Nikko Restaurant

Absolutely devastated this place is closed — best cocktails in the Roc (tied with Cheshire) and walking distance from my workplace. But there’s a rumor it will relocate, so I’m crossing my fingers and posting this review so I can remember my faves.
All cocktails are delicious. All of them.
I like things just a little on the sweet side. My favorites are:
Reap What You Sew
Blood Orange Negroni — the best way to describe this one is «warm.» Also like grown-​up-​alcoholic-​delicious orange Triaminic (which was my favorite medicine ever as a child).
Let’s Have a Kiki
Runner up: Burn Me Sideways
No for me, but go ahead and order if they appeal to you: Smashed But Not Hammered (very alcohol-​heavy; Mike loves it), Gingers Always Win (a little too ginger), Fancy Pants and Boots With The Fir, Hammock (Mike’s fave), #duckfaceselfie.
Sushi: I’ve had the Green Giant and the Molten; they’re both to die for and certainly worth the price while the Happy Hour discount is in effect … but I’m not sure I’d shell out at another time.

Ordered miso soup, fried calamari, and sunshine roll.
Time of day: 5:30pm thursday
Food: miso soup was overwhelmed by the shitake mushroom flavor. Fried calamari was fried perfectly but the seasoning was salty. Could not eat more than a few pieces. The sunshine sushi roll was recommended by our server and tasted like a tuna salad. Overwhelming amount of mayo flavor on top and the roll it self was not put together could not be picked up with out falling apart. The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice and comfortable but for the cost of the food not worth it.
Location was nice quiet area but a little hard to find.

Perfect place to go if you are wanting some delicious sushi rolls, and are in the company of a non sushi eater (yes they do exist, strangely enough, I live with one!). Everything we ordered was excellent, well prepared and flavorful. I can’t remember the specific names, but the spicy tuna roll, and the roll with lobster were both wonderful. We also shared a lamb chop dish which came with gnocchi, mushrooms on a very flavorful creamy purée. Excellent! The lamb was perfectly cooked and the gnocchi light and perfect texture. Cocktails superb! The service we had was also very good, with just the right amount of attention. Atmosphere was slightly upscale, cool. A bit pricey, but the quality warrants it. Really enjoyed, and will return!

Nikko has the most appealing menu in Rochester. Every dish just sounds delicious to me and I wish I had the stomach and bank account to try them all.
During my last visit, my friend and I wanted to stick to just sushi. We shared the large plate which was comprised of the budda roll, nikkospice roll, 4 pieces of nigiri, and 6 pieces of sashimi. The nikkospice roll was hands down my favorite and the sashimi was very fresh. It’s safe to say that is the best place I’ve had sushi in Rochester.
If you’re looking for an amazing cocktail, you need to get The Hammock! It’s a mix of caramelized banana-​washed bourbon (yes plz!), nux alpina walnut liqueur, and black walnut bitters. One of my top favorites.
Only complaint I have with Nikko so far is that their wine pours are skimpy. So skimpy that we thought the full pour was a tasting, which our waitress was supposed to initially bring out. Also, I came here for drinks at the bar a couple months ago and the bartender was trashed so she made me the wrong drink twice, but I had no problem with it since I got a couple extra drinks for free :)

The food was good the company was better. I was excited by the creativity on the menu at Nikko. The food for me was almost there, reaching, gasping, but passing out before the finish line of award winning fare.
The 7^th level and tiki roll were both good, fresh, bright tastes but some pieces were too loosely rolled.
Winter caprese salad, the deep fried goat cheese ball was worth guarding with your fork. The tomato element was flavorful and we’ll seasoned. The pesto fell a bit short. One very pretty crisp slice of bread is barely enough, overwhelmed by the amount of other ingredients.
My main was a stuffed pierogi. The acidic sauce, bitter greens and savory stuffing were delicious but everything was a mushy consistency. I longed to bring my plate to the kitchen and ask for a quick pan fry on the pierogi dough.
The atmosphere and menu suit a big city atmosphere, the preparation almost does. For Rochester this place is solid.

While this restaurant/​bar is tucked in a semi-​hidden part of the city, it has done well for it’s close proximity to Geva for pre-​/​post-​show gatherings. It sure does help that they have an upscale, trendy vibe, quality food, and unique menu.
It is a touch on the pricey side — we split the bill between 5 people at $ 50 a pop including tip. But we also got an amazing array of food and cocktails for a Thursday night out on the town. I’d pay that any day. Just not every day.
If you’re looking for a new date night spot, this is the place to try. They have a large community table in the back by the kitchen, which is a good option for party (I think it sat ~12 people).
I loved their cocktail menu. The first thing that caught my eye was the funky names for each of the drinks. How can you resist ordering a «Smashed But Not Hammered» or #DuckFaceSelfie? C’mon, it’s hilarious! The Fancy Pants was my fave bev of the evening for the hint of peach. All I could think of was summertime — biting into a fresh, juicy peach.
Sushi was our first order of business. I ordered the 7^th Level for the table, which was spicy tuna, topped with jalapeño. LOVE. Bring on the heat. I also really enjoyed the edamame dish too — piping hot and tossed in sesame oil for a lighter snack. I could munch on those all day.
For an entrée, I went for the pasta special: ricotta cavatelli with a pork belly /​proscuitto ragu, topped with a pecarino fondue. Heavenly. There’s nothing bad to say about this dish. I’m glad I shared with the table because it was hard not to eat every last bite on the plate. The fondue was so creamy and blended so well with the rest of the sauce which hugged the edges of the cavatelli.
I also nibbled on a few bites of the fried quail — a touch dry and not very much meat since a little quail wing is tiny! But the polenta cake was a nice add — cornbread texture, but potato-​like and cheesy. The winter salad (is that what it was called???), who knows. It was killer! I wish I ordered it for myself — pesto, fried ricotta ball, crostini, arugula. More, more, more!
And, that’s just it, I’ll be back for more, more, more!

I went there with my girlfriend and had a great experience. The atmosphere is very elegant and the food was great. I had the best sushi I have had in Rochester here. The lamb meatballs were amazing. All of the food here was great and service was also very good. I will be back again soon and think everyone should make it here at least once.

It was amazing. I like sushi there. That’s the good sushi that you don’t need to have wasabi and soy sauce with. Of course you can totally have with them too. I just don’t like to have high quality sushi with wasabi and soy sauce because i want taste sushi and soy sauce and wasabi would cover sushi flavor.
I also had the tongue and cheek dish. It was great. But to be honest, I won’t have it again. As a Chinese, I used to be proud that we eat everything. But after a while, I only want to eat meat, not beef tongue not pork cheek. It’s just me though. It might sound weird. Because I think about the live cow and live pig while I eat them. I don’t do that while I eat beef and pork though.
I had the fancy pants for drinks too. It was delicious, but strong. I felt pretty tipsy after drinking it. Well I don’t have much alcohol tolerance though.
Overall, everything is great. Just expensive lol.

I’ve gone to Nikko only once before, but it was a really grand experience. Maybe it was the company I was with or how nice a summer day it was, but everything seemed to line up just perfectly. A friend and I were about to see a show at Geva, and were looking for a place to eat, and Nikko was right there! I knew it was new-​ish at the time, so that’s where we went.
Everything was extremely refined and formal from the ambiance to the waiter to the presentation of the plates, and you could tell everything was done with great flair. For an appetizer, I had a piece of uni sashimi which was plenty delicious, and together my friend and I shared an heirloom tomato caprese salad. The tomatoes were plump, the buffalo mozzarella was luscious, the balsamic on the plate was sweet and tangy — really it didn’t get much better than that.
Dinner was roast chicken and that was great as well, but I do have to mention dessert — we had a dark chocolate torte with espresso ice cream that was out of this world. The espresso ice cream was possibly the creamiest and smoothest ice cream I’ve ever had and it was the perfect foil for the deep dark chocolate richness sitting on its side. If they still offer this, I would absolutely recommend it.
The only thing I do have to say is that it probably is a bit on the pricier side, but when you look at the service and the food offered, I feel like the experience is worth it. I would definitely go back in a heartbeat!

I went to Nikko last night for my friend’s birthday and have visited the restaurant on several occasions. They were very accommodating with reservations on short notice. I primarily get sushi when I go but they have a variety of other dining options (last night’s specials were particularly tempting). Favorite rolls include Nikkospice, Rainbow, and 7^th Level — which is very spicy and comes topped with jalapeño slices. I have enjoyed the calamari salad in the past, but that appears to have been removed from the menu for now. They also have a fantastic wine and cocktail selection. While they are a little on the pricey end for sushi, I have never been disappointed and it’s always worth it!

Went there with friend on Valentine’s day. It was around 10 p.m. at night.
Neither of us was able to order alcohol that night so I’ll skip that part. I got half/​half coke and diet coke. My friend got orange juice, but it had this weird taste in it like it mixed with remaining detergent or so.
Both of us couldn’t finish large portion and didn’t like leftover so we went sharing the dishes.
We ordered the ‘tongue and cheek’, which was special enough to be found else where. The meat, both the tongue (beef) and the cheek (pork) tasted really good. I am normally not a bean eater but the white beans at the bottom tasted just right.
We also ordered the molten sushi, the sushi wasn’t too much a surprise. But at least it was made with big chunk lobster meat. What tastes really good was the spicy crab salad (? or sauce?) in the middle of the circle of sushis.
We added an order of crispy calamari. Finally! I was satisfied with crispy calamari once — it was crispy (! not every restaurant does that…) and full of spices!
Truly amazing was the Valentine’s day special dessert. We were told that they ran out of pink peppercorn ice cream. It was served in some cream instead. But ah if you take a bite of the torte with the cream that’s HEAVENLY. The salted caramel filling was heavy but the cream neutralized it a bit when you first taste it. The taste of salted caramel then gradually appear. I do like the nuts in that torte as well.
Then there was the sweet surprise! Our waitress handed us a big chocolate heart shell which had two small chocolate hearts inside it and wrapped in red with ribbon. That happened even before we got our check — she just wanted to make sure we got one as well because there weren’t many left! Although we weren’t a couple but it was SO CUTE!
BTW we were seated at the chef’s counter because we didn’t want to wait longer. 4 out of 6 spots on that table was claimed so I guess there are some regulars. Watching the chef preparing the dishes was so much fun! We were also told in the conversation that one of the owners was on site, and he was the one with the sweet idea of chocolate heart.
phew it is my first long review. I am normally lazy but I felt for days I owed this place a proper review so I just did it.

Been to Nikko’s twice and time left thoroughly impressed. The restaurant is clean the staff attentive. Last night we ordered the tongue and cheek cassoulet, fried calamari, the carpaccio, rainbow roll, seventh level roll, tiki torch roll, for dessert cookies and cream, the valentine’s day dessert specials of baklava and salted chocolate cake with caramel sauce & ice cream can’t recall it’s name. Nikko’s is all about layering, each bite is an explosion of flavors. Presentations are beautiful, work of art! Anything we have ordered we have been happy with. For example the carpaccio is of coarse thinly sliced then on top are fried capers, crusty bread with a poached egg yolk and watercress. You take a bite and immediately taste the crunchy bread and watercress followed by the tender meat and the creaminess of the egg. Pure genius! Love Nikko’s! Ready for more delicious sushi tonight!

I have been here twice and have not been disappointed. This is not just a sushi restaurant, their other options are amazing. I would encourage you to order something other than sushi and I bet you’ll pleasantly surprised.
We each ordered an arugula salad off of the Valentine’s Day menu. The salad had speck, some sort of cheese, toasted hazelnuts, tossed in a truffle vinaigrette, it was delicious! For our entrees, we ordered the Bolognese pasta special and the beef short rib with pasta and both were great. Each dish was made with homemade pasta which was cooked perfectly.
For dessert, we ordered the salt and pepper dessert off of the Valentine’s Day menu, it included a salted caramel torte with pink peppercorn ice cream. The ice cream sounded very strange, I couldn’t imagine what a peppery ice cream would taste like and I was afraid the ice cream would be too peppery but when I finally tried it, it was perfect. The torte was delicious as well.
The service is excellent, even on Valentine’s day when the restaurant was very busy our server was very attentive.
Overall, I’ve been here twice and both times were great. Even with what I consider to be a steep bill, it was worth every single penny and if I could afford to eat here more often, I would.

Went to Nikko’s a couple of weeks ago with my wife after reading about the restaurant in that D&C about using local alternative food choices. The restaurant is located almost across the street from the Rundell library. It is very nice inside and the staff checked our jackets which was nice. We started with two drinks off the menu I had an old fashioned which was great and my wife ordered a mojito which she enjoyed too.
We began with the small plate sushi. The fish was very fresh and the calinikko roll was flavorful.
Next was the beef tongue and cheek and pork belly. Each were great but the beef tongue was by far our favorite. I never had beef tongue before but it was probably one the most flavorful cuts of beef you can have and was very tender. Also the service was great through the nature dinner.
My wife and I definitely want to return and try other things on the menu.

Finding this place feels a bit like a scavenger hunt, but don’t give up!
Went there for a date and as a non-​sushi person (as was my company), I was pleasantly surprised! We ordered the Tiki Torch roll and It. Was. Amazing. The rice was cooked perfectly, filled with lobster and salmon, and the escolar (granted I didn’t know it was a white tuna, just went for it) really finished it off. Would absolutely go back just for this, and to try the Jolly Green Giant (tempura sweet potato?! yes please).
The drinks were excellent. I had the Gingers Always Win — boozy but not in a ‘punch to the face’ kind of way. Would probably sneak up on me if I had a few, but for a pre-​dinner cocktail, perfect for sipping. Kudos to the bar.
Dinner was excellent. The lobster ricotta pasta was two massive raviolis, with arugula, chunks of bacon and crispy leeks in a creamy sauce. Seriously, one of the most decadent things I’ve ever eaten. Had a pinot noir with dinner-​the server suggested a chardonnay because it paired better, but it’s cold and pinot was more right for the weather than dinner. But his suggestion was helpful, and he was wonderful throughout the evening. For two sushi newbies, I never felt out of place. Very welcoming atmosphere (granted it was a relatively slow Thursday), and friendly, knowledgeable service. I can see how it might get a little ‘bro’-y on weekends, but I would absolutely go back on a slower night to spend a couple hours.

Was my first time and didn’t know what to expect besides a friend telling me its her favorite spot.
First impression was impressive on the aesthetics of the building. The girls behind the bar knew how to make proper drinks, no heavy pouring. Was nice to get a proper Old Fashioned for once.
The crowd was kinda of want to be Jersey dude who goes into Manhattan to work, but cannot shake the shore attitude feel. LAME! But, I was there for the food. We ordered up some rolls and other appetizers. Came with a solid presentation and full of balanced flavor.
We all ordered up meals, the only one that came looking bad was the 4lbs football shaped burger. My girlfriend said the taste was as bad as the looks… Not sure why she ordered it, but she was in the mood for beers and a gourmet burger that night. Everyone else was happy with what they ordered.
I would go back, but on a Thurs night… Friday was good, but the bumping techno music progressively got louder as it got later, making for a conversation at the table tough. We would have had more drinks, but the music and scene drove us away. Not sure why they wanted a Jersey shore club atmosphere, but a stronger playlist of music made from instruments played at a reasonable level would help the ambiance.

This is one of my favorite places to dine in Rochester. The food, drinks, staff, venue, and atmosphere are perfect.
The atmosphere is more reminiscent of a trendy venue in New York City than a location in downtown Rochester. The drinks are unique and tasty, and the bar is well stocked with a sophisticated inventory with something for everyone and a staff that aims to please.
The menu has something for everyone from the sushi aficionado to a great burger, to an always pleasing pasta special. If they have the Uni special (and you’re a sea urchin fan) or the Tuna Tartar appetizer special, get it, you won’t be disappointed, and will probably order more! Of course, the Fire and Rice roll and the 7^th Level (if you like your sushi spicy!) are phenomenal.
I’ve never been disappointed with a visit to Nikko and it’s always been one of my go-​to places in Rochester!

Updating my review: went to Nikko last week for my birthday thanks to my husband — amazing meal! First of all, it was a Tuesday night so the beefy men at the bar were absent and the place was quiet, lounge-​y and trendy. I liked the vibe. Our waiter was great. We started with a simple roll and some salmon nigiri. The fish was fresh, yes, but even better was the rice. The quality of the rice is crucial when it comes to sushi, which is why I hate wegmans sushi — the rice isn’t fresh and it’s slightly dried out because it has been refrigerated. It completely changes the taste of the fish. At any rate, the sushi was good.
Next, we had the crispy calamari, beef short ribs and pork belly. I liked the fried jalapeños with the crispy calamari, and there was a good ratio of tentacles to rings. However, the squid itself was on the chewier side. Still pretty good, but not standout. The pork belly was delicious and the vegetable purée and rich sauce were wonderful accompaniments. The shortribs were tender and fell apart appropriately. We finished with profiteroles and vanilla gelato. Generous portion and executed well.
Overall a much better experience than my previous visits — we will likely be going back to Nikko again in the future, on a similarly quiet weekday night.

:My bad:
I finally decided to give this place a second try and it was amazing.
We sat at the bar, my man has a Sazerac with a huge ice cube, it was perfectly made and I was jealous as I was drinking my go to; beer and a shot.
The sushi was off the charts. It is the BEST sushi I have had in years. In fact I have not had sushi this good since I left the Bay Area in 2008.
Not cheap, the rolls we had averaged $ 16 but they were huge and made with quality ingredients.
The T-​T Flares roll @ $ 17 was AMAZING. Lobster, tuna and salmon topped with seared madai (snapper), hawaiian lava salt and torchi sauce, STFU! This roll was so good I could have eaten 10 of them
The 7^th level with spiced tuna and tuna sashimi, jalapeño and tabiko was amazing as well.
We also sampled Hamaci and Maguro sashimi, $ 3.00 and $ 3.50 per were so fresh and clean.
I am happy to report things have greatly improved and we noticed the manager enter and tell the staff to break up their conversation and get to work.
The bartender was very pretty and nice but a bit shy… service was good and she knew how to make a drink.
Also, this place is not easy to find… I say do a drive by before dinner so you know where you are going.

Walking into the restaurant for the first time, I was immediately impressed with physical décor of the restaurant. Like others have mentioned, the restaurant is very easy on the eyes. A pleasant surprise for a restaurant secluded within Rochester’s Inner Loop. High ceilings, dim lightning and modern furnishings give the restaurant a trendy feel. It’s small, but intimate and cozy at the same time. Similar to Good Luck, the bar serves as the restaurant’s focal point as you walk through the main doors.
They have a fairly comprehensive drink menu with some creative original cocktails. I am a sucker for sake cocktails, so I ordered a «Gingers Always Win.» It consisted of sake, pear vodka, lychee fruit, syrup, lime and sparkling water. Quite delicious and refreshing. I definitely would order it again. In addition, they have a wide variety of beer, wines and sake. A good place for happy hour, I would imagine.
The menu at Nikko is focused, which is a plus. Similar to Next Door Bar and Grill, they have an East meets West fusion themed menu. There is a good selection of sushi rolls. I expected to see more «Western» items on the menu. At the same time, I was glad that I did not have to flip through multiple menu pages, instead having all food items concentrated on a single page.
I ordered the Roasted Marinated Beets salad and the T-​T Flares sushi roll. The T-​T Flares consisted of lobster, tuna and salmon topped with seared madai and spicy sauce. I’ve had better beet salads elsewhere, but Nikko’s was still pretty decent. Generous slices of beets served with arugula and ricotta. I was looking for a little more element of sweet or sour. Maybe a touch of honey or a little more strawberry vinaigrette would have done the trick.
Well first of all, I am by no means a sushi purist (if such people exist). I eat my fair share of spicy and crispy rolls. I’m also a big fan of sushi rolls with cream cheese. While I thought my rolls where tasty, I couldn’t really appreciate the taste of the actual fish. I felt like the sweet and spicy sauces drizzled on the rolls completely overshadowed the raw ingredients. This is not too surprising for a fusion themed restaurant. My only other issue with the rolls was the portion/​price ratio. The rolls were on the smaller side and for $ 17 dollars I expected slightly bigger portions.
Overall the food was good and I will be back to try other items on their menu. My friends ordered the pork belly and seemed to enjoy it, although again portion sizes seemed on the smaller side. We found ourselves asking for more bread multiple times. :(
The service was okay. Our waiter was polite and well-​informed about the food and drink menus. Even though a handful of people from our party did not show, he allowed us to keep our table seating. One person from our party was not that fortunate, however, in that the waiter messed up her order and it took her another 30 minutes for her original order to arrive. Her meal was on the house, which was the appropriate thing for management to do.
My friend’s late meal combined with the smaller portions and higher prices made me lower the rating from a 4 to a 3.5. There is a lot of potential for this restaurant and I will certainly be back. Hopefully i’ll be able to upgrade this rating at that time.