Kobayashi Sushi & Asian Kitchen — Restaurant in Noblesville

Food Allergy Review: This place is absolutely amazing! I am gluten free (celiac) and they can make almost any roll GF. It may come out looking different than if it were regular, but that's normal because tempura and others toppings similar aren't gluten free elsewhere anyways.

They had gluten free soy sauce (even though we also brought our own just in case) and it tasted good! The taste of this one was a little sweeter and the consistency was thicker than normal soy sauce. But my BF used theirs and I used the one we brought. If we didn't bring our own, I would've been happy to use the one they had too. (We're not new to hunting for GF sushi, if you couldn't tell 🤣)

This was our first time in, since we just moved to the area, and I can 100% say this will be our favorite sushi/asian restaurant indefinitely! We tried one other place before this one, the other one was in North Indy, but the sushi quality doesn't even compare to this one!

Our server, Lusi, was amazing with answering our questions and letting us know what could be made gluten free and she was well-versed with how it differed and what they do to make sure it's GF. She even knew the eel wasn't GF (many servers we've had at other places are next to clueless). She's also extremely polite and kind. Definitely made the experience better.

Also, they carry NOT ONLY sushi that's gluten free. You can get Pad Thai, Hong Kong Noodles, Curry, and so much more. I was so surprised at the fantastic options they have, even a ton of appetizers!

The ambiance inside was nice and felt like an everyday spot to go out to eat. Their booths are very comfortable. They also have some seating up at the sushi bar where the chefs are preparing the sushi on the other side.

Onto reviewing the actual food: I savored every bite of sushi from this restaurant. The taste and freshness of the sushi here has been the best I've had so far. And I've been to many places from Michigan to Florida, finding the perfect gluten free spots. The only other place that somewhat compares is a place in Raleigh, NC. But even still, the selection of sushi rolls, appetizers, and dinner plates here is better.

We ordered 5 rolls total. 3 special rolls and 2 classic rolls. From picture, left to right, we had the Tokyo Tower, the Rainbow Roll, the Aloha roll, Salmon & Avocado roll, and Yellowtail roll.

The Aloha Roll was by far our favorite! The combination of flavors topped with the sweet chili sauce was delicious. And that's saying a lot since my BF doesn't usually like pineapple! Absolutely 10/10 would recommend. It's a must-have for us from here on out.

The yellowtail roll we had here is some of the freshest tasting we've had in a looooong time. Same with the Salmon & Avocado.

The Rainbow Roll was my 2nd favorite because of the different fish pairings on the top.

And the Tokyo Tower was really cool because, again, being gluten free we don't usually get fun options like this!

The avocado that was with the sushi rolls was PERFECT. And that's hard to achieve, since normally avocados have a slim window where they're that good.

I'm mind-blown that there aren't more outstanding reviews of recent years and I was honestly skeptical going in because the most recent GF review isn't great. But I'm gonna say that's likely a fluke or someone new to GF lifestyle. Or they've really stepped it up. Either way, it doesn't matter because now it's absolutely amazing and I'll be telling everyone I know about this place.

It's so hard to find really good gluten free options, and I'm so thankful that KS&AK has such an extensive menu for us.

With all that said, I've attached pictures to help (there are pictures of the up-to-date separate gluten free menu as well, as of today) and the sushi we got.

If you're gluten free, like me, make this a staple in your rotation of...

I will start off with saying that the food tasted very good and my family enjoyed it. We stopped by here on a trip passing through town in the evening Saturday night coming back from IWU. When we arrived we were seated in a booth and I heard the manager say to the hostess "don't sit them there because there is water under the table." We were seated there anyways and I did not think much of it. One of my sons kept putting his feet down on the ground and then bringing them up to the seat like any other four year old would do. He started complaining that his pants and butt were wet and what do you know they were. I finally looked under the table and there was a big pile of water and the booth my son was sitting had water on it. I asked the same manager that made the comment about the wet floor to the hostess if we could move because of the water. She agreed and sent someone out to mop the floor and apologized for sitting us there. No big deal about the water but the manager should not have let us sit there if she knew there was a problem with it.

Anyways moving on. We ordered our food and were having a good time. I had to go to the restroom but someone was in there. I had heard the person flush the toilet and then a few seconds later the door had opened. My first thought was that person did not wash their hands because the door opened so fast but I had figured that I was jumping to conclusions and maybe they washed their hands. The person that came out was one of the chefs so I thought surely I just jumped to a conclusion and didn't hear the sink running.

I went back to my table with my family and we enjoyed the meal. We spent a decent amount of money on this meal ordering sushi, udon noodles with chicken (which is what I ate), and some other noodle meals. We decided to order a fried banana desert with ice cream which was amazing. My family left there happy minus the water on the floor and my wet kid.

Just to finish off this review this restaurant is a couple of hours away from where we live. On the drive home i started to get belly cramps and did not think much of it. We get home put our kids to bed and we went to be ourselves. The next morning I wake up around six in the morning with sharp belly cramps, feeling nauseous, and my whole body is starting to hurt. Long story short I spent the next four hours in my bathroom letting it all come out. I had to get ready as we were surprising our kids by taking them to the Colts game. Let me just say I was miserable the entire day and at the game.

So either I had some bad chicken with my udon noodles, I ate what the chef did not wash off his hands, or all this was a fluke and I caught some bug. To add all this to the water on the floor with my kid getting wet when the manager new better, I am not giving a great review to this restaurant. I would like to say that the food did taste very good and there is no way for sure to know how and where I got food poisoning; but considering this was the last thing I ate late in the evening and woke up the next morning feeling this way I feel it is a safe assumption that my food...

I visited Kobayashi with the expectation of a pleasant dining experience but was left quite disappointed, particularly with the service. While the food was acceptable, the service was far from satisfactory.

From the onset, there were delays. After placing our order and receiving our appetizers, we realized that drink refills were needed. Unfortunately, despite several requests for these refills, they were not provided until the very end of our meal—an oversight that significantly impacted our dining experience.

Additionally, there was an extraordinary delay in receiving our full order. Understanding that wait times can vary and that sometimes kitchens get backed up, patience was on our side. However, the situation was exacerbated when only half of our order arrived. Seeing the time that had already passed, I requested to cancel the remainder of the items we had not yet received.

This is when the evening truly took a turn for the worse. Our server, Cora B, informed us brusquely that it was not possible to cancel the order, and she suggested we take the food home instead. Her demeanor was rude and unapologetic, which only added to our frustration.

Finding resolution or understanding when dining out can often be accomplished with polite communication and customer service. Unfortunately, the lack of professionalism displayed by our server on this occasion was disheartening and, frankly, unacceptable.

While the kitchen’s pace may not always be within the server’s control, the manner in which guests are treated certainly is. A simple acknowledgment of the situation and an apology could have gone a long way toward mitigating our dissatisfaction. Regrettably, this was not the case.

Based on this experience alone, I'm hesitant to recommend Kobayashi, especially if you’re looking for a dining experience where service is a priority. The establishment might consider training staff more thoroughly in customer service skills to prevent such instances...