or Chinese. This is one of the fewest Japanese restaurants that is Japanese owned. So you can expect Japanese traditions rather than new sushis like the "Spider Roll". The restaurant has been there since the 70's so it has a lot of years under it's belt, which refers to its workers, furniture, and building. Service is slow, but the food isn't as pricey as other restaurants. As for tip, it is included for parties. It even says so on the menu! There are 3 styles of seating, at the bar (which includes a complimentary cucumber salad), tables, or sitting on the floor. Parties go well here, but I suggest you make reservations. I love the yakitori, it's delicious! It goes well with their rice and miso soup. As any other restaurants, they have their good nights and bad nights. But overall in general, if you want to go to a traditional Japanese restaurant, this is the place.

Pros: Traditional, REAL Japanese, beautiful ikebana.

Cons: Slow service

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

07/01/2007 Posted by sushiloverbear

This is the worst sushi I've ever had, and I know my sushi, having lived in Japan and being a japanese trained sushi culinary expert. I just don't understand how this place can have good reviews, unless the reviews are fake to garner business, or people have gotten used to this bad quality or don't know what good sushi and service is. The sushi pieces were small compared to normal american sushi, yet the prices were some of the highest I have seen. And the fish was too warm, which is an unsafe food practice due to bacteria multiplying quickly on raw fish that is not kept cold. The service was really bad, it took forever to be seated on a slow night, and then once seated took forever to take and get my order -I'm not joking when I say it took an hour from when I first walked in till I got my order, and this was a slow night! My non-sushi Tempura meal was also very over done to the point the veggies were limp and oily and the shrimp was hard -really awful. The staff didn't care when I complained about these things, and I was told not to come back if I didn't like the food -worst treatment I've ever received. And to top it off, they expected a 20% tip which was already added to my bill (restaurants only do this for large parties, not one person) for this awful food and service! Skip this place if you want good sushi and service, I'll certainly never go back.

Pros: None

Cons: Bad Sush, Horrible Service, High Prices

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful

06/15/2007 Posted by chicho78258

The atmosphere is great. I love that you have the option of choosing traditional Japanese seating, or western seating (our normal restaurant table and chairs). I'm originally from Seattle, WA, and I've been looking for authentic Sushi. I've been to Sushi Zushi, and frankly I don't mind paying top dollar for great sushi, because I normally only order sashimi. I think that Sushi Zushi is a great looking restaurant, but their menu is too extensive, and it's just overpriced farm raised fish sushi. At Niki's Tokyo Inn, they actually have Wild Alaskan Salmon. Yes, their menu is not as extensive as other Sushi joints, but I respect the fact that they keep it simple and traditional.

Pros: Great Traditional Sushi.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful

12/18/2006 Posted by klberndt

I was in San Antonio for a month and ate at many sushi restaurants. Niki's was hard to find (drove past it twice). And when I did find it, I thought it was closed. I know they can't do much about the neighborhood, but one would think they would have a little pride in the appearance of the restaurant. Once I figured out that the closed windows with no lights on did not mean they were closed, I went in. No one seemed to care I was there, and it was 5 minutes before I was seated, even though the place was less than half full. Although some people may call the menu traditional, I call it boring. There are only a handfull of rolls offered, which was somewhat disappointing. On a good note, the sushi nigri WAS probably the best I had while in town. The fish portions were large (I thought "one bite" was traditional?), and absolutely fantastic. The service was so-so. I probably wouldn't go back....unless I was in the mood for sushi nigri only.

Pros: Sushi nigri

Cons: Ambience, service, limited sushi menu