Hinoki Sushi

Went here because of the online reviews. But WOW, it's not good at all. Do NOT get any of the cooked rolls. Ie. Dragon, spider, etc, they are all very similar and does not taste good. Even the California rolls are not good. How can a Japanese sushi place don't know how to make a good CA roll? Go somewhere else. Service is super slow too.

Recently moved to Reno and have been on a quest to find the area's best All You Can Eat (AYCE) Sushi. This was my 7th place I have visited and I purposely saved it for last as a couple locals I met and reviews I read seemed to indicate this was a local favorite. It comes in 2nd out of the 7 I've tried so far. One thing I discovered is all places have very similar fish quality as they are probably sourcing most of their fish from the same sources and most of it, except the Atlantic Salmon comes frozen. So in my humble opinion, differences in fish quality are mainly due to the day of the week you visit in relation to how long ago the fish you are eating was thawed. I was there when the place was at most 10% full so can't judge service. Judging from the capacity though, I think it would be wise to avoid this place during weekend peak dinner hours if you can. The good: - No other AYCE sushi place of the other 6 had a larger selection of Nigiri Sushi. Many others don't have scallop nigiri (one of my favorites), Hinoki does. They also have Escolar White Tuna (different from Albacore and Hamachi) which others don't have. (My photo of the row of nigiri, the Escolar and Mackerel are in the middle.) - Fish quality on some fish seemed above average like the Mackerel was moist, oily and not dry and overbrined. The scallop was excellent but an extremely thin cut even for scallop as shown in my photo. - Rice seasoning is on point, not too much sugar and/or vinegar which some other places do. - Plenty of space for large family's and groups to dine both at tables and at probably the longest sushi bar of any of the places I tried. This place is definitely set up to handle volume. - Gobs of parking The NOT so good: - The mussels were WAY overcooked and chewy (but the sauce was good.) - Immediately you will notice the lighting over the sushi bar is terrible. It feels like the white fluorescent lighting in the exam room at a dentist/doctor's office. CHANGE YOUR BULBS! The lights over the tables are warmer, not sure why they went with shop light color lights over the sushi bar. - The decor and ambiance are, well, there really isn't much decor or ambiance. It's like eating in a small warehouse where all they did was paint the walls green. LOL. - The small size of the nigiri is very typical for AYCE but their cuts tended to look large but actually pretty thin so fish to rice ratio is about average for AYCE. - The roll menu is average in size and therefore might seem a bit limited for the Roll Fanatics. About 1/4th of the rolls have cream cheese. And about 3/4th of the rolls have teriyaki sauce. (Gee you can dump sugary-salty teriyaki sauce on a roll filled with hot dog meat and people will love it.) I find too much or too many different sauces sort of mask the flavors of what's inside the roll. (Roll enthusiasts may differ.) I usually order hand rolls as typically the ratio of non-rice ingredients to rice is higher than the maki long rolls. I tried three rolls here in hand roll form and two of the three were excellent, BUT, I asked for modifications. The "Odd Future" WITHOUT Teriyaki Sauce and the Cherry Blossom without the Ebi, fake Crab, and Teriyaki sauce. (There are so many ingredients in the Cherry Blossom if you had them all you are only getting minute amounts of each otherwise you can't fit them all in!) - The Cajun Tuna was not what I expected. Typically it is tuna seared with a cajun rub on the outside. There was no cajun rub so I think the cajun is the sauce they put on it which didn't taste very cajun to me or maybe the rub was so little I just couldn't see it. - Salmon Nigiri and Salmon Egg Gunkan quality was average at best with little marble in the salmon (think I had bad luck as other review photos show much better looking salmon.) This review is from the perspective of a Sushi Fanatic. Overall I'd definitely recommend Hinoki if the SE Reno area is convenient for you, especially if you have a group and it's not a special occasion where you desire a unique upscale ambiance.

I will admit, when I first pulled up to the sushi restaurant I felt like I was going to be disappointed. Me of little faith, this place gets packed so be prepared to come on the early side. I found the variety flavorful, and the staff went above and beyond to make me feel welcome. Especially the waitress with the blue headband and the tattoos on her right arm.