Enkai Sushi Bar — Restaurant in Charlotte Amalie

I will start off by saying if you want authentic Japanese cuisine, this is not the place for it. No one who works in this restaurant is Japanese, and the food seems to be catered to American tourists (with options like cheeseburger dim sum). The rolls were mostly tempura and fried, and unfortunately very underwhelming. It was a bit frustrating considering how much they were charging for these rolls.

We made a reservation at 7:30pm on a Friday and they were very accommodating about finding us a table as opposed to eating at the bar. The hostess was very sweet and understanding. After we sat down and ordered, the time between when we finished our appetizers and got our entrées was about an hour. They seemed to have gotten quite busy, with not enough staff to tend to the patrons. Our waitresses Kelsey was sweet, but it was frustrating that she finally came to check on us after an hour of of us finishing our appetizers to notice that we still didn't get our food yet. The appetizers were actually quite good, we ordered the baby octopus and salmon skin hand roll. The portion size was a bit disappointing for the quality and cost of the appetizers. But since it's an appetizer, it is to be expected I guess.

We were quite hungry by the time we received our rolls. Even through the hunger, the rolls were very lackluster. It tastes as you would expect, a watered down version of Japanese sushi. The fish was limp and not fresh and everything was doused in siracha mayo, with fake, fluffy wasabi on the side. There was a fried component to everything. The thing I was most disappointed about was the sushi rice. Never have I ever been to a Japanese restaurant, no matter how authentic and how high end it is, where the rice was undercooked. You could taste and feel that the middle of the rice grains were not fully cooked. I suspect that the kitchen got overwhelmed and maybe needed the rice to be done so they could produce the rolls. No matter the reason, this was such a disgrace to Japanese cuisine.

I normally don't like to complain about my food, but the rice thing was something I needed to let someone know so that the cooks in the back can realize that the rice wasn't done. I understand that it happens sometimes. After I mentioned the rice to another server, she was immediately accommodating and understanding. I really appreciate her for that. I believe she notified the chef. The chef came out and took accountability for our long wait and our bad experience with the rolls. She offered to give us drinks or give us free desserts or take something off the bill. We had already been in that restaurant for a while at that point so I took the last option. To my pleasant surprise, they took both rolls off the bill. If it weren't for them taking accountability, I would have given this experience 1 star. I respect that they tried to accommodate us because not every restaurant would do so.

Kelsey, our original waitress, unfortunately stopped serving us and refused to make eye contact the immediate moment I complained about the rice to the other server. Her sweet and cheerful disposition immediately changed after that and we were disappointed that she looked at us leave and didn't say goodbye. I am respectful and honest to folks in the service industry because I understand that it is a tough industry to be in. However, I do lose respect for folks like our waitresses who cannot take accountability and act passive agressive towards their clients.

To sum up my experience, if you don't mind Americanized Japanese food that costs about 17$ per roll, this may be your cup of tea. The clientele of this place seems to be folks who have expendible income that don't seem to mind paying more than normal for this quality of food. For me personally, if I'm gonna be paying that much for a roll, I would prefer something more authentic. Aside from the long wait and our waitress, all of the other staff were very kind, sweet, and understanding. I will not be returning to this place.l...

Serious Review – Food Poisoning Incident

On Tuesday afternoon, I visited Enkai Sushi for happy hour around 4:30–5:00 PM. The restaurant was nearly empty—only myself, a family of three, and security were present—so there was no reason food shouldn’t have been prepared properly.

I ordered two sushi rolls (Bobby Rod, Rochester), a drink, and the Crab Rangoon appetizer. When the appetizer arrived, the inside was cold. My waiter, who was extremely patient and kind, had it refried. Shortly after, my sushi rolls arrived and looked appetizing as usual. However, minutes after finishing my meal, I began experiencing sharp, severe stomach pain.

By the time I got to my car, the pain intensified. Once home, I began vomiting and experiencing serious diarrhea. I’m currently eight months pregnant and have eaten cooked sushi throughout my pregnancy—including at Enkai—without issue. This clearly indicates a case of improper preparation or cross-contamination.

I went to the hospital, where I was diagnosed with food poisoning and advised to take over-the-counter medication for vomiting and diarrhea. The following day, I contacted the restaurant. The shift lead told me she informed the owner and that he would call me before leaving for St. John that day. I never received that call.

As of today, October 30th, I am still unwell and deeply disappointed by the lack of response or accountability. I will be contacting the health department, as cross-contamination in a restaurant is a serious food safety violation. Being eight months pregnant, this situation could have resulted in dangerous complications for both myself and my baby.

I’ve always enjoyed Enkai and appreciate their staff’s kindness—my waiter that day was excellent, and I still left a tip. However, this experience was deeply alarming and unacceptable. I hope management takes this seriously and ensures this never happens to anyone else.

Please be careful when...

This was our second time visiting this establishment. The first time, which was just four days ago, I had given it 5 stars. The customer service and food were great. This last time we came, the food was phenomenal, but the customer service was not.

When we first arrived, we went inside and told the hostess we wanted to sit outside, because it’s freezing inside. The hostess said all the outside tables were “reserved” and so were all the other seats inside. My fiancé had to practically beg for us to be seated, as this was our last day here.

The hostess said she could sit us inside, but not outside. As mentioned before, this place was freezing, hence us asking to sit outside. I’m extremely anemic, and although I usually carry a sweater, I had forgotten it. We had just come from the beach so my hair was soaking wet. I was so cold I couldn’t even enjoy my food. I finished my food as quickly as I could and left my fiancé inside so he could finish his food. I went outside and sat on a bench. And of course, there were empty tables outside.

I felt as if the hostess discriminated against us and I even took a picture of all the “reserved” tables inside. The whole place was empty the whole time except for one table and the bar which was halfway full.

Although the food was amazing both times, we will not be back, as we felt unwanted...