Ni Hao Sushi & Dining

My name is arnold. Just came from there maybe 1 hr 30 min ago. first time trying it. Would like to say the rice portion is just like they said. perfect. the rolls perfect presentation. place looks nice and a lot of attention to customers.
The bad… it looks like they were a few wmployees in training not bad. the 3 stars are for the taste. loke i said presentation looks good. but the taste was not there… if im eating my first piece of roll. There ahould be a flavor that will make me want more. to me they taste simple… if you can up abd i mean up the flavor you will have a hit… but you need to work on it… the 3 stars is just neutral. not bad but not good. just there. afd more flavor and we will try again

I’m a huge sushi lover and I LOVE this place so much! Great food and great service, definitely will return again!

The food is great the thing is that their rolls are ridiculously priced. In all my life I’ve never had a veggie roll be priced almost double than every other sushi place. It’s quite disappointing that I would much rather drive a couple miles further and get double my bang for my buck for great quality as well instead of giving them my business. Just flabbergasted as to the pricing, that I made a Unilocal account just for this nonsense. Plus they have messed up my orders before.

I don’t think it’s pleasurable to have to use a tablet to order from and then a pad of note paper to write down what you want. Isn’t that what a waiter or waitress is for? The chicken Teriyaki was terrible and dry. It was spicy and just not enjoyable. I saw mega orders to go so I guess those patrons don’t want to hassle with the ordering system. It was just okay and I won’t be going back when your trying to look at the ordering pad and they take it away from you because you have already ordered, that is just rude. I kid you not, the manager took it out of my husbands hands. There really was no reason to given they were not in house busy. Another thing, not once were asked how the food was and when were ready to blow that Sushi stand, we flag down the waiter to ask for the bill and he looked at us like were nuts and said it’s right here! it was taped to the edge of the table. We never told that and how would we even know that. It was just dumb and to think they expect you to tip! I have a tip for them and it’s you get none when you deserve none. Guess they don’t know what «TIPS» means. To insure proper service.

Was OK. Some of the rolls were loosely rolled and fell apart when picking them up. The rolls were heavy on the sauces not letting the sushi stand out. A large variety of sushi to select from. They seem to have a modern P.O.S. system but they charge you a convenience fee if not paying with cash. The service was great.

Never again. My wife and I really wanted this to be a great place. We have been there 4 times now. We have waited months between visits in hopes it would get better. The first time they had just opened, the staff seemed new and the service wasn’t great. The food was good but it took for ever to get to our table. The second and third time it was the same. On our third visit the owner was very chatty and spoke of things getting better. He explained thair new menus using tablets and explained his hope this would help streamline the ordering process. It didn’t, the food still took forever to get to our table. When my wife and I left we decided to give it one last chance, we agreed we would wait a couple months before going back. You know so the streamline could start streaming. That brings us to tonight. Tonight was such a huge disappointment. The place was empty and it still took quite a long time for our food to get to us. The server wasn’t great and it seems like the prices keep going up. Our food wasn’t as good as we remember it being in the past. We had five roles, soup, and two bottles of sake that totaled $ 92 and some change. When compared to places like Miso Sushi or Big Tuna in Lancaster or Big Tuna in palmdale this place isn’t worth the time or money. Save your self a disappointment and couple bucks and go to one of the other places. They have a much friendlier atmosphere, better pricing, seasoned servers, and the food arrives at your table at a much quicker rate.

So I was reading the review for this place and decided to go despite the negativity.
One word… Awsome! The server Roger was super atantive. I mean, tablets as menus! What? The place is small, but I feel it gives it a nice vibe.
I read reviews from bad service, to slow services, to bad food… how wrong can some people be is crazy to me. Do yourself a favor and try this place. Try the Udon Soup,. just fantastic.
we will return.

I tried to give this place another chance. I figured since some time had passed since they opened, the quality of food would improve. How wrong was I. First let’s start with their new complicated ordering system, involving a new menu that looks like a multiplication table, a tablet that you can’t order off of, it’s just there because the chart doesn’t have any pictures, and and notepad where you have to write down your own order for the waiter. Overcomplicated and not fun. Then the food. THE FOOD. That’s what we all care about right? I could handle the multiplication chart, the tablet, the taking notes and solving fractions and could even take a little more abuse if only the food was good. But it’s not. I ordered the fire flower roll, in the picture an appetizing bloom of tuna and ingredients that sound fresh and light. It arrived coated in something that tasted similar to thousand island dressing and a huge pile of caviar not pictured on tablet), and when I bit into the roll, the rice was watery! The whole thing falls apart in your mouth like old leftovers, possibly the most unpleasant roll I’ve ever had. The calamari rings looked and tasted a lot like onion rings, and are served with a similar thousand island-​ish sauce that doesn’t really improve the taste. I am never coming back.

I really wanted to like this place, despite all the negative reviews and comments. I was really hoping this place turned out to be some awesome spot for my boyfriend and I to enjoy a sweet and relaxing lunch date together. I was so disappointed and even felt bad for hyping up my boyfriend about our lunch date to «this little new sushi spot we haven’t tried on my side of town».
But instead we ended up feeling like awkward unwanted guest. The staff on duty seemed so arrogant and were actually rude and very unpleasant. I normally don’t like to complain or write negative comments because I too was in the hospitality industry for many years and know how it is. But honestly when the manager tells your boyfriend to correct his sitting because he’s going to «ruin the furniture», or when the waiter slams his note pad in front of you so you can write your order, when you ask for lemons and extra napkins and they only bring you one lemon wedge, literally just one lemon wedge and one extra napkin for each, on top of some many other things that could happen in only 30mins of dining in. It makes you wonder how small business owners can tolerate this type of unpleasant behavior knowing that businesses shut down so quickly on this side of town. Please work on your hospitality and quality of food because we really do need a quality, delightful and welcoming Japanese restaurant on this side of town.

Was very excited to finally be able to try the only sushi spot on the east side. It seemed to be a good place since the presentation was very welcoming. To begin with the host was not very personable, we were handed a notepad to write down our order not the usual sushi sheets that our common at other sushi spots, the food was not fresh, it was very disappointing, we might give it a second try but not sure if it’ll be worth spending the money. The only good thing from this visit was the Thai tea.

Lobster volcano rolls! Food is super yummy! Customer service is
great.
Only reason I gave this place 4 out of 5 stars is because seating is limited. So depending on day and time there may a small wait.

Our second time here and food and service are really good!
Im definitely coming back again!

This place is super yummy! The fish to rice ratio is perfect and the quality you get is great! They have a really big selection to pick from. The place itself is really clean and the staff there is great! Definitely did not disappoint!

I’ve been here 3 times & each time the cu service has been great to me,
Sushi is good.
Hope this restaurant succeeds.

Very professional an courteous waiter (Emanuel) Large selection of speciality rolls. Ordered Popcorn Lobster roll and the 911 roll. Popcorn Lobster roll was simple yet tasty. The 911 had good layers of flavor, Good portions and was my favorite of the two. Atmosphere was peaceful and relaxing. Overall pleasant lunch experience. Will return and recommend.

My review is for the service only because we didn’t get past the front door.
We arrived at about 11:50 am yesterday — their website said they opened at 11:00 am. Apparently that is incorrect — they open at noon.
For the next 10 minutes an employee (tall guy, stained/​dirty pants) attempted to explain their 3−2−1 deal. Over and over he tried explaining what you get, the discount, how many of this or that… I STILL don’t get what he was talking about.
All I wanted was a sushi roll and tempura vegetables.
They also have an extremely limited lunch menu for those that do not eat sushi. No noodles or rice bowls for lunch? Really?
The employee also said they had no server for lunch. What? Is it «serve yourself»??
All I kept thinking was if this is the way it is OUTSIDE the restaurant what’s it going to be like inside? Is this guy going to hover over us?
The employee finally went inside the restaurant and we high tailed it out of there. He literally scared us away.
I’d like to make a couple of suggestions for the owner of this restaurant:
Simplify things. Get rid of the ridiculous 321 offer — it’s too complicated. You have over 100 types of sushi rolls. I think that is way too much to choose from … by the time you read through the ingredients and decide what you want an hour has past. Offer noodle and rice bowls for lunch. Maybe if you could draw more people in for lunch you could afford a server?

I came in here having very bad expectations
But I decided to try and I must say I’m glad I tried. i been here about 5 times and each time the food was amazing. And roger is awesome at his job! I only get the rolls so far I got the mayor roll crunch roll spicy scallop roll and they are yummy! For a place to open on the east side it’s great! they also have a awesome rewards program buy 10 rolls and get one free! I will continue to come back for the food.

This was our second time to Ni Hao. The first visit was mediocre enough for us to give a try 2 months later.
My mom, husband and I all were disappointed in our food and service. The staff is kind and welcoming but they lack basic serving skills. Our order came out at different times, our appetizer came out second to last, we had to ask for the miso soups, we had to ask for drink refills, no one asked how our food was, when I got our servers attention to tell her I was unsatisfied with my meal she left it with me until picked it up and handed it to her as she was passing by, the second sushi roll I ordered to to replace the first one took 12 mins. It was a simple spicy salmon roll.
The first roll I ordered was the BMW roll. It was completely covered in the «chef sauce». Which was mayo mixed with something else. It wasn’t only drenched in the sauce, the sauce was disgusting. Completely covering up any flavor the fish may have had.
My mom ordered to sea bass, which comes at market price. It was a decent piece if fish but it’s plain. Just grilled fish on a plate with salad and two shrimp tempura. No seasoning or rice.
The rolls at this place are not substantial, making it so you have to order more than one to be full.
The amount of chicken in our don buri bowl was much less than last time.
We really want them to succeed so we don’t have to always drive to the west side for sushi but at this point we’ll never be back to witness any changes.
I will also note they took the sushi roll I didn’t like off our bill.
Never went back

Definitely a sushi place to pass on.
First off the owner of the place doesn’t know how to treat his customers or employees. If I were him I’d stay in the background and not interact directly with customers or employees until he learns how to be a people person.
Secondly the food is mediocre at best, maybe if you treated your employees better your food quality would pick up,
Thirdly why the confusing schedule where it’s only take out only at certain times why not have the option of dinning in all the time.
I’m sure the owner had a great vision where he’d have the best sushi place with the freshest sushi. That’d he’d be so busy that people would need a reservation to eat there and he’d have the most advanced point of sale system but his dreams can not be met if he doesn’t work on himself.
You’re running your business into the ground, no amount of fancy neon lights and lucky cats can fix your lack of people skills.

You would think for what this restaurant lacks in service it would make up in cuisine; to my surprise, I found myself eating what appeared to be a reheated burnt steak — diced and dumped in soup — in lieu of sukiyaki beef udon. The «Palmdale» and «Kamikaze» rolls were nothing short of disappointing; the rice was very dry, and the salmon tasted like it came from a can. My friend ordered chicken teriyaki donburi (which miraculously came half an hour after my rolls), only to have tasted like it was made at the Jack In The Box up the street.
The service was only a little forgivable for Emmanuel’s attentiveness and apologies for the long wait — and for how empty it was on a Sunday evening, the apology went a long way with our patience. The owner had popped in at some point and served our drinks, dressed in sweats and flip flops; a bit unsanitary for my comfort. To top it off, the manager (?) came by and asked us how our meal was — he seemed offended that I shrugged and said it was okay. While I understand the disappointment in a customer’s dissatisfaction, I was astonished that he had the audacity to ridicule our critique and justify sluggish service by proclaiming the rice was prepped and fried from scratch; the donburi was served with plain white rice (not fried), and it’s not rocket science to cook rice.
I do not intend to make a return visit, nor would I recommend Ni Hao to anyone looking for authentic Japanese cuisine; though by the name of the place, that should be easily presumed.