Ninja Japanese Express — Restaurant in Fort Smith

I almost don't know where to start on how bad this lil place is, so I'll just begin from when you walk in.

You stand at the counter, with anyone unfortunate enough to walk in behind you waiting, while you look at a menu plastered on the wall and decide what you want for your meal and inform the register clerk.

You then pay for your food, INCLUDING the tip (word of warning here, you'll see why in a minute, but DO NOT put a tip on that receipt yet).

You are given a plastic tray with styrofoam cups and are told to pick up your own plastic forks and spoons from a completely unsanitary pile that every other customer is reaching into.

The food isn't brought to your table all at once if you are eating with friends or family, it will be brought to you in a styrofoam to-go container one person at a time. Because nothing says welcome and enjoy your meal, like having it given to you ready to walk out the door...

We ordered the "A" selection for sushi, and it was NOT any rolls like you'll get at another sushi serving establishment. I absolutely would swear the California Roll was stuffed with coleslaw for some awful reason, if not it was just horrible for the sake of being bad. The roll that had avacodo was warm, that was kinda icky since it just turned to mush when you tried to chopstick it. And I can't even tell you what the third was, it was like white rice stuff with slivers of cucumber and that's it. Total waste of $9.00!

We ordered the steak hibachi with fried rice, and I am absolutely telling you, in 40+ years on this planet I have been eating steak and meat all my life, in a vast variety of cuts, cooks and locations... this was the worst tasting and poorest cut of meat I've ever tried to ingest. We spat out almost 2/3 of the steak we tried to chew into our napkins. It was like trying to chew up a rubber super ball covered in some kind of water saturated with burnt meat chips.

The fried rice was so bland we had to squirt something they call "yum yum" sauce all over it for flavor, and I wouldn't have gone that far if we weren't hungry and had the kids with us and just didn't want to hassle with loading everyone back up.

I had the shrimp with mine also, and it was overcooked so badly that it was literally burnt and chewy. How you cook shrimp that bad is just beyond me.

They gave us something they call a salad, in a styrofoam to-go box of course, which consisted of a wad of lettuce with three very thin slices of cucumber and about three cups of water poured over it with half a teaspoon of some kind of dressing that tasted like pickle relish with peanut butter.

This stuff they called "yum yum" sauce tastes like the sauce on a big mac, it in itself is a horrible concoction that they give you in a gigantic ketchup squirt bottle to mask the flavors of the poorly cooked food.

The reason you DO NOT TIP here is because you will not have a waiter or waitress assisting you with your meal. You get up and walk across the restaurant to refill your own styrofoam cup of soda, tea, or whatever beverage you selected. You are expected to clean up your own table and drop the trash in a receptacle beside the doorway out.

All in all for two adults and one child (and a two year old that eats next to nothing) we wasted $57.00 and change on this place. And the cherry on top is their website seldom works so there's not even a way to give them feedback so they can replace that cook(s) that prepared the horrible meal we were presented with. And use caution when going to the restroom there, for some reason there was plastic over the facilities in there, I'm not sure if that was for sanitary reasons or broken plumbing. Either way, sanitation doesn't seem high on the list of priorities for this establishment given we are grabbing into a "community germ pit" for the plasticware. If you want better food, literally just go across the street, for a few dollars more you will get ten times the quality and taste. Even if not across the street, spend the few cents in gas, drive somewhere......

What you see when you pull up tends to accurately set the tone for the remainder of your visit. A small, quaint, cheaply decorated, Japanese restaurant, that was formerly (and awkwardly) I might add was a Long John Silver’s, and not much effort was dedicated to insuring even a visitor to town might recognize just that.

The ordering system is different than other Japanese restaurant in town. This is not a “come in sit down and be served” establishment. Once you decide which of the five menus hanging on the wall you would like to order from, you place your order with the staff member at the counter.

I’m not sure the actual definition of hibachi, however it is advertised and offered. I guess some of the romance involved in my opinion with a hibachi is the act of watching your food being prepared, and as everyone knows being entertained in the process. There were no visible hibachi grills, and the “hibachi” menu is served from the back just like the rest of your food.

Ahhhhh!?! The food. Before I described you much I want to say that there are good three star ratings and there are poor three star ratings, while the store lacked the intimacy, service, and procedures I’m used to in most Japanese restaurants, it made up for in other aspects, such as, portion, price, and variety.

Overall we sampled 5 different sushi rolls and a combination Hibachi noodles with steak and shrimp. We found the food to taste fresh, and it was specifically pointed out by more than one of us the shrimp in the noodles was cooked to the perfect doneness. All the flavors were what you would expect, nothing more and nothing less, and on some instances I found the tastes intriguing but lacking depth.

Overall I would recommend to anyone looking for a quick, casual, Japanese dining experience to pop in and give the ninja express a try, even if it doesn’t fit your style, if you have a similar experience as I you will find it difficult to leave disappointed. Even if you decide not to return. The prices push my personal appeal to that of a great call in carry out option when this cuisine sounds good but the thought of going out to...

Read the one star review. And I agree with a few things. For one, if you have ever ate any sushi from Fuji's, you'd know that you're paying the same price for your sushi from both restaurants. But not the same quality. At ninja's the quality is not the best. I could tell that the avocado was not "fresh" simply by looking at it. And then biting into it. Not the best is all I can say. Even the rice and ingredients in general made me say what the eff. Now, that guy with the one star review did mention that they serve the food on foam plates and cups. Look, if I'm going to pay for food at the same price as a "high class sushi place" then yes I expect the same service. I was dumbfounded at this, mainly because they are a restaurant. If this restaurant is trying to portray themselves as a picnic like restaurant then I understand the foam plates and plastic silverware. But obviously they're not trying to do that. Because of the food they're serving. Last thing I also want to point out is that it smells like grease. And when you walk out, you smell like grease. Such a Great place for a first date. (Not)

-thanks for reading. Just go to Fuji's or Sake or Shotguns And not waste your time and money.

*From the Asian lady who doesn't wish for anyone to waste their money because they didn't know better. #muchlove#sushiislove #lovefood...