Nami Asian Bistro

We decided to try someplace new for my birthday and after looking at the menu online, chose Nami. I wasn't interested in sushi, but the entrees were intriguing and I love to try new flavors. We arrived at the restaurant on time for our 7 o'clock reservations and were shown past the large dining area to a small table crammed up against a half wall across from the sushi bar stools. The table top was dirty and the narrow space between our table and the stools for the sushi bar was the runway for the waiters as they moved back and forth from the kitchen to the diners in the other part of the restaurant. Feeling as if we'd been seated not just near the kitchen but in the kitchen, we asked for another table and were told that we could have a table in the drink bar, a dark room without windows. This restaurant is located on a lake. I had hoped to be able to eat my birthday meal with a view of the lake, which we would have had in the large dining room. To add further insult, as we were being told we'd either have to stay put or eat in the bar area, another couple was seated in a spacious booth at a window. We spent the entire meal with the waiter's black-clad behinds brushing quickly by our faces, one even jostling our table as he tried to squeeze past the waiter taking an order at the sushi bar. I especially loved it when a busboy strolled by with a large tray of diry dishes held aloft above our heads. The food? We both had a lobster and shrimp dish and agreed that we couldn't tell whether a bite we'd taken was lobster or shrimp with such a heavy sauce. One of the locals was ooo-ing and ahh-ing over the skills of the sushi ""artist"", but I, frankly, am not a fan of the whole ""cooking as a show"" type restaurant and really resented being seated where we were and not given the choice of a better table. I can only assume that they're so used to the fawning locals taking any treatment they hand out to them that they don't have a system in place to handle anyone who can see that the emperor has no clothes. I doubt this restaurant would survive with any real competition. Pros: The menu looked interesting. Cons: Even with reservations,we were given a terrible table. more

NAMI IS AMAZING. In response to sushigirl2222, as a former hostess, I would appreciate you not calling the system ""downright stupid."" It is in place to ensure that people whom have made reservations get their table at the appropriate time. If you came at 5:30, I am pretty sure we told you there is a table available, but we'll need it back at 6:55. Nami would NEVER turn a customer away when there is a table available. If you walked out without being sat, it is probably because you were too impatient to actually listen. more

OK, let me first say, I LOVE Nami's sushi and other asian fusion food.. The only reason I am not giving it the five stars... is because of the manager/hostess seating formula... I truly wish I knew the owner, because my husband and I go there at least four times a month, but it is getting more and more difficult to get good service at the door! The waiters and waitresses or wonderful! My husband and I walked in at 5:25 on a weeknight and there was not another single person in the restaurant, literally, we were it.. and they told us they weren't sure they could take us because they had reservations at 7.... at 7... like it would take us an hour and half to eat, just the two of us.. and NO ONE was in there! It was crazy! Anyway, making a long and annoying story short, food and wait staff, AMAZING!! Just make reservations EVERYTIME, cause the manager/hostess are downright stupid, and are making Nami loose a lot of money by turning people away at 5:30 because of reservations at 7:00.. NUTS I tell you Pros: Amazing food!! Cons: Terrible host/manager more