NaRa-Ya — Restaurant in Washington

I gave this restaurant 2 stars because the food does not taste good. The two stars is for the beautiful view of the water and the service was okay.

I visit the wharf often and usually go to La Vie, when I learned that Naraya had the same owner I was interested in trying them out. I visited their instagram several times. They really do a great job at marketing their items. They take great pictures for instagram, but the taste and quality of the food is disappointing.

To begin the host at the front was very welcoming and polite. When we arrived upstairs we where given a drink menu and told to scan the QR code for the menu. The cell phones have no service inside. I asked the waiter for the Wi-Fi code and she said she did not know it. So I was unable to pull up the menu. Although I was unable to pull up the menu she was still asking what I would like for a appetizer. From the time we where seated I felt rushed to order. Everything was rushed and I had no time to think. Which is unpleasant for a first time visitor. Another waiter came up to assist our waiter and I asked him did he know the WiFi code and he asked to see my phone and put the password in. Once I had service I was able to pull up the menu. I wasn’t bothered by the price of the menu because I expected the food to be exceptional.

I ordered several items from the menu shrimp tempura rolls which was pretty bland and all I tasted was the cucumber’s. Next, I ordered the scallops, which was mediocre. Still hungry I ordered the a5 roll and kaiba king roll. The crab is imitation crab meat and these rolls where bland as well. I had to ask for spicy mayo for it to taste decent. This is the WORST tasting sushi I have ever had, it was mushy and not fresh. The taste of the food definitely doesn’t match the price. I realized after getting the bill why the waiter was pressuring us to order more items in order to get more gratuity which is 20% of the bill. Very disappointed with the food and a waist of money. This place is a instagram trap. If your planning to visit the wharf and want a great ambiance as well as great tasting food I suggest going to La Vie next door. It’s hard to believe they have the same owners.

Also after reading the reviews I realized others had the same complaints about the food. This is why reading is...

We had the pleasure of enjoying the tasting menu on the second day that Nara-ya was open. When we came in we had to check in at the front before being let up on the elevators. Standard covid protocols-temp check etc. We got up to floor 3.1 and we’re guided to our seats. It was a lovely water front view. Angel was our server and he was attentive! To drink I started with the wagyu and whiskey, which was delicious, and my date had the Japanese old fashion. We ended up also having the ballad of yasuke( also very good) and the martini umami. We selected the standard tasting menu, with 5 courses but upgraded the third dish. I upgraded the started dish to add caviar and my date upgraded it to the tuna. I highly recommend upgrading to the tuna. It was so good! For the main I got the braised short rib—so tender and flavorful and my partner got the bird(whose name I forget). Of course there was sushi which was also so good. And finally desert, a matcha tiramisu, which was so so good.We capped it off with some champagne because we were celebrating an anniversary.

Over all- decor was cute,views were amazing. Bathroom impeccable. Covid protocols followed Staff- friendly and very attentive.Angel was the best. If you go, as for him. He had several tables he was taking care of, but didn’t miss a beat. The managers also came by to chat which was nice. Over all attentive Food- quite the fusion of flavors. I wouldn’t have thought of some of these flavors and combos. It as also nice that it wasn’t just a sushi place. The tasting menus amount was just right.you didn’t leave so full you couldn’t walk or hungry after.( we went at 6 pm and had a light lunch at about 1pm and left feeling satisfied) Price- the price point wasn’t bad for a 5 course tasting menu. I will say there was a 20% service charge, I’m guessing a covid charge which doesn’t go to the wait staff so we had to add another 20 % on top. Which was fine, Angel more than deserved it. On a side note, we saw two local dc celebs eating there too, so maybe this will be a socialite haven, who knows!

Over all great experience....

Came to Nara ya to try the brunch for my birthday weekend. Had an overall enjoyable time. The food wasn’t as great as the dinner options, but a very good value for $45. Our waiter was nice, and we didn’t have a long wait when receiving our food, which I was afraid of from other reviews. Everything came out pretty quick.

This review comes because of what we experienced toward the end. As we were wrapping up a woman, from the hostess stand, came over and dropped the metal check holder in the middle of our table and then announced we’d stayed over our two hour limit and it was time to pay our check and leave. It startled our party because of the way she threw the check at us and it’s in a metal holder so it was loud when it hit the table. It’s was extremely rude and left a bad taste in our mouths. I know people tend to exaggerate in reviews, but she literally dropped it on our table. Disgusting.

HOSTESSES NAME WAS JACKIE.

I HOPE MANAGEMENT SEES THIS.

As you can see in the picture, there are plenty of empty seats around us. The restaurant wasn’t packed. And we were certainly not hanging around trying to spend all day in a restaurant. Our waiter never mentioned we were coming up on our time limit and we were actually getting ready to request our check. My friend checked the time that this happened and were were over by, get this, 15 minutes. FIFTEEN. Our reservation was for 11. It was 1:15… there are so many other ways she could have politely informed us of the time limit and let us know the table was needed (even though it very obviously wasn’t at that exact second).

I really hope that the managers handle this because it is not a good look for the restaurant to have a hostess treat customers this way. Especially when entrusted with a birthday outing, and ESPECIALLY when I’ve spoken so highly about the restaurant in the past and recommended it to others.

The people you hire are a reflection of the restaurant and can easily turn a nice restaurant into one with a shoddy reputation. I don’t want to see that happen...