The Chef at this amazing sushi restaurant deserves to win the award for MOST KNOWLEDGEABLE and ARTISTIC chef in the world!!!! What an amazing experience! All the suggested rolls from the waiter exceeded our expectations! The chef knows where his fish are from, and he orders from the best fisheries. you can taste the difference! Congratulations Nikai Sushi! We will be visiting you again real soon! read more

The Luxe and Tropical rolls: Good sushi. Okay staff. High price: At home we can get five rolls and free soup for the same price. But, we're not home. :) Hostess was not rude but attitude was not what I was expecting. We had The Luxe minus the wasabi (I'm a wuss) and the Tropical minus the coconut. Both were very good. If you're okay with the price I definitely recommend them. read more

Nikai Sushi - Menu #1 - Sushi Bars Near Me - Islamorada, Florida

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The food was excellent and service above and beyond. Jaime was very sweet and went out of her way to help make our experience perfect, while training a new staff member. We said we love octopus, and she made sure that the chef, Junior, made us THE OCTOPUS dish, which was probably my favorite of the night. Jaime- thank you! And Junior- our Omakase was perfection. read more

Where do I begin with this joke of a restaurant? We made a reservation 2 hours prior to arriving after reading other reviews complain of the wait. When we did get there, the hostess was no where to be found; the waiters, cook, bartender, and so call "manager," were all too busy to even acknowledge us. When we finally got a waiters attention, instead of an apology, we were told that "this wasn't [his] job" as he sat us. Strike one. After seating us and handing out a couple of menus, the waiter said he would be back with some water. We waited almost 15 minutes as he and two other waiters went back and forth to all their other tables. We caught a couple glances from one waitress, but were never once acknowledged. Strike two. We finally got up and asked to speak to a manager. The waiter walked over to someone who was assisting in the kitchen and told the guy that we wanted to speak to him. He looked up, saw us, muttered something back to the waiter and continued working. Strike three. We got the attention of another waitress who asked if we needed to be seated. At this point, we almost lost it as she had seen us outside multiple times waiting on service. We were very quick to express this, and to which we received "let me get you the manager." The waitress walks back over to the same "manager" and explains the situation. He decides that this time he would come over. We walk him through each of the short comings and not once did he apologize on behalf of his staff. Moreover, the entire time we are having this conversation with him, the waitress who finally did get this "manager's" attention is hovering over his shoulder to listen (as is the bartender.) We were offered to be reseated, which we sternly declined, and asked if we were staying at Cheeca, which we are. However, that's besides the point. Regardless if we are staying are at the hotel or not, treat your guests with some respect as they do unto you. We are there to spend money on over priced sushi, the least you could do is act slightly interested and show that you care about your "business." read more

5/5 for "on resort" sushi, I was very pleased with our food & service. We were planning on just giving this a shot on one night of our 5 night stay but will be getting it again while here (probably to take back to the room). Everything came out fresh and prompt. Clean umami flavors. If compared to top places in the Tri state, where we are from, probably 4/5 but you have to take into account that most on resort offerings are never sublime. read more

The food was fresh, but wait staff has a lot to be desired. The restaurant was not busy, there were only 4 tables the entire night. Two tables left early, leaving just us and a couple by the bar. The manager spent an entire evening kissing butt at the couple at the bar, giving out champagne and deserts, whereas she barely acknowledged us. Mind you, this is a Japanese restaurant, and we are Asian. Our waitress was pleasant but hardly around. I do feel there is a discrimination there...we paid $170 for the two of us including the tips, which is not cheap in the Florida keys read more

This restaurant displays a lack of management. Our server seemed completely detached from his job and most of the time was nowhere to be found. The food was overpriced. The portions were small and the quality was average. The extra star is for the view. The restaurant is on the second floor of the Cheeca Lodge building, overlooking the water. If you like to spend a lot of money for little food and don't mind being ignored by waitstaff, then this is your place. read more

Service was extremely slow with only one waitress. Sushi was not very good. Warm instead of cold sushi. All tasted the same. Not good.

Sushi was very mediocre. The indoor eating room is kind of odd. We were staying at cheeca lodge so it was nice to just stay at the hotel but I wouldn't come here if you aren't staying at cheeca. read more

Mega expensive for what you get. Made the mistake of letting the sushi chef decide on 3 dishes for us. One had about a dollars worth of scallops, and some sauce..$90 for the 3. Guess they saw the tourists coming. Upstairs dining outside is great though. read more

Overpriced sushi and the taste wasn't anything great but the ambiance and service was amazing. The view is beautiful and you can see the stars perfectly. They also had a great mango mojito and they're water tasted amazing. The key lime pie was also delicious. read more

Horrible service. Sushi rolls for $17/$18 that could have been made by my 10year old. You get more when you get sushi at Publix or any market. Overpriced and under delivered. Do not recommend anything around the Cheeca Lodge area. Very disappointing. Not even the moon and the view could make up for the bad service and lack of food. We finished our plates and they were left at our table until we asked them to remove them. Horrible. read more

Wanted something light. Food was fabulous although a little slow. I guess this should be expected as it was obviously prepared individually for us. Would definitely come again. The view was pretty nice as well. read more

Best sushi ive had in the keys - truely a gem to be tried - service is uh the keys so dont judge the food by the service but its a must stoo

Vacationing from Chicago and found a great place for sushi, just as good or better than back home, ask for the chef's special, you will not be disappointed. read more

Nikai Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - Islamorada, Florida

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First off. We had a reservation and they said sorry we are full and can't serve you, but you can go wait downstairs till spots open up. Then we asked if we could sit at the bar and they said ok. Then no one ever came to the bar, so we had to sit there for 10 min and flag someone down. Then the waitress who walked off twice in the middle of ordering said she couldn't make a drink and we would have to wait for someone else (who? Not sure) to make it. Needless to say the service was terrible and slow. The food did not come out together and took 45 min to come out. I was then told they couldn't get me change for my cash and they asked if I had a credit card they could use instead. At that point it had taken so long to get the bill, I said screw it keep the change and they got a nice 25% tip for 5% service. Luxe roll was good though! I never leave reviews, but this place was suppose to be great and it in fact was not. read more

Good sushi. Pretty standard. Place was dead this time of year so I expected the service to be a fit more on point. Prices were high but that's to be expected read more

Try the tuna truffle an luxe rolls.

Nikai sushi is INCREDIBLE!!! The sushi chef there is a true artist!!! I always try to sit at the bar and watch as he prepares the sushi. He is a master at his craft and seems more than willing to share his extensive knowledge of fish and sushi in general. Only negative thing I can say is....It's to fricken good and I end up eating way to much and it puts me in to a sushi coma for the next couple hours :-) read more

BEST SUSHI EVER: I asked the sushi CHEF Emilio to make me Anything he wanted and what he created for me simply blew my mind away with the amazing fresh flavors. Each set of sashimi and "ceviche" was a masterpiece. He made me the most deliciouse spoonfuls of yellow tail ceviche with micro herbs, a sweet ponzu sauce, thinly sliced hot pepper. He also made me a fresh fish roll with star fruit, goat cheese and topped with a tiny drop of pesto. Some salmon and tuna sashimi beautifully decorated with scallions /chives, and ofcourse, last but most certainly not least, the TORO sashimi. . Absoluteley amazing. one of the most deliciouse freshest sushi and sashimi I've EVER had!! Definetley defines the word Umami.- truly an explosion of flavors in your mouth. The closest place I can compare to this place would be Sugarfish in Santa moncia, CA. read more

The restaurant is located at the beautiful Cheeca lodge facing the ocean. Beautiful setting. Just ok sushi at very high prices. Menu is limited with only 'special rolls' and basically nothing else on the menu. Food too salty....pouring a whole bottle of soy sauce on rice or noodles is not cooking. read more

I had the absolute pleasure of dining at Nikai Sushi at the Cheeca Lodge on Friday night... What a delicious experience. My husband and I were going to dine downstairs on the water; however, we were in the mood for something different... Boy, did we get it. Junior and Emilio serve the most interesting roll combinations I've experienced in quite a while. They take your basic sushi rolls and incorporate ingredients that the keys are known for; definitely island flair. Can't wait to go back! read more

Food was mediocre and very over priced not impressed very disappointed in Sushi as a sushi lover for over 20 years one star on this sushi

This review is for takeout for Cheeka customers. It seems like they are ill-equipped to handle the needs of resort guests. With an ill wife and two children, we opted to order takeout, since the lobby menu indicates that this is a possibility. Note: take out, not room service even though this restaurant is in the same building as the rooms. First, there is a confusing setup to even get served. Two hostesses serve three restaurants. After walking into the restaurant and approaching the sushi bar to inquire about takeout, I was asked to leave the restaurant. Turning to leave, I was escorted out by the hostess! Holy cow. This place was empty. This was certainly embarrassing for a guy paying 600 a night at a resort. I was a bit taken aback. So a waitress came and I placed the order--keysy Japanesey roll, Bonsai roll, nigiri combo (I asked them for Chef's choice) and the truffled escolar. Thirty minutes later I came back downstairs and retrieved the food. In a bag, in containers...not on a tray, just a bag of sushi. Ok. I get to the room and take it out. No utensils--no chopsticks, no napkins, nothing. Confused, I called down and told them about the gaffe. They said they would be right up with the utensils. 20 minutes later, still no utensils. In the meantime I noticed that the order was wrong. Fish advertised was missing and others were subbed for the rolls. The chef's choice was two salmon, two tuna and two random white fish. I guess the chef's choice at this high end sushi place was to give me 6 pieces of crappy nigiri...what I would get at any shopping mall sushi joint. So I decide to go downstairs and get utensils, expecting some chopsticks. They had no intentions of bringing us any utensils, in that the hostess left to go and get them. We are at about 30 minutes out from pick up. She returns with two packages containing a plastic knife, a plastic fork, a paper napkin and packets of salt and pepper. I told the hostess the order was wrong. She said "sorry", turned and walked away. Thanks Nikai for your excellent service and the warm sushi, since I don't generally eat with my hands. Oh, and the sushi was served with lemon--strange. For an 18% service charge, one would expect a bit of courtesy, perhaps some utensils, or at least one of the two. read more

Discovered this place during our wedding week last year. We have been dreaming about it ever since. Sushi Masters work here. We've had sushi in so many restaurants, and this is simply the best. So fresh, carefully selected, mouthwatering. We're going back tomorrow for our anniversary. Can't wait! read more

We were delightfully surprised at how amazing the sushi was here. We were staying at the Cheeca Lodge and decided to try the sushi restaurant rather than leaving the hotel and I am so happy we did. The sushi was so fresh, tasty and unique. I'm very picky with my sushi and this is definitely one of the top places on my list now. We had an excellent server, Daniel, who gave great recommendations and was very attentive. He was so nice and made us feel welcomed. Next time we are in the Keys, we are certainly stopping here for sushi. read more

Sophisticated yet relaxed. The presentation was amazing and very delicious. Try the hummingbird cake too.

No to service yes to sushi. My suggestion get it to go and sit outside or on your balcony. Everyone was nice enough but a lot of misses. That seemed to be annoying for one of them to fix. Gentleman bartender mixed up the recipe for my martini and the server kept fixing her in the dining room. She actually walked up to our table with the clip in her mouth and twisted up her hair. I know sometimes we need to fix it quick but, may I suggest a hair tie. Hair and food doesn't mix. The flights of sake holder was dirty(could use a polish) the busser and another gentleman working there were leaning on the sushi counter and using their cell phones. Also, speaking of how sweaty you are within ear shot of guests, could probably be saved for kitchen talk.There are a lot of great points to this restaurant. Outside is gorgeous and all seem to be nice. Just missing a bit of professionalism. Thank you hope this helps a bit. read more