If someone had told me that there was good sushi in Nacogdoches I wouldn't have believed them. I would have been wrong. If someone had told me that the worst example of yakitori was to be found in Nacogdoches I would have believed them. I would have been right.
Nijiya is the new incarnation of Sushi-ya - a long standing favorite with sushi fans in Nac. I never went the Sushi-ya so I have no opinion. It's a pretty nice little restaurant that has a pleasant date vibe. Unfortunately that means you have to watch people swap spit after a tipple of sake.
As far as the sushi goes it's not very adventurous but I expect that if you were a regular or just sat at the bar and told the chef to make whatever he wanted you could get a good meal. This isn't sushi as high art but solid sushi. The octopus salad was a salad of baby octopi and this made me happy. The waitress did warn me before I got the dish - not necessary but nice.
The downsides are:
We went right after Ike and that was probably the worst time to go.
The place was busy and sorely understaffed. The waitresses were very pleasant but had that shell shocked look of being lost in the tall grass for too long. It took about two hours for us to receive two of our appetizers - the yakitori and baked tofu. We didn't cause a stink because the waitress was very nice about it - though it would have been nice to have been comped the apps. The yakitori was probably one of the worst things I have eaten in quite some time - since the chicken sandwich from Sonic incident at least. Cold, slimy, and genuinely depressing - yes I felt sad after I ate the yakitori.
Dear Nijiya, Please don't dump so much seaweed in your miso. I love seaweed but not in my miso. The seaweed starts to have the texture of a band-aid. If fewer people order miso invest in a better brand of miso. Hell I can bring some of the paste I have at home if you want.
In all a disappointing - overpriced - experience that doesn't give me much confidence or desire to return. As far as sushi quality goes I would say it would rank with Maru in Austin. Besides the octopus salad I won't be touching anything else on the menu.
Nijiya is the single best sushi place I know of from Houston to Dallas. Very good and consistant and not some overpriced BeneHana wannabe. Try the black pepper tuna roll, it's so good!
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