Mikuni Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar

Good for the Sierras, and probably the best dinner option in the Northstar village. Not amazing, but it does the job and I would return (I’ve been here perhaps 3 – 4 times over the years. We enjoyed numerous generously sized rolls, and some decent nigiri. The rolls are probably the focus here– saucy and special, should you enjoy that type of thing. Child-​friendly food options and friendly in general. Not cheap but nothing at Northstar is, so this is priced ‘par for the course’. Call it 4 stars for the mountains and a 3 — 3.5 star restaurant in San Francisco.

Food was great. I had the Wednesday roll and the spicy tuna. I love how they don’t use a mayo type to make the tuna spicy. I highly reccomend going to this location :)

Amanda waited on us & she sweet & very efficiant. I had the best bloody mary EVER! We started with the «freaky edonami.» I probably spelled that wrong, but they were great. As was the «Mafia Roll.» My husband had the bento boxed and was just as thrilled!!! Can’t wait to come back!

Solid food and service. Asparagus appetizer was amazing. Followed by great house salad and sushi.

Food was great!!! Service was good. We had party of 4 and the wait was 45 mons (though they called us in 20).
We ordered:
1. Poke salad — yummy! Seared tuna instead of raw tuna.
2. Puff daddy — crab puffs. It was alright.
3. Pork belly skewers — too bland
4. Pepperfin with hamachi and salmon (delicious)
5. Black and white — my favorite! Has a kick to it.
6. Uni shashimi
7. Hamachi kama — took 15 mins but worth the wait
8. Spicy salmon roll — not spicy at all
9. Fiesta roll — way better than salmon roll
10. Ended with the deep fried cheesecake — tasted like toaster strudel

Love Mikuni. I think it’s the ONLY good restaurant in Northstar with the exception of Manzanita at the Ritz Carlton. Stayed here 6 nights and ate at Mikuni at least 3 – 4 times. There isn’t much competition as far as restaurants go but seriously sushi is really good. Employees are actually kind of happy and smiling. Most of the hostesses were nice and tried to appease the crowds with the wait times. If your in Northstar you must try.

It’s a bit pricey for the food. But considering that a burger is $ 15 on Northstar, this restaurant is actually reasonably priced.
We got a bonsai salad (OK), a spicy tuna roll (good), a Fiesta roll (so so) and a Marilyn Monroll (excellent). Service was quick because we got there before the lunch crowd.

My family stays at northstar every New Years and we always look forward to coming back here. Food is good, but the best part of this restaurant is their service. We are always a big group and they do their best to accommodate us, even during such a busy time. I always enjoy my meal here! Interesting rolls and appetizers, and pretty fresh fish! I particularly like the Annie Roll!

Inedible, expensive, the worst. I need not waste time writing more I already wasted my money and the hope of a decent meal while in Tahoe.

I thought I would give this place another chance before writing my review. Although I have had great meals at the Mikuni’s in Fair Oaks, this location is not up to par. On both visits I ordered:
BBQ Albacore– it was mushy and extremely wet inside. The second time I could only only stomach one bite, then no more. On both occasions I paid for it the next day.
Asparagus– super yummy
Edamame– also good
Tekka maki– solid
A few other issues I have are:
They don’t use sushi rice, tasted like plain rice. A lot of sushi bars are doing that these days and it REALLY bugs me! Sushi rice is what makes the sushi. If I wanted fish and rice I’d order sashimi and a bowl of rice!
The panko shrimp they use in their rolls are like McNuggets, reconstituted, shrimp sticks. I saw them behind the sushi bar and when I asked what it was, he replied «panko shrimp» and moved them out of site.
I’ve never seen a shrimp shaped like a giant fish stick!!!
The staff is friendly and the drinks are good.
Please work on the SUSHI

Service here could not have been better! Food was outstanding as well. Corkage fee was $ 25, but they weren’t snobby about us bringing our own wine at all (some places can be). We will definitely go back. Great ambiance. Nice well-​rounded menu. Plenty of cooked dishes & vegan options too.

Amazing food and service ! Like I’ve mentioned seating is a bit snug and when you walk thru the door average welcome from host. Our waiter in training was outstanding! On Sunday evening. He was very helpful professional and on point with all service and in great spirits. We are here for our second night and it’s now Thursday evening we came in for some beef teriyaki and edemame, tea and California rolls once again our waitress of the night was on point and in great spirits. Very attentive and we are happy with our service once again. Thanks guys foods great. Oh the only two minor flaws are what I’ve mentioned earlier. That’s pretty much it thanks again guys hope to see ya again next year!

Expect a wait cause it’s busy, and for good reason. If you can, squeeze in at the Sushi Bar cause the entire menu is available there, too. Rob, the Sushi man will take care of you. The Tuna Sliders were excellent. Also had the Grilled Asparagus, Tempura Udon and Sesame Chicken.

Good sushi and creative rolls. Service is great. Healthy good kid choices. They go through a lot of sushi, so it is fresh for a mountain restaurant. Prices are expensive at this location vs. Sacramento locations, but they give discounts to proven locals which is really appreciated.

Conversation with Sushi Bar Master
me: Sushi Master, how fresh is your fish?
Sushi Master: it’s fresh
me: Well, how fresh?
Sushi master: it’s as fresh as it can be considering where we are located
me: So, it’s not that fresh is it?
Sushi Master: Well, we take delivery every Thursday and Monday. Today is Satuirday. So its as fresh as it can be with that schedule
I dunno. I think I will go to and dine Mikuni because I ski and golf Northstar. I don’t think I would order sushi. I think I would order sake, prepared foods and meals but definitely NO sushi.
3^rd star because of the friendly staff.
(postscript: I’d drive to Truckee approx 10 minutes for sushi)

Always friendly while serving up delicious food! If you find yourself in the Northstar Village, make sure to stop by!

Friendly service! Seated quickly even at busy hour, but food overall took a little while.
There must have been a fluke on mine being a lot later than the rest of the table, but I’m pretty sure I was also just super hungry. Was waiting on sakedon ($ 25) from the sushi bar for a while.
Satisfied with portion sizes, but it’s kind of overpriced – especially dessert. Fried cheesecake isn’t as heavy as you might worry: more like cream cheese wontons (4 pieces).
Gets noisy, but very clean, and servers are attentive!

I want to like this place, but the fish quality is below average to poor. Sushi restaurants must meet very high quality standards. After all, they are serving RAW seafood, and anyone who knows anything about sushi knows that the kitchen must maintain obsessively strict standards of quality, as well as intensively picky food sourcing. There is simply no room for mistakes in the sourcing, storage and preparation of raw seafood.
I have been eating at Mikune since they opened. I probably eat in Northstar Village at least 56 – 60 times a year. And, considering how friendly the staff are and how nice the décor and ambience is, I really, really want to be a regular at this place. But, every time I decide to try it again, I am disappointed or nauseated by the food quality (mainly around the freshness and quality of the raw seafood).
Of course, if you order the deep fried food, flamed fish or the fancy LA sushi rolls (covered in sauces and combos), you will probably not notice it as much since the fish flavor is over-​powered by all the other added flavors. However, if you order the «fresh» fish via nigiri or sashimi, you will get a much better idea of what food you are putting into your body. The fresh fish menu has been the same for about five years now: Sockeye Salmon and Red Snapper (with an occasional surprise), an indication that the food buyer is bored or not paying attention. The Sockeye is pretty in color, but often tastes «old» and has fishy smell. Fresh seafood should not have a STRONG FISHY SMELL.
Today, they had a special Lobster Nigiri, which I foolishly tried (since Sushi Sam’s lobster nigiri in San Mateo is stunning). I could smell the food from ten feet away – a very strong fishy smell. I should not have put it in my mouth, but I did (social pressure). I almost spit it out on the bar. The lobster was caked in a white, pasty substance that reeked of dead fish. It was the worst food that I have ever eaten in my life. I still feel nauseous. The bartender was very nice about it, did not charge me and said that she would speak to the kitchen, exactly as she should. But, the fact that something that smells so horrible was released from the kitchen and got to my mouth is an indication that there are quality breakdowns happening in their systems.
Good news: The waiters are very friendly, lively and helpful. The décor is really cool, fun and clean. The menu is really fun for a party of skiers coming for a fun night. If you avoid the truly fresh fish, and stick to the cooked and seared stuff, you probably will have a fine time (especially with a few beers or sake, etc.).

This is a nice spot, very friendly staff, the sushi was dam good got the
Annie roll, it was very pricy for a small roll but your in north star so of course the prices of sushi is going to be expensive. You think that you will have a big roll when you spend 20 bucks on a roll but it was small 6 pieces

FOOD POISONING! Avoid!
We were big fans of Mikuni for a long time, having been Northstar season passholders for a long time. We loved their beef-​don that were served many years ago in the take-​out section next door. Unfortunately, this place has been going downhill for some time, and I had really hoped that it would improve over the last few years, but we just had a food poisoning event here that is the straw that broke the camel’s back. We will never be back again, to say the least.
Last Sunday, I had family visiting from out of town, and we excitedly settled into our condo in the villiage and walked over to Mikuni for our very first meal on the mountain. The food was reasonably tasty, if not expensive ($ 13 for a sushi roll), but this was what I expected to pay in the village, so no big deal. We had two kid bento boxes, a California roll, two more sushi rolls, an Udon, and a beef teriyaki entrée. Everyone was reasonably full and we walked out of the restaurant reasonably happy.
The nightmare begun about 2 – 3 hours later. One of the kids on our trip started to throw up all over the bathroom, and this lasted all night. An obvious case of food poisoning! We happened to have a SF doctor friend who is also renting a condo nearby who came to check up on the kid, and confirmed it as a typical case of food poisoning.
Given that the only other food she ate after lunch was a packaged chocolate bar (which I also had part of), I think this was pretty clear case of where the source was — Mikuni, a meal that I spent over $ 100+ for.
The kid ended up missing the entire day of skiing, held up in the condo, vomiting water and Gatorade all day. We went to the restaurant to inform them of the issue on Wednesday. The assistant manager promised to talk to the supervising manager and get back to us in two days. They never called.
We called again today, only to be told that it wasn’t their responsibility, since no one else had called to tell them they got sick that day!
Need I say more?!