Okina Sushi — Restaurant in Kanazawa

Honestly the worst sushi we had in Japan or ever. We fell into the trap and trusted the reviews so I am leaving this here to hopefully save yourselves a meal to eat something much much better. My boyfriend couldn't stop talking for days about how disappointing this sushi restaurant was.

1. one of the biggest issues that ruined the whole experience was there was one sushi which had fish bones in it. Lots of tiny bones that we had to be careful not to swallow... this is such a dangerous choking hazard if you bring a child here. I am pretty sure I swallowed a few small bones as I could not stop coughing on our walk to the hotel. We've never had sushi with bones and discussed it with some sushi expert friends later that this is not normal... there should never be bones in the sushi...

2. They served cold tonkatsu as an appetizer and it was soggy and very bad. Not fresh at all. Felt as if we were being fed leftovers.

3. The fish was not a "clean cut" - the pieces of fish were sloppy put together instead of being smooth. It was also falling apart as we were picking it up (and yes we're definitely OK with using chopsticks)

4. The owners were talking shit about foreigners and Canadians in Japanese. It was such an uncomfortable setting where the owners and one of the locals sitting at the table kept looking at us and talking in Japanese about Canada. We Google translated some of it and it was not a great discussion.

Save yourselves the money and appetite for a much better place. There are lots of amazing sushi places in japan and...

Small itsy bitsy place with only 9 chairs placed side by side tightly at a long counter n little walking space. Located off the main Street. The friendly couple speaks only Japanese so it was fortunate one of us spoke the lingo. Sushi was prepared right in front of us. The chef working diligently, we waited for only 10 minutes for the first person to be served. His wife came to his assistance soon after n together they proceeded to prepare the sushis while chatting merrily with us. The last of our group of 8 was served by the 30th minute. Sushi was super fresh n delicious. Guess what, the lady owner invited my friends to try sushi making too!!!. Hahaha interesting learning experience. When it came time to go, she stood outside to shake our hands n waved us goodbye. How's that for good service!

Do come n support their small business. Lesson here is that we can stumble upon a gem if we branch off n explore the back lanes of a Japanese city. Good food is everywhere but good food at a fair price is what we want to find. Two thumbs up...

I went in and was honestly a little stunned after I sat down - probably looked like it was my first time anywhere. The menu was just sushi, sashimi, edamame, sake, beer, and plum wine - no variations, no explanations, that was it. It felt like the most dumbed-down tourist version of Japan I’ve seen in 5 trips to JPnso far and is also the reason I’m writing this, in case someone else also has higher expectations after reading the reviews.

The seating was tight, they could have taken one chair out for spacing and made it more comfortable in case your are shoulder on shoulder with other tourists.

That said, the owners were very nice and clearly did their best, so I don’t want to take the food apart. If you’re after something casual and cost effective, it will probably work fine. It just wasn’t what I was...