East Hana JC — Restaurant in Jersey City

I would give no star if I can. If you want to have a nice meal and a fair service on a Friday night, this is not the place to go. There is no service at the restaurant, wanted 20 mins when there is no other customers, we had to call the waitress to place our order. When the waitress is here, she didn’t say anything but stand there waiting for us to tell her we would like for the night.

Food is here, and there is no utensils, we had to ask the waitress to provide utensils and the food is already sitting there for five minutes. We got veggie tempura and there is a hair in the batter... my other party did not enjoy his sushi, the fish isn’t fresh.

Now, here is what we saw in the short 30 mins of our dinning experience:

When we were waiting to place an order, we overheard they mixed up some other customers order for pick up so that person had to wait for 15 mins to get their food after the promised time.

A party of 4 walked in and disliked the service and they just left the restaurant in a min, that was a smart move so they don’t have to see what’s next. How do I know they dislike the service? Because they were saying the server was disrespectful and the guy was not going to order anything for the night. And the whole family just decicded to leave.

Ok here is the interesting part. There is actually a party of 6-7 upstairs, and I recall them entering the restaurant before we got seated. Apparently no one went upstairs to take their order so they had to send two kinds downstairs to the waitress to place the order. Funny part is they took the order with the kids, and asking a lot of questions while I think the waitress can just apologize for the long wait and go upstairs to place the order? Next thing I see, they gave some chopsticks and napkins to the kids downstairs so they don’t have to walk upstairs. I have never seen this before. They have not been trained to be a server and please...

After hearing about this restaurant opening up in Jersey City and finding out it was related to their sister store from East Brunswick (which I have been eating at for the past 15 years) I was so happy to give it a try and had high expectations. We ordered take out (due to Covid19 restrictions) and overall, a lot of their food was over seasoned. Their miso soup was very salty and their sushi rice for their rice dishes and sushi were overly done with too much rice vinegar. The fish used was decent, as well as their salads, side dishes and appetizers. I was hoping for an enjoyable meal that I always had with their East Brunswick store, but was a little disappointed. Maybe the day I ordered their food was a slip up. I would not mind giving them a second chance, but as of now it fell a little short.

*Returned for a second chance this past week and food was now very underseasoned. A complete change to the other direction in terms of seasoning. There was no consistency. The fish in the nigiri were very bland and had no taste or flavor. I think they do well with their sushi rolls since they can use different types of sauces and combinations of ingredients to bring out flavors, but for the simple sashimi or nigiri items were underwhelming. Not sure where the inconsistencies were during the food making process, but I really wanted to...

I went here tonight with a few friends. I will remember this sushi experience for the rest of my life. From the moment we arrived the staff made us feel welcome. We had a few people check in on us, a very knowledgeable young woman and then a gentleman who seemed like he owned the place. They both gave us tips on what to order and were patient as I took forever to order because everything looked so good. Both of them displayed great professionalism and an inspiring warmth that definitely proved contagious as the night went on. Their friendliness makes me want to come back asap. And now on to the food... wow, loved the sushi, I got a 5th Ave roll and I recommend it. I got the Hana tuna roll and a couple yellowtail jalapeño rolls too, all delicious. My friends got the jet black roll and the shrimp tempura roll, I tried theirs, very solid orders. My fave tho was that 5th Ave roll... get that. I heard the sushi pizza is awesome but didn't have room to try it. Next time. The restaurant is cozy but there are two levels so plenty of seating. Restrooms are very clean. There wasn't a wait when we arrived. Prices are very reasonable. $12 - $15 for the special rolls, $5 or $6 for the simple rolls. And they give you complimentary hot green tea if you ask. I give East Hana JC a 10/10. I...