I hate giving this a 2 star review. It actually pains me because I really, really wanted to love this place. I have pondered over this for quite awhile, given this place has so many good reviews. Surely, I am mistaken??? So here I go....I did the a la carte. The Blue Fin Tuna Tataki might have been one of the best dishes I have had at a sushi restaurant ever. It was remarkably flavorful. The miso soup was top notch as well. However, everything else fell very, very short. The Salmon Crudo was on the tough side. The Scallop Aioli was completely drenched in aioli. Both dishes were very bland. The overall pricing was pretty up there, and I don't personally think the quality justified the price. There is no bar, so alcoholic beverages are limited to wine/sake. Plus, the overall decor was kind of...dirty feeling?? The chairs had tears on them, and the place smelled like fried bar food (maybe this is because of the location?). Overall, the experience felt more like an overpriced dive bar than an upscale sushi restaurant. read more

Ok, let me start by saying this review has NOTHING to do with the quality of food or service. Food quality is 5 star, service is 5 star... especially Max at the sushi bar! The reason for 4 stars is the manager has yet to create the vibe here. It's 10pm on a Friday... dim the lights in the kitchen 20%! Turn the music us 20%! I mean... com'on now... Thai issue lies completely with the manager or whoever is in carafe of the vibe. Wake up! Ur in downtown Austin. Hopefully they will listen cuz I will be back for the food! read more

Very good menu, and their secret menu is so good!! Great staff and service, usually no wait time or reservations needed for small groups.

Cute little restaurant hidden in the corner. Food was fantastic I couldn't stop eating. Its a quiet environment perfect for a date night or even a small group of friends. read more

Pricey but delicious! Ample selection, friendly staff, tasteful decor. Won't hesitate to return

This is my second time doing the omakase here. Not as good as Uchi but a much better value. Love to interact and watch the sushi chef. read more

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Great sushi, great service! This is some of the best to be found in Austin! I definitely will come back! read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - 10 piece Sashimi plate - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

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We ordered the sashimi dinner, a salmon roll, and the eel sushi to go. It was our first time to order from this place. The salmon, tuna, and mackerel were fresh, but the eel sushi was too fishy and the salmon roll was a bit dry. The sashimi dinner portion should have came with the salad and miso but it wasn't included. Overall, we wish we had the chance to eat it at the place, the experience would have been better. Bringing it to go loses the freshness to it. On the bright side, they packaged it really well, and customer service was good. They did tell us they were quite busy and so I understood why they forgot the salad and miso soup. For now, I'm going to give it a 3.8 star rating but I'm willing to try it again by dining in when Covid is over. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Actually happy with this order of delivery sushi! I never know how delivery will go with GrubHub but it came about an hour after placing the order. The hot food was mixed with the cold sushi so that threw me off but not enough to not chow down ;) we got the tuna roll and the snow roll and honestly all really yummy! My fiancé had the Korean bbq and he wasn't a big fan. However he scarfed down the edamame and calamari :) I would eat again! read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Great spot for a relaxing, enjoyable, delicious sushi meal! Every dish is elegant and beautiful and superb. I will certainly return next time I am in Austin. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Sushi restaurant on Congress near 4th. - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

This has to be the best sushi I have ever had, and trust me, I know good sushi! We did the $150 omakase. Worth every penny!! I tried fish that I never tried before, one of which was jellyfish and it blew me away! The entire ensemble was amazing! Great service, great experience with the chefs, food was off the charts! read more

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Hard to find good Japanese food but I really enjoyed this place. The kitchen is out in the open and the plating is perfect, not to mention the flavors. I really enjoyed all the dishes and all the fish was super fresh. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Sashimi Sampler & Spicy Tuna Roll - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

The sushi here is pretty top notch. They were out of a number of items, but I still managed to get the uni and oh toro in addition to other basic pieces. The luxury sampler was delicious. The yellowtail and jalapeño carpaccio was pretty good. The fish were all pretty buttery. read more

Doesn't look as ambient as it is in the inside! Great place, friendly staff and average food! I got the Pearl Special Roll, the rolls are small but nevertheless good but could be more in the spicier side. The tails of the shrimp were attached and made it harder to eat the rolls. The price was good for the rolls but definitely could improve in flavors. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Pearl Special Roll - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

Pretty good chirashi bowls, a bit small for the price but typically very fresh, even for takeout. Loved the uni nigiri and negi toro roll too! Of course, freshness will always vary but I will definitely order this again and see if they can be consistent. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - take out chirashi bowl, uni, and negi toro roll - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

My friend and I had a seat at the bar where we could see the food being made. Our service was eh prompt, and the food was extremely flavorful. Such a great find! read more

Stopped in here while visiting for a late lunch. This was the best sushi I have had in a long time. The salmon belly nigiri was super fresh and delicious. We also got 2 rolls and they were also good. I bookmarked to come back if I get the chance. I wish I could find one as good in Phoenix. read more

Ordered takeout via GrubHub and our order was done in almost half the time. Their chef's choice omakase was so worth it and delicious even to-go. Fish was so fresh, every bite had so much flavor, and presentation was great. Definitely recommend for amazing sushi and will come back when in Austin! read more

Amazing experience from the start. My boyfriend and I sat at the bar and we loved it from start to finish. The food was spectacular, everything was ordered we enjoyed. New to Austin and having this as our first "sushi experience" was amazing! Can't wait to go back! read more

Absolutely Amazing! The food was stunning and the best part was that a person at our table was gluten free and almost everything was! And if they weren't gluten free they could make that way. ( expect the miso) and you could not tell at all that it was gluten free. The soy sauce was gluten free as well. The atmosphere is great and our waiter was amazing. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

I love Omakase and the reviews looked great but the experience wasn't. The service was fantastic! Attentive but not overly present, informed and personable. The food however didn't match up to that at all. (It was often plated beautifully) but much of the fish had a slight metallic flavor which was a bit concerning and each of the seared pieces tasted chemically (as if the torch guns they were using were not working properly) in fact the entire space kept filling with a burnt gas odor. We ended up stopping several courses early after being served trays of nigiri that had an off putting sheen to them. While the kitchen was generous enough to pack-up our remaining courses we didn't feel comfortable eating them. Usually with Omakase I expect to experience a subtle layering of flavors textures and a developing of notes on the palate. Very few things on this menu had any flavor beyond the few pieces that were overly charred. I was a little put off watching filets of fish being prepped and then stacked on top of other types of fish in a large bin with nothing but a paper towel between them. Never before have I seen multiple types of fish soaking in each other's juices without some sort of plastic or separation (but perhaps that is normal and I've just never seen it, but after working in a seafood restaurant for years it made me nervous to see raw meats handled that way). Watching a microwave being constantly used in a high end kitchen was also disappointing. And though I know it is a petty complaint a store-bought can of fake whip cream being used in a restaurant charging $150 a head was also bit disappointing. In addition to the woman's bathroom being dirty it was overall not a really bad dinner and that's just not how I would expect to feel leaving an establishment after paying $300 before tip (Though the tip was well earned). The only really enjoyable part of the evening was the plate-ware itself was nice. I would give the food we had one stars hoping it was a really off night but am giving two because the service was really good. read more

Great food, knowledgeable staff. Chef Alex was helpful and knowledgeable in our selections. He answered our fishy questions. Excellent!

Exquisite special menu experience. Super fresh fish and unique combinations. Highly curated service. Recommended! read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

Small portions, service was nice but slow. Really nice interior and average prices for sushi. I guess I'd go back but it's not my favorite ever read more

We were impressed and satisfied by the fresh and creamy fish served on the Omakase menu. It was a delicious experience. Will go back to explore and savor the rest of their menu. read more

Best sushi ever. Good vibe. You will not be disappointed with this place. Service was great. Recommend sitting at the bar and watch them at work. read more

Tasty fresh sushi and amazing service. Prices are very fair for the quality and portions! Highly recommend! read more

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We were actually planning on eating at Raw Sushi a block away from this place. After Raw Sushi did not seat us 25 min after our scheduled reservation we were obviously upset and looked for the next closest sushi spot and stumbled upon here. It exceeded our expectations. The food is priced right and was of great quality. The wine pour was a little small in my opinion but that's about the only complaint I can come up with. I highly recommend the Miso Asari soup. Wonderful ambiance as well. I wish I had a better photos to share. I look forward to coming back the next time I'm in Austin. Thanks to the hostess for getting us a table so quickly on a busy night. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Entrance to restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

I've loved this restaurant for a long time but haven't been in months...just called for my Uber Eats order and the young bratty woman who answered their phone was beyond rude! I've never heard anyone like her working there either so not sure if she's new or untrained but it completely rubbed me the wrong way! It's not difficult to be nice to customers on the phone... Correction: the bratty woman is Jordan. I originally called to have a modification to my order to which she replied: they turned off all apps and aren't talking ordering at all... 1.5 later and my order arrives at my door...she's clearly just lying to everyone calling for no reason. read more

Love the location...very central! The interior is really nice with a very large sushi bar. We went at lunch, which was amazing. Many of the other sushi restaurants I like aren't open for lunch, so this was a welcome surprise. The staff was friendly, attentive, and our food was done quickly. My salmon belly sashimi was on point on it's bed of shaved ice. They picked a light strobe under it, which gave the experience a fun, as well as, delicious effect. Their roll selection was a little light, which is my only negative. Their cold and hot apps/starters was sufficient and I love the Hawaiian poke. Their miso soup was also super tasty, which in addition to having fresh fish...is another sign on how particular the place will be with their food prep. This is a good spot for fresh fish, quality dishes, and good vibes! read more

We decided to come to this place on a whim while looking for a place downtown. This was my kids last night in town and we wanted somewhere special. We have tried many restaurants in town and have not been that impressed so we were not expecting too much. We went during happy hour which was nice. I have to say this is probably the best meal I have had in Austin. I cannot believe this place is not packed out. Everything we had was so fantastic I cannot wait to try the Omakase meal at the sushi bar in the future. We had so many dishes and they were all better than the last one. This was the perfect restaurant. The attention to detail was amazing. read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Black cod was amazing - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

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Holy smokes y'all. I thought another reviewer was being hyperbolicious when they said this made it into their top 3 sushi restaurants of all time anywhere, but this is no joke! We wandered in on Monday, no reservation, dressed very casually, not expecting to be able to have omakase but willing to try. We were immediately struck by the beauty and authenticity of the space. It reminded us simultaneously of our favorite sushi restaurant in NYC and also of some amazing places we dined at in Kyoto. It's gorgeous, spot on. After some chit chat in Japanese between manager and sushi chef, we were ushured to seats at the bar and the Omakase experience began. We were assisted in selecting a bottle of sake to pair the meal. Selection and prices are very good. An amazing meal followed, starting with legit authentic chawanmushi. I was transported right back to Kyoto, and the feeling never left. Course after course came out and every single thing was spectacular. The pacing was perfect. We watched the chef prepare everything with love and care. Pieces and dishes were beautiful and breathtakingly delicious. Towards the end I started feeling so stuffed I could barely continue, but thankfully dessert was next. This was an incredible, world class experience. We know sushi. We have spent thousands of dollars at Otoko, Uchi, Uchiko, Kyoten. My husband lived in Japan for 2 years. We have vacationed in Japan twice. We once flew to Newport Beach specifically to go to a sushi restaurant. This is not just the best sushi experience in Austin, it could plausibly be some of the best sushi in America. $150 is a steal. You cannot get more authentic than this. Besides that, the atmosphere is perfect, not overdone, stuffy, overly trendy like some other spots. It's comfortable, like it should be. We will be back, repeatedly. read more

I was disappointed in the $150 Omakase menu. I called ahead bc my SO has a gluten allergy and the menu was merely altered to remove the gluten from the standard dishes they were going to serve. Definitely not a true omakase experience where they're going to customize the menu to you, as omakase should be. The lowlight was getting a cup of soup with a dumpling. The waitress recognized that it contained gluten and brought us back the soup without the dumpling. So we basically got a cup of broth for one of our courses. After a bottle of sake and tip, the dinner was ~$480. I would rather spend that money at Uchi any day. read more

Amazing food! Loved the service - the entire staff was so kind and accommodating. Went and ordered a bunch of food. For dessert was mochi and it was perfect! We will be returning for sure! read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Specialty ordered from the chef! - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

Low quality American-style sushi restaurant. Fish is fine, but the balance in the rolls is way off. Wide variance in wasabi amount between pieces, and the rice is far too cold and under seasoned. Additionally, the appetizers were all under seasoned. Finally, the order of the meal was almost exactly reversed from what it should be. Garlic Edamame - Undersalted and overcooked. Surprisingly boring. Karaage - Incorrect breading type and mediocre meat. Tasted like chicken nuggets. Shishito Peppers - Under salted and too few for the money. Salmon Nigiri - Probably the best nigiri, though the rice was still subpar. Octopus Nigiri - Incredibly tough Hamachi - Fine. Nothing special, though. Special Rolls - Probably the best part of the meal. It's hard to screw up deep fried saucy concoctions. Classic Rolls - Poorly rolled and again suffering from subpar rice. Definitely skip this place. The vibe is even a bit questionable if you're not at the bar. read more

I really like Sushi but I'm not in love with fish sauce. Out of 24 dishes and $350+ later I didn't have one that I liked. I have a pretty open minded to food but this place didn't do it for me. Pros: The staff is really nice, to the point that I feel bad for this review but it's the truth. read more

AMAZING. WOW WOW WOW. Right now Nobu-Malibu was my favorite but after having the "I love Tuna" roll this might take top spot. Will be back just for that roll the manager and staff are fantastic is also ! Highly recommend!! read more

Sushi Junai Omakase - Toro & friends - Japanese Near Me - Austin, Texas

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For a $400 omakase dinner we were expecting better. Sat at a booth instead of the sushi bar, maybe that was a mistake because the vibe was off. Sat next to a bunch of shipping boxes for alcohol deliveries, waiter seemed distracted, menus were sticky, we tried to order a few different sake drinks and they were all out. The food itself was underwhelming. The nigiri was a high point, that was good. But overall we left feeling like we definitely overspent on an experience and meal. Don't think we will be going back read more

Incredibly impressed with this gem right in the middle of downtown. I did the omakase tasting. The fish is impeccably fresh. Chefs are very, very creative with their dishes. I'm a sushi snob. Big time. I only eat Michelin sushi and this was an incredible experience all around. read more

This is as good as you can get in Austin. Not a slight by any means regarding the restaurant scene here. Quality is near perfect. Value is better than average and maybe, given my assessment to quality, well above average. Great service. Clean. Even the mackerel didn't smell or taste fishy. I felt as though someone was pulling live fishies from a tank to make these wonderful morsels. Great place. Great service. Great sushi. read more