East Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Farragut

Pay Attention! This could very well be the only 5 star restaurant in Knoxville. This is not a place for someone who thinks Hibachi is Japanese food. The chef is a true artist. Take your time chewing and tasting each bite(chew your food for 60 seconds.) Avoid any type of sauce at first because you must taste the complexity and quality of this food. I would wait 3 hours for a sushi roll if I had to here. You do not find this understanding of cuisine in Knoxville. The prices do not reflect what you are actually getting because in the America we think inexpensive means fast. Rather, here you are receiving perfect food with no compromise which takes time. It can take a while to get your food, but we are talking about a chef who has mastered the art of Japanese cooking and this is a lifetime of knowledge and experience. He is clearly not a “sushi worker” and this level of detail can easily overlooked. Nothing more authentic in Knoxville. This is NYC food in a Farragut strip mall which is as unbelievable as it sounds! The interior is the single most beautiful restaurant in Knoxville but again it’s easy to miss the details. If you want a proper Japanese meal, eat here! If you think Nama, Anaba, or Wasabi is great, this may not be the place for you. It’s not a place for shrimp tempura rolls although they have things that will satisfy you like the volcano roll. This is the place you order an authentic cup of hot Japanese green tea, sit for a while and enjoy the experience of such a special place. Order a perfect piece of sashimi or nigiri and then order the guy don and while waiting look at the piece of hand cut ice in your water!!!! The ramen is the only authentic ramen in Knoxville as well. One bowl is perfect to split! I hate that so many people misunderstand this place because it deserves a 5 star rating and a Michelin star!! I hope this restaurant is here for a...

The most authentic Japanese restaurant in Tennessee.

A lotta the 1 star reviews here are really toxic and not understanding people complaining about 10-30 minute waits to be seated. Thats a pretty normal wait, especially for a busy restaurant where every single seat is full within the first 5 minutes of opening on Fridays and Saturdays. I think people cease to understand the concept of, you won’t be seated and will wait for 30 minutes if there is no seats open, because there simply is no seats to sit in.

However, the wait is worthwhile, and seeing some absurd comments against the servers and the owner here, I have to clarify, the servers are very hard workers, they are very skilled and kind people. One customer that sat near me even said at the end that it was the best service there was.

The owner/chef is also very close with several of his customers, and you could see him helping the servers out whenever he can, despite having to work on so much already. The only reason why he seems very cold sometimes is because his English isn’t that well.

Whenever the service is slow, it’s simply because the entire restaurant is completely full, in which it is obvious that things will be slower. I would recommend coming around 7:30’ish when things are generally more cooled down.

Leaving that beside, every Japanese person comes here because it is true Japanese food, and this place’s food quality is immense. This is the hands down certified best Japanese food that has held its high reputation amongst the...

Sushi was excellent, Ramen was good, service was awful. We arrived right when they opened, there was only one other table, we were seated right away, it took about 10 minutes before he asked us what we wanted to order another 5 minutes to get our drinks, waters and sprites, about 35 minutes before our sushi came out and another 20inutes for our Ramen. He never once smiled, never asked how our food was or if we needed anything else, I had to track him down after to get our check and once I asked him for it he went to the computer and printed out I'd say about 10 different checks for tables. It was like he only let tables leave once an hour, all in and all out was apparently his policy. And he did not say thank you or come again soon or anything. Just left the check and went on his way. He had the most flat personality of any server I had ever dealt with. I will say that by the end it seemed he may have been the only server so maybe he was overwhelmed but he was like that from the beginning when it was just us so I think that is just who he is and should maybe find a desk job. So overall, great food, but as for the service if that is the only server they employ then we will just drive the extra 10 minutes and...