It's hard for me to fathom how Nishino has earned its current 4.5 star rating based on my dining experience there. Perhaps there had been a change in the chefs at a point in time that resulted in the huge disparity between the expectation that comes with a 4.5 star Yelp rating and the actual experience offered by Nishino. My boyfriend and I are obsessed with Japanese food. Our love for Japanese food furthered after our travels to northern and central Japan - we don't know Japanese food like a native, but we can say we know it better than the average Joe. Nishino's omakase did not do it for us. The waitress gave us a 'warning' after we ordered omakase (the rest of our table did not) that they do not offer a "traditional omakase" (we presumed to mean not edomae) and rather a 7-course set menu. We gladly welcomed the experience anyway. After trying the sushi gems of Seattle - Kashiba, Shiro, Wataru, Izumi, and Maneki - we wanted to see if we could add another staple omakase spot to our list. --Food-- The first course was wonderful - oyster, white tuna, and the uni noodles. Delicate and full of umami. The fusion that was done there was perfection. The rest of the six was a disastrous salt fest. There was a mushroom miso soup that tasted like an unfortunate concoction of butter and salt. With some mushrooms. Mostly butter and salt, though. There was another fusion dish with asparagus and squid. ...what felt like the entire salt shaker stole the show. It's not out of laziness that I don't want to describe the rest of the dishes, but all of them were unsophisticated and plainly flavoured with a heavy hand of sodium. A lot. Of. Sodium. ..and I'm someone who could eat plain rice with just soy sauce. That's how much sodium the dishes had - for even me to be overwhelmed. I took photos of the omakase, but I don't want to upload what looks to be appetizing dishes and lure more innocent foodies into trying this restaurant. The dessert was also unspectacular to the max - it was supermarket mochi with ... fruits. Really? It tasted the same as the mochi you can get from Safeway, and that really blew my mind. Oh and, the plate of sushi they decided to serve us at the very end of the salt fest - it wasn't bad. It was okay, I guess you can say it was fresh. Maybe. Nothing could possibly be as bad as the salt fest. --Service-- To be honest, I would've upped my rating by at least 0.5-1 star if the service was good. Our waitress was nice and friendly - but I would not say she was knowledgeable about the dishes. You see that mushroom miso I talked about up there? She couldn't even list what kind of mushrooms were in there. I'm not trying to be picky - but I am, if Nishino is presenting itself as a higher-end resto and they have customers willing to dish out $ for an omakase, the waiters should be least know their shit. The PACING. Wow, the pacing. I've had set meals with more than 7 courses, and the pacing and portion have never been as bad as Nishino's. a) The portions of the dishes were extremely inconsistent b) There were very long breaks between each dish (+10min) This resulted in any hungry person becoming full after around 3-4 courses. When the last - and most anticipated - course of sushi came around, we could not bring ourselves to enjoy it. Compared to the service we received at Kashiba/Shiro/Izumi/Wataru, Nishino's was childishly unprofessional. This included the way the waitress handled our opinion that the dishes are coming out too salty. She acknowledged it but did not pursue further on our thoughts - actually, she stopped asking us "how is the food?" after we initially said it was too salty. We also mistook one of the waiters for a patron - most of the waiters were in an uniform but a few were not. Just.. come on. If this was a mom and pop family resto, expectations would be vastly different. Nishino is not. The decor and the pricing of each item on the menu suggests that it's boasting itself to be a higher end resto. Its service was not. They didn't charge an outrageous amount for the omakase. But for $90pp after taxes/tips, you can bet I will not be going back there again - not even for counter seating. Nishino, please step up your game and live up to at least 3 out of the 4.5 stars you have? read more

I was there for Dine Around Seattle last night and had the gin cocktail, seafood miso soup and black cod in miso. The ambiance was fresh and the service was great. The food was tasty - the starter was a good size but I thought the main was a little too small a portion. That said, the cod was absolutely delicious and the sides that came with it were yummy too. I would definitely go back to try the sushi and have cod again but it is a little expensive so I would go return selectively. read more

Nishino - Seafood miso soup - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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I call my top 3 spots and each one avoids me like Floyd Mayweather, making me run around the city in search of some fresh fish....I mean I try to f*@ks with Omakase. You f*#ks with Omakase right? At this point I would give up the idea of sushi, but your people want what your people want. So I go with Nishino, and they tell me omakase can be served any where. I wont lie to you guys, I was terrified, eating sushi outside of my big 3 sushi spots....but I pressed on with the reservation. We get some pre dinner bourbons and we drive out to our 9PM reservation. We park...and as I pressed on past the doors a strange calm came over me this Monday evening. I don't know if it was the sushi gods or the kingship of all living things but I tell you at that moment...I was at Sushi Kashiba...except the entire place was empty save for another table. The Sea was angry that day my friends, like my auntie trying to send back our fried rice at a Chinese restaurant. We got about 2 courses in until we got our third dish...a sauteed mushroom and asparagus dish with citrus notes and I'm thinking "Ok...these guys got some game." As if sensing my presence the sushi chefs must have gotten nervous or angry because the remaining 5 courses and the sushi we ordered were among the worse experiences I have had since Kisaku 2008. Execution on every roll was completely off. Rolls coming apart as we picked them off the plate? It's as if the chef was an aging that I ordered a Spider Roll and they just rushed the entire process. No finesse at all, like that muscle head at the gym running on the tread mill. The dude doesn't run fast, he runs huge. The Madison Park Roll with that thin layer of egg on the outside, visually, looked like some Picasso sh*t. I'm thinking "Get it Nishino!" Nope...f*!kin nope. I took that bite and immediately took the L. I was like the opposite of DJ Khaled it did not make me want to order "Another one..." Our Nigiri didn't have that delicate touch you want like a prime D-rose lay up, finesse all day before he messed his knee up. I loves me some wasabi, but you can't put so much you over power the fish. And I f*@kin' loves me some Hamachi and Otoro. The saving grace? The staff and servers were excellent, very attentive and were engaging as well. Our server was like Conor McGregor, just smooth in movement and balance. Understanding when to come in to not interrupt conversation flow. And the baby geoduck! All right fam, that sh*t was winning, that sh*t tasted like justice. This dish was my charizard of the evening, straight fire. I wanted to love you Nishino but you remind me too much of the current Manny Pacquiao, old, slow, and tasteless. read more

Food is great! But the service is way way too slow. We are literally starving. Not recommended if you want to do omakase. We never had omakase with only 4 sushi rolls in total read more

We love this place. We usually sit at the sushi bar and chat with the chefs. Our favorite is the sushi bar omakase. The food is amazing and the chefs and service are great! During the Stay at Home order, we've been getting take-out, which has also been really good. Plus, their safety precautions and cleanliness is top notch. Highly recommend! read more

Really amazing 8 courses! Take 40 mins of wait but definitely worthy. We love the sashimi appetizers at third course the best! One bit to improve though, the sushi dish might be a little too rushing. Maybe because we are pretty much full at the sushi course, it's not as impressing as the first few courses. Enjoy it overall!!! read more

Nishino - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

Delicious and fresh sushi with friendly service in a lot of attention to detail. We enjoyed a beautiful meal. I would definitely come back.

Chirashi was pleasant. Good assortment of items on a bed of rice. Tuna 'pick' was ok, texture slightly brittle. Had the dungeness crab and found it a tad salty. It was definitely over reduced. Flavor was consistent and pretty good. Overall: Refer read more

Nishino - Sushi Bars Near Me - Seattle, Washington

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Have been visiting this restaurant for years and today I got a little bit disappointed by Chirashi. I can't tell if shiitake mushroom taste bitter or my tongue went wrong. The Chirashi was not good as I expected Sockeye salmon is definitely not ideal fish in Chirashi bowl, no that much body fat. Tuna is bigeye tuna and it tastes like sponge bob square pants? I've been visiting so many jap restaurants And Nishino is always my first choice in Washington. But today I will choose Flo's Chirashi rather than what I had today. Besides that, everything was perfect as usual. read more

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Certainly mot recomennd omakase. Nothing special at all and too scanty. For the price of omakase, too little food and too mundane composition. Do NOT order omakase. You can get better fiod and better price else where! I am certainly mot going back to Nishino nor recommend to all my friends. read more

Probably my favorite restaurant in Seattle for the ambiance (reminded me of a cruise ship dining room on first impression but grew on me over time), consistently good service, and of course, amazingly tasty food. I love that it's possible to come here without reservations (if you're open to sitting at the sushi bar) even though this is a widely popular spot. I've probably eaten here over two dozen times. Overall, you can expect high quality food that is consistently good in an unpretentious yet nice restaurant. Really, you can't go wrong. Highlights: - The Salmon Tartare on Crispy Rice, DEAR GOD, SO GOOD - Off menu sushi rolls (3G is my personal choice) - Baby Bok Choy (it takes a lot for me to like vegetables and this is always perfectly cooked and lightly seasoned) - Foie Gras Seared Tuna read more

Could this become my sushi destination in town? In search of a good sushi place, I have tried many many restaurants in Seattle. Last one was Nishino. A little bit farther than our usual dining neighborhoods (cap hill, downtown or maybe queen Anne), Nishino is located in a quiet, almost residential neighborhood. The place is super clean, very nicely decorated and has courteous staff. We did not have a reservation, but were seated promptly. One thing that caught my attention from the beginning was that unlike many sushi restaurants in town, their menu is not made up of deep fried, tempura style spicy rolls. That is a big bonus, since I don't dig spicy fried rolls and thus my choices are super limited at other places. We were greeted with a warm towel and decided to Start with a seaweed salad which had three different ingredients in it ( Wakame, Kombu and usual seaweed) and they all tasted really good. I ordered two different rolls, house special and jyo maki. The rolls were nicely prepared. They would not fall apart as I was trying to hold them, were really big and the ratio of rice to other ingredients was very little. Rice was just a very thin rim surrounding the fish inside. Overall, I liked the place, loved the decoration, enjoyed the food and loved that it was not too crowded and I was not rushed into finishing my dinner. Will definitely be back. read more

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Love their salmon and ito beef sushi, as well as the tempura french beans and tempura popcorn shrimp (although they overdress and Napa cabbage with this last dish). My husband really like the halibut cheeks, as well as the cucumber rolls. We're not super adventurous sushi consumers ... but all of the fish we've had has been very fresh. The "crispy" chicken salad was a miss -- dry/overcooked meat and no crunch to the chicken at all; sitting on a bed of semi-wilted spring greens with julienned red pepper; overall pretty bland, even with the shiso viniagrette. i'd also skip the teriyaki NY steak - the meat was a little tougher than I expected. My husband felt the albacore tuna tartare was quite bland and didn't care for the taro chips. Most of the service has been very friendly and prompt. read more

Wow. Ok, so you've seen all the 5-star reviews. And you might be curious as to what this 1-star rating is all about. So I'll try to be as detailed as I can. I brought my wife here for a birthday dinner. We eat A LOT of Japanese so we do know a thing or two about freshness and quality. This review focuses on cost vs value. We ordered the exclusive Omakase $85/person. Our takeaways were: amateur-level creativity, paltry portions, poor value. The 'omakase' is deceptive: what we got was a set menu of average dishes in comically small portions amounting to nowhere near what the price was. The first course was three morsels of seared fish, wrapped with some leaves and sauces. I liked it. The fish didn't taste super fresh or anything but the flavors went well with each other. Next, an appetizer that came in a small martini glass. Cubes of white tuna with avocado and radish leaves on a bed of seaweed. It was decent. But there was literally one tablespoon of it, the rest was filler seaweed, the kind that comes out of a bag dried and you stick it in boiling water for 2 minutes. I make this shit at home when I don't have time to cook. Next up was a 'soup' served in a tea kettle. We were supposed to pour it out in a tiny teacup and sip it. Fine. It was a soup of boiled dried mushrooms, and two or three pea-sized cubes of halibut. To the untrained eye, this looks 'artistic'. I call it putting some dried mushrooms from Uwajimaya in boiling water and putting it in a cute kettle. After the soup came a salad made for lilliputian people: two slices of tuna sitting depressingly next to 4 mouthfuls of safeway mixed-greens, with some dressing, and 2 taro chips. Someone consciously decided let's put $0.20 of Safeway salad mix here and $0.10 of this taro, and absolutely no more. Hoping that the trend of 'I can do this better at home' would come to an end, the next course took it to another level. Two deep-fried miniature oyster meats came in a quarter-inch of lemony soup. Guess what happens when you put tempura in soup? Yes, it gets soggy and falls apart. Why did the oysters not come in the shell with some creative arrangement? Is it not far fetched to think they came out of a jar... Two bites, and that's the 5th course in the bucket. $20 there, take my money. My plate was empty before the server had turned around. By now we were wondering, where the hell are the nice slabs of fresh sushi/nigiri/rolls? Thankfully, the next course was 6 small slices of sushi, with 3 of a kind. First was a lackluster Ahi, second halibut, third shrimp. My wife was unimpressed. Not fresh. Rolls were mostly rice and slivers of fish. The rice itself was poorly done, being too hard and tasteless. It was like eating cheap sushi from a shady takeout place. The final course was a child-sized black cod. It was fried, not grilled (eyes roll). There were even corners being cut on greens: about 3 pieces of chinese veggies were artlessly thrown on the plate (the kind you get for free at the ramen shop) with a sprinkling of fried mushrooms. I honestly felt like a fool eating those 3 greens. It's the equivalent of someone putting 3 beans on a plate and saying eat this and charging you for it. The server came and said that dessert was next. Ah, good, I wanted it to be over. Give me some of that green tea tiramisu with red bean paste and I'm happy. But instead, we were given a plate of Safeway chopped fruit (3 kiwi slices, 4 oranges, 4 grapes, tiny cubes of melon) with 3 frozen mocha ice creams plonked on top of it, the kind you buy at Asian grocery stores. And one (yes, one) mint leaf with a hole in the middle of it placed on top. My wife and I looked at each other and I couldn't restrain a giggle. It was like getting airplane food in economy class, in a $$$ restaurant. We discussed the consistent use of cheap and store-bought ingredients that shouldn't be found at this price level. By this time I wanted desperately to leave this joke dinner. My wife and I walked out feeling so disappointed we were laughing at the outlandishness of it all. For $200 bucks we could've ordered from them a table full of salmon nigiri, mountains of sushi, and two dozen rolls. My wife's 32nd birthday shall forever be marked down as the "The Day Nishino F*cked Us Over". It's not really the kitchen's fault--they're just doing what they're told--but man, head chef San, the deep of pocket Madison Valley crowd are easy to please! Wink wink The best place so far we've found for omakase is Shiro's and Mashiko in West Seattle. The Mashiko omakase was $80 FOR TWO PEOPLE, the freshness of the sustainable fish is absolute, the grilled-then-flash-fried black cod is HEAVEN, and the artistry of the presentation is astounding. They even have shiso leaf-infused local craft beer. Food is art! read more

Boy, it's frustrating to read the positive reviews here. We were excited about having dinner at Nishino tonight - we love sushi and had anticipated an exceptional experience at one of Seattle's most esteemed Japanese restaurants. As we were led at our table we told the man who seated us how much we were looking forward to our meal. He smiled and said, "You're really going to enjoy it." We didn't hear another word from a server that night. We sat there watching as waiters glided through the half-filled dining room, attending to neighboring tables, bringing food, clearing plates, and taking orders (from, among others, a couple who had been seated after us). It felt surreal. It was as though we were invisible to the staff who passed back and forth without giving us a glance. After 20 minutes we half-jokingly agreed that we'd give them five minutes more and then leave - we expected at any moment someone would appear before us and apologize, and we'd proceed with our meal. It never happened. Five more minutes went by, and we exited. If we'd been in a diner I would have gotten up and corraled some service, but this was supposed to be a special occasion, and the neglect ruined the experience. I guess there was confusion about which waiter was responsible for our table, but at a purportedly sophisticated restaurant someone should have recognized the problem and fixed it. As we were leaving we told the hostess at the door what we'd experienced and she said, "I'm sorry. I noticed that no one was serving you." It was cold comfort to learn someone had in fact realized we were there and that we were being ignored. She just hadn't bothered to do anything about it. A truly disappointing experience. With so many other great places to eat in Seattle, we'll definitely never be returning. read more

Oh, my. You're never too old to learn new things, such as the following: Edward may be the best waiter in Seattle; Real (and therefore rare) wasabi is MEANT to be eaten alone. Morsel by spicy eye-watering decadently hotly freshly spicy morsel; Taylor Shellfish Farm's sweet, fleshy oysters make tempura unforgettable; Black cod and butter share more than a mere consonant; Fried crustacean carapace is a delicacy; I have no idea where mochi ice cream was all my life; No one gets more excited about a birthday than I do, no matter whose it is, if that means a night of omakase at Nishino. I could go on...but I cannot remember more than literal bits and pieces, palate snapshots, of various lovely delightful bites of fish (much from our own Pacific waters) and vegetables and little laps of sauces and nibbles of crisply fried garlic slices....Suffice it to say that it was a true delight to arrive at our table, order a bottle of wine, and never once even so much as glance at a menu, trusting instead the expertly skilled hands of the chefs (and our fantastic and truly expert server) to deliver an original and fascinating multi-course birthday dinner for my dearest man and me. Do you need to know anything more? There's an outdoor deck with a happy hour menu, you can stop by and get sushi and sashimi and other dishes for takeout, a lengthy sake menu exists to please those of you who are aficionados, and whatever you do, order the omakase (in advance). Get to finding your special occasion.... read more

Very average and highly overpriced. For three people, our bill with tip was over $350. I don't mind paying for quality food, but we didn't have any sashimi or nigiri, which meant the bill was mainly for cooked dishes. I liked the squid, the grilled fish, the rolls were decent and some of the smaller vegetable appetizers. The mochiko chicken was really dry and flavorless, so was the mushroom tempura. The crispy rice salmon was ok overall, with the rice being delicious (who doesn't like crispy rice?), but the salmon flavorless, The service was prompt and very good overall. I did ask the waitress if I had enough food for three. She said I can always add more - which I took to mean that I had slightly under-ordered, but we had an overabundance of food and I wish she would have advised us better. read more

My family has been going here for EVER. My dad loves it. For X-Mas he gave me a $150 gift card... I took a friend out for the omakase dinner. WOW... Tasty, delicate, fresh... with an amazing variety in tastes and textures, not overly filling, just right. Paired with a big frozen bamboo stalk filled with sake, it hit a spot that doesn't get hit that often for me: I get to eat like a rich person and not sweat about the other things I need to spend my money on (in real life!) Thanks, dad. read more

This is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in Seattle! My husband and I always sit in the sushi bar and ask the chef for their recommendations and so the delicate dance of sushi bliss begins... Or just go for the AMAEBI (row sweet shrimp) sushi, you get fried shrimp head, which is a good snack with beers and saki. You can't make a reservation for the sushi bar, so go on a week day to avoid a wait. There are parking spaces in front and basement (entrance is on the narrow alley behind the store complex). read more

I had the exclusive omakase! Overall, it was very good. I called the night before and got a reservation. The exclusive omakase is a kaiseki style omakase so there is a good mix of hot and cold dishes. It is not a sushi only omakase so if you are here for sushi or just sashimi, the exclusive omakase is not for you. I do not have any dietary restrictions so I wanted to see what they had to offer. I was a single diner and they had a table reserved for me. They also asked if I would prefer the sushi bar so I said that either one is fine but if they have space at the bar, I would prefer that. They were quick to seat me at the bar. The courses were (off memory so the order may be a bit off): Course #1 - Appetizer: albacore sashimi, uni/caviar/halibut over cucumber, etc. This was an excellent dish and a great start to the meal. Course #2 - Ceviche: The ceviche was very tart. I liked the tartness but it may be over the top for some. It was very refreshing and contained red onion, avocado, amaebi, and a fried shrimp head. Course #3 - shitake mushroom with maguro (tuna), foie gras, and sauce. This was a winner. Of course it was really rich and creamy because of the foie gras but I absolutely loved it. Course #4 - New style sashimi: The sashimi was good and it came with some salad. They drizzled some warm olive oil + sesame oil mix so that reduced the salad leaves a bit and sightly cooked some of the sashimi. It was very good though and had a similar affect as using truffle oil, etc. Course #5 - Soup: This was actually my second favorite dish of the night (favorite was the foie gras). The soup had some japanese mushrooms and clams. The broth was excellent and full of flavor. Course #6 - Lobster tempura: This was probably the loser of the night. They just didn't make it very well. The tempura was soggy and full of batter. It didn't have the crisp flakiness of tempura and it had about 2x the amount of batter that it needed. The sauce was also lacking in flavor. Course #7 - Flash fried icelandic salmon and vegetables. This was very good. The sauce was a little dominating and a little too sweet and I think they flash fried the salmon a little too long (rather than being seared, it was basically cooked salmon) but I do give them some props for being creative. Course #8 - Nigiri sushi: toro, albacore tuna, (not sure but similar to an aji), negitoro cut rolls. The sushi was excellent. There was a little too much rice though. The (aji-like) sushi was very good and the negitoro roll was excellent. Course #9 - shiro sorbet with red bean. The shiro sorbet is home made and was very refreshing. I love sorbet. The red bean was a nice topping. I knocked off one star because I would have preferred that they serve real wasabi with the toro at least. I understand that real wasabi is expensive but they do seem to go the extra mile sometimes. The sushi chef made a beautiful toro tar tar with caviar and he put some edible gold on top so I know that they care. Real wasabi would have made this a 5 star review. On another note...I get a little annoyed when I see some mistakes. Yes, I know they are minor but it's just me I guess. One customer was sitting at the sushi bar with a woman and they ordered spicy tuna hand rolls. The sushi chef made them well but rather than hand them to the customer as he finished making them (to keep the nori crunchy), he put it in an ornate box instead. The chef then went on to make the second hand roll. I had a slight cringe because I knew that the first hand roll would no longer be crunchy. He did finish the second one and handed the customer the box with the 2 hand rolls. It looked beautiful. But the customer (to my horror) didn't touch the hand rolls for another 20 minutes. They just sat there in front of them in the box. A soggy hand roll? eeewwww... The exclusive omakase is an excellent meal for the price. It isn't overpriced and I was pleasantly surprised when I got my bill. But anyway, I will return and sit at the bar and just try their sushi next time. I hope they don't disappoint. Then I can tell you all if the sushi here is better than Shiro's or not...:) As for parking, there is a small lot under the restaurant. There was a sign indicating parking in the back. There's also some street parking in the area as well. I read the reviews here and though parking would be a pain so I took the bus but I'm going to drive next time. read more

I stand by my 3-star rating for the Exclusive Omakase experience but am adding a star to my review since our last visit sitting at the sushi bar was a much better meal. All the fish is so fresh, and the sushi chef who served us was kind and helpful. I didn't appreciate the waiter saying something about our sake consumption (we were celebrating our anniversary and responsible), but it didn't mar our meal. Their crispy salmon tartare is to die for - they char the rice so it's crispy and smoky, then top it with the salmon tartare... you must try it! read more

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Nishino has been my favorite sushi place in Seattle for as long as I've lived here, so this 4-star review will just be a placeholder for the 5-star update that will someday follow. I took my sweetie here tonight for her birthday...the sushi was wonderful (especially the albacore and toro and the arboretum roll...all amazing flavor and melt-in-yer-mouth texture), as were the cocktails and the service, but I swear it was the loudest restaurant I've ever been in. We could barely hear each other. Normally Nishino has great ambiance, but the ambiance tonight was like an English soccer game. Our server said it was pretty normal for a Saturday...point taken! I'll stick to weeknights in the future. read more

It's a known fact that I love sushi like Richard Simmons loves his sequins -- I just can't get enough of the stuff! Nishino is definitely the gold standard when it comes to quality sushi. One of these days, I'll make it over here for the Omakase. Until then, I'll have to base my review off the few sushi dishes I've tried. Naturally, we had to try the foie gras and seared tuna on the Seattle Foodie 100 list. It is a foie gras on a seared tuna with a shiitake mushroom and red wine soy reduction. I'm not all that big on foie gras. Prior to this, I had it once. It was squishy. Would I order this item again? No. Was it prepared well? Absolutely. How did my dude handle it? Not well. At all. He's highly allergic to mushrooms, but he knew what he was getting into by eating this thing. I tried to warn him to only take a small bite, but oh no.. he just *had* to swallow the whole thing. Oh the sacrifices we make for the sake of posterity in completing this list... Everything else here at Nishino is done incredibly well. My one and only complaint is that they don't have a lot of unique rolls available. That's just a matter of my personal preference. I realize I am in the minority in this preference, and I am perfectly okay with that. I still highly recommend this place to people who are in search of great sushi. The atmosphere is quite lovely, and service is incredibly friendly and attentive. They pay great attention to detail in creating aesthetically pleasing dishes. Even though I'm not very big on their item on "the list", this is still a great restaurant. We'll be back! read more

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised when I tried this place for the first time last week. Friendly staff and excellent food made the experience a great one. I have to say that they are kind of priced higher than some other sushi restaurants. This would be a special occasion type of place. Plates are also a little small. Otherwise, it's a ten out of ten dinner experience! read more

First time trying Nishino Omakase experience. It was more of an appetizer experience for us than sushi. Everything was okay except the cooked fish plate that was just too salty for us. Personally I don't think I'd be coming back for the $95 Omakase. Soft shell crab roll was not apart of the Omakase however it was the best dish for the night. Omakase $75 a person x 2 read more

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Hands down, the best sushi I have had in Seattle. There is a place in San Diego that has me so spoiled that I haven't been able to land an amazing place in Seattle and I believe I have discovered it! The restaurant is very nice and I enjoy the small touches, like the warm towel served at the beginning of your meal, pretty menus and smooth rocks to rest your chop sticks on when you are not using them. Oh yeah, and the really neat tea cups inspired me to go take some ceramics classes and crank some of my own out. Now, to the food. We ordered the edamame, which was perfectly steamed and salted, the snow crab fresh rolls *a special*, the house special roll, the madison park roll and the hamachi nigiri sushi. Let me just say that the hamachi blew my mind. I have never tasted yellowtail that melted in my mouth like this did. I kind of wish I had just ordered six of those and nothing else, they were that good. So good that I was irritated that I wasted one by dipping it in soy sauce. The flavor of yellowtail is so faint that you just can't dip it and I forgot how wonderful GOOD hamachi is. That being said, the rolls were delicious as well. The house special roll is quite possibly my favorite roll thus far, considering how inventive it was. Instead of being wrapped in seaweed, the roll was wrapped in an egg crepe. I know it sounds strange, but it provided this sweet flavor that really intensified the fish inside. The service was GREAT and I really enjoyed our server (Edward). He was on it and always refilling our tea and making sure we were happy. I was happy with our dining experience and look forward to my next visit so that I can try some other creations (like the tempura banana dessert or green tea tiramisu!). read more

These are the things I was told about this town when I first came to Seattle: -Jesus Christ Made Seattle Under Protest (downtown streetname mnemonic) -don't jaywalk downtown and: -do try the Holy Trinity of High End sushi (Shiro's, Nishino, and Saito...which closed last year--sayonara, Saito). Thing is, a) there is so much decent middle-end Sushi that I'd never gotten around to trying the Trinity, and b) no amount of mnemonics can remind me whether Pike comes before Pine. So it was the 15th anniversary omakase special ($45 instead of the usual $60 per person, which means a step up in how much you wanna spend on Sake) that finally drew us out to Madison Park. Nishino is unassuming from the outside, and the inside is dominated by some slightly creepy large surrealist paintings that are vaguely reminiscent of Marc Chagall and involve subject matter as diverse as donkeys, parakeets, and strangely colored people. But that's beside the point. Omakase, in our experience, is typically Burger King's "have it your way" in reverse--it means trusting your dining to the sushi chef's selection, usually resulting in creativity and the day's finest cuts. At Nishino, omakase seems to be more a prix fixe multi-course set menu of well-presented small plates. In short, an exciting parade of high quality, fresh seafood with an occasional fusion-y creative twist. (Trust me, I don't always think of Fusion as a good thing--see my Japadog review--but Nishino's inventiveness usually starts with high caliber ingredients and turns out well. Their regular menu includes such intriguing standouts as foie gras with seared tuna.) The omakase this night was 8 courses long, including appetizers, soup, salad, tempura, cooked fish, sushi, and dessert. Notables included the fresh oyster, the tofu mushroom fish-stock soup, the albacore sashimi green salad garnished with fried lotus root, the avocado (yes, avocado) tempura with tempura popcorn shrimp, the pan-friend halibut cheek over a bed of swiss chard (the swiss chard was the best part of that dish), and the sushi, which was unadulterated with any fusion-y touches to let shine the amazingly fresh hamachi, tuna, and salmon--specifically local wild-caught sockeye salmon from Lummi (with two 'M's) Island up by Bellingham--YUMMMMMM (with many more 'M's). Also, the mochi and fresh fruit dessert plate was a nice finish, and our server Edward was awesome--friendly, knowledgeable and presented and paced the dishes exceptionally well, reading our cues without being overbearing. As for the Trinity--and then there were two. Haven't been to Shiro's yet, but all in all, Nishino lives up to its longstanding reputation. PS if you wanna avoid steet parking in Madison Park, there is a semi-secret garage in the alley behind the retail complex with free parking for customers of Nishino and the surrounding businesses. read more

We tried omakase set. ($70/person). The portion is a lot but quality is just so so. The nigiri pieces are really not good, I think it will be better if you just order what u like at the bar. The first appetizer we had is good but other dishes like salad, seared fish taste like what you will get a much cheaper sushi restaurant. read more

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Hands Down the Best Dinner of My Life!!! No Exaggeration. The Restaurant... We decided last minute to get sushi, we called an hour before the restaurant opened and they were already booked for most of the night, they had one spot left at 5.30 when they opened. We showed up a little early and when we walked in we were taken back by the pristine decor of the restaurant. I immediately then knew the food would be pricey and was hopeful that it would be equally as good. The Service... Once we sat down our waitress asked if we had eaten here before, being from california our answer was no. She then went into the menu and talked about the different kinds of food for the different kinds of eaters. She mentioned the Chef's Choice was for more adventurous eaters, those who want more than just Salmon and Tuna. She also recommended the Prawn starter, and said we could request for the discarded heads to be deap fried, that it would be an adventurous and delicious meal. We took her advice and ordered the Chef's Choice, and the Prawn Starter with the Fried heads on the side. The Food... When the food came out it was exciting. We first got the prawns and the fried heads. It was spectacular, the main meal was very acidic and delicious. The fried heads were like savory chips, we all ate every part of them. Then came the Chef's Choice. We spent about $50 for the 2 of us for this dish. It came with about 16 pieces of sushi. But the pieces werent what you normally see. We had beautiful scallops, multiple forms of salmon, tuna, sea bass, and a few others i forget the name too. These cuts had much more flavor to them, and they were amazing. So much so I asked for more after, and requested to go even more adventurous and to get the belly cuts. Those were so amazing. Each piece although having strong flavor had an amazing and apparent freshness to it, not like those cheap places with a bad strong taste. In Conclusion... Now that we are back in California we are already looking forward to our trip back, and will be putting a portion of our budget to spend at this amazing place. I cant wait to go back and order the chef's special asking them to emphasize on the more adventurous fish and cuts, with a larger budget of course. Having eaten great sushi throughout California and Japan I feel comfortable saying this was the best sushi experience I have ever had from start to finish. It was the Perfect Meal. read more

Come for the sushi and stay for the tapas. This Seattle gem is perfect for a cozy dinner with friends, or to bring a date. Tucked into the corner of a shopping center, Nishino was a pleasant surprise. Sharing is definitely the way to go as it allows for optimization of the options. I was blown away by the unique chawanmushi, a savory steamed custard egg soup that was an interesting take on a texture I'm far more used to enjoying as a sweet dessert. Another huge hit was the nasu dengaku, a japanese eggplant with miso sauce. The dish was so incredible I could have ordered 6 of these and left happy. Additionally, the dungeness crab, which was baked with mushrooms with spicy creamy sauce was decadent PNW seafood at its best. A heaping pile of fresh crabmeat atop a mountain of umami mushrooms. It was delightful. I know I was happy with the sushi as well, but honestly it was the small plates that I found the most memorable. Mochi made for a ideal finish to an already fantastic meal. I'm already looking forward to returning the next time I'm in Seattle. read more

Solid omakase experience. Definitely a fusion-y place. Doesn't look like much from the outside. That entire area has small-ish, cookie-cutter looking store fronts. The outside is a little reminiscent of a dental clinic exterior... but, no worries, you're at the right place, and the food is good. Interior decor and ambience was well done. Service was excellent. Sushi chefs were very attentive. Food? Omakase presentation is good, flavors are subtle but mix well. There were quite a number of non-sashimi plates (ceviche, crab cake, oyster tempura, etc), which provided some variety. Sashimi was very fresh. Solid 3.5 stars. Tip? Sit at the bar. The sushi chefs are very nice. When it slows down a bit, chat them up - it was the best part of the night! read more

Nishino is the place I go when I have visitors from out of town who want a good sushi experience, and don't mind splurging a little bit. The food is great, and whenever I go there, my party always leaves happy. I'm a fan of their chirashi - a great assortment of fish, and each piece is delicious. A bit more rice than one person needs underneath... personally, I'd rather have more fish for the price that you're paying. I also took the yelp advice and got the seared maguro special with shiitake mushrooms and fois gras. My verdict is the same as the chirashi: Delicious, but not quiiiite worth the price in my book. Because of the price, Nishino is never going to be a place that I go when I want to splurge on sushi - I think you can stretch your dollar at plenty of awesome sushi places here in Seattle. But Nishino will continue to be my destination with family and friends from out of town - I know it will always be a good experience! read more

By far, one of the best meals I have had in Seattle- or anywhere, for that matter. We had the omakase menu. Every bite here was an experience. Amazing food. The best sashimi I have ever tasted. Just amazing. Seriously, I think every other review I have written needs to be bumped down a notch to make up for the experience we had at Nishino. It was THAT good. ;) Our server was fantastic too- we admitted to not knowing much about sake, and had her choose different kinds for us to try. She picked some really wonderful matches to go with our food, and was just all-around awesome in every way. What a FANTASTIC experience. This is what we had, as best as I can remember it. :) First Course: Hamachi wrapped around asparagus, on top of cucumber, with ponzu sauce and pink peppercorn Green mussel with ginger relish Salmon wrapped in pickled cucumber with wasabi sauce Second Course: Cocktail of sunomono, crab, mango Third Course: Greens, sesame-ginger dressing, super white tuna sashimi, fried lotus root Fourth Course: Soup with matsutake (pine mushroom), nuts and white fish Fifth Course: Oyster tempura with a miso sauce Sixth Course: Cod with seaweed oil ponzu and cabbage Seventh Course: Sushi plate with tuna, hamachi, salmon, slice of Nishino Roll (wrapped in tamago), slice of another roll (asparagus, tobiko, salmon & tuna) Dessert: Kiwi Orange Grapes Pomegrante and Strawberries, Mochi (Mango, Chocolate Espresso, Cherry Blossom) read more

There is a starter on the Nishino menu that I would commit crimes for. Heinous crimes. It's that good. A shitake mushroom cap, perfect tuna, seared foie gras, and a red wine reduction. Two mouthfuls of bliss. This is one of the most well-executed examples of fusion that I can imagine. The sushi is impeccable, and there are many other lovely and delicious dishes on the menu - all well worth trying. Great sake selection, and a Pearl Martini that should not be missed. Nice service, but it is definitely crowded - and the last time I visited, the dining room was far too warm to be comfortable. ...But that amazing appetizer is what lingers. Make reservations. Dress lightly. And consider having a criminal defense attorney on retainer - just in case. read more

I took a friend here for her birthday and we both decided to do the Dine around Seattle deal taking place. I started with the albacore tuna tataki with ponzu sauce and it was delicious and the sliced jalapeno placed on top gave each piece a nice little kick, the albacore melted in my mouth. The birthday girl went for the Pacific oyster and maitake mushroom tempura with the seaweed salad, in her words it was delicious and I take her word for it. For my main entree I wanted to go for the assorted sushi and roll but there was salmon and I'm odd and do not like salmon so I skipped it and went for the broiled black cod which was marinated in miso, the cod was amazing, the three pickled like salads that accompanied it were not so amazing and neither were the eight bones I pulled out of my mouth from the cod, one poked the roof of my mouth and it still itches, one bone is acceptable but eight bones in one tiny piece of fish not so acceptable to me even though the cod was amazing. The birthday girl went with the assorted sushi and roll she said she enjoyed everything but the salmon skin roll, it just wasn't to her liking but everything else was wonderful. For dessert we both went with the sorbet of the day which was a nice refreshing ending to the meal and the server was nice enough to put a candle in the birthday girls. Our server was actually outstanding the whole night, explaining every dish, making sure everything was fine and never letting our tea or water glasses become empty. I will definitely be back to try their sushi because everything I saw looked fresh and tasty. read more

Having being offered a choice between Sacramento and Seattle, I quickly accepted the Seattle assignment and promptly headed to Yelp. Exclusive omakase anyone? For exclusive omakase you need to reserve a seat 24 hours prior to going, ostensibly so that they can procure the exclusive ingredients. I should have been more specific and requested a seat in front of Nishino. Overall, service was impeccable all night. Like Matsuhisa, the chefs direct the wait staff to ensure prompt service. The seats in front of Nishino were packed so Mori (skinny tall guy) was my chef. He did a great job although mostly by the book. Perhaps on my next trip he'll open up a bit and serve me some crazier things. I did get a chance to talk to Nishino a bit at the end, he was amused by my enthusiasm for sushi. So here is the list for exclusive omakase: - first appetizer: raw oyster, sockeye salmon rolled over a single piece of asparagus, amaebi with wasabi aioli and tomato, and something else cooked. No ankimo tho, disappointed! - Spanish mackerel servered in a wine glass with a slice of carrot and the tail end of the mackerel fried and sitting up in the glass. Interesting twist on aji tataki, although I prefer it sashimi or sushi style. - Seared tuna with foie gras, shiitake and red wine reduction. Perfection... While many of the cooked specials owes a lot to Nobu's distinct style, the shittake/seared tuna/foie gras pretty much trumps anything I've had at Matsuhisa. Personally served to me by Nishino (yeah!), this was the shining star of the night. - Albacore sashimi salad with fried lotus root and red onion soy dressing. Very good although I felt that if they had cut up the albacore into more pieces (instead of leaving it as two huge chunks) it would have been better. - Maitake Mushrooms, squid, asparagus salad with yuzu dressing. This one was great, I definitely appreciate good mushrooms.... especially Maitake. - broiled eggplant with crab meat on top. Totally forgettable dish. The eggplant was good but overpowered everything on top of it. - halibut cheek served with greens and golden mushrooms in a dashi filled soup. Very very good, although at this point I was feeling full and eager to see how they would handle the sushi part. - sushi. Mori asked me if I liked uni and I replied "are you kidding me?" So one piece uni (super fresh), one piece toro (unbelievably soft, melted in my mouth), one piece kani. Then six pieces of their special roll which is hamachi with jalapeo, avocado on top and ell sauce. The jalapeo gave it a good kick without being too overpowering. After seeing the couple next to me order a multitude of choice sushi, I started feeling left out and told Mori to "keep it coming." He gave me two more pieces of toro, shiro maguro, spanish mackerel (yum). I also requested one piece hamachi, one piece kanpachi and Mori hooked up belly cuts of each. Their sushi was excellent in terms of quality and execution, it definitely ranks up with Kitsho and Oga's. However, it was somewhat lacking in uniqueness i.e. Howard at Kitsho pairing up salmon/king salmon, toro/chutoro, searing the sushi. Or the insanely creative sushi from every omakase dinner I've had from Toru Oga (hint: check out my profile pics). - new style sashimi (scallops). I saw the picture on yelp so I had to get it. Unfortunately the presentation was not the same. Mine was less artistic and had diced celery on top. Still tasted great, but I prefer new style whitefish sashimi. - desert: lemon-lime and shiso sorbet served in a wine glass. At this point I was defeated and mildly protested when the waitress said I had dessert left. The shiso was very unique and tasted great. I mentioned to Mori that they should serve black sesame sorbet which I have only seen at Oga's. Damage: Definitely not as bad as Nobu's. The base cost of the omakase was $70. The sushi itself is priced very reasonably. I was pleasantly surprised. Note to sane people: $70 for good omakase really IS a good deal. My friends all still think I'm crazy though ... Overall it was a great fusion omakase dinner and definitely recommended. Their fish is extremely fresh and the cooked specials are on par with the dishes you'll find at Nobu's. I was a bit disappointed with the lack of raw dishes on the omakase, but rectified that by ordering more afterwards. If you are into the traditional omakase you'll need to tell them up front. But definitely get that foie gras dish ... read more

My experience tonight at Nishino embodied what a five-star rating should be. I had the Omakase dinner which spanned mild to wild, delicate to bold, soft to crunchy, and plain to extravagant. Where other sushi establishments get an element or two right -- some may have a supreme quality of fish but epic fail with the rice -- Nishino was holistically incredible. The rice was made properly with healthy amounts of mirin and had a perfect consistency and temperature. The fish was delicious and delicate. The presentation was both thoughtful and complimentary. The service was quick and friendly. I was most impressed by watching the lead chef. He seemed so serene and at peace with himself and his surroundings. He smiled while preparing the food, didn't talk much, and worked with surgical precision. He is a master at his craft and a true artist. My friend asked me tonight "So, does this mean you have a new place to take your ladies out to impress them?" The answer is yes. I have found a new favorite in Seattle for sushi. read more

A number of years ago, after tromping around the Arboretum on a misty day, dressed in typical Seattle fashion, my sister, her husband and my young niece and I were hungry. Hungry for sushi. I had heard good things about Nishino, so we drove over there. It was the very very start of the dinner hour. Like 5pm or something. We walked in and there was not a customer in sight. Which wasn't surprising since it was so early on a Saturday evening. The host took one look at us and said that all the tables were reserved. As if. I'll never go there. It was so rude. We weren't that ragamuffiny AND no one else was in there. Expletive, expletive, expletive! read more

*BOOM* The sound of a mind-blowing....... Just stunning, period. I would easily put Nishino up against any of my favorites on the west coast, and in terms of pure fish quality is at a minimum, equal to Shiro's in Seattle. But what sets Nishino apart in Seattle from the Godliness that is Shiro's are a few things. First, the ambiance is much nicer. Better vibe, better decor, better, better, etc. Second, they have a more varied and creative selection of "other" dishes. From the dumplings, to the soft shell crab spring rolls, they were all fantastic. Third, the service is much better. Not that's it's bad at Shiro's, but to me if you aren't sitting at the Sushi bar there you are missing out. Here the servers seemed a little more in step with the Sushi bar. The real showstopper though is the fish. I'll say this again, if you are looking for the best "rolls" in town, just disregard my reviews on any sushi entirely. I could care less about the rolls. When I go to sushi I am there for the fish. That cut of nigiri that literally tastes like butter and would likely dissolve in your mouth if you let it. Every single things we tried, from the insanely fresh albacore, to the probably-still-kicking salmon, to the EVERYTHING ELSE, was just mind-blowing. I could not possibly recommend this place any higher. Only caveat, is that if you are eating and drinking, and ordering like we did, the bill is going to be up there, and if you are a rookie, it may blow "your" mind. =) read more

Diane L. steered us this way for the amazing omakase as a great example of Seattle fare. Nishino totally blew us out of the water and started our weekend trip off on the right foot. I'm not going to bother going through the different courses in the omakase, I can only use the same descriptions so often so instead I'll just highlight the amazing quality, freshness and creativity of some of the dishes. The omakase is $60/person, and since we had 2 couples we decided to order one round per couple while ordering some extra side dishes. My favorites for the evening were the scallop ceviche, hamachi in jalapeno oil and miso black cod. The black cod especially was crusted in a sweet and smoky shell, with soft, melting meat. The highlight was when at the end of our meal, we received an unexpected dessert course of mochi imported from Bubbies in Hawaii! I haven't been to Bubbies in almost a decade and it felt like seeing an old lover. An old, dark chocolate and espresso flavored lover. read more