Tokyo Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Oklahoma City

Love, love, LOVE this place! Easily my favorite Japanese restaurant in the state of Oklahoma! The food here is oishii (おいしい), meaning tasty and delicious! If you are a lover of fresh raw ingredients from the sea's bounty, then this is place for you (although their cooked options and meals are pretty good too)! Our family and friends have been here so many times that we've definitely lost count, and as Japanese cuisine lovers, it is our go-to when having any type of celebrations.

But let's delve into why this is the case, shall we?

Tokyo Japanese is located on Western Ave, and if you are trying to locate it in the dark, good luck to you! It can be done, but if your GPS says that you are nearing it, pay close attention and you'll see it - a tiny building shrouded in darkness with a few lone lamps to highlight it. The parking is very limited, but if you drive towards the back, you can definitely find a space or two to squeeze in even on the busier nights.

What I love about entering Tokyo Japanese - and you can always tell if it is a true Japanese restaurant - is the smell of rice wine vinegar that comes off of the sushi rice used throughout the many dishes. The host and servers seat you immediately in the tiny restaurant, but if you come during a Friday or Saturday night, definitely make a reservation for the place gets packed fast and you can end up waiting for a long, long time. The menu options is enormous and range from sushi, sashimi, cooked dishes, Japanese appetizers, soups (i.e. udon, ramen), combo plates and desserts. The sushi and sashimi here comes HIGHLY recommended, and are seriously mouthwatering at the least, so hopefully you are a fan of their raw seafood bounty (if not, like I said, don't sweat it - there's many options to choose from)!

When coming here, we typically order a different appetizer each time and a sushi dinner that comes with their wonderfully flavored miso soup. The options that we tend to gravitate towards is their Omakase Boat, Party Platter, and 100 Sushi; yes, these are EXPENSIVE, but the quality is absolutely divine and a great addition to a celebration dinner or special occasion! Again, the options I listed are not cheap and can make your wallet scream, but it still a household favorite for us; the quality of the fish is absolutely surprising in the landlocked state of Oklahoma, but it sings notes that remind me of my days growing up in Okinawa, Japan.

If you are looking for more affordable options, but want to see what I am talking about, order yourself some nigiri or sashimi pieces of at least ONE of the following: white tuna (escolar) salmon, yellowtail, and tuna (ranging from our favorite fish to our 4th favorite). Not many places in Oklahoma do sushi well, but Tokyo Japanese really does. We have also tried their Nabeyaki Udon, Shrimp Tempura (though this is more Panko battered than the tempura battered kind), Pork Katsu and more, and can say that their cooked selection is great too!

We also enjoy the servers here too, as most of them, despite being slammed with people each time we are here, are attentive and generally quick to take orders and push out the food. So overall, we really enjoy Tokyo Japanese and it is easily my favorite Japanese restaurant in the state of Oklahoma! Please, please give it a try if you...

During the current Covid-19 situation, this restaurant has been one that I've trusted the most, and thank goodness because their food is amazing.

When safety at home went in place in April, we would order out from this restaurant and the food was amazing. They had a great curbside service as well. We recently dined in and they are very accommodating to state guidelines for safety of staff and customers.

We have a usual there; salmon kama, chumaki roll, omakase boat, and it is a beautiful mix of grilled fish, cooked fish, and raw fish.

The salmon kama comes out so hot that you can literally see the meat still bubbling and sizzling. It's very meaty and has a savory but buttery taste. For those that are not familiar with kama, it is the cheek area. Its a splendid way to start off a night of dinning in.

Don't forget that they have free hot tea for dining in! Although its not too fancy (hot tea taste like most hot teas) It's a good palate cleanser. Those who can't handle how hot it is - you can always ask for a little ice in it or you can pour some ice water in it if you forget. If you know you're going to drink a lot - you can ask for a tea pot - or they may surprise you with one as well which is always nice.

Chumaki is one of our favorite rolls. Its not listed on the menu by itself - but we have had it before with the 100 piece sushi and it was one of our favorite rolls. It has a pop of flavor with salmon roe that brings out the crabstick and avocado. Think of it as an upgraded California roll.

As for Omakase boat - it is one of the better bangs for your buck without going too high in price. Although the pieces are always set (so not like a true omakase), the piece that shines out on any particular day may not be the same. I've had once the octopus was so amazing - not chewy at all and surprising buttery. Another time, it is the salmon - again buttery and can practically melt in your mouth. Generally it will depend on the day you go, I highly recommend for raw sushi you go on Friday/Saturday/Sunday as it tends to be the best in quality wise.

Overall, for Oklahoma, it is a very solid...

I have been eating at Tokyo House for over 30 years, typically 3 or 4 times a month. It has always received my highest recommendations. On the last visits the rolls were not prepared correctly (Rock and Roll and Golden). The first time I wrote it off as an anomaly and, my fault, I did not report it.

Edit 11/11/2022: Had a work meal at Tokyo and low and behold the standard had improved. Have changed to 3 stars pending additional data. This time we ordered the same rolls and again, they were not cooked correctly. Having ordered these rolls dozens if not hundreds of times, we are extremely familiar with the delicious crispy golden flavor (these particular rolls are deep fried, our guilty please from normally healthy rolls).

I had actually taken home an entire order of multiple products, the other products ranged from the normal high quality, to average (which is far below the Tokyo standard). I decided it was my fault for not reporting the issues the first time, so I returned the rolls to the manager to show him there was no golden crispiness, only a sad floured paste of uncooked roll.

The manager explained to me they never make mistakes, the product was cooked perfectly and I was just not recognizing that. Decades of sushi eating experience at this restaurant and dozens of other sushi restaurants says otherwise.

After a lengthy discussion, I finally gave up trying to explain. I asked for my money back, explained I would not be returning.

So endeth my love affair and relationship with my favorite sushi restaurant. May it Rest In Peace. Note: both of these occurrences were on a Saturday night and it may be an inexperienced manager and chef were working. Regardless, I love well prepared sushi, but...