Hananoki Japanese Steak and Sushi Bar

This place has gone downhill :(the soup and salad were good and that’s about all I can say. Our cook used more soy sauce than anything and my large chunks of chicken weren’t cooked through. I got 1 piece of shrimp and it was so fishy I didn’t even eat it all. Hibachi is our favorite and we have been to them all over and they are usually pretty standard and hard to screw up but this was terrible.

Won’t try to go back. Place was still closed an hour after it should have been open.
This is the second visit. First one was last year and service was extremely slow and poor.
If I could give less than one star, I would.

We have had a great experience every time. We love the old manager, Bob, and wish he was still around. You should hire him back, starting salary of 100k.

Sushi is good. Steak is great! Bento Box Special is recommended and gives you several options from which to choose.

This was by far the worse experience at a Japanese steakhouse EVER. The food was inedible it was so salty, not to mention that our sushi order was completely messed up. And then we finally got it after everyone else had eaten. Our waiter was not very apologetic. Will not eat there again & highly recommend that no one else does either.

Nothing special. Very cold inside. 2 employees sitting on either side of me at the sushi bar on their smart phones. One playing a game. The other getting loud alerts and cursing.

I travel pretty extensively these days for work and have eaten sushi all of these great United States. Here I sat in Paducah, Kentucky craving my fishy fix once again. So I jumped on Unilocal and found this little gem. You won’t be disappointed.
Batman works the sushi bar. It’s a one man show and no holds are barred. This skinny white guy with a charming southern accent is the least expected person to be serving up top notch sushi and sashimi. Batman works his magic with an elegance and sophistication you’ll find at any «five star» sushi joint.
The rest of the staff were very attentive, friendly, and literally made me feel like I was their most important customer. Note– there were others here too, it wasn’t just me. Haha If you’re in town stop in and give this place a try, you won’t be let down.

We went there on night with friends and while the food was OK and just OK and I actually I left hungry and $ 80 lighter with no drinks. Since it’s a Hibachi Grill it really didn’t matter what you ordered everybody ending up with about the same thing. They crowded way to many people around the same grill table and I got a crappy corner seat the was way away from the cook and therefore I feel I was shorted on my food as my plate was difficult for him to reach. I ordered a shrimp dish and all said and done I think I paid about $ 10-​$ 15 per shrimp. Needless to say I wasn’t impressed and will not be going back anytime soon.

The restaurant had a strong smoky smell from the grill. I came for the sushi and sat in a table across from the sushi bar. After waiting 30 minutes with no sushi, I asked for the check. The restaurant only had three other tables with customers. I should have known better when I had to repeat my order three times as the waitress and sushi «chef» had no idea what I was asking for even though it was on their menu.

Reasonable prices for hibachi. Great service, good food, nothing special. The ginger salad dressing was delicious. The shrimp was substantial and cooked perfectly. My dad had teriyaki chicken he thought was over cooked and dry. The sushi is not worth ordering. Stick to hibachi.

This place is delicious and right up there with your other typical Japanese hibachi style steakhouses. As good as this is, Tokyo Hibachi across the street in my opinion, edges Hananoki out by just a little bit. You definitely can’t go wrong with either, but Tokyo is my personal favorite of the two. If you’ve never been to a Hibachi-​style grill restaurant then do know also that the shrimp is unbeatable and it’s a great place to take kids.

The only thing worse than eating sushi at this restaurant that I can think of is dragging a refrigerator filled with water bottles through the entirety sahara desert with a lock pad attached so you can’t drink any of the water. You think I’m joking, but I’m not. Not only did I suffer through the most un-​sushi-​restaurant-​like-​atmosphere for over 45 minutes to get my sushi, when we did finally receive it, it turned out that we could have just strolled over to kroger (which was 5 miles down the street) and bought sushi there for the same price, if not cheaper, and gotten much better quality sushi. What was most disappointing was that my significant other and me were the only 2 people in the restaurant besides 2 other small families. Now I cannot speak for their other items, but do yourself a favour and go find a better quality restaurant. I assure you the drive time wouldn’t make a difference. You will be getting your food at the same time either way.

The food is good. The service is awful! The waitress did keep our glasses full
And did not clear our soup and salad bowls. Had to wait a really long time for the chef and the the grill was not even on when he finally made it out and so we had to wait even longer for the grill to warm up for him to start. When I went to the restroom I found out why the service was so slow. Our waitress had her earphones in listening to music on her phone. For as much as the food costs I expected better service.

I travel quite a bit on business and regularly scope out the local sushi places. I have yet to find one that I really look forward to going again — until now! The calamari appetizer was excellent and cooked to perfection. But that isn’t what will be bringing me back on a regular basis. Every place has their little attempt at something unique. The Land and Sea Roll was a first for me, but definitely not a last! Avocado and spicy crap on the inside topped with tender and juicy filet mignon, wasabi sauce, and eel sauce. And if that weren’t enough, it’s presented on a fire plate!
Flying solo I opted to sit at the bar. Alex, the sushi chef, was very friendly and despite being a busy Friday night he always managed to keep my drink filled and the conversation going.

Not sure what everyone else is Unilocaling about here. The sushi is just ok. Better than Jasmine’s but not Tokyo Sushi. It’s on par if you haven’t had good sushi.
The joint in a little sketchy, and it was beyond slow on Tuesday at 6pm.
I’ve actually decided against giving the place a 2 star. I wanted to because the place was not well kept. It was understaffed. It was slow.
Wait, nvm. 2 stars.
The tables were clean.

Hananoki was recommended by some locals as a place to have my boyfriend’s 30^th birthday dinner. We love Japanese steakhouses and had a large group, so figured we’d give it a shot.
First, let’s compare prices. For the same amount of food, you’re paying about ½ the price of what you would in the Chicago area. Not too shabby. Sure, the rice wasn’t AS great as let’s say, Tsukasa… but the food was obviously fresh, and the show our chef put on was better than any I’ve seen at Tsukasa lately!
All of the staff was extremely accommodating and did not let a large group phase them in the least.
Hananoki is definitely an option for any return visit to Metropolis/​Paducah.

4-​stars for this level of food in Paducah at an interstate exit… probably 3 stars anywhere else. Either way, I recommend it and will return. Wait staff is pleasant, but tends toward a lack of knowledge about the food. Thankfully the chefs bail them out with the food that is served.

Came here based on the single existing glowing Unilocal review and several very positive Urban Spoon reviews. «Diamond in the rough» is really an understatement on this place. As soon as I started in on my sushi, I kept thinking «How the hell is this in Paducah?»
I’ve been extremely disappointed with Midwestern sushi options. We’ve tried it in Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Cleveland and in Bloomington, and it’s all been lackluster, at best. It also tends to be much more expensive for what is actually being served than I would expect to pay on the West Coast. So, for the most part, I’ve given up, but that’s only led me to crave it even more.
On a very cold Saturday night in Paducah, I couldn’t really find an option that looked better. If anything, I figured I could try something uninteresting like teriyaki chicken and still be okay. The restaurant is easy to see but somewhat difficult to reach. Because of the way the traffic signals are, it’s best to go toward Buffalo Wild Wings and loop back around through the parking lots. I entered and was immediately struck by the goofy «Asian» décor, complete with an active fish tank built into the floor in the foyer. I took a seat in the sushi bar and was greeted by the waitress. Unlike most other sushi bars, you give your order to the waitress who then looks up at the sushi chef to make sure he got it. I’ve always thought this set up is stupid, but I guess it’s not very fair to the servers in the end otherwise since they’re bringing the drinks and such.
I ordered a tuna nigiri and a Philly roll. The menu did not specify it, but since other items had smoked salmon, I asked. The waitress looked up at the sushi chef for an answer, who said it did come with smoked salmon but that he could make it with regular salmon if I wanted. I’ve found that most places will substitute the salmon but it’s still nice that they’ll do it.
Prices seem very reasonable. Most of the regular rolls are under $ 5 while the specialty rolls hover around $ 10 – 12. Nigiri is about $ 4 for two pieces. They have a limited selection of bottled beer and a full bar. I got a Kirin, which seemed to be around $ 3 – 4 (I didn’t look, which is weird for me, but I think I was tired). While I was there, someone ordered a margarita, which seemed strange to me, but it is an option, I guess. Specialty rolls were a little limited on the variety of fish, but the regular rolls were interesting enough. Mostly tuna and salmon, but they also had a soft shell crab and an eel. I also liked that they kept the cooked options — like tempura shrimp — to a minimum and mainly focused on the raw fish options.
Have to say that the sushi was, all factors considered, excellent. If you’re fresh off the boat from California, then this may not be up to your standards. But based on all the crap I’ve had recently, this is just excellent stuff. The tuna was not fishy nor chewy, and had an overall excellent flavor. It was also well made and the rice was very decent. The Philly came out and was equally as impressive: good amount of fish and it came with just a bit of avocado (I don’t know why everyone doesn’t add avocado to it). The wasabi served was not extremely fresh, but also was not old or bad.
I noticed the owners were Korean and asked, and I guess they do have a few Korean options. Sushi is probably enough of a stretch for Paducah, so maybe it’s best they keep the Korean items on the downlow. The hibachi is in the back and most of the menu is typical Japanese fare.
I will absolutely be back. I’d like to try the specialty rolls, but I’d really like to just eat good sushi like this more often. Soak it in, Paducah. You’re lucky…

To be in Paducah Kentucky and not to go to Hananoki would be a shame. Coming back late from a business trip, I stopped here for dinner without really expecting much, other than avoiding the Subway subs I had eaten the rest of the trip. Little did I know I was in for a treat.
They have both Hibatchi tables and a sushi bar — I opted for the bar. My first impression that this place was better than I had expected was when I was looking over the wide assortment of premium liquors they had. As a bonafide bourbon snob, I was impressed that they had more than just the typical Makers but also Blanton’s, and Bookers. They also had $ 1 sake bottles, which I decided to opt for as my copilot agreed to drive the rest of the way home.
The sushi chef had just returned ti Paducah after a 6 year stint in NY where he had learned a great deal. One thing that I appreciated was that he told me he had decided to have less types of fish, in order to have them stay extremely fresh, but instead concentrate on multiple preparations. He had his own takes on spicy tuna, including one that was deep fried (and much better than it sounds), as well as yellow tail both rolls and sashimi, and his salmon skin roll was truly delicious.
An hour and a half, three sake bottles and more sushi than I can remember later, I practically had to be rolled out the door, but it was worth it. Every bite was yummy.
I dont know when I’ll be back through Paducah, but when I do, I’ll certainly stop by Hananoki.

Love the experience. The Kobe filet is worth the extra money… delish.