O-Ku — Restaurant in Greenville

O-Ku brings an amazing Japanese dining experience straight to the heart of downtown Greenville. From bar service to table service, I assure that you will not be disappointed in the slightest; and my expectations were blown away. The cocktails were delicious and the food was even better. I’d rate this as one of my most enjoyable eating experiences. Note: being right next to the peace center, it is wildly packed on show nights so be sure to watch out for those times for making reservations.

They have an excellent selection of Japanese whiskeys and sakes. A decent selection of American whiskey and bourbons as well. A very well put together cocktail menu with some delicious pairings. The bar is absolutely top notch and is well selected for the style restaurant. My bartender, JO, was excellent. Loved enjoying a drink and appetizer while waiting on a table here.

The food was phenomenal - not knowing specifically what to get, we decided to go with the “omakase” or “leave it up to you” in other words - allowing the chef to prepare a delicious 7 course meal of their liking to give to the guest. It was done exceptionally well! Each dish paired deliciously with the next, with great presentation and taste all around. Highly recommend this for a date night or if you love nigiri, sashimi, and beef. The dishes are listed in my photos with descriptions.

Highlighting my favorites: hamachi and truffles soaked in truffle sauce, the salmon and heirloom tomatoes in a vinegar base, braised beef short rib, and wagyu on Japanese milk bread toast. I can’t stress enough how exceptional the flavor and pairings were for all of these dishes, and after 7 courses, I felt full but not overly stuffed to an uncomfortable point. It was a perfect amount of food for an average and healthy sized adult. I’d argue this is some of the freshest selections of fish I’ve had at any location in Greenville.

All in all, this was hands down the most delicious food I’ve had to date. Greenville certainly needs some cultural diversity in the cuisine department downtown in general and, although there is a good number of Asian cuisines already, O-Ku makes a great step forward for being a fine Japanese dining experience that stands out from the rest. From atmosphere, to excellent staff and chefs, along with the food itself, this place cements itself as a top restaurant for...

This is a pretty ridiculous place. My fiancee ordered the braised short ribs and I got a sushi roll with a couple of sashimi pieces. My fiancées food was ready in 15 minutes. I however didn’t get my sushi roll for 50 minutes. It’s a bit awkward I think for a couple going out for an evening to eat their meals separately from each other. I think the literal point of going out to eat with others is to eat with them, wouldn’t you say? Not only did the food take forever but everything else did as well, even down to asking for the check. The restaurant tries very hard to maintain an aesthetic, and truthfully the only thing people like about the place is the atmosphere. It makes people feel important and cool, and the food is flashy and looks expensive. The clientele are what you’d expect from a place like this. Desperate to be rich, important, and seen. We called beforehand to see if there was a dress code, and there isn’t. However, my fiancee and I were the most casually dressed folks in the place and we definitely got the impression that we were ruining people’s fantasies. I even questioned whether the reason we had such poor service was in an effort to distance us from the restaurant. I say this because both of the couples sitting next to us got their orders before either of ours and were being served at a rate clearly above ours. The only difference being that they dressed the part.

The taste is pretty subpar. The crab was actually imitation, which blew my mind. The taste of the roll was about as good as anything you’d get from a gas station or a grocery store. They gave me an order of 4 fried rock shrimps because my food was taking so long. The shrimp tasted like it was fried in funnel cake and it was cheap. All of the ingredients are shockingly cheap. The piece of avocado in the sushi was so small it actually made me laugh. Both of us had sour stomachs afterwards. Honestly can’t believe this place has such high reviews. You really can’t trust Greenville’s upper class to make any honest or realistic appraisal of anything. Their heads are completely up their own asses.

Sushi murisaki down the street is a hundred times better. Hell, takosushi is better than this place. Go anywhere else and save both your bank account and our society from...

Dont waste your time.

We made a reservation for my partner's birthday. She had her eyes on eating here for the past 2 years but we held off because of the price...

The host seemed clueless about the layout of the restaurant and we literally walked a lap to find a 2-top in a restaurant that had maybe 4 other parties inside at the time. Initially we wanted to sit out back but it was rowdier than a sports bar. The host did not hold the door for us either time as we walked in or out. For a restaurant of this price point the lack of service is appalling.

After we sat down it felt that every 2 seconds our waiter was rushing us, even as far as he was coming up to the table early and asking to remove dishes that clearly we weren't done with. It honestly stressed me out. I'm also surprised a restaurant of this perceived caliber would allow male waiters to wear nail polish that looks straight out of a hot topic ad.

The food was delicious for the most part, but my roll kept falling apart the second I tried to pick it up and led to me fishing half my meal out of the soy sauce because it wouldn't hold itself together long enough for a dip. The nagiri was OK. The wagyu was far less "melt in your mouth" and more "chewy".

Most of the restaurant has the makings of a potential star, but I'm going to be honest, between the wait staff's incompetence, the kitchen's speed etc, it won't happen without major changes.

Felt like an utter waste of $110 before the tip, which we gave regardless because we're not assholes, just angry.

Oh and they do nothing for birthdays. They also needed correcting TWICE on who's birthday it was. Clearly the staff doesn't communicate. We could've had a better experience at literally any other sushi place in greenville.

It was at my date's insistence that I didn't raise hell in the restaurant and chose to write this instead 2 weeks later.

Side note: like icing on a cake on our way out and back to our car, we passed a fellow diner face down drunk on the sidewalk that we had recognized as someone who was at the bar half an hour earlier, with an officer attempting to administer aid.

Clearly the bartenders need to be trained on when to cut someone off.

Final verdict? They put the "OK" in Oku sushi. I'd be hard pressed to give this place a...