Nova Sushi Bar & Asian Bistro — Restaurant in Atlanta

Bottom line: I wouldn’t recommend this restaurant. Fish is flavorless/low quality, most of the food was bland, better sushi for similar prices elsewhere in the area. Service was good though.

Preface: I've been here a handful of times for their 3 regular rolls for $17 lunch special. I didn't like the fish, but since it was cheap I figured why not. I stopped going because I liked the Publix $5 sushi Wednesday deal better. I came back this time to write a solid review of the experience, and it was all the same as when I used to go more often about 7 months ago.

Atmosphere: Very clean. Mid-light ambience. Very spacious. Very quiet so you can enjoy conversation with your party.

Food: I enjoyed the $5 sushi Wednesdays at the Publix across the street better.

The Miso Soup interestingly had more flavor than the last “higher end” sushi restaurant I went to, but their veggies didn’t seem that fresh. The seaweed wasn’t tender at all, very tough.

The ginger dressing for the salad was pretty bland and they could have done a better job pulling apart the salad. The pieces were very large, not easy to eat in one bite.

The Saké Mule did not look very aesthetic at all and tasted watered down.

We got the Maki Combo under the Sushi Bar Entrée Menu which includes three regular rolls and the ginger salad for $22.

The Shrimp Tempura Roll had decent flavor with the eel sauce, but the tempura itself wasn’t as crispy as I expected. On a scale of sogginess to crispiness, I would give it a 6/10

The Caterpillar Roll had the best presentation in my opinion, but also had a somewhat similar issue.

The Alaska Roll should have been my favorite since it had the most raw fish which I love. Unfortunately, the fish itself did not have any flavor. The spicy Mayo was also very scarce. As you can see in the photo, it’s very easy to miss that they included it at all. I would rather them have drizzled it over the entire roll. The end pieces were also obviously neglected.

Overall, the fish(the most important part of sushi) was very bland. I didn’t enjoy it.

Service: I went later in the evening about an hour and fifteen minutes before closing. It wasn’t busy. We were seated immediately. We didn’t feel rushed at all. Our waitress visited us frequently to make sure everything was fine. Our food came out very promptly. I accidentally dropped my chopsticks. The waitress noticed from across the restaurant and immediately brought me another pair without being asked. I do, however, enjoy a wait staff that feels more relatable and friendly to talk to. Not to say she wasn’t very kind/polite. Overall very satisfied with the service.

Overall, I would give this restaurant two stars if it wasn’t for the great service that our waitress provided. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t visit this restaurant again. You can get better sushi elsewhere in the area for...

Great sashimi and sushi, excellent service, with reasonable prices. Highly recommend this sushi restaurant.

We were in town for a surgical procedure the next day and I wanted a last meal that would tantalize my taste buds before going under the knife. I was not disappointed. The upscale Buckhead neighborhood had many choices of high end establishments and I spent some time looking at menus and checking reviews on-line. I was particularly interested in finding an Asian restaurant since it’s been awhile since I’d had any high end sashimi or sushi. We were very pleased to see the obvious attention to social distancing built into the table lay out and the fact that all the wait staff was wearing masks.

We started with hot saki and three pieces of sashimi tuna and three sashimi pieces of octopus tentacles. The tuna smelled fresh, was a deep red color, flavorful, cut with a fork, and melted in your mouth. The octopus was a bit rubbery, almost tasteless and in hindsight we should have decided on another option. Additional appetizers included Thai Calamari delicately battered, fried and toasted and a six piece serving of delicious fried Gyoza chicken dumplings. All the appetizers were served with bird’s nest type noodles or other interesting dried noodles, salad vegetables, along with savory somewhat spicy sauces.

Moving on to our main meal we shifted to glasses of a perfectly acceptable house red wine and opted for their Maki Combo ($22) which consisted of any three rolls from their extensive “regular” sushi menu. We selected a salmon roll, spicy tuna roll, and avocado caterpillar roll. All three rolls were chocked full of their designated contents with only a thin layer of white rice surrounding the primary food items. So many restaurants tuck a small center core of goodness wrapped by thick layers of rice. Definitely not Nova Sushi. We watched other tables receive wooden platters of the more expensive custom rolls and they were generally of even greater diameter and contained giant portions of inside items. We were stuffed at this point but chose to indulge our desire for desert by having a second order of sashimi tuna. Fantastic flavor.

About half way through our meal a group of 10 young people of mixed ethnic backgrounds came in and settled into a large table quickly created by staff by sliding four single tables together. It was a pleasure to see so many young people enthusiastically and politely enjoying their restaurant experience and teaching each other the fine points of chop stick use. It did our hearts good to see the proof of the multicultural city that is Atlanta. We had a wonderful...

I was followed outside the establishment by my waitress and was told never to come back or I wouldn’t be served in front of multiple people in the parking lot because I didn’t give her a tip for doing absolutely nothing to deserve one.

I have spent so much money with this establishment not even because their food is good (because it’s not) but because it was near my house and convenient. There were times where they were a bit rude but never like what I experienced this day.

My waitress barely checked on me. I had to wait so long for the bill after I told her twice to bring it etc. I was rushing in and out for a lunch break and ending up being late because of her. tbh I don’t really care but I knew I wasn’t tipping her because a tip is earned not given. I’m not obligated to give you a tip especially when you didn’t even do a good job. So I paid for my food and left. This lady followed after me yelling with the receipt in hand saying things I couldn’t even repeat to you but basically forcing me to tip her like I’m supposed to want to do that now? Lol. She started giving me a rundown on how I’m obligated to tip. I asked her wasn’t she paid for the food? She said yes and I said okay so why are you harassing me? She started going off on me saying if I didn’t want to tip I shouldn’t have come out to eat I should’ve ordered take out. I turned around and kept walking then she yelled in front of everyone I should never come back and if I did she will not serve me.

I will never come back not because I was told but because of how I was treated. So the one day I don’t give a tip I’m insulted after I have eaten here hundreds of times and given out my own money that I don’t need to, as a tip to the waitresses?? You don’t treat people like that no matter what. You don’t know if someone didn’t have extra money to give that day. You don’t know if it was their last they spent on that meal. You don’t shame or embarrass someone because they don’t give you their hard earned money for free! I didn’t walk out on the bill so why am I being insulted? This is not their first time doing this I’m sure! If you want to be racially profiled, discriminated or treated like trash for mediocre food then please go right...