Nama Sushi Bar - Downtown Knoxville

1st timer! Half price, on selective, sushi on Mondays & Thursdays. Came here for dinner on Monday around 6pm. There was a 20min wait. The hostess was very bland & not welcoming. Our waitress was great. The sushi as THE BOMB ! I do not eat a lot of sushi but this place was good! We also got a Rainbow roll (not half off), a tempura roll (delicious), soy roll (fabulous), a Cali roll, add cream cheese (wimpest roll but still good, wasnt worthy of a picture lol), and the BB Roll which was the best!! Definitely getting the BB Roll, soy roll & tempura again next time. We also ordered Saki which typically come HOT, we asked for warm, and they brought us one hot and one cold. Atmosphere was cool, that have big TVs up high to watch while u wait and 2 bars.

Showed up on a Friday night. As expected there was a 30-40 min wait. Took this time to walk the area. Finally seated and ordered the chefs special roll. First time I’ve ever been asked what I wanted on the roll with it being the chef’s special. Needless to say it was amazing. All my favorites… eel, yellow tail, salmon, tuna. Mmmmmm! They also made us a special roll that was no LONGER on their menu. It was the Yoga roll but it seemed rather plain. Sounded better on the description than it actually was. Not bad but my expectations probably let me down. My son had the drunken noodle with mahi. Spice level 3. Very nice! Not too spicy but enough to make you sweat a little. :) Good beer and wine selection too.

Fish is not very fresh.

This is easily my favorite sushi joint in Knoxville. I always get the chef’s special because when you don’t give the chef restrictions by ordering a menu item, it’s often better than. We went tonight (Thursday = half price night) around 6 thinking we’d get there before the discount crowd yearning for California rolls. The ingredients were fresh as always, but what I got was so bland I couldn’t finish it. I couldn’t get myself to send it back because I’m not that kind of a person, but definitely do not go on half price night and expect their usual results. I was nicely told “Definitely come on another night when the chefs have more time to put into it”. All good. But if I’m getting half-*ssed sushi on a half price night, shouldn’t it be discounted too? It’s not the staff’s problem. That’s a management problem for not having enough staff to cover the demand to create a great experience - the experience people expect when they come to a place they know has a reputation for that. Everyone has off nights. This isn’t a complaint - more a moment for the team to sit with their output to understand what they can do better. Even the woman flying solo next to us didn’t get her food and no one checked on her the whole time we were there until she spoke up. I felt bad for her. But the bartenders did make it right - for her. Dietary restrictions: They did do a nice job accommodating the other party’s dietary restrictions. I’ll give them that :)

The Best Sushi and Service, Hands Down ❤️

This review is from the perspective of a Houstonian coming to Knoxville to visit. Was the sushi bad? No. Was it anything special? No. The avocado was a little old and i felt the price was too expensive based on the smaller portion sizes. On the plus side, everyone is super nice!