Nagoya Japanese Steakhouse & Sushi

Coming from California, my expectations of places are high. I’ve learned to lower it for Montana but this place did not fail. From food, to service, to portions and pricing, this place got an A for all. We went here on a Friday right when it opened and I’m glad since there wasn’t a lot of people in there. The server was one of the best I’ve ever had. Very attentive and accommodating! Good job John! The food was cooked perfectly although the chef had the fried rice flying a bit but I thought it was entertaining. The place in great falls fails in comparison to this place. I’d make the hour drive just to come here. The sushi is delicious! Made very well and they aren’t skimpy on ingredients. They also gave us a military discount. What a wonderful place. I’ll definitely eat here every time when I’m in Helena. MY ONLY PROBLEM IS THE HOURS. I don’t know how you can’t be open earlier than 4pm. At least have lunch hours during the weekdays. I know it could be a bit slow but it is so hard for people who are traveling to wait all the way til 4 to eat and then have to drive home at a later hour. Or for those who want to have a good lunch. I’ll still give it a 5, just hope they will consider lunch hours soon

Be ready to wait on the weekend. Hostess will keep telling you anything to keep you in the lobby and filling tables as she desires. You could be looking at up to a 2 hour wait.

The service was top notch, everyone was really friendly and explained everything to us. After we sat down, they typically wait 10 minutes before closing the table but since no one else was there yet, we ordered 2 rolls from the sushi bar and 2 drinks. We told the waiter to keep the table open until we were done with our sushi. My wife ordered a drink from the bar that she fell in love with. by the time we finished, another family of 5 sat down and we had a great experience. Since we are moving to Helena, we will be back.

We love eating here, the food is fresh and innovative. We have eaten on both side and certainly have no complaints. It’s great to have a good Japanese restaurant in tiwn.

Food is just ok compared to other places like this I have ate. pricey and quality not up to par with the price.

I really love Nagoya. It is by far the best restaurant in Helena. We moved here from Seattle a year ago and it has just been a painful transition food and coffee wise. I miss ethnic food horribly. a few things to know about Nagoya though…
*Their sushi boat comes with chocolate sauce decorating the plate which is really not a good thing… especially if you sit in the bar with the blue light which makes it look like the sweet sauce for eel (a gross thing to find out with your beloved sushi)
*The hibachi chefs will drown all of your food in soy sauce while cooking if you don’t ask them not to before they start, I love the way lobster tastes so I ask them to only use butter on it when cooking.
*The sashimi is cut too thick
*The Piña colada is just plain gross. really don’t even try it. it is made with all natural coconut water and flavors which makes it a very VERY bland drink (aka water with a little liquor in it). they really should get rid of that and make one that has flavor.
*The bar is less packed and often faster with service.
*the servers are kind of inattentive. once they bring your first round of drinks and apps they disappear.

We’ve been there a couple times before, sat at the hibachi & the food was good, the service great & was a a great experience. However, we went this past Friday evening, Oct. 2^nd, and I will never step foot in that rat hole ever again! We chose to sit on the restaurant side this time to try it out & I have NEVER encountered such hideous food & horrible, horrible service!!! Our server was an absolute IDIOT!!! The fact that Nagoya hired this moron says a lot for the management of this restaurant! He had absolutely no knowledge of the menu, cuts of meat or how they’re prepared. He was rude, completely screwed our order up & never once bothered to see if we needed any drink refills, or anything! I have two words to describe Nagoya… A JOKE!!!

I really like this place. Full disclosure, I’ve only been here once. I’ve heard other people who had bad experiences when it first opened, but I can only speak to my experience.
We came out here on a busy Friday night with my folks. I had sushi and everyone else had hibachi, so we sat at a hibachi table. I have a dairy allergy, so be forewarned — the hibachi usually has dairy in it unless you ask for no dairy (which they accommodated for my Mom).
The sushi was really fresh, beautifully presented, and the rice was very well done. The flavors were balanced and the rolls were a really nice size — not so huge you can’t put it in your mouth, but not so small you’re hungry afterwards.
Everyone had a really nice time, the atmosphere is fun and special for a night out, and it’s usually really hoppin’ on the weekends from what I hear (be prepared for a wait if you don’t get reservations). Good times!

The food was divine. Spot on delivery of flavor and quality. Downside to the experience was the lighting, and noise. The lights are so dim on the left side of the dining side, you have trouble distinguishing the color of your food. Noise levels were equivalent to a food/​bar type atmosphere. We will be going back again, but requesting to be seated on the right side of the table area.

We went back to try the other side of the restaurant. First, our waitress was good. The sushi was again, good. We tried the Teriyaki dinners this time. They were nothing special. If we go back I think we’ll just stick to the sushi.

We went in tonight and it was super busy. We decided to sit at the bar to avoid the wait. Bartender was super nice, and the beer was great! We ordered a valcano roll, and the steak and chicken teriyaki entrée. Even though it was really busy we got everything super fast, and it was super delicious!

Finally, a restaurant in Helena that is open past 10:00 pm!
1. We waited about 10 minutes for a table, no problem.
2. It is a bit too dark here for me, I could barely see enough to read the menu.
The food
1. The Valentine Roll was delicious. It was fun to watch the different sushi items being made.
2. The coconut shrimp was okay.
3. The gyoza were fine. Six on a platter.
4. The beef appetizer seemed too raw for us. Skip this one
5. Fried rice, okay.
6. Mojito, could be served in a larger glass, with more mint.
8. The service was efficient, but inattentive.
9. Why was everything garnished with a cherry?
We will definitely come here again.
I suggest that they hire a service to maintain the landscape outside, the parking lot has a copious amount of weeds, almost makes the place look very unkempt.

I’ve been here twice now. The first time for Valentine’s Day and again for an anniversary. The first visit I ordered a filet. While cooked well, it wasn’t well seasoned. When I went back the second time my wife and I shared the «love boat» sushi platter. The fish was fresh and the sushi rolls were good. To be picky, my only complaint was that the fish was sliced too thick.
The ambiance is ok. I can’t believe this kind of restaurant uses plastic glasses and cafeteria grade dinnerware. I think they could step it up a notch for the level of restaurant they could be. I do recommend the sushi here, but not the steak. I haven’t done the hibachi yet, so I can’t review that part.
As long as they keep their food quality up and step it up on the serving ware, I think this could be a long term installment in Helena.

I expected a four to five star experience… it’s not quite there. The food was very good but not great. I think the food could have been great, they seem to start with a very good quality product and the grilling process cooks the meat and veggies very well. Unfortunately, the chef drowned every dish on the grill with soy and /​or teriyaki sauce. Every dish!!! The fried rice (the first dish he made) started out great but it literally turned completely brown by the time he was done adding the teriyaki and soy sauce. From there, nothing was safe from the brown sauce drowning. If you like lots and lots of salt and teriyaki and /​or soy sauce, you’ll be in heaven. It took me a few dishes to catch on but by the time he finished meat, I asked him to NOT to add soy to the veggies. He offered teriyaki sauce, I declined. Every bit of my meal except for veggies was drowned in salty sauces. Let me clarify that I like soy and teriyaki sauces — hence my love of Asian food. This was overkill. Extreme overkill. I Ordered the Nagoya special which has lobster, steak, shrimp and scallops. Other than the brown sauce overkill, the chef did a great job with cooking and entertaining the table. If I come back, I’ll know to tell them light sauces. Honestly, it’s way too much brown sauce! The waitress was «okay», not epic. Our table ran out of drinks and had to go find her to request more. Otherwise, staff is nice, restaurant seemed clean ish. Bathroom was filthy. I know they were busy but there seemed to be plenty of staff with free time that could have picked up and straightened up the restroom.

Amazing food and service. The Habachi is the only way to go. Our chef was fun and made the experience worth it. Dimner was a little crowded so make reservations. The cost is definitely reasonable for such a great meal.

Well I have visited 3 times and All good, the best in Helena by far. price and portion size is good Quality is good too. Its not San Francisco or Seattle more like Reno but good food and good service at a fair price. Try the love Boat.

We went in for a birthday celebration and tried the tempura, sushi, and chicken and steak teriyaki. All dishes were very well prepared, service was good and the cocktails were tasty. Next time we will try the Hibachi dishes.

Had the Bozeman roll and a spicy crab and shrimp roll. Bozeman one of the best I’ve ever had! Did not sit in the Hibachi side but everyone over there looked like they were having a blast. Bit of a snafu getting us to a table 20 minutes after they said, but SOOOO worth it. Can’t find better sushi in Montana that is good sure. Check it out.

I’ve had three experiences here so far with another one tonight for a birthday. We’ve sat at the hibachi, the «sushi side» and the sushi bar. Each experience was uniquely wonderful! The sushi and hibachi chefs are from New York and are very experienced in their art. I recommend this restaurant to anyone wishing Helena had a truly great sushi bar, and those who enjoy hibachi that is not only entertaining but delicious.
Lastly, I would like to say that the bar is in DIRE need of a professional bar tender. The girls I have seen running it were looking up how to make simple drinks like bloody Mary’s on their phones. But that’s not enough of a negative to dock them a star since we’ve always gotten beer, wine, or sake.
Love you Nagoya!!!

Amazing food, beautiful restaurant. Finally an affordable, authentic Japanese restaurant in town! We had three sushi rolls, some raw, some tempura and it was so refreshing to have delicious raw fish (tuna, salmon & yellowtail this time) as it is meant to be. I will definitely be back and try the hibachi side next time.