Nagame Japanese Restaurant

Actually pretty good, the miso soup, cute salad, etc were spot on. The tonkatsu was crisp but juicy, shredded cabbage and rice were excellent. Service was great and everyone was friendly. If am ever back in Madera, which is rarely, I would definitely come back. If this restaurant was in San Fran, LA or SD, it’s 3* but for the Central Valley, definitely a treat!!!

Brought the family for Saturday night dinner something different then what we usually eat and I must say that it definitely hit the spot good flavor good portions the family enjoyed :)

I love the Tonkatsu! It’s delicious! The side salads and soup that you get with it are also very good. The vegie tempura and gyoza are delicious also. My husband likes the chicken teriyaki.
We eat here as often as possible.

The food was alright … ordered the beef curry.. I had better tasting curry else where

Nagame’s has been a staple for our family for the past 20+ years. Always delicious and we love everyone there. Stacy & Taylor are wonderful servers and Mary is the sweetest. Definitely a gem in Merced.

Great lunch menu. Parking can be a hassle sometimes when they are really busy for the lunch hour. Friendly staff is consistent. Bathrooms are very clean for being an older building.
Teriyaki chicken lunch special is my favorite in all white meat. Yummy. They are very quick and the food is always nice and hot. I’ve been here several times and have never had a bad experience.

Went here for lunch with the office. It is tucked away by the freeway and some abandoned or industrial properties, but had a full parking lot.
The service was friendly, and the food portions were plentiful… but the food was just okay. I ordered the teriyaki steak dinner which had miso soup, pickled cucumbers, a cabbage salad and rice. For the price, it should have had tempura veggies or something… The steak was very very very well done and dry. The teriyaki sauce was good, but sparse. and the pickled cucumbers were okay. I did enjoy the green tea, which is my favorite and is brewed (?) with toasted rice – delish!
I would go back here again at someone’s request, but probably wouldn’t choose to go here on my own.

Worst experience ever! My husband and I were seated friendly by the waiter but our order took forever to get to us. Everyone that came after us received their food except us. The amount of food they serve does not go well with the price they put up, the food there are too pricey!

It was a real pleasure coming across this hidden gem in Merced. Their menu is very basis. However, they do it right. When you taste the teriyaki sauce, you know it did not come from a factory filled bottle. You don’t come her for the location or décor. You come to Nagame for the food.

One word… amazing! This was my first time here and I can say I will definitely be back very soon! I’ve heard about his place from a lot of my friends who come here quite often and now I can see why. The employees were very friendly and seated us right away. I got the chicken tempura and the hot tea to drink. They bring you fresh miso soup along with cucumber salad that comes with your meal. The soup and salad were both delicious and the main dish was amazing! I would go back for the hot tea alone, it was that good!

excellent service, employees do friendly thry know when you need more time to decide and don’t hover around. The good came quick was hot and great presentation. I recommend them to all who love authentic good and great customer service. The place is calming very soothing, im adding them on to my favorite food list.

Overall the food is very good, particularly the chicken teriyaki. The beef teriyaki is not as good and tempura batter seems to be flat and a little heavy.
The food can take awhile even when there are just a few patrons and they don’t have a complex menu.
I have been there several times and the wait staff isn’t very friendly.

Went in as a walk-​in at 5:30 pm with my family (two adults, three kids) for an early dinner. Had been told reservations are recommended but NOT required! They had two tables with customers and the rest completely empty. We were turned away and told they could not accommodate us since we did not call ahead. We asked to sit at the counter and the hostess said she couldn’t allow us to do that either. Their food may be good but their customer service sucks! We won’t be back. It’s in a completely remote and inconvenient location as is, and we drove out there in the rain and they wouldn’t even try to accommodate us! We could have been in and out before whatever rush they were expecting at 6:00 or later. If they don’t care about their customers, I won’t care about their business. There’s plenty of other options.

I have been going with my family to Nagame’s ever since I was a little girl, and my parents and relatives before that. We are huge fans of this amazing eatery.
We always get the family combination dinner with tempura shrimp and veggies with barbecue chicken. Heaven on a plate!
I also love the cabbage they serve. I could eat it by the gallon!
Only downside is there isn’t a soda fountain and you have to purchase soft drinks by the can which sucks. But besides that, definitely recommend! It gets crazy busy and packed on weekends, so call in for a reservation.

I attempted Nagame for lunch on a random Thursday. It was a very poor idea.
From the outside, the building looks like a typical Japanese restaurant in this part of America: reasonably standard structure with some stereotypical Japanese flourishes bolted on. Unfortunately, the inside is far from typical: It’s vintage American pancake house with some Japanese effects and items scattered about. Not only is the octagonal-​style counter still present in all of its wood-​paneled glory, but it’s unused for seating and instead ends up a visible bussing/​staging area. Seating is handled with vintage fiberglass booths.
NOTE: I’m all for vintage, but this juxtaposition of Japanese and diner is a lazy mishmash, and it feels unfinished and insulting — it’s as if someone wondered ‘what’s the absolute minimum amount of Japanese lanterns I can hang in this space and get away with calling it a Japanese restaurant?’ and then answered that question out loud with the mess that is the décor.
That aside, the place was busy, so I took that as a good sign, and I waited for what felt like an unreasonable amount of time for the two servers on the floor to attend to guests and attempt to bus the vacant tables that had opened up – in fairness to the servers, there really should have been a busser/​host/​expo/​cashier to help unburden them a bit.
The lunch menu had three items on it: Chicken, chicken and beef — not ideal if you’re someone who doesn’t eat those things, and had I not just squandered 20 minutes waiting for a table, I probably would have left upon seeing that; however, since they offered an option to pay a few extra bucks for extra chicken in one’s teriyaki, I hoped that they may let me do the same for salmon. Nope. Had to order the dinner version for nearly 2x more. Disappointing, but fine, whatever — I was still hoping for delicious food.
Unfortunately, unlike the decent-​but-​not-​memorable small plates that preceded it, I distinctly remember the salmon teriyaki: It was overcooked, drowning in teriyaki sauce, and it felt very small for an expensive dinner portion.
You’re far better off going somewhere else to get your Japanese food fix, unless you’re really interested in the experience of having tempura in a pancake house.

So I cannot speak to how it compares with other Japanese places near Merced, but the food here this was just barely ok and the prices were about double what I’d expect to pay for much better food elsewhere. Perhaps they have a captive demographic here?
On second thought, I deducted another star because I had a terrible upset stomach all night after eating here.
I am still in search of actually good Japanese food in the Turlock — Merced area. I have my favorites up in Lodi and Sacramento, but so far nothing I’ve tried down here is anywhere near as good. Even the places like this, that have great Unilocal reviews have been disappointing. :(

This place is kind of hidden even though it is right by the freeway. I ordered the Oyakodon ($ 8) and it was a disappointment. The chicken pieces had too much fat and it tasted too much like egg. My sister ordered the Sesame Chicken and Shrimp Tempura ($ 13). She said it was just ok.
Maybe we just ordered the wrong food.
The service was also just ok. The waitress dropped off the food on our table in a rush (it wasn’t that busy) and was not friendly.
The only good thing was the mochi ice cream, so good! I will most likely not come here again. If I do it’s for the Mochi! :)

Went to this place for the first time, and it was in such a random area! It is literally off the exit w 16 street of 99 southbound. Although it was a small and random place the food was actually good. I had the oyakodon. Normal food with appetizers. A little bit pricy for college students. Lol. But it was a great place to just talk and relax for a bit. The service was kinda long. Took a while to order food and to receive food but our server always checked up on us. The menu wasn’t that much just 2 page. But I guess it’s because the restaurant is small. 4stars because it was a good 1^st experience.

Great place, nice staff. Food is consistently good. Teriyaki chicken is delicious!

This is one of my favorite places in Merced. I’ve had almost everything on their menu, and I have found their food to be exceptionally and consistently delicious. The environment is pleasant, the staff is very helpful, the menu is simple. Yes it’s awkwardly located, get over it… I recommend; the gyoza, sesame chicken, calamari steak and tuna sashimi (which is fresh and melts in your mouth).
A must try in Merced!!!