Nakamori Japanese Bistro — Restaurant in Edina

Nothing short of amazing. My wife and I used to live in New York and we ate sushi constantly, at great places like Bond Street. We've been to Japan and eaten at Tsukiji fish market. We've eaten at Michelin-starred sushi restaurants in Tokyo and we've been down by the seaside in Asahi to eat it straight off the boat. We've tried every sushi joint we could find in Minnesota, favoring the Lyndale/Lake Fuji Ya. This is NOT to brag: just to say that I'd like to think we know good fish when we taste it. And Nakamori is the best sushi we've ever had in Minnesota, hands down. We were floored. We knew something was up with our first dish. We ordered the raw scallop and it was like a nuclear blast of excellence. We had an array of nigiri to follow it and it was uniformly spectacular, particularly the salmon, suzuki and mutsu. Every cut was perfect; the texture was insanity - we kept ordering more and more. What started as a test run of a new restaurant turned into two hours of sincere glee! I cannot say enough about the chef, Andy, who is clearly some kind of wizard. We have our favorite sushi chefs in the Cities (Hide, Kazu, Ricardo - we keep a long list) - Andy is the new heavyweight. Props must also be given to our server, Tommy, who was unfailingly friendly and courteous. The only bummer was that we spent a significant portion of our evening as the only people in the restaurant. Granted, Tuesday night in Edina is probably not heavy traffic night, but this place DESERVES to be packed, every night. People should have to beg for tables. It really is that good! In fact, I felt compelled to write this review specifically because I can't bear the thought of this place closing down for lack of business. It truly is something special on the Minnesota food scene. If you love sushi, you owe it to yourself to give Nakamori a try. We plan to return soon and frequently. This unassuming joint, tucked away in a strip mall in sleepy Edina, has the best sushi I have tasted in the...

We went there on a Saturday evening around 8:30 PM to try to avoid the dinner rush. We were a group of four (4). We got there at the tail end of the dinner rush. We had the udon noodles, edamame, another appetizer (can't remember), various sushi rolls, sashimi, and drinks. The food was good, but not great. That is the good part.

I was going to give the place 4 stars for the food, but due to the poor service we recieved I rated it a 3. The place was about half full of people (maybe just under half full), and the people were mostly just finishing their meals so we thought we got there at a good time. The waitresses were unorganized and rude from the start. We got drinks and the waitress took a long time to come back to check on us to see if we were ready to order.

When asked if we were ready to order, we got 3 of the 4 people's order in and the last person asked the waitress about a dish and she got disgusted. It wasn't what she wanted so she hastely tried to find something else. After about 30 seconds, she proceeded to tell us that she will put in the current order and be back to take the final person's order. Needless to say that waitress did not (I don't think she returned to our table the rest of the evening now that I think about it) and we had to flag down one of the other waitresses. So we got food at different times, entrees before appetizers, and the one person that ordered their food last got their food when the rest of the table was done eating. Good thing we weren't in a rush, but a poor experience in terms of service.

For the area that they are located in, I would say that the people would expect more. I may order take out for lunch, but I doubt I will return to sit down to eat...

Solid food, great service, and the best part is that this place is within walking distance for me. If you haven't been here for the happy hour, I recommend it.

Food 5 out of 5: I normally order sushi and sashimi here, but I have had the unagi don and some of the lunch boxes here. The lunch boxes are pretty massive, they give you the entree, a california roll, and miso soup. Your stomach is the size of your fist approximately and they give you 3-4 fist fulls of food. That's a lot for lunch and i'm not complaining. The sushi is a step up from the all you can eat sushi places. Comparing this to the all you can eat sushi places isn't really fair either in my opinion, because they serve so much more here and the quality is much better.

Service 5 out of 5: I've been here probably 7-8 times and the people serving us have always been really nice. Another thing is that I don't think I ever run out of water and I find myself having to say "thank you" so much because of how often they visit the table.

If you are looking for sushi within Edina, this is always a really solid option. Again, I recommend coming here for lunch and during happy hour!

P.S. it is a running joke in our household at how much I come here for sushi and food. I still haven't had any problems after going here...