Address and Contact Information
Address: 306 N Rock Rd Suite 20, Wichita, KS 67206
Phone: (316) 260-5002
Website: https://www.ninzasushieast.com/
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Reviews
To preface this, this was 1pm on a Sunday afternoon. There were three tables in the restaurant.
First, half the lights in the restaurant were off, and the blinds were closed. I’m not sure if this was intentional, but it didn’t make the place look cozy. It looked closed inside.
Next, despite having chefs behind the counter and one at the to go station, no one greeted us when we walked in. One was on his phone clearly on a Facetime call. The whole thing made us feel unwelcome, as we weren’t even acknowledged. I almost thought it was a seat yourself situation after standing there for a couple of minutes.
Once sat, our server went through a very deadpan delivery of an introduction. That’s fine I can get over that. I was server/bartender for years, and I hated working Sunday mornings. It’s cool I get going through the motions to get through a shift, especially since they were the server working at the time. But it definitely made me feel like we were more of a burden than a guest to our server.
I ordered an iced tea, and when it came out it definitely was fresh tea. I say that not really in a good way unfortunately, as by the time it reached the table the ice had almost entirely melted, and the drink was still warm. That iced tea was poured very hot still over that ice. It all ended up as a watered down mess.
We ordered, and both got the Combo B which came with chef’s choice sushi (nigiri), along with a spicy tuna roll and California roll.
First was the salad, which was good. Nothing special as it was just an iceberg lettuce mix, but their ginger dressing was excellent. I enjoyed that. And the rolls were good. Both were filling and tasty. The nigiri was fine, but I’ve had better.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get any wasabi or pickled ginger. Just lemon wedges instead. It definitely brought the meal down. I’m not sure if they were out of wasabi and ginger, which if that’s the case that’s fine. I totally understand that. But the server should mention that when delivering the food so it doesn’t come off as a mistake.
Now, with only three tables total in the building I would have expected more of a presence from the server. We would go 10+ minutes without seeing our server even in the front. They never checked on us after delivering the food. I would have asked about the wasabi and ginger at that time, however the next time we saw them they were dropping the check off.
Further, the chef on the facetime call at the beginning? He was on that call the entire 1 hour we were there, and still on it while we were leaving. Given that we were sat directly across from him. His voice carries, and it was distracting when I was trying to have a conversation with my wife and enjoy a nice, quite lunch reminiscing about our early dating days. And look I could care less if you’re on the phone when it’s slow scrolling Reddit. But if you’re actively on a phone call the whole time in front of guests, it’s a bad look and makes for a bad guest experience. Just take it to the back and chat there.
All in all, it was not the nostalgic experience my wife and I were hoping for. We left realizing that we likely won’t be back again. Maybe we caught the crew on an off day. I don’t know. The food was good, but with so many other great sushi options in Wichita in that area less than 5 minutes away, service starts to come into consideration.
My suggestion to management would be work on service standards. Basic things are not being followed right now such as greeting guests when they walk in the door, servers doing a visual check of their tables every 3-5 minutes, if you’ve served an iced tea and there is no ice in the cup, bring out a cup of ice for the guest to use (because an iced tea without ice is sad), and not carrying on a full blown conversation on your phone in front of guests.
I love this place, but man it has changed.
Price value: Appetizers, sides, and hibachi are averagely priced. Pricey for sashimi, noodles, and other categories.
Ambiance: Inviting with a lounge area by the bar, great decor of Japanese artwork on the walls, warm lighting, with booths on the wall perimeter. Clean.
Food: Everything ordered was seasoned perfectly (if applicable), cooked well, and presented beautifully.
1. Takoyaki: 4/5 Crispy exterior and umami filling w/eel sauce. Could use a bit for seasoning on the filling but very good.
2. Calamari Rings w/yum yum sauce & sweet soy vinaigrette dip: 4/5 Crispy and moist, perfectly fried.
3. Deluxe Sashimi Platter 5/5 (chef’s choice): Very nicely sliced, perfectly portioned on kale & spiral carrots in a sweet soy vinaigrette. Fresh w/O fish aroma!
4. Crispy Salmon Skin Roll: 4/5 Almost very crispy salmon skin, rolled well and good size with eel sauce glaze (just enough). Skin could use more seasoning but not bad.
5. Japanese Tonkatsu Ramen: 3/5 Noodles El dented and bouncy, mild on the miso, not a very rich broth. Good on taste but could use more toppings and seasoning.
6. Spicy Tuna Roll: 3/5 because it wasn’t spicy at all.
7. Spicy Korean Ramen: 1/5 Not great not nor chef created. Totally from the package. Exactly Nongshim brand, black version.
8. Korean beef bulgogi bento (California Roll 4pc, mixed salad, rice, 1 shumai, 1 potstickers, beef bulgogi): 5/5 The beef bulgogi was nicely charred and not overpowering with the seasoning, rice was well cooked, California was good, the salad was very tasty. Not bad at all.
9. Cosmo: 5/5 Refreshing!