THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Nikko

THIS RESTAURANT IS CLOSED Nikko Restaurant Review:

The dramatic setting manages to be both opulent and serene. Large arches, reminiscent of Kyoto temple gateways, frame a large dining room filled with black wood tables and flanked by a 21-seat sushi bar. Ten dollars extra buys the privacy of a tatami room and the ministrations of a kimono-clad waitress. But wherever you sit, you are likely to endure the frustration of uneven food quality. While we have on occasion enjoyed dishes like shabu-shabu (the interactive Japanese soup cooked at table) kasuzuke (broiled black cod that has been marinated in sake lees) and mixed seafood teppanyaki, selections from the robata grill disappoint and noodles tend to be overcooked. The $12.50 all-you-can-eat sushi lunch sounds like a deal, until you taste the tired seafood from a limited offering. To boot, it’s served to you at a table since at lunch the sushi counter is closed. Sushi is in better form at night, when we quaff icy glasses of sake and down an impressive Nikko roll draped in seven different types of fish while enjoying the attentions of a friendly chef. Less attentive was the rest of the staff, who got distracted when the place was in the throes of Saturday night fever.