O-Ku is fantastic!! I wanted a few trips under my belt before I rated it on Yelp. Now that I've gotten to go both during the week and on the weekend, as well as with just two of us dining versus a larger group, I feel very confident in giving O-Ku a 4/5 stars. My biggest complaint is the music volume. Before anyone thinks I'm not hip (which might be true) or I'm old (I'm closer to 40 than I am 30), every person I've gone to O-Ku with has commented on the volume of the music. I get it, loud music is fun, but the building is mostly hard surfaces and there are speakers everywhere. Going with friends, it's hard to hear the person across the table from you. Going on a date, it's hard to say sweet things to one another. The music is great, the building is great, the decor is on point, the entire space is fantastic, but lower the music by about 10 decibels and the entire experience would be on point! The inside is super comfortable and the restaurant is clean with great lighting. The food is fantastic!!! One of my favorite sushi places in Raleigh. They also have a ton of options for folx who don't eat sushi or who have to be mindful of allergens. The service has always been top notch. I'll probably continue to visit just between the service and food alone, but if the music was a hair lower, it would be an even more enjoyable experience. Parking isn't bad for downtown. There are a ton of free spaces nearby and there are several close lots that are reasonably priced. Must try items: Sushi: salmon and lemon roll, angry salmon roll Drink: white dragon Dessert: sata andagi read more

O-Ku - Ice cream mochi, Mont Blanc Cake, Sata Andagi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Lovely ambience, thoughtful service, and absolutely topnotch food. Dined here on New Years Eve and it was packed as expected, but food came out very quickly and our server was excellent. We got the O-Ku Rock Shrimp and the Usuzukuri along with the Angry Salmon roll and Akira. The shrimp and maki rolls were delicious, but the true highlight of the night was the Usuzukuri. After finishing, we even took another order to go. Melt in your mouth salmon - one of the best I've ever had. Highly recommend! read more

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Ambiance was so modern and inviting. The service was impeccable!! We celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and the staff was so sweet with celebrating with us. They had a sweet card waiting at the table for us when we arrived. Our server was so nice and helpful when deciding what to order. My husband is not a fan of sushi but he thoroughly enjoyed his food. He ordered the wagyu steak sushi. I ordered the cali roll. So good and worth every bite. read more

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me and my boyfriend went for our 1 year anniversary and the server Sam was really sweet and it was such a good night she was on top of it and the food was so good the wait wasn't bad at all 10/10 definitely will be going again read more

O-Ku - Drinks/Food - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Husband had Tobanyaki A5 Japanese Wagyu which he really liked and enjoyed cooking at our table. Was a fun and different experience. I had a sushi roll it was good, but not outstanding. The miso soup was good. Our waitress was very kind, but seemed nervous and unconfident in her abilities. She took awhile to get our orders, when another waitress came to fill our drinks I asked if we could order, so she took our order and let our waitress know. The facility looked very nice and had nice decor, but I think the music was a little loud for me. Also very expensive, but expected. read more

Food amazing The ambience wonderful Wait staff kind I went to meet up Food was fresh and delicious I really enjoyed my time there the food was great! I can wait to be able to go to this restaurant again. read more

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On a drizzly Wednesday night, we made reservations before heading to see a play nearby. We were seated at our preferred seating, a high top table next to the window. We had the best server, Mirna. She was super friendly, super helpful and took great care of us. We started with appetizers, Miso Soup, Duck Breast Skewers and M Street Wings. Everything was so delicious, I was literally dancing in my seat. We both ordered signature cocktails, and they were perfect. We both ordered a sushi roll, we both enjoyed every bite. I ordered the Salmon and Lemon Roll. There was an amazing option to substitute imitation crab for real lump crab for an up charge, I jumped on it. Everything was so good, I can't wait to go back again soon. Everything was fresh, presented beautifully and so delicious. The atmosphere is perfect! The lighting, the music, the seating arrangements. I see why it's always crowded. read more

O-Ku - Duck Appetizer - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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My husband and I were able to get a babysitter for a first time is a long time. We were looking at steakhouse options for the weekend and couldn't find a reservation anywhere. My husband suggested O-Ku because he knows how much I love sushi. He wrote in our reservation that we hadn't made it out in a while. The restaurant staff provided us with a date card to ask each other fun questions and a special bouquet of flowers that they wrapped for me to leave with. The food was amazing, but the ambiance, the service, and the genuine kindness and care that they were able to provide with make their establishment a special place for us to go for years to come. What a lovely place, I'm so happy it exists. Thank you! (Also he raved about his steak entree and said how much better it was than other steakhouses we have gone to in the past.) read more

Great quality and service it is pricey for NC but excellent for, beautiful presentation, each dish was better looking than the previous one. Great bar as well so I will be back. read more

O-Ku - Sashimi and sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Visiting Raleigh found this place near by where we were staying. Great reviews and it stood right up to those reviews from start to finish. The rock shrimp had amazing flavor. Sushi and salmon to die for. Nicole was awesome and provided great service. O ku had a great vibe. read more

This place always great! Our server I think her name was "zen" she was so great! Explained everything and I signed up for the table side wagyu service where I cooked my own wagyu with different kinds of salts. So unique and fun! What blew me away the most though was I mentioned it was my birthday the next day and they brought me a card with a hand written message from all the staff. Such a personable and amazing touch it made me feel so special. I highly recommend this place it's a great dining experience with great people working there. read more

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I rarely get really pissed off after dining out but today was an extraordinarily rare freaking letdown. I don't know why people rate this restaurant so highly when their food is so effing bad!!! I ordered the pork belly buns, and tuna and salmon maki. Wife ordered the seaweed salad and cali crunch roll. The sushi items were so awfully tasteless. Didn't they even season the rice?! Good God! Not even after drenching the whole damned maki help it taste any better. Grrrrr!!! And another major annoyance was the pork belly buns. Come on! It is soo dry and bland the shredded pork tasted like cardboard. It was so horrible! What a f*cking waste of money. Never again... If you want to pay for overpriced yet disgustingly mediocre food, come here. Otherwise go somewhere else. Yuck! P.S. the service was great and the ambiance was nice, albeit noisy. These are the only satisfactory aspects of my experience dining here. Besides that I hope this place changes chefs. Bad food. read more

O-Ku - Classic Kappa Maki, Sake Maki - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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O Ku sushi in downtown Raleigh... ever been ??? No??? Why not ???? This place is awesome and has a awesome vibe with great staff and food ! It's a sexy intimate place for sushi and drinks ! Had dinner here and ordered enjoyed the following dishes .. Otoro fatties of the tuna cut and always a treat ... Bluefin Tuna Crudo which is Bluefin tuna, avocado mousse, lemon, wasabi soy, and crispy shallot such an awesome dish with different textures and flavors .. Black Magic Hakozushi is rectangular nigiri style sushi .. this one had lobster, squid ink rice, spicy aioli, masago, chives, and shallots. So freaking good and lobster on top was poached where it just melts in your mouth .. all the flavors in this was amazing . Ube cheesecake with crumbles and chocolate Pearl's and drizzle .. so freaking good... Major shootouts to Clint who was the server for recommendations and awesome service ! read more

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Atmosphere, they get a 10/10! Food 6.5/10. Service was good as well until it was time for bill distribution. We had a party of 7 (originally a party if 10 but we told the server the others were not coming), the menu says parties of 8 and more will get charged 20% gratuity automatically--cool. Server brings out receipts and has to fix a few errors.., brings us out new corrected receipts, give him our cards and noted to each other that no gratuity was added on either receipts he'd previously brought out. We get our final receipts to sign and the server takes it upon himself to up charge and add the 20% gratuity on our party of 7. I spoke with a manager before leaving and expressed how this was shady behavior. She offered us refunds--which we declined, and understood our concerns--which was appreciated. However, the sour taste has already been left in my mouth. If you bring me out a receipt and it says one thing, that's what you charge! You don't add anything extra after the fact, it's stealing. The saddest part about it is, he would have made a lot more if he didn't try to be shady. But you live and you learn, I will not return solely because of this. I've been a server, this was not acceptable behavior. read more

My third time at O-Ku Raleigh and finally they got everything right! The Lychee Mai Tai was so good and the uni so fresh! We also had a few rolls made well. read more

O-Ku - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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I'm sorry, but I'm so disappointed. I heard the seafood is cheap because there's an ocean here, but I guess not. As you can see in the picture, a piece of eel costs $7. I was expecting the taste because I paid a high price, but it wasn't too good. Donburi was not the style we normally eat. Roasted chicken was dry and bell pepper didn't go well with it. My rolls smelled fishy, so I threw some away, and the rice was dry and the worst. The food was all $70. The high-end restaurant met those expectations as much as the price was high, but I don't think it's here. read more

O-Ku - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

I was visiting from out of town with coworkers and we decided to come here after work, for drinks and food. As soon as you walk through the door, you were immediately greeted by a modern and upscale Japanese establishment. I started off with the spicy tuna roll, and they were absolutely divine. This happened to be a busy night, so the wait to get the roll was a little long, which was a little disappointing, but when they did finally come out, I was very happy with my choice. For my entree, I elected to go with one of their hot dishes, the donburi chicken. I am so happy that I went with this choice because there was not one ingredient in this dish that missed. Everything was seasoned, so well, I could not recommend this dish more! I'm choosing to give this place 4/5 stars, not because of the food, but because of the service. Again, this could've been just because it was an extremely busy night, but I felt like our waiter wasn't as attentive to us. Additionally, the music was blasting in here, which made it a little difficult to hear what the person next to you was saying. This unfortunately, did take away from the experience a little bit. I felt like I was in a club at certain times, not in an upscale Japanese restaurant. read more

O-Ku - Signature Spicy Tuna Crunch Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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My favorite sushi place in Raleigh. I highly recommend. Fresh, flavorful, delicious sushi and food. Pretty much everything on this menu is good, can't go wrong. My favorite is the black magic roll & also the sashimi. read more

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We went here for a 1 year wedding anniversary. The service was great and our waitress was so nice! She gave us a free app because our sushi took long and gave us champagne to celebrate our anniversary. The food itself was good. I wish they had more sushi combination like we wanted a more specialty roll with eel but all they had was a basic eel roll. The restaurant inside is super pretty and a great place in downtown Raleigh. Overall good food, great service and cool vibes. read more

O-Ku - Blue fin tuna crudo - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Atmosphere: O-Ku is a modern and lively restaurant, great for a fun night of sushi in downtown Raleigh. There is a decent amount of seating inside, but it's probably safest to go with a reservation on busier nights. Service: Our server was friendly and gave us menu recommendations. We were served in a timely manner. Food: We started off our meal with the Rock Shrimp, which was crispy and sweet! For sushi, we ordered the Angry Salmon and The Dillon. The Angry Salmon wasn't that spicy (minus the little serrano chilis on top), but the salmon was fresh. We enjoyed The Dillon, which had a nice crunch from the tempura shrimp and chewiness from the ebi. Overall: While O-Ku was a fun date night experience, we think that it's a bit overhyped. For the overall ambiance and location downtown, O-Ku is a nice place, but the sushi did not particularly wow us. We may come back for the occasional celebration! read more

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We had a small celebration, and without even asking, the team (Thomas, Brendan and Luca) went out of their way to make it feel special--adding a handwritten note, special book and checking in just enough to make sure everything was perfect. The food? Absolutely phenomenal. Every bite was delicious. You can tell the chef takes great pride in their craft. It's rare to find a restaurant where the experience feels this personal and heartfelt. Thank you for going above and beyond--you turned a simple dinner into a cherished memory. We will absolutely be back. read more

We absolutely LOVE this place. My boyfriend stumbled across it with his cousin and he immediately brought me back. Everything we have tried on this menu is fabulous. We find a new item to try every visit and end up loving it just the same. But our FAVORITE!? The Wagyu roll. MY GOODNESS. That roll is by far the best sushi roll I have ever had in my entire life. No exaggeration. The char of the wagyu mixed with the flavors is truly sublime. And Eileen. Ask for Eileen. She really really REALLY caters to her customers. I will only go there to have her serve us because it is always prompt and personable. She has such an infectious personality and has never messed up our order. Keep her on staff, she's phenomenal. read more

Terrible service. 25 open tables and had to wait 1 hour, not worth the wait. Drinks were weak and food unimpressive

we had an amazing time at oku and the food never falls short of excellent. the manager, Emily, was very kind and made our experience a one of a kind. read more

The food was really fresh. My favorite items were the O-Baby sushi roll , O-ku rock shrimp, and the pork belly wrap. I would give all 3 of those a 9/10. The Kurama roll gets a 7/10.The curry noodles get a 8/10, a little pricey ($33) for Roman with no meat. It was an extra $10 for chicken.The service was a 100/10 ! Loved our waitress, he had the best recommendations! The ambiance was beautiful all it was missing was some zen music. Overall 8/10 read more

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Service was outstanding. Very attentive waitress. The food was good. I am accustomed to Asian food having a little more flavor but they cooked with high quality ingredients. read more

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O-Ku is a nice spot under the Dillion apartments. I went with a group of girls after our book club at VV downtown. Austin was our server and she was AMAZING. She had great recommendations and was extremely accommodating. The drinks were great - I got the sugar & spice and loved it (I'm not typically a vodka gal but this was good). The shrimp app was delicious and similar to a bang bang shrimp but a little creamier. Chili oil edamame was 10/10. Everyone enjoyed their rolls (pictured). This place is definitely for the sushi lover and if there is someone in your party who does not enjoy sushi, I would probably choose a different place as there are little options here for them. I would definitely come back as everything was delicious and the service was great! This spot would also make a great date night spot read more

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The food here is very tasty and the wait time was so quick! Our waiter was knowledgeable and she was able to give us very great recommendations as we asked questions about the menu. The ambience of this place and the outdoor seating is not only cute, it's pet friendly! The drinks are a little pricey, but they are unique and very delicious. This place would be good for a date, dinner before going out, or a good place to take yourself on a solo date. read more

O-Ku - Sugar and Spice Cocktail - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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Food...fabulous! Drinks...delicious! Atmosphere...amazing! Highly recommend, the outdoor eating area is wonderful and super cute. They do get busy so be prepared, reservation is highly recommended. read more

O-Ku - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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We came to Ok-u's to celebrate a friend's 30th birthday. The ambiance was quite nice. However, the tables are pretty close together and the noise inside is quite loud. Be prepared to use your outdoor voice for conversation and to say "excuse me" if you need to leave the table for anything. Our servers were quick, attentive and gave great detail to answering any questions we had. They gave my friend a birthday card that included the sweetest notes signed by the staff members of Ok-u, along with a donut dessert that all of us were able to share. The menu pricing is fair and the food was delicious. read more

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Warm, welcoming modern interior. Atentive and helpful customer service. Fresh, buttery sashimi. Hot and perfectly salted Edamame. Gorgeous appetizer plate. Flavorful and filling sushi rolls. read more

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I have to start by saying great great food. The tuna sushi was very good, and so was the hanger steak. The rock shrimp was also really good. The server was attentive, knowledgeable and kind. I had a reservation for outdoors but we got sat indoors in the corner of the restaurant, but it was a busy night so I did not make a big deal out of it and stayed indoors. My only problem with the restaurant is the ambiance. The interior design is gorgeous, however the music playing is very anticlimactic, it was just radio pop and 2016 bangers (which I usually like but it did not fit the restaurant). O-Ku would really benefit from playing some mellow jazz or at least something more toned down. Furthermore, it was very loud, I could barely hear what my partner was saying. Overall, great food but could improve in the ambience aspect. read more

O-Ku - Signature Spicy Tuna Crunch Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

It's been a while since I've had a meal that was worth the price, but O-Ku has hit it out of the park! We went there for my husband's birthday and were wowed by the creativity of the Signature Nigeria and the creativity of the rolls. We ordered the Black Magic hakuzushi, the Ha Ha Maki, and the white spider roll. Even our daughter's chicken Yakitori was juicy and flavorful with a light glaze and the perfect char. We ordered the Okinawa style donuts (no donut should be this light and soft on the inside and crispy on the outside!) and the yuzu Pavlov. They also brought out mochi ice cream and a chocolate mouse cake that were delicious. They even signed a birthday card for my hubby! Service by Clint was exceptional! Thanks for a memorable meal! read more

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My wife and I had our 1 year anniversary dinner here and the O-Ku staff made it even more special for us! Mind you we did not ask for this, they just asked if we were celebrating anything. We know about southern hospitality but this was NEXT level! Our server, Eileen, was so kind and spoiled us--starting us off with complimentary champagne. We were debating between two small plates and asked Eileen for recommendations. We went with Usuzukuri, based on her recs and it was a fave of the evening! We shared 3 speciality rolls, each different, unique, and wonderful! We had a blast sitting at the counter watching the sushi chefs work their magic! The ambience is everything we were hoping for. HIGHLY RECOMMEND! You can't go wrong with anything on their menu. We can't wait to go back! read more

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I decided to order sushi takeout from 2 downtown sushi restaurants. Let me began by saying the staff at O-ku was very pleasant. to The hostess and the server I dealt with were very nice and professional. The interior is beautiful and modern. I stood there bopping to the music as I waited for my to go bag, then I began listening and realized that the dining experience includes the pleasure of Halsey singing the S-word over and over while you dine. I know a lot of people curse, but not everyone chooses to and I think music at a restaurant that should reflect that... but that had no effect on my rating - my experience picking up is all 5 stars. From O-ku I purchased 4 roles: Tsunami, Cali Crunch, Yasai, and the Rainbow Roll. The Rainbow roll was fantastic and the 5 of us enjoyed the Yasai roll, it was different and very light and fresh tasting. The Tsunami wasn't a bad roll and we all agreed that at the end none of us cared for the way the frying increases the taste of the fish throughout - it was a general agreement out of the 14 rolls we had that night from it was the 2nd from the bottom. This takes us to the last roll - the Cali crunch roll. We believe it might have been a good roll, the issue was the Tempura flakes had gone bad. The 1st pieces were okay but at the other end of the role it was horrid - almost like new Tempura was poured over old Tempura in a container, and then both were scooped up before being spread on the role. It was bad - to the point we ended up throwing part of it away. Would I try O-ku again, I would some of the reviews had me very excited. However, if a friend asked me where to go for Sushi at this time I would not recommend they go here . read more

O-Ku - Take Out - once home Top: Tsunami, Cali Crunch Bottom: Yasai, Rainbow - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

Interested in a Wagyu A5 dinner??? This is what we had for dinner tonight at Oku Raleigh Thanks for the great hospitality offered by Emily, Cuong, David and Zen We had one of our best & splendid dinner ever mom. Will be back soon read more

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I loveeeeee O-Ku In Raleigh! Any chance I get I invite out of town guests to dine at the restaurant! Austin is the best server ever! No worries, if you can't make up your mind about the menu! She has the best recommendations! She made my wedding anniversary dinner so special! I hope to celebrate my 50th birthday there in Aug! Wink wink Paul Natasha read more

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Favorite spot of all time. The sushi here is a dream and I bring everyone that comes to visit to this spot and everyone falls in love with it. The black magic roll is a must try and enjoy a cocktail. For more recommendations follow @raleighunlocked on Instagram. read more

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This restaurant is a beautiful more high-end type sushi place located in downtown. I came here for a casual early dinner but you could definitely dress up and come here for an occasion or a date! The inside is beautiful and it's very spacious and clean. Since it's downtown we had to park in the parking lot next door and pay for parking too. We went on a Saturday around 5 and it was pretty full so I'd recommend making reservations too. The food was excellent and I really enjoyed going through the unique menu they had and picking out things to order. The plates are kind of more like small plates/shareable so we decided to just order 5+ things and try a little bit of everything. Note that you will be spending here. The service is also wonderful and everyone was super kind and attentive. Emily wasn't our server but was still amazing to us so thank you!! Appetizers: O-ku shrimp and pork buns: The O-ku shrimp is a great starter like any bang bang/firecracker shrimp appetizer in any other restaurant and was perfect. My friend who ate the pork buns said they were soft, tasty, and filling! We were gifted the salmon plate and it was soooo buttery and unlike anything I've had before. I am new to raw fish plates and normally avoid them but we trusted their word and it was actually one of our favorite dishes of the night. Traditional teriyaki: a chicken teriyaki dish that came with rice (we chose fried). It was delicious and the glaze was flavorful I probably wouldn't get it again just because I like my chicken more tender but I'd still tell people to try it. Hanger: This dish was 2 wagyu steak skewers which were amazing. Sushi: We were basic and got the cali crunch which was good as always and then added the katana which was a tempura shrimp roll with wagyu on it and it was definitely the winning roll of the night and I'd get it again. read more

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Such a great spot! I made a reservation for Friday night and was immediately sat! I noted that I was there for an anniversary and they took that into detail. The inside was a tad loud so we sat outside and it was perfect! Jinah was our server and went above and beyond with service! She catered to our every need and was extremely kind. Jinah ensured that our anniversary went well and deserves amazing things in life!! read more

O-Ku - Sushi Bars Near Me - Raleigh, North Carolina

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