Ran Zan Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Providence

Update October 2024 - Grabbed dinner on a Saturday night and was pleasantly surprised we missed the crowds. Sashimi (chutoro, salmon, hamachi, ikura) was excellent!

We’ve been going to Ran Zan for many years and more recently, not as often as we’d like. We were there last Friday evening, on the early side, so we wouldn’t have to wait for a table. We were seated immediately and told that if we order sushi bar items, it would take a little longer. We don’t mind longer wait times, and appreciated the heads up so we could order some non-sushi appetizers.

We had the grilled hamachi kama (fish collar), which is always delicious and highly recommended. If you haven’t tried it, please do!

We also got the agedashi tofu and yakitori (grilled chicken). The tofu was very good, as usual, but not to my surprise, the chicken wasn’t anything special.

With dinner, which was a mixture of a la carte selections of sashimi and nigiri, I had a nice, icy cold Sapporo. Tuna was very fresh, hamachi was delicious, and salmon was also good. Farm-raised salmon isn’t super tasty in general, but it was fresh.

Also had unagi (eel) nigiri, ikura (salmon roe) nigiri, and uni (sea urchin) nigiri. The fish components were tasty, but the rice and nori (seaweed wrapper) were not very good. We’ve noticed this issue with the rice during the past few visits, and don’t order maki rolls anymore, but it would be great if the rice quality returned to its former quality.

Service was polite and professional. Atmosphere is homey and what you would expect for a small, independent establishment. The older couple works hard to continue serving the community authentic Japanese food, so we appreciate the effort and food. There are so few Japanese restaurants in RI which offer authentic...

If I was the last man on earth, and famine struck the land I tread on, with every ounce of my being I still wouldn’t choose this place to lay my body for a meal. If every restaurant was closed and I hadn’t eaten in weeks, I wouldn’t even ask this place if i could use their restroom. That being said…

Maybe I caught them on a bad night. But it took over an hour to get my food. Based on this photo, you tell me if it was worth it. To be clear THIS PHOTO WAS TAKEN BEFORE I EVEN TOUCHED IT. I DID NOT ALTER IT IN ANY WAY. This dish was over $20 by the way. It’s incredibly stuffy inside to the point where my water glass (they never refilled btw) magically replenished due to the condensation and sweat particles that filled the air. The waiter didn’t even give me my miso soup that was supposed to come with my meal. When I brought it up, buddy had the audacity to ask me if “I still even wanted it”. Downright diabolical on his part to even say that. I asked him if Ashton Kutcher was making sushi in the back because there’s NO WAY this experience was real. I genuinely thought I was getting Punk’d. I left my body for the remainder of the meal so I can’t tell you if it was good or not. I ate about half of that tells you anything. I will never be returning. For what it’s worth, my partner...

We came here on a Sunday night. My wife and I have been looking for an authentic Japanese sushi spot around Providence for a while. We are so glad we found this place. This is a true authentic Japanese sushi restaurant. The owners are Japanese and you can taste the difference. From the selection of ingredients, the way you cut the fish, amount of wasabi to the temperature of the fish. I can tell the chef cares about his craft by these details. This is what makes them so delicious. This place reminded us the taste of delicious sushi we had when we were in Japan. At first I was a bit hesitant because of negative reviews of service provided by a particular waiter which Is probably no longer an issue since there is a “Help Wanted” sign outside. The owner lady was very nice and friendly. We received very good service even though the place was packed. She was very attentive all on her own. So if you want to know what authentic sushi taste like and lives in Rhode Island area I would definitely recommend for you to stop by and try...