Nakama Japanese Steak House & Sushi — Restaurant in Maumee

The Unofficial Fish Review: I am all for a come-back story and a rebrand. I visited Nakama under the previous ownership and had no bones to pick. Not sure the backstory there but I was always left satisfied. The rebrand offers little update to decor or atmosphere of its previous ownership. Unfortunately, it does offer a change in quality…a negative one at that. Greeting/host service was OK; they recognized my reservation, offered to seat us while I was in the restroom, but didn’t return for about 10 minutes thereafter. Oh well, I thought, since my party was not all in attendance yet. Upon seating, we were greeted by two … servers? One young man appeared to only be observing, I figured training, however his appearance left some to be desired. Again, young, but he was in athletic shorts (remember…young, so not your millennial’s cargo shorts)…standing…awkwardly…at our tabletop. As I settled in my chair, I realized how filthy the floor was. Now, I understand hibachi is a messy sport, but the leftover cucumber slices that undoubtedly bounced out of granddad’s mouth from the previous service is not something I desire…at my feet…while eating. I digress. Awkward ordering but we move on. And we keep moving on…because we didn’t see the hibachi chef for 47 minutes. Sure we had our soup and salad (at the same time - hibachi faux pas) but 47 MINUTES. I drank 3 waters, as did my children, so there were bathroom breaks to be had (bathroom: 6/10 cleanliness). As I’m waiting those long and grueling 47 minutes, we were visited awkwardly by athletic-shorts-man and I had the pleasure of observing the entire wait staff drink leisurely from their glass pint glasses without lids. Our tabletop neighbors seemed to be enjoying their service, with the full sake down the gullet experience (not my kinda party but to each their own). Once our chef arrived, he spoke so softly not one of us at the table had any idea what he was saying. If you can’t tell already, the Fish knows their way around a hibachi steakhouse. I enjoy the open flame, onion volcano, beating rice heart, catch a cuc in my mouth show, but when I say I had no idea what the man was saying, I mean it. He laughed, so I perceive he made a joke but…jokes on me I suppose. Additionally, he could not read our order the server left on their little handy dandy table diagram. Clarification was had. Now, now.. onto the food. I really considered this review during the experience, but when the chef sliced… QUARTERED… my scallops on the grill to cook, I about croaked, rose from the dead, and hopped on google reviews. As expected, they were rubber. Eggs for rice were burnt and also rubber. Rice dry and crispy. Chicken touched other raw proteins. Shrimp was barely edible…not exactly sure why (burnt I think), but I had one child spit into her napkin. We aren’t picky, the Fish has a refined, experienced palate. This, this was detestable. I won’t be back. Unless of course there’s another rebrand… I’m a sucker and ALWAYS craving hibachi. Tune it up, Nakama. You’ve got...

My husband and I came in there tonight for dinner around 5:30 had a horrible experience. We had a young male server who spilled one of our soups on our table and then didn’t clean it up I had to ask the other server who was female to clean it up when she brought over a refill of iced ice tea for me when this should have been our servers job. I witnessed our hibachi chef burning our eggs then mixing it into the rice anyway when I requested new eggs that were not burnt then he decided to dump an extreme amount of salt/pepper mixture on the fried rice. I requested to speak to the manager there and requested I have my vegetable hibachi made in the kitchen I requested fried rice with egg that was not burnt eggs. I waited a really long time for my food to be cooked in the kitchen my husband was already done eating his hibachi filet mignon. I questioned the manager has to why my rice had no egg and nothing else in it she claimed I said I didn’t want eggs when I didn’t say that and said because of that they decided to not put anything else in the rice. I also questioned her as to why my rice was not fried she told me twice the rice was fried in person and over the phone when it had absolutely no flavor bland and it appeared on the plate in a round shape. I’ve never had fried rice that looked and tasted like that ever I’ve also never witnessed a hibachi chef any where else put black pepper on the fried rice. Also my husband got sick right after eating his meal had a lot of diarrhea and I called and spoke to the manager regarding this and she placed blame on us because no one else called in to complain about being sick no responsibility taken. She said she would need my husband to get a doctors note stating he got sick from their food to get a refund on the 28.99 filet mignon hibachi which would required a doctors visit which would cost much more than 28.99 especially since my husband as no health insurance. Before leaving the restaurant and recieving our bill I had asked the manager if she could give us half of on the filet mignon hibachi rather than the vegetable hibachi and she refused to do giving the excuse that our appetizers were discounted when we came in for happy hour and therefore were supposed to be 3 dollars for each appetizer we order as stated on a printed out piece of paper. Called their sister restaurant on central ave to see if I could speak with the owner was told he doesn’t speak English and that I couldn’t get any refunds to do them being a new place already giving half off the vegetable hibachi that I had a coupon for that wasn’t even made how I requested, and not having a doctors note stating my husband got sick from their food. I had some of the worst customer service from this restaurant which would include both servers that were there as well as the management. Also keep in mind I’ve ordered food Togo from their central ave location before the maumee one even opened and the fried rice didn’t have any black pepper on it either and they both have the...

​The food here was a complete disappointment. Having worked my way up from dishwasher to manager in a Japanese restaurant, I have a solid understanding of authentic Japanese cuisine. Sadly, this restaurant's offerings show a fundamental lack of knowledge. ​The sushi was mediocre at best, but the kitchen dishes were truly inedible. I couldn't get past a second bite of the fried rice. Authentic Japanese fried rice, even a simple one, should have a variety of vegetables and at least some egg. This dish had none of those—it was just plain rice with no discernible seasoning like hondashi or soy sauce. ​The chicken katsu was equally disastrous. It was a flavorless, unseasoned piece of breaded chicken served with a few greens and no Japanese mayo or other traditional garnishes. The food here is not only inauthentic but also vastly overpriced. ​It's truly astonishing to see this place receive so many five-star reviews, which suggests people are unaware of what genuine Japanese food tastes like. If you're looking for an authentic Japanese dining experience, I strongly advise you to...