Naru Japanese Restaurant

Me and my husband ate here today. He ordered the crispy duck and it was delicious! It was so pretty on the plate also. I can’t stop talking about it. So, if you’re ever there do yourself a favor and order it.

This is our favorite sushi in the area. The service is above average. In fact, the young lady, who typically serves us, is fantastic. The atmosphere is calm with soft music playing in the background.
We always order the smoked salmon roll as one of our selections. They typically offer buy 1 get 1 half off on their speciality rolls, which are a little more expensive. That special allows us to sample more kinds of rolls. After dinner, they serve complimentary pineapple with whipped cream and sauce.
We’ve never had a bad experience or been disappointed with our meal.

I have used Unilocal a lot with restaurant choices when I’m unfamiliar with the town I’m visiting. The reviews have always been very accurate, so I’ve never left a review because I didn’t feel I had anything to add. Until now.
I was visiting Memphis when I wanted Japanese food for dinner. The reviews for Naru were (mostly) very positive, so I gave it a try.
As other reviews have mentioned, the décor and ambiance are excellent. Due to an impending winter storm, the restaurant was nearly empty. However, it’s always reassuring to enter a Japanese restaurant and have the table next to you filled with Japanese gentlemen having dinner!
Alexa the server was excellent, and very quickly took my order, then starting bringing delicious items. I started with a spicy tuna roll, and it was excellent. One caution, I’ve had other spicy tuna rolls that were barely spiced. This one however was not, and packed a lot of flavor!
As I had ordered the steak hibachi, Alexa then brought out the salad with ginger dressing and the clear soup. Both were excellent. A few minutes later, Alexa brought out the entrée, and it was wonderful! I’m a huge fan of Teppanyaki, and have enjoyed it in fine restaurants such as Benihana and others around the country, and even around the world. This dinner was on par with the best I’ve ever had. The steak was flavorful and cooked perfectly, and the fried rice, shrimp, and vegetables were all excellent.
If you are looking for a Benihana-​style cooking show along with your meal, then you will be disappointed as they cook in the kitchen. However, if you can skip the spatula flipping and the onion volcano, come to Naru as they will provide you an excellent meal for a very reasonable price. I know I’ll be back!

The atmosphere was particularly enjoyable and classy. I could tell they paid special attention to the décor to add to the food experience. And the food experience was superb! The food came out great and at a reasonable time. I would definitely make another trip out and highly recommend this place to everyone!

We were out Christmas shopping on a Saturday night, and wanted great food and a cold beer. He mentioned japanese, so we checked this place out. FYI this is not a cook in front of you hibachi restaurant, but you will be pleased.
The Drinks: We ordered beers, which came with bottles that could be poured into a chilled glass, and small side of sake to try, which came in a small ceramic pot. Drinks came very quickly & they also brought us 2 glasses of water to go with them.
The Food: we ordered the combo hibachi meals which included chicken, veggies, fried rice, and soup & salad. We also ordered 2 sushi rolls. The food was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a hibachi meal taste this good. I believe it was because the food was plated rather than thrown together. Everything had so much flavor, chicken was tender, veggies were great, salad, soup. We were in food comas. Sushi was perfect as well.
The Atmosphere: They have romantic booths for 4 people on the left, tables for 2 on the right, tables in the middle, bar with lights off to the side, tealight candles on the tables, outdoor seating. Wonderful
The service: incredible for us, but it wasn’t extremely busy either.
Cons: small restaurant
I strongly advise checking this place out for sushi, drinks, wonderful atmosphere, and great service.

Great food for the price. You get a lot of it. Nice calming enviroment. Not five stars because service can be slow.

Just when I’d given up the hope for good sushi in this area… Soooo happy we decided to try this place tonight. The menu is exciting, the wine is delish, the cocktails yummy and the service is the best around, for sure! Very friendly, sweet servers. Nice atmosphere, vey pretty décor. New fave place for sushi, etc. … can’t wait to come back.

Great food, great service. Excellent prices. Lunch specials are awesome!
The sushi is as good as any in town, if not better.
Don’t waste your money elsewhere, this place if the best quality and value you’re going to find in town.

Great atmosphere and good selection on sushi, staff was really helpful and attentive. I recommend the sushi, hibachi style combo fried rice and sashimi rice. I am visiting from Nashville to see my family here. Will definitely come back! 5+ stars!

Great Service. Great appetizers !!! Very clean place. Stopped in to look around and had clear soup, edamame beans, Egg rolls. It was excellent. Going back for dinner soon !

Sushi was the last thing on my mind when I was staying in Southaven for a business trip in Memphis. I didn’t have a car so the only restaurant option in close walking distance to my hotel was Naru. I was highly skeptical, so although I love raw fish and sushi, I only ordered cooked items just to be «safe». I didn’t really have to worry… all the food was well prepared.
Started with gyozas, which came with a light ponzu sauce… delicate and tasty dumplings. From the extensive sushi roll menu, I ordered the Southaven roll that had crawfish… the roll was small, but tasty and different from other sushi places. I also ordered a strange salmon and avocado roll that was tempura fried… I probably should have stuck with a smoked salmon or shrimp tempura instead. Bonus– a complimentary dessert of fresh pineapple cubes was served with panache… cut right from the whole pineapple (and presented on a long plate, resembling a bird), with a dollap of whipped cream and drizzle of fruit and chocolate sauces.
Very affordable… they have inexpensive options, along with more expensive special rolls, on which they had a buy 1 get 2^nd 50% off special. My entire bill was about $ 20. I sat a table outside since the weather was nice… the décor inside looked modern, including a sushi bar with colorful lights.
Wesley the server is very cute and friendly… attentive without being overbearing. My water glass was filled, food was promptly served. I would have gotten BBQ if I had a choice, but sushi was a pleasant surprise.

Naru is awesome! The interior decorations are beautiful! The patio is calming. They have calming music and the food is awesome! They have the BEST chicken fried rice! The menu is different from other Japanese restaurants I’ve been to in the midsouth. But, they made sushi to my liking. Very respectful and caring staff! I definitely recommend this place to everybody and I will be returning!

The best Japanese restaurant I’ve been to in the Memphis area. Their attention to detail and the freshness of their fish is certainly top notch. The beef tataki was very good and I think their sushi is the best in town (and I’ve tried most others; Sekisui, Osaka, Blue Fin, etc.).
The focus here seems to be JAPANESE food prepared with the usual Japanese care and attention to detail. There are no hibachi tables and the décor is somewhat subdued in a refined sort of way. The times I have been here (5 as of this post), the ambience has been quiet and the room is fairly dimly lit. Perfect place for an intimate date night. If you are looking for a boisterous dinner «show» this is NOT the place for you. If, however, you are looking for Japanese food and excellent sushi in DeSoto county, Haru is a good choice.

Ambience: Calming music, modern decoration, nice bar
Food:
— Hibachi Scallop: Served w/​good fried rice and vegetables. It’s saltier than expected.
— Fire roll: Awesome balance of crunchy and soft texture. Taste good as well.
— Green tea: Served in a cute oriental pot.
Server: Greeted with smiles and hellos, they look grateful to serve, engaged in conversation, attentive and changed my hot green tea when it got cold w/​o prompting.
Positive: We were given a complimentary dessert after our meal (pineapple fruit served w/​whipped cream & chocolate syrup)
Negative: It was nice for our server to check on us after meals were served, but I think she prompted us a little too much. At least 5 – 6 times within 40 minutes.

It was ok but nothing special. I would not go out of my way to come here but it satisfied the craving for hibachi that I had yesterday. I was in the area visiting a friend so she brought me here. She also ordered a bottle of sake and I helped her with a little bit of it. Not for me at all.
They do have soup and salad with hibachi dinner meals, though they’re a tad smaller than at other places. They also have way more chicken than anywhere else but less vegetables and their fried rice isn’t as tasty (no egg, either). They also weren’t sure what I was talking about when I asked for the sweet sauce that most places serve with their eggrolls (I like to mix it and sriracha or chili paste in with my rice because I’m weird like that). I did adore the outside seating and how they had chopsticks and forks on the table so you didn’t have to ask for either (chopsticks for me!).
In general, it was just an ok place but I doubt I’ll go back as it’s all the way out in Southhaven and I like the places closer to home better anyway.

This is my favorite Japanese restaurant in Southaven. The beautiful interior design and stellar food makes it the best. I’ve gone 4x using a Groupon and they acted as if it were simply another form of payment which you usually get grunts and stares from the wait staff when you use Groupons (at least I do).
Get their Playboy roll (ha, i know right?) and experience a flaming awesome sushi roll like no other.

Food is meh at best. Go to any Sekisui, rain, Sakura or Osaka before this place. Also, any place Unilocal tries this hard to cram down my throat has already gone down 2 stars before we begin. STOP WITH THE LAME ADs!

I had sashimi to start. The sushi chef recommended the mackerel sashimi and he wasn’t wrong! It was fresh & delicious. I followed with the spicy scallop & the «Southaven» roll. Both tasted completely fresh & delicious! The spicy scallop was spicy because of the fresh jalapeño peppers. I mention this only because I’ve asked specifically for jalapeños at other local sushi restaurants only to be told that they don’t have them. Service was attentive & friendly. Sitting at the sushi bar, the chefs were happy to explain their creations as they were preparing them. I highly recommend the sushi. Ill be back. Next time ill try an entrée. The chefs special tonight was crispy duck with raspberry hoisin sauce for $ 18.99. Pretty good in my book!

I think this place is okay… They tend to try too hard with their food presentations instead of focusing on the taste of their food. I only give them an okay.