Hiro Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Jacksonville

This place has high reviews not for the reasons you would think. They give you a 5% discount for leaving a review. And of course the customers feel pressured to leave a good one, however, our experience was anything but good.

Although the servers and chef were very polite, I have to be honest and say everyone there was INCOMPETENT. We were a party of 7 and got our food in 3 different waves. The last one being a good 20-30 minutes after the 2nd. First came the our kids' sushi on 1 plate (they aren't picky but said it was just ok, which says a lot) then the hibachi for our 2 friends (which they enjoyed) and then much, much later, after literally EVERONE finished their food, came my wife's and my sushi.... also on 1 plate. My wife and I were sitting several seats apart because she was with the kids and I with my friends. Yet they still decided to bring the sushi out on 1 plate. They gave me 1 tiny plate to place my sushi rolls on separately. They did not provide ginger (had to ask for it), forgot our chopsticks, and worst of all, was the actual sushi. I'm not sure exactly what was specifically wrong, but for certain there was nothing right about it. It didn't taste fresh, didn't have much flavor, the presentation was poor, even the soy sauce seemed to taste wrong. I don't remember the last I enjoyed sushi less than this; I think never. I am convinced the sushi I got a few times at Publix was better.

Honestly, the only thing that probably saved this rating from being a 2-star is the hibachi (that my freinds enjoyed) and how embarresed and apologetic the waitresses were. They were legit embarrassed for their service and the sushi plate situation, which is a good start for improvement I guess. I do feel bad for them, but I have to be honest about my experience. At the very best this place is just average and this is the rating I will give it, although my experience overall was poor.

Because it was my birthday they brought a fried cheesecake with a candle in the end. It was fun to see them do damage control as they enthustically sang me happy birthday along with the old chef. "A" for effort I guess. Again, nice folks but just incompetent. I won't be coming back, the 4.9 star average rating is not accurate, Hiro Japanese needs a lot of improvement.

My sushi: Rainbow Roll and Spicy Fatty Tuna Roll

Kids: Alaska and...

Great ambiance, but that's largely where the positives ended.

We had a party of 7 and we share food, so I got to try many dishes. Sushi was sloppily made. It was loosely wrapped, not uniform, with ingredients jutting out. Taste was fine, but Sushi demands a pleasant and uniform one-bite experience, and these rolls were basically falling apart. The takoyaki and and okonomiyaki were both fine, and tasted as they should, but hamachi kama tasted like they just fried the whole thing instead of broiling or grilling. I could be wrong, but it was oily like that and It was also covered in the same sauce as the takoyaki and and okonomiyaki which is not normal.

My friend had the chicken curry. We both agreed it was oddly bland. Rich in texture but not on taste. And the crunch could not stand up to the sauce.

The real tragedy was the tonkotsu ramen. I understand that this kind of ramen requires work, but it should not be on the menu if you cannot at least made it decently. Never in my life have I tasted pork ramen broth and though "this badly needs salt". It literally tasted like cloudy water. I know it may sound snobbish but, as ramen lover, this was offensive to me. I asked to return it and our server kindly did so with no issue. Points for that.

Two final complaints about the Gyudon. What was with the rice here? Gyudon's rice should be able to stand up to the sauce and remain clumpy and easily eaten with chop sticks. This rice broke up immediately due to the sauce. It also looks like it was maybe medium grain instead of short grain Japanese rice. More so, you're charging $15 for this? I know it's not fair to compare this to Japanese prices and experience, but any Sukiya chain in Tokyo would beat this Gyudon. And that stuff goes for like 3 bucks USD. I know, I know, not a fair comparison, but let's not pretend that Gyudon is some gourmet dish (and this one certainly wasn't).

Random note: I have never seen a Japanese place in American not offer Mappo Tofu aside from this one.

Regarding service, our server was very nice and polite, but clearly didn't know the menu very well. Don't want to knock them too much. They seemed a bit new, but were clearly attentive and, again, gracefully handled my request to return the watery ramen.

All I'm all I'm disappointed and regret choosing this place for our...

What a great location, wonderful sushi, crystal clear interior, and fantastic service. Really a great find for our Sunday after church lunch and easy parking is also a big plus. The sushi chef came over to our table and explained that he was trained in Tokyo and had only been in the US for a few months. We may be biased, but we hope he stays.

Also, for those of you who like their rolls tightly wrapped, I did not have a problem with mine. Also loved the little things, like the chopstick holder for each person at the table and real chopsticks, not the disposable time.

Kudos for the two rolls for $9.99 special every day of the week. (Even Sundays). Most sushi locations will not honor a special like that on Sundays.

But you want to hear about the food:

Side Salad - good and fresh, they don’t the salad with dressing and instead put it on the side. So you can still soak it if you want. 🤩 Seaweed Salad - served on top of sliced cucumber, it was good. Philadelphia Roll - got rave reviews from our table. Alaska Roll - one of my personal favorites. Sweet Potato Roll - a family favorite and this was do well done. Maybe top it with some eel sauce, but that may just be personal preference. Shrimp Tempura - pretty standard, but we’ll executed. Spicy Tuna - paired well with the sweet potato roll, a little sweet and a little spice. Baymeadows Roll - this was in the category of “let’s try something” which we all shared and guess what, it was PERFECTION. Really a delicious roll.

Also like that the menu specified how many pieces you get with each roll.

ONE BIG COMPLAINT. Iced tea was not all you could drink, which is pretty standard in the South. Also, salad or soup is not included with the two roll special, also pretty standard in the South. I hope they rethink both of those policies...