Niko Niko Sushi

Recommends

margerydream

Joined 5 years ago

THE BEST SUSHI IN LA. I'm addicted to sushi and this is my all time

favourite liitle sushi restaurant anywhere,..lovely gracious welcoming owners ,,, only the freshest, most delectable fish.... always beautifully served! I have never and I mean NEVER been disappointed and I've been frequenting Niko Niko for years.

It's superb......

Doesn't Recommend

TheJames

Joined 3 years ago

Minimal flavor, service, atmosphere. Perfunctory.. My wife and I were looking for a tasty and friendly meal out as an end to a long day. We had been to Niko Niko some time ago. The interior has a pleasant look apart from three or four large screen TVs that are always on.

On our previous visit, we had a pleasant experience. But this time our experience was different. We were able to get a wall table where at least one of us did not have to be distracted by the stroboscopic effect of several large screen sports TV.

We were immediately asked if we were ready to order, which we were not. When we did order, it was several pieces of sushi and appetizer of egg roll. But the sushi came first, then the egg roll later.

The sushi was rather bland, except for the spicy tuna roll which was OK. Quantities were minimal, and the shrimp tiny. Egg rolls were OK, but by no means delicate in flavor. We then ordered the white tuna sashimi. It was not as soft as we had hoped, and was almost flavorless. It tasted like it had been frozen.

Our table was cleared and mopped up, and then we waited and waited and waited, and could not even catch the server's attention for our bill. She was too busy cleaning a counter to notice customers.

So we stood up, unnoticed, walked to the cash register, where the other server looked up, took our payment without a word, and went back to sorting through receipts.

We left feeling very let down by our evening out. Seems we did not have the same experience as many of the other reviewers, but we will not be returning. Shame, as when friends are in town it is the only restaurant within short walking distance.

Recommends

LizMarie

Joined 5 years ago

Best Sushi for the Best Prices!. I absolutely love this restaurant. Whenever anyone comes in from out of town, I take them to Niko Niko's! There's a picture menu of all the sushi rolls for those who are visual people, and there are tons of different rolls to choose from. Now for those who do not like too much sauce on your sushi--hello! Look at the picture! If you see sauce, then there will be sauce on your sushi roll. You have the option to ask for it without sauce. The wait is never very long, and the waitresses are friendly. The prices for sushi are really really cheap too! Two people can get out of there for under $20! An added bonus for me is the staff is not overly friendly or annoying attentive. They will make sure and place your first order, but if you decide to order more you may need to catch them walking past. I prefer this to the constant asking "is everything ok for you?" every two minutes by some other restaurants. Once you've placed your order, it takes about 5-10 mins and you have all your food, even on a busy day! This is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in LA!

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urbangypsy

Joined 5 years ago

food just okay, but a lot of food for the price. It's a cute little place and the servers were nice. The atmosphere was decent: intimate, clean and modern. It was a lot of food, I ordered a bento box with chicken teriyaki and a spicy tuna roll (included in the bento box) and it was more food than I could eat because the sushi is 8 pieces. It was less than 9 dollars. However, you may want to specify chicken breast (i don't know if they have it) because they teriyaki was dark meat with all the gristle and tendons so we ended up only eating about half of our teriyaki. The spicy tuna was fresh but lacked any flavor. I can't really complain for the price, maybe I just ordered the wrong things. I must admit that I am not the bravest sushi connoisseur, some of the rolls looked interesting but for the average tuna/yellowtail consumer it was a bit lackluster. Bottom line, if you're watching your wallet this place is okay.

Recommends

doll83

Joined 5 years ago

Tasty California rolls. I visited this sushi place with a girlfriend recently. The sushi was reasonable priced, it came fresh and lovely arranged. We were sitting inside, though the front glass was to shoved aside so we were able to enjoy the summery weather. I asked the waiter discretely if he might bring me a fork, as I am not an expert when it comes to that. He asked me then if he could bring me chopsticks helpers instead. He mounted them to my chopsticks and I was very surprised how it worked! PS. I highly recommend the California rolls!

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russianmaddness

Joined 6 years ago

the food they bring out is nothing like it says on the menu.... this has happened to me 4 times... i order a sushi roll plate, always specifying that im allergic to avocado, and EVERY single time, they would bring my food with avocado IN IT!! its rediculous.. #38 Spicy Tuna Roll: Masago, spicy sause, spicy tuna tempura.... an still they put freaking avocado.. it makes me feel like they dont give a sh*t about their costumers, not the server who should be checking and making sure the food is right, not the cook, that should be better listening to the server... and who ever owns it needs to put out and spend some money on making new menu's (which are also different from the to-go menu's)..

Recommends

dmarro

Joined 11 years ago

Name Remains, Menu Change. As of July 1st 2006, this Niko Niko location changed hands. To you regulars (like ourselves), the biggest impact is the new menu. Gone are the days of the Crab Crunch and Karate Rolls, replaced by new, more inventive creations like the Westwood and the Popcorn Lobster Rolls. No matter, change is good, and in this case it's great!

The new owner/sushi chef continues the Niko Niko Happy Hour tradition so we decided to randomly try out the menu. Every presentation was marvelous and most importantly, the sushi tasted fresh in each one of our dishes. The special rolls were prepared in a generous portion, many decorated with creamy sauces. The friendly staff, including the owner, often interacted with us and made great suggestions.

So how do you top off a great, first experience under new ownership? By being offered a set of your own personal ceramic chopsticks. In between visits, they are labeled with your name, sanitized, and stored in their protective box to await your return. Now that's service!

Overall, this place has transformed for the better. Don't get me wrong, the previous owners were friendly and offered good sushi, but this is a much welcome change. Yes, we miss certain things in the old menu, but if we ever get a craving for it, we'll visit the other Niko location in Costa Mesa on our way to San Diego. So a note to you former regulars, we're told the Costa Mesa location remains in the hands of the original owners.

Goochi soo sama deshita! (I really enjoyed the food!)

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crowned06

Joined 7 years ago

New Ownership- Fresh, Great Sushi!!. The previous owners were very nice people, but the sushi many times did not taste great- in fact sometimes it didn't seem too healthy.

The new owners, from downtown, are just as friendly and even more helpful. We even saw the owner leave the counter to describe the sushi to a guest at a table.

I ordered the chirashi bowl- incredible! The first mouthful told me what I was missing. I loved everything from the shrimp to the tuna, however the pickled carrot wasn't my favorite. The difference was clear- this sushi is fresh and well prepared. The best I've had in a while.

My boyfriend let the owner serve him what he pleased. The variety wasn't too amazing, but the fish was very fresh. I, personally, was impressed by the tumpura lobster over spicy tuna rolls.

Overall: Fresh, tasty sushi; warm, excellent service. GREAT BARGAIN

Doesn't Recommend

butterscotchtoffee

Joined 8 years ago

Use Old Stinky Rice. They serve sushi with left-over old rice up to 3-4 days. Not Recommended at ALL.

Recommends

tusc2000

Joined 9 years ago

Good neighborhood sushi. I found the sushi to be very good, the service helpful and the decor cool. The fish was fresh, although don't expect the most innovative items. The portions were good size and everything tasted great. It is in a weird mini strip mall location, but it is what it is.

I would not go here for certain items such as the teriyaki beef (a little tough), but for a nice, reasonably priced sushi dinner, Niko Niko is fine.