Sushi Nami Wayne — Restaurant in Radnor Township

2 out of 5 stars as the waiter really tried and some of the food was OK.

I made a reservation for 9 people at 6:30pm over a week ago and stated it was my birthday. We arrived and they scrambled to put a table together in the front window, by the boxes… I asked the waiter several times if they had my reservation and why we’d be sitting in the front entrance rather than the main room. They found us a table in the main room (and only) room. I should not have to ask for a table in the main (and only) room when I made a reservation over a week ago!

There was only one waiter, so we waited for drinks / etc. meals came out piecemeal. Through appetizers I regretted (and I do not regret) ordering what i did as I was worried my family would get food poisoning or dislike sushi for a while because things were inconsistently cooked and/or too cold for the raw sushi.

Fish coloring was inconsistent between apps and mains, which is the worst thing for a sushi resistant as it means different quality, and I felt like everytime I bit into my meal, my fish was still ice cold. Example - I love uni, it arrived and was too light colored, I tried it and spit it out bc it was like an ice box and I knew it wasn’t going to be good.

So we continue our meal and after the waiter goes to my mom and continuously says “I’ll bring out the cake now?” as she and my husband are like telling him to be quiet as it was a surprise 🤫. The waiter continues to bring out the cake, in the box, with a butter knife to the table and places it in front of my mom… this was about a 5 min ordeal as they could not understand why we would need a bigger knife (then a butter knife) or even the concept of opening the cake and bringing it out like a normal restaurant!

Well, I took a gamble on trying a lower scale birthday meal with my family and confirmed to never do that again. Update: thankfully no one has gotten food poisoning but I don’t think we can enjoy a low key sushi spot...

This place seemed to have potential at a glance. My group of 4 walked in with empty stomachs and were new to the area. We were greeted well and seated immediately. With high expectations, we were excited for some decent sushi or a hot Japanese entree. I ordered the shrimp tempura roll(spicy mayo on the side) with a chicken poke bowl(half greens and half rice). My group ordered a dragon roll of some sorts, salmon/ beef teriyaki, and a main line roll with a thai tea. The thai tea and the roll were phenomenal! The dragon roll was delicious as well. On the contrary, the teriyaki was disappointing. The beef was dry and stripped out all the moisture in your mouth, making it difficult to even swallow. The best part of that dish? The onions... It gets worse. As the place got busier and busier, service fell apart. My food was served; no greens, shrimp tempura roll, or spicy mayo. The waitress dropped off my food and didn't check back until 30 minutes later. My roll was requested once again and she still forgot my spicy mayo. She took another 10 to serve that. The poke bowl was just sad. The chicken was decent, but overall bland. The roll was pretty okay! The service was the worst part of my night. The waitress failed to come back to check in to even ask if we needed more water, as we sat there with empty glass waters for almost 45 minutes. Hire more people and hire exceptionally better people please. The food would have been rated better if the service was on par, but it was far from it. Never coming back and...

Sushi Nami is a condescending name in itself. The sushi here loses the reputation of authentic Japanese restaurants compare to ones in bigger cities, that are actually owned by authentic sushi chefs. Kazuhiro Okochi, a chef and owner at KAZ Sushi Bistro in Washington, D.C, trained as a chef in Japan, said it himself. He said that he has seen many non Japanese chefs cook good Japanese food, and that Japanese cuisine borrows a lot from other culinary traditions, including China's. However, chefs of authentic Japanese restaurants like Okochi, and I, worry that because new restaurant owners are attempting to compete on price and expand quickly, the quality and reputation of some Japanese restaurants in the United States may be suffering.

You may be wondering. What does Okochi and authentic Japanese sushi have to do with Sushi Nami? Authentic highly rated Japanese restaurants in bigger cities such as Ootoya in New York City, have actual Japanese names which are special in the title of their restaurant. The chefs here should have some more experience in creating something special and more authentic to sushi and rebranding. Their sushi is like any other average price sushi restaurant. Customer service is alright but if they want to improve authenticity, they will also improve their customer satisfaction.

"Japanese food and, particularly sushi, has grown so fast in the past few decades, and a lot of people just try to copy and open the restaurants, without getting much [training],” -...