Niwanohana

Pretty average fish.
I ordered the sashimi lunch platter and thought that the fish wasn’t as fresh… not sure what to expect when you’re in Richmond. I been spoiled with west coast sushi spots.
I probably won’t come back here though it was quick service, affordable, and ambiance was aiiiiiite.
dmo out.

Very delicious. I went hear maybe five years ago with a group of friends, and absolutely enjoyed the cuisine. My plate consisted of sushi, sticky rice, chicken, some steamed veggies, and miso soup. To drink I had tea. Would definitely recommend

I like this place for its charm. I’ve never had their sushi only the bento box lunches. I really like those from here and the ambience. Its a great little lunch spot.

I don’t know what all these negative reviews are about. Their sushi is not great but for the price you can’t beat it. I’ve only gotten their lunch specials and have not been back for dinner is the only reason I’m rating 3 stars

I don’t disagree with the previous reviews but I think of that esurance commercial where the guy eats gas station sushi and is surprised to get a stomach ache.
You most certainly will not get a stomach ache here as I know for a fact the fish is fresh: that said, my point is what do you guys expect for a 9 dollar lunch special? This isn’t NOBU. I personally call places like this «Ghetto sushi» and I am a «ghetto sushi» lover. The sushi was WAY better than supermarket sushi but agreed not top of the line either. And at times too much sauce on the special rolls take away from tasting the fish itself.
The service is GREAT, the owner is very very friendly, and the prices is right. The location is really cool. It’s in my top 2 ghetto sushi places of ALL TIME. The place is good at what it does.

I work right down the street from this place and I have to say I have always been disappointed. I want to like it because it’s fast and the prices are pretty cheap for sushi.
The sushi is always warm and has that off color. They have just your basic selection with no real creative special rolls.
I got the lunch special which includes salad (some lettuce mix, one cucumber and that asian-​y dressing). Miso soup was… ok. Again, the sushi was warm, which was a total turnoff. The prices were great, but not worth the mediocre food.
After trying this place twice, I always have to pass in favor of Kobe a block away.

Foods okay. Interesting location though since it’s inside a building down in Shockoe Slip. My bf and I went here on our first date because we were running late for dinner and this place was open. We ordered a lot of food but I can’t tell you how much it turned out to be and if price was justified for the amount we got because he paid. I did come back here with a few friends twice and I tried their banana dessert which was actually pretty good but it didn’t wow me. Again, the food was okay but it’s satisfying if you’re craving sushi.

I have been here a few times for lunch with coworkers. The food is always good. They have two lunch sushi specials that I think are a great value. You can get two rolls, salad, soup, edamame and a spring roll for around $ 10. Or the same thing with one of the rolls being something predetermined. It is a lot of food, and a better value than Kobe. I enjoy coming here. I think they could use one more waiter during the lunch hour, as they only have 2 on the floor, but other than that I think it is great.

I had a little over an hour to kill between lab and a review session, so I decided to wander over to Main St. for lunch. Nothing really interested me, so I whipped out the Unilocal app on my Android and looked for restaurants nearby. I decided to go to City Dogs on Cary St. The chalkboard outside even advertised $ 1 hot dogs on Mondays! However, when I peeked inside, the place was packed, and I decided that I didn’t want to wait. Instead, I noticed Niwanohana across the street and decided to try it out after perusing the menu posted on the window.
Inside the building (but outside the restaurant) was another sign advertising new items, and the fried rice balls caught my attention. I decided to give them a try, in addition to the chicken katsu bento box I ordered as my main meal.
To be honest, the food was only so-​so. The miso soup was warm, but not hot, and it had unusually tiny bits of tofu and the seaweed proportion was off. The lettuce in the salad was also not all that fresh. The menu said the box came with shumai, but the bento actually came out with two pieces of gyoza (although I have no preference, so that wasn’t a big deal). The two pieces of California roll also were somewhat flattened into an ovoid shape instead of being circular, which made them look a bit unappetizing. The wad of wasabi also had a strange look to it (kind of damp and discolored instead of the usual bright green). The box came with rice stuffed into one of the small compartments; I try not to eat too much rice, so I was fine with that portion, although I can potentially envision a rice-​lover feeling disappointed. However, the chicken katsu came in a generous portion and was fried to a nice texture.
The box was only $ 8-​ish, which is okay, although sometimes I can get slightly better food quality for that price. The rice balls were literally fried balls of rice with stuffing. I was expecting more mochi-​like «rice balls» in the usual sense of rice balls (i.e. a continuous glutinous ball instead of grains of rice balled together). It came as a serving of five balls, and they tasted mediocre. I didn’t really feel like it was worth the $ 4.
As much as I can only give this restaurant’s food a lukewarm review, I have to remind myself that I probably can’t expect to find any truly impressive Japanese food in Richmond. And, to give the restaurant some credit, the interior is very well-​decorated and is great for lunch with a few friends. Service was also excellent, and my waitress refilled my water several times.
I also haven’t tried their sushi, so I can’t comment on that. The sushi chefs seemed fairly dedicated. Finally, this place actually had a decent amount of customers for lunch on the Monday I went, so some people obviously like this place. It is by no means bad, but rather somewhere in the middle, and hence, my three-​star rating.

I was very pleased with the quality and service of their sushi especially given the fact that people making sushi are Chinese. I would prefer real Japanese sushi but in a place like Richmond it not possible at all. Michael, the Chef, is exceptional in his hospitality!

This place is in the bottom, on the main strip about a block up from Europa. It’s not bad, and I would go back if I were walking around that area and craving sushi as I was that night. However, if I was leaving my house for sushi I would go to Akida or Momotaro instead.

I’d like to rate a 2 ½ star, as the service was great. Attentive, friendly, not overbearing. Just wonderful – from everyone – my server, the sushi chef and other employees.
That being said, the sushi left a lot to be desired. I could barely taste the fish from all of the sauces that covered it. A majority of the «special» rolls were fried or covered in mayo. Supermarket grade, as another reviewer stated, is a pretty dead on description. One of the rolls I ordered said «crab», when I received it, it was immitation crab stick.
Plus the sushi was warm… Like the rice had been heated up before hand. Didn’t sit well with me.

This place seems like it was an authentic Japanese restaurant that one day wasn’t able to get high quality fish, or pass the prices on to its customers, and decided to sell the place to new owners. The new owners ordered much lower quality sushi grade fish, changed the recipes considerably by cutting corners on other ingredients. And over the next successive series of months, lost all its customers completely. I went in on night and nary a person was in there. One customer dropped in for takeout, but that was it. The other night I walked by and I didn’t see one person in there either.
On the other hand, for what it is, its not that bad of sushi. Or what I like to call faux-​sushi as described above. I will go back eventually and don’t expect to get premium quality or great value in sushi spots that aren’t located in a coastal city. I’ve had worse and don’t consider this place bad at all.

It looks good on the outside, but this place’s sushi isn’t much more than supermarket grade.
I had veggie sushi, and even the inari was hardly filled with rice. Not worth the price.

Been trying find a good sushi place in Richmond, VA. The dinner menu is larger and has more variety. It’s better than Akida Japanese, the sushi was OK, nothing to write home about, but at least it was fresh and what I was expecting for Richmond, VA. Can’t compare this to NYC or SF or west coast sushi, it would be unfair. Service was very friendly and prices were reasonable.
Still searching…

I stopped in for lunch a few days ago, and left thoroughly disappointed. I ordered one of the lunch specials — the rice was dry, the nori untoasted, and there were two obvious grades of tuna: one that goes in the roll, and one for the nigiri. The tuna on the nigiri was fresh, but the tuna in the roll was about purple and a little gummy. The salad came swaddled in the weird orange dressing. A brown-​out hit the restaurant, resetting the CD player — Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree. Ouch.

Used to be my favorite sushi in town. It has gone downhill this year. Less food for the money, and the fish wasn’t fresh and delicious like it used to be. I guess I’ll have to look around for a new sushi place. :(
edit as of ¹²⁄₂₀₀₉:
This place has nearly tripled their prices — a $ 30 platter is now a whopping $ 80 — and their fish is disgusting. All the good waitstaff is now long gone, and the place is always empty. Everything I loved about this place is now down the tubes. Skip it, and go to Akida instead.

4 stars for value.
Reminds me of a college-​town restaurant… not the classiest, but you get great value, particularly the teriyaki boxes.
Fast, courteous service.
***
04/​02/​2008 UPDATE: Negative 1 stars for less value on the teryiaki box. A lot less meat this time. Anecdotal evidence for economic recession in the United States.