Martyn M.

Easily, the best Japanese restaurant in the city. With this new opening, Glasgow's food scene is definitely starting to pick up! I came in here today for lunch as I'd been meaning to try the place since it opened. We were handed a flier at the door for 20% off the total bill, something to bring customers in as it's new, and that settled it for me! When you arrive, the door staff welcome you with a huge smile and a "Namaste!", which just adds to the pleasant experience. We were seated at a lovely table at the back and our drinks were brought out to us. The menu in here is so expansive we took a while to decide, but eventually settled on chicken kara-age, korokke, duck teriyaki, chicken katsu curry, and Seabass sashimi. The food wasn't brought out all at once like I've experienced in many Asian restaurants, but more in the starter, main course format. The food was brought out quickly and efficiently, and all of it was absolutely delicious. The sauces, the meats and the dressings were all done to perfection, and I cannot think of a single fault. The main reason I've given it 5 stars is the staff. The staff in here are the nicest and most polite restaurant waiting staff I've experienced in a long time in Glasgow, and they couldn't be more helpful in their kind and caring approach. They definitely helped make this one of my most enjoyable dining experiences for the past while. The restaurant itself is huge, with seats dotted all over it. It's a very basic design, with wood and leather being the main features. It's all very sleek and classy looking. All in all a fantastic experience. I highly suggest trying here if you're looking for somewhere fantastic to eat out in town.

Sophie K.

I confess, I love sushi. It makes me happy. When my friend decided to hold her birthday dinner here, I was excited. It was fantastic. We were given a private room upstairs. This surprises me a little bit because I didn't realise there was an upstairs bit. I remember having been to Nippon kitchen before, and even back then the sushi was great and my friend ordered brown rice tea, which was delicious too (not sure whether that is still on the normal menu). We were given a set menu - three courses plus appetiser for £22.95, which is very reasonable. For the appetiser, I ordered the edamame beans which I love at the best of times, and these were especially amazing because they had a lot of salt on them. The birthday girl was a little unlucky because apparently she was missing many beans. Following that, I decided to go for the California rolls. Goodness, they were perfection on the banana leaf thing they were served on. Worth the wait (because they did take some time to appear and people were getting hungry). The birthday girl went for the gyoza, and I wish I could have had those AND the California rolls because they were both absolutely divine. SO, SO tasty. Flawless. The teriyaki salmon I ordered for my main was good, but nothing compared to the sushi. The glaze was sticky and tasty, but the salmon portion small and ever so slightly overcooked and tiny. To finish, I had the green tea ice cream. I thoroughly enjoyed this too - even though it came with weird little dots/bean things on it, which i can't place and i didn't enjoy that much. All in all, the food is perfect, I love this place and I think everybody should come here and love this place!

Briony C.

When I first walked past Nippon Kitchen, I mistakenly thought it was a knife shop. Sometime later I heard word on the street that Nanakusa were opening a sister restaurant on West George Street, and so I pieced two and two together to realise that my speed googling of "Nippon Kitchen" had lead me astray. Either way, there was another Japanese restaurant opening in Glasgow so I was happy. It took me ages to finally visit here, but I popped in for lunch on Friday. The space is beautiful - I prefer it to Nanakusa because it is a lot brighter and has nice high ceilings. Watch the floor though, I found it incredibly slippery and was just glad to make it to my seat without falling on my ass (roller derby balance skills come in handy in many situations). I was starving and needed food stat. I made a quick decision to go for salmon sashimi and chicken yakitori skewers (these are actually called something slightly different on the menu and I can't remember exactly what that is). My food arrived quickly - the sashimi first and then a few minutes later the yakitori. No complaints about the yakitori, it was tasty and clearly just off the grill. One thing I found odd was that it had pieces of pepper between the chicken - every piece was green pepper on the skewers and then there was one random red pepper on their. I don't know why but that really stuck in my mind. Haha. The sashimi was also delicious but the last piece I ate was a little bit chewy, almost like it had some sinew or something on it. That was a shame as every other piece was perfect. Staff here were really friendly and helpful, I couldn't fault the service. Nanakusa is one of my favourite places for Japanese in Glasgow and I will definitely pop back here for dinner, where possibly I will upgrade to the coveted 5 stars.

David R.

Service, efficient and friendly during a busy time Ambience:- lovely atmosphere within ha stunning Victorian building with Japanese decor Toilets:- Swish! Food:- soft shell crab promised so much and almost delivered! The meaty centre was top however the batter was far to crunchy and heavy and made the leg area of the crab like biting into pure batter. The Sashimi (Tuna and Salmon) in particular is of a very high quality The dumpling starters are fresh and delicious We enjoyed several variations of Nigiri, sushi roll and sushi cones, all were fantastic, we would recommend the Salmon, Tuna and King Prawn as our favourites. Ps I really wish they did Sapporo on tap! X

Graeme H.

For a long while Nana Kusa has been my go to place for Japanese food in Glasgow: the food is great and I've always liked the slightly manic atmosphere, with the jazzy lighting and the hustle and bustle. Nippon Kitchen is a new sister restaurant, and while the food is very similar indeed the general vibe is a lot different. The food is to the usual good standard: the soft shell crab was lovely (my only criticism of the night was that it could have been a little bit softer) as was the chicken gyozas and kara-age. I can't remember what my main was, but it was a crispy duck dish which was great - the duck was cooked really well (not at all dry) and the sticky rice that went with it was good too. When we were there a few things needed to be ironed out in terms of drinks not being available and it being cash only, but hopefully everything is working OK now. So why only 4 stars? Simply because I prefer Nana Kusa. In both places they have left a lot of the original features in place, and while Nana Kusa lets you see past this and feels like a restaurant, Nippon Kitchen feels a little bit like having dinner in and old bank (this is especially the case if you go to the toilet upstairs - the old meeting rooms are still there! Hopefully in time this can change into something interesting). It is a lot brighter than Nana Kusa though, and would probably be better for families, larger groups and a quick lunchbreak catch-up. In time I might get used to it, and I prefer the location, so this might be upgraded to 5 stars in time. If you like Nana Kusa you should find lots to like here.

Debs M.

I had been dying to go here for ages, particularly as I'm a fan of their sister restaurant Nanakusa (review to follow once I use the need to write a review as an excuse to go back there, hehe.) And I would say Nippon Kitchen is a bit like a more upmarket version of Nanakusa, it feels a bit fancy without being stuffy, and is also reasonably priced! I knew I absolutely had to get the seafood bento box because a) I love seafood and b) I also love trying all of the things, and while I didn't manage to finish it (booooo on my part!) it was SO GOOD. I happily scarfed some miso soup and sushi before the rest of my box arrived, the perfect starter! The miso soup is probably the best one I've had thus far, and the sushi pieces (Califonian maki rolls) were nothing short of perfect! In the rest of my box I had: teriyaki salmon (YUM) seafood gyoza (YUM) panko breadcrumbed prawns (erm, YUM) and sticky rice (awesome if you like rice, I'm not hugely fussed but it was cooked really well and that matters a lot to me.) Mr Debs went for teriyaki duck with rice and generously let me try a bit of the duck, it was also really good and something I'd consider getting next time - I can say with almost absolute certainty that there will be a next time! The staff were fab, the decor and everything was lovely and they have a decent wee selection of Japanese beers too, if that's your bag!

Laurence D.

I was searching for a decent japanese restaurant in the city centre, and did not want to go to Nanakusa for the 25th time, so I decided to venture out of my zone of comfort and go to Nippon Kitchen this time! The restaurant set-up is quite usual, in the sense that the place seems more appropriate for fine dining, with its high ceiling and traditional decoration, than for a japanese experience. Seating was a bit awkward and we hadn't much room to fit our - admittedly too long - legs. I guess this is to be expected in a japanese restaurant! We started with a sharer of gyoza (seafood and vegetable) which was very nice. As we did not feel like sushi that day, we decided to have a Yakimono each. I had the seared tuna one, and my friend had the seafood of the day, which was bream. They both came with a generous serving of seamed rice, a little salad and a gorgeous sauce (I had the one with soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chilli, called Yaki Niku). The sea bream in particular was very nicely displayed on the plate and quite impressive! Overall, the food was very good. The reason I'd only give a 3 star rating is because, despite the nice food, service could clearly be improved. We were first seated in a little corner right by the bar, although there were plenty of better seats available (which we swiftly moved to), the waitress dropped plates several times, and took ages to take our order despite the fact that we were clearly done choosing. Lastly, the modern occidental playlist was at odd with the whole japanese food experience and it abruptly stopped and loudly resumed several times. Thankfully, that did not make me choke on my nice tuna!

Elaine D.

I've just realised the photos of food I took are all beige. Pastry, chips, potato scones, wraps, battered anything-vegan - so many of my favourite foods are beige. Next time I am getting a stir fry with lots of coloured vegetables! I've only been here once before, and there was a bit of a staffing issue (sushi chef was absent... somewhere...) which caused a bit of confusion and delay with my order, but this was a while ago and otherwise the staff and food had been excellent. So, tonight I was a little in the rare position of being in a non-veggie restaurant where I had lots and lots of choice of dishes and no idea what to get. All sorts of combinations of rice / noddles / curry / veg / tofu were available, and there is a note on the menu that all vegetarian options can be made vegan. I have no idea how anyone without dietary requirements could choose so easily! I ordered Agadashi tofu because it's one of my favourite dishes. It is more seaweedy and less sweet than in other places, but still good. I ordered the Inari sushi because it's also one of my favourite dishes, and wherever I am if it's on the menu I usually order it. The rice was a decent sized portion, and topped with what I think were black sesame seeds. The tempura was alright; I don't think there's much you can do with vegetable tempura to make it that exciting and at £6.00 in hindsight I wish I'd tried something else from the menu. The dumplings were nice. They do have at least one vegan dessert option - a rice pancake with a bean filling - but I decided not to order it as I already felt the meal costs had a spiralled a bit beyond what I'd budgeted for. It was £3.00 for my pint of soda water and lime, and £5.50 for 125ml of the special lychee sake I ordered afterwards (sweet and delicious). There were about 14 of us and we had a bit of a wait before the food started coming, but that's to be expected with a large group and freshly prepared food, and there always seemed to be a member of staff around if we wanted to order drinks or dessert. I'll definitely head back in a small group and try a dessert and a different main and possibly bump my rating up to a five.

Dani M.

After hearing so many good things about Nippon, I can't believe how long it took me to check this place out!! Upon arrival we were seated quickly. Staff were really friendly & provided good service. Kicked started the evening with some lychee & sake Martinis, really tasty & packed a wee punch! The menu has a good variety to appease all appetites. Indecision got the better of me so opted for the bento box aka a bit of everything! Chicken gyoza, skewers, teriyaki chicken, rice, miso soup & some maki. It was all pretty lovely, good rice, yummy chicken & not too much nor too little of this or that! A refreshing change to my usual Japanese haunts. I think its safe to say it puts the neighbouring wagamamas to shame... Though each to their own & all that. Overall a great venture, I can't wait to go back & work my way through the menu! Would totally recommend!

Austen M.

On the hunt for food today we eventually ended up at Nippon Kitchen. The first place we went served no food on a Sunday and the second we had to leave due to a fire alarm! First impressions were good. Staff were friendly and we got seated very quickly. The decor looked like it may have been a bank in a previous life, but I quite liked it. It did seen to lack a bit of atmosphere though. Just very quiet and missing any sort of buzz. Beer choice was excellent with four Japanese types to choose from and all are lovely. I went for an asahi export black. The food menu looked great with loads of options and it was actually hard to choose. I went for a favourite of mine with the chicken katsu curry. Unfortunately that is perhaps the mistake I made as it was by far not the best version I have tasted. The sauce came out separate and was a bit cold. It all tasted a bit bland and slightly disappointing. Hard to pinpoint exactly but maybe that it just tasted like it was not freshly cooked. I did taste my mums veggie tempura and that was lovely. So perhaps I just made a bad menu selection. I would give the place another try, but I am in no hurry to go back I'm afraid.

Fiona H.

The Bento boxes here are incredible, so much food for such a reasonable price! The sushi itself was really fresh, and the prawn tempura in particular was also really good. Re-visited here last week for a team lunch, and the lunch meal deal was pretty good. A very filling katsu carry for around 8 quid. Turns out I love Katsu sauce, when it is made properly. The service wasn't the quickest for an hour lunch turnaround, but it wasn't bad by any means.

Emma H.

My friend Rachel and I meet up every few weeks or so for a bit of a pow wow over food. This time we decided to try out Nippon Kitchen as we both love sushi. The venue is beautiful and as it was a Monday night I had no problem getting seat. I waited around 20 minutes for my friend and I think the staff thought I had perhaps been stood up! The menu had a lot of selection and in particular the sushi looked very promising. I ordered chicken teriyaki and some maki and nigiri sushi and Rachel had a bento box. The waitresses were great checking on us and asking about drinks regularly, there was one girl however who asked us several times if we were okay I think she kept forgetting she had already asked us. The food arrived very quickly which is a massive plus point for me. Rachel's bento box looked great and my sushi was amazing. My teriyaki was also very tasty but I did find the rice a little dry. That was the only negative from my experience. For dessert I decided to try the green tea ice cream. Something I've never tasted before. The portion size was 3 big scoops which was more than generous. The taste was so unique and my taste buds had to work overtime to distinguish the flavours, even now i still cant decide if i liked it or not. Nippon Kitchen has definitely been added to my list of favorite sushi restaurants in Glasgow and i cant wait to return and try more from their menu.

Erika D.

I have to admit it - best Japanese in town!!! Been wanted to try this since a long time and finally got the chance last Saturday, as i went for dinner with a friend. The venue is beautiful, quite classy and upmarket, service was spot on and exactly what you expect - friendly, chatty, attentive, always smiling. Prices are reasonable, I was honestly expecting it to be more expensive so it was a good surprise when we got the bill at the end of the night. Last but not least, food is amazing. I left really happy and satisfied, and I can't wait to be back! Between the two of us we had Miso Soup, Kushiyaki (chicken grilled skewers glazed with teriyaki sauce), Vegetable Gyoza, a selection of sushi/nigiri and chicken teppan ginger noodle stir fry - soooo much food! The waitress was quite impressed lol. Everything tasted amazing and it was actually quite hard to pick only these dishes as the menu has got so many great options to choose from. Overall as i said, 10 out of 10 for Nippon Kitchen, can't wait for my next visit!