Nippon Japanese Restaurant

This was my favorite sushi spot. I’d come here 1 – 2 times a week or more. $ 10 all-​you-​can-​eat sushi buffet with some of the best and most interesting rolls around. It was easily the best sushi I’ve ever had in its price range, and plenty better than some more expensive sushi.
I don’t know what to do now that it’s gone.

I would not necessarily recommend Nippon to Sushi-​lovers. I frequent the lunch buffet, but barely eat their traditional sushi. Instead, the delicious value comes from their more creative offerings, fried rolls, rolls topped with crab dip, and other such concoctions. For the area, a $ 10 sushi buffet is a solid value, but for those craving high-​quality fish in a plain, delicate roll, this is not the place to find it.
I’ve heard of others facing problems with the service. Getting there before noon ensures a relatively empty place, which prevents a build-​up of used plates or long-​empty drinks. However around noon as more people start to arrive, there is a marked slowdown in service, and I imagine that closer to 1 it is particularly noticeable.
All in all, Nippon is good for eating your fill of interesting and creative rolls. For those looking for high-​quality sushi, I would find another source.

I go there for the lunch buffet a lot and would have given this place 4 or 5 stars… if not for my visit today.
I went with my mother and a friend. They seated us right away, but were rude (which is the norm).
My mother asked for a menu and the waitress took a very long time to bring it and then and even longer time to take our orders.
OUR FOOD TOOK OVER AN HOUR TO COME! and when it did the order was wrong. They had mixed up the orders. and then blamed us for the order being wrong. They had given us old sushi menu slips (that had already been marked off on the back) and were blaming us for not realizing it…
They were being extremely rude and even told my mother to «shut up.»
We got up and left. I WILL NEVER RETURN!!! You do not treat people like that no matter what.

If I lived in an ideal world where I could eat anything I wanted any time I wanted without any worries about cost, health, etc. I think sushi would be one of those foods that I’d eat nearly everyday… possible even every meal. Having never actually eaten real sushi in Japan, the best sushi I’ve had has always been those restaurants in which they truly take the typical rolls and do something special with them.
I recently heard from a coworker that Nippon was one of those restaurants despite its modest appearance so I decided to finally go and try it. He was correct. Like many other popular Northern VA sushi restaurants such as Sushi Yoshi or Sweet Ginger, Nippon offers amazing specialty sushi rolls. Delicious monster rolls that include various cuts of fish, flavor profiles such as avocado/​cream cheese/​peppers, and amazing sauces that take each roll to another level. What I liked best about Nippon, was not only that they had a list of these specialty rolls like every other restaurant, but that they provided them in their own menu complete with full sized pictures of each roll. It really gave me an idea before I ordered of what rolls I wanted, and it made me much more pleased with my decisions once the rolls came out.
I ordered the Las Vegas roll and one of the various spicy tempura rolls. Both were excellent. On top of the quality of the food here, the restaurant is actually very nicely decorated and has plenty of seating. I was sort of amazed that there wasn’t that much business going on when I came in (my table was the only customer at the time), especially considering how good the sushi was.
The only negative thing I will say about Nippon, and the reason why it doesn’t earn 5 stars from me is that it IS a bit pricy. Sushi tends to be expensive in general, but compared to most other places, I did find Nippon a little on the high side of the bill. But like I said at the beginning, in an ideal world where «money ain’t a thang», I’d gladly eat at a place like Nippon that serves quality sushi day after day.

Nippon is a great lunch time venue with fresh sushi, sashimi and various rolls. Also includes a Japanese style buffet with self made miso and choice of vegetarian, beef and chicken dishes daily.
The real stars of the show are the sushi chefs who produce fresh nigiri and sushi rolls such as Boston, Philadelphia, California and Las Vegas. At $ 12 – 14 per person with drink and tip this is a good value!

Nippon is our go-​to Japanese restaurant. When we’re craving some miso soup, udon, or agedashi tofu this is the place.
The service is very friendly and the sushi chef is attentive and thoughtful. I have no idea how they’re making a profit though as I’ve seen (and used) numerous newspaper coupons as well as Groupon and LivingSocial specials for my visits. Perhaps once they’ve found enough folks like me they’ll stop and we’ll continue to go for our favorite Japanese foods.

My friend got a Groupon (or the likes) for this place and asked me to join him for dinner. Sure, why not. We tried to call ahead to make reservation but just could not get through on the phone. So we tried our luck, hoping they wouldn’t be too busy with others like us with a Groupon. I guess we got lucky because it wasn’t busy at all. I did notice a lot of the tables had a ‘reserved’ sign on it so good thing we got there early and was able to grab a seat before the crowd gets in.
We came for dinner and they had a good selection of specialty rolls. What I liked about their menu was that they had a separate menu that showed a picture of what each of those specialty roll looks like. The rolls were okay, they weren’t anything outstanding enough to write home about. We also got a sashimi platter which I thought was very fresh. Overall, it was good but not good enough that I would come out of my way from MD for. Another thing that really irritated me after getting the bill was that they charge you $ 2 for hot tea PER person. That’s a NO from me. SMH. It wasn’t even japanese green tea.

D
The lack of service couldn’t be ignored. Took a while to get water, had to ask for it twice, then had to ask for a refill. Had to sit at the bar, where the waitress had to carry large plates of sushi over our heads every few minutes. Had to eat the appetizer without a plate so sauce dripped all over the table. Had to wait a long while for the check. Hard to enjoy any kind of sushi when you’re busy trying to get a little attention!
My boyfriend, and fellow sushi-​lover, was not impressed at all. He found himself having to ‘force it down’. We got a front row seat to the slopping down of spicy tuna, less than fresh-​looking ingredients and squeezing a fist-​full of ginger to rid it of the juice it was soaked in. Maybe Korean sushi chef’s don’t get the same training on the art of preparation?
The sushi (special rolls) were G-​grade, at best. G for Grocery Store quality. The plate was over-​crowded, the ingredients didn’t harmonize, and the large end pieces to the rolls were unappetizing. We’ve crossed this place off of our list for good.
Ordered: Soft Shell Crab (appetizer), Rainbow Roll, Crunchy Dragon Roll, Nippon Roll and Rainbow Roll.

My friends wanted to meet up for lunch. I haven’t been here in a few months, so I mentioned this place. We arrived around noon and the place was almost full. We were seated and we dove in. By this time, the plates of sushi were almost empty.
From what I’m told, this is under the new management. It seems that things have not really changed with the plates running out fast. We filled our plates and dove in. As the plates got filled up, people got up. There was no gang rush this time. When we went up for round 2 the plates full again. The hot dishes were nothing fancy. I liked the goyza and the tofu. The tofu had a nice sauce that you had to put on. Without the sauce, it would have just plain and boring. The miso was good, but way too salty.
The downside this place is the service. It took forever to get drinks filled. While we were there, there were only two people on the floor. One person as a host and worked the register, and one person that bussed the tables and brought out food to the hot bar. He also came around for water if he had time. Sushi wise, I thought it all tasted fine.
You know what, for $ 10, what can you ask for? You are not going to get 5 Star service for that. I’d come back here again. Just go earlier, or around 1:00 and you’ll be fine. When you are ready to pay, go up to the register. We asked for the bill at our table. Nobody ever came by to get the bill. We sat for another 10 minutes or so. We finally went up as we say the line building up there.
So if you want a cheap sushi buffet in Herndon, go here.

I’m gonna need you to go ahead and give me back a star Nippon. Last time I visited, I thought the sushi was decent for a buffet. My last visit, I really regretting suggesting it to a friend for lunch. Sadly, everything that’s wrong with buffet sushi was present here. Super skimp on the fish, dry/​unseasoned rice and so poorly made the plates look like a pile of fish, rice and seaweed after anyone touched them. It was just plain bad and that makes me sad.
Hey, I’m a poet and didn’t even realize it!

Nippon used to be one of my favorite sushi to go to around the area. It wasn’t too expensive, the ingredients were fresh, and the sauce they used was perfect.
But they changed owner and chef — and I no longer go there anymore. The sushi lost the great taste and the sauce isn’t as good as it used to be.
And the service is still very slow.

The food is still the same. Unfortunately, the speed in which it is made and replaced is not. There were only one nigiri plate at a time. So people were flocking to that one place when it came out, cramping the already ever-​so-​cramped space. Oh and who runs out of gari and little soysauce boat thingies?!? True, we went during the lunch rush but for a restaurant that likely makes 90% of its profit during lunch, it was really unimpressive.
The service, sadly, got considerably worse. Usually at a buffet, the server asks for drinks immediately when they sit you down. So by the time I come back with my first place, my drinks are there for me. This is called efficiency. Instead I had to grab the server’s attention twice to remind him to bring us our water.
All the above, I can deal with. What I cannot stand is when they can’t combine two buffets so I can pay for both. I literally stood there for 10 minutes while she called over someone twice to ask how she can do this… mind you, she never figured it out. So I, very gently, told her to swipe my damn card for the two meals and you can figure it out in your stupid system later.
lastly — and i say this because i’m koream and i care — please learn to speak at least basic english. when someone asks, «there are no plates,» you should know what that means…

When it was suggested that we go to Nippon for lunch and I saw the sign advertising $ 9.95 sushi buffet, I was concerned. But the decision had been made, so I braced myself for bad sushi. It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. The miso was good and though some of this fish could have been better quality, overall it was fine. Nippon definitely won’t top my list as places to go next time I’m in town, but lunch was a good value for the money.

This place has definitely had the Unilocal effect applied. When I first went here last year for the lunch buffet, the place had just recently opened and had a quiet relaxing ambiance due to the fact that it wasn’t that packed. Fast forward to today. It is a madhouse during lunch.
The sushi quality is top notch considering that it’s a buffet. The only real thing that detracts from the experience at Nippon is the other diners. They are like vultures hovering around the bar waiting for the next batch of rolls/​nigiri and are often rude as hell. I’m not surprised some of the elite Unilocalers badmouth this place because they have a reputation for succumbing to degenerate feeding frenzies (it was in the news!), but to be honest, the staff seems to be working as hard as they can to accommodate the diners. Everyone wants to get their money’s worth, but some people take that a little too far and think they are entitled to 5-​star restaurant service. It’s a $ 10 sushi buffet people! Get real.
My advice is to go early and enjoy. They actually ran out of fish the last time I was there and had to turn away customers. Don’t go here unless you actually want sushi. Coming here for something like drunken noodles is kind of a waste. Be prepared to fight short skinny asian women who eat like garbage disposals for that last piece of tuna too.

Two and a half stars for the lunch buffet experience. This restaurant is tucked behind the McD’s. Same quality fish as Matsutake, but M has better service and selection; totally worth the extra $ 5 you pay to not be here. Gyoza was okay, but the stir-​fried beef was stringy. Meatballs passable but unimpressive. Green beans were okay, the make-​your-​own-​miso station was acceptable, and it’s nice that they thought to place a food dome over the fruit to keep flies at bay. Soy sauce bottle was sticky and we had to ask for extra dipping dishes despite being guided to those specific tables.
Sushi rice needs to be seasoned, and the specialty rolls were shaped more poorly than the nigiri. Sexy mama roll was sauced way too heavily, and anything with shrimp tempura was sloppy looking and loose. Veggie deluxe disappointed the least, execution-​wise. More often than not, the rolls weren’t packed tight enough and the rice bedding the nigiri could barely withstand initial tonging. The chefs couldn’t keep abreast of the crowd’s demands; people generally hovered like vultures waiting for the nigiri to be restocked. Fresh platters emptied out within the first two minutes. Maguro, salmon, white tuna, red snapper, unagi… I don’t know if they were randomly restocking or going by a scheduled order but the two sushi chefs were swamped.
Good thing I was facing the big TV since it took forever for us to get our checks. At least they refilled our tea twice. Maybe the staff was new? Our waitress’s English was choppy. I have so much more appreciation now for Matsutake. Even on their worst day they outperformed my experience at Nippon. You get what you pay for here.

Definitely not bad for a sushi buffet (I’ve had a lot worse… in fact, I think this is better than the over-​hyped Todai)… especially at $ 10.
This place is your typical small korean-​owned sushi joint. Place was packed on a weekday lunch because of all the offices in the area. When we left, even parking was a commodity.
Nippon offers a large selection of specialty rolls and 2 – 3 types of nigiri. I wish they offered more sashimi/​nigiri… With the buffet offerings, they were generous on the rice portions (as to be expected) but not overly so that you were eating a ball of rice.
They also had a small selection of meat/​veggie/​seafood items on the side, and a large vat of miso soup.
Good value, decent fish quality and offerings, and pretty good location. Would come back!

4.5 stars
I’ve been here a few times since my first review and one thing is for sure: the sushi here is on point. I’ve adventured into the less traditional appetizers previously, but I would try to keep towards the more authentic-​sounding appetizers/​entrees. Honestly, why would you order pad thai/​drunken noodles at a Japanese restaurant? But I digress.
My favorite things here (that stand out from some other Japanese restaurants that I’ve been to) are the beef tataki, selection of unique special rolls, and the homemade ice cream.
One thing I’ve really noticed though: the music playing is always a curious mix of top 40 songs (uncensored) and k-​hip hop/​rap. Not saying that it bothers me (which it doesn’t), but it would suit a lounge more than a decidedly middle-​to-​upperscale Japanese restaurant.

They just lost a customer and maybe more if they don’t get their act together.
Customer service is extremely poor, which doesn’t bode well for a restaurant that just opened not too long ago. Consider the number of sushi restaurants in the area, you’d think a new restaurant would try its hardest to win its customers over, so that they would come back time after time.
So here’s the story…
I placed our dinner order over the phone for the first time tonight, and it may very well be the last. The few reasons that we went with Nippon tonight is because it’s new and we like to try new restaurants in the area, and they had a coupon for 20% off for dinner on the mail flyer.
When I went to pick up the order, I had to wait 15 min. longer than the time that was promised. Now that may be acceptable if the restaurant was packed and phones are ringing off the hook with take-​out orders. The opposite was true. There was one server serving all of three tables and a couple of people at the bar.
Now, I forgot to bring the 20% coupon, which was my fault, so I couldn’t get the discount. However, they had many $ 10 off coupons lying around on the counter, but that wasn’t even offered to me. I wasn’t really expecting them to give me the 20% discount, but at least offer the $ 10 off coupons as a good gesture.
when I got the bill I saw that I was charged $ 21.95 for the Chirashi versus the $ 11.95 that was stated on the menu. This price was printed on the mail flyer as well as all of the menus that they had on the counter. I asked about it and all the server said to me was that she will notify the owner. They didn’t even offer to take the extra $ 10 that was charged off of the bill due to their mistake.
Owning a restaurant is part of the hospitality business. I don’t care if the food is the best in the world. If the service is poor, I would think twice before returning. I don’t know. Maybe the server is new and I just had bad luck tonight.
The Food…
There’s really nothing special about the food. It’s just another «sushi» establishment with mediocre offering. I do have to say that the rolls weren’t bad. They had good texture, and ingredients, and were seasoned well. The Shrimp Tempura Udon and the Chirashi on the other hand were nothing to write home about. They skimped on the Udon, which barely had any ingredients in the soup, and the sashimi cuts for the Chirashi were very very thin. Let’s just say that it was definitely not worth $ 21.95. Take note Nippon owners and chefs. If you want to know how fish should be cut for sashimi, go to Tachibana in McLean and learn a little about Japanese cuisine. Tachibana offers Chirashi that is less expensive, and it is 10x better. The cuts of the fish are thick and the fish itself are very fresh and melt in your mouth.
Well, I’m disappointed that my experience at Nippon was not the greatest. We wanted to have the options of dining at different Sushi joints, so that we’re not always eating at the same places. At least we gave it a try.

I’m usually on top of restaurants that open up in Herndon. However, I haven’t been in the area for awhile. Ah well, better late than never.
Came here for the lunch buffet. There was a pretty decent selection of raw fish and the specialty rolls. The eel rolls were my favorite as well as the tempura rolls. They also had a number of cooked meat options such as spicy pork and terryaki beef. There were a couple of salad options. The only thing that the buffet was missing was a dessert option. No orange slices, no ice cream. Ah well. The quality of the options was good… granted, the restaurant is still relatively new.
Service was good. The place looks like an average sushi joint. The place is located behind the McDonalds in the Kmart shopping center. Parking is pretty easy to find. I’m sure I’ll be back whenever I’m in Herndon.

If you are a lover of rolls this place is for you. Absolutely amazing sushi rolls. Ask the sushi chef for his special (not on the menu) Seared white tuna salad. Ok, this is NOT an exaggeration, it is honest to God the BEST salad I have ever had in my life. The dressing is a little spicy with spring mix and seared white tuna. AMAZING.
The nigiri sushi is fresh, appetizers are good, and their buffets? CHEAPEST PRICE using HIGH Quality sushi.
Most sushi buffets really do not give the effort or quality when it comes to «buffet» sushi. This place however gives GREAT quality. I was amazed.
Excellent staff, great atmosphere, I really love this place!