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Amura Japanese Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Japanese Restaurants Sushi Bars Japanese, Sushi Bars [Edit]
7786 W Sand Lake RdOrlando, FL 32819
Neighborhood: Dr. Phillips
(407) 370-0007
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 10:30 pm
Fri 11:30 am - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Trendy
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
76 reviews for Amura Japanese Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"Best bets: try the Atom Bomb, Godzilla Roll or the Volcano..." In 2 reviews -
"Tuna tataki was amazing, a bit spicy with delicious fried..." In 3 reviews -
"If your a fan of tempura this is the roll for you." In 8 reviews
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76 reviews in English
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Review from Michelle R.
Brooklyn, NY
2/24/2012
The sushi here is amazingly fresh (I feel as if I tried a little bit of everything considering our order came out on a huge wooden boat, not one of the smaller plastic (though reasonably big as well) boats, and their wine selection introduced me to my new favorite pinot gris, so no complaints here! Will definitely be back.
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Review from Allison K.
Whittier, CA
This place has its highs and lows .... Great service great ambiance ... But when it comes down the price and food quality not worth it .... I've had better sushi, the presentation looks great but when going to
Amura your going to pay ( this is a la comparison) Yamashiro prices for Maki Yaki food ... Your on yelp just search them
In los Angeles ... All n all over priced .. -
Review from Randy M.
Orlando, FL
2/3/2012
The low rating is almost exclusively based on service -- or lack thereof. Despite getting a reservation, our group of 8 waited nearly 40 minutes passed our reservation time to be seated. When approaching the Host about the unacceptably protracted wait, he offered no apologies, no free appetizers or drinks. In fact, he didn't say a thing... Are you kidding me??? What kind of service is that?
Upon seating, we brought up our concerns about the wait time to our server and asked for the manager. It took nearly 15 minutes for the manager to finally come to the table -- I assume he was probably working on other complaining diners -- and when we told him our complaints, he simply said sorry and walked away. Are you kidding me??? Unbeknownst to us, he had told the server to bring us free desserts for our trouble, but he certainly never TOLD us this. And not to look a gift-horse in the mouth, but what if no one in our group wanted dessert? Rather presumptuous.
The food itself is good. Other posters have noted several of their well-known and popular rolls. My main compliment is that they do not typically use aioli on their rolls, unless noted. I'm finding more sushi restaurants are doing this and it's not a trend I particularly care for -- just empty, usually tasteless calories.
If Amura could fix their service, I'd recommend this place. In the meantime, avoid this site unless you want to have a 3 hour dinner and be mostly ignored all night by the staff. -
Review from Amanda Jean Z.
Orlando, FL
1/14/2012
I was not blown out of the water by this place. Some people swear by it. I say, it's way to hyped up.
Sushi was exceptionally good with a few flaws. Presentation was gorgeous. I had the dragon roll, and it was drowned in eel sauce. The eel was flaky and tender though, I did not care for what was inside the roll, it had a odd bitter flavor. Second time I went, I had the rock and roll sushi. Again eel sauce was the flavor that took over the roll, and the tempura shrimp inside the roll was completely soggy and had no flavor! Gross. When I order tempura, I expect it to crunchy!
Atmosphere was very nice. The service however needs work. The hostess was rude and the waiter looked like he was dying to go home and blew off all his tables. So not professional!
Prices are very steep here too. Rolls are almost all $12 and up.
Take it from me, there are better places out there that will please your taste buds and wallets! -
Review from Dani D.
Davenport, FL
5/2/2012 Seated via OpenTable 1 Check-in Here
Love the food here but service is inconsistent and the noise level borders on annoying when the dining room is busy. Baby octopus and the Rolls Royce roll are amazingly tasty.
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Review from Steven K.
Los Angeles, CA
4/4/2012
You would think after so many years of sushi and so many great experiences that I would learn to be careful. Not in Orlando.
Food poisoning is all I can say. When you go to a Japanese restaurant that has a chinese and a Korean section in their enormous menu, you have to assume that nothing is their focus.
The food was uninspired at best and the service was their but you were not allowed to speak to the sushi chef's. I spent the night praying to the porcelain gods after a worthless meal at Amura. -
Review from Candace W.
Windermere, FL
3/12/2012 3 Check-ins Here
I have here a few times for both hibachi and sushi. Both were decent, I'm trying to be unbiased but I do have my favorite spots. I recently went for sushi and i had the mango roll. I must say it was quite good. Overall decent experience, only criticism is the service could've been more attentive.
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Review from Sharon Y.
12/7/2011 1 Check-in Here
Nice selection of rolls but far from the best sushi I've ever had (then again, I'm from LA, so my standards may be a little on the high side). Of the rolls that we ordered, my favorites were some sort of crunchy spicy tuna roll and the Hawaiian roll.
One of the things that makes this place challenging to evaluate is that it's very difficult to assess the quality of the fish they use because (1) spicy tuna seems to be an ingredient in over half of their rolls [the spiciness can mask flavors], and (2) just about every roll is oversauced.
Don't come here looking for high-quality traditional Japanese sushi. Come here for the fun atmosphere and the pleasure of choosing from a myriad of creative roll combinations, and you won't be disappointed. -
Review from Tom B.
9/11/2011 1 Check-in Here
My first visit to Dr. Phil's Amura. I went to the one on Church Street, "the haunted one," years ago, but don't remember much about it.
I like a little dinner with my wine, so I started with my usual starter, edamame. I like to say the word edamame.
For the main course, I had a sashimi (or was it nigiri?) called the Hydrogen Bomb, fish eggs with wasabi, encased in an almost impenetrable seaweed, a Yellowtail nigiri, and two rolls, the Rolls Roys and futomaki.
One of Amura's signature rolls, the Rolls Roys was tasty and was presented first. Would it be wrong for this white boy to offer some words of wisdom? "The shorter the grain, the stickier the rice." Remember that. This roll ended up a mess, so much that I almost had to ask for a fork.
The futomaki roll which I've had at several other places was inferior, and also entombed in that same seaweed.
Amura claims to be one of the best restaurants in the world. It isn't even one of the best in Orlando, or Sand Lake Road.
And would it hurt the staff to smile just once in a while? -
Review from Libby W.
8/7/2011 2 photos
In my quest for Orlando food so many people have said "Go to Amura and have the Rolls Royce Roll."
It seems to be very popular. So I wanted to check it out and see what the hype was all about.
I was in a good mood, service was excellent and cheerful, the saki I had was good.
I ordered Toro (Fatty Tuna) Sashimi and the Rolls Royce Roll.
I had some time to sip my saki and look around the place. The decor is sort of like early 90's trendy. I almost thought at any moment Kelly Kapowski and Zack Morris would walk in and take a seat at the bar.
The bar is near the entrance which I don't like. I like bars further from the door, so that patrons are not exposed to the opening and closing of the door. It's a little off putting.
My server was a doll. Sweet, attentive, and likable.
My fatty tuna came to the table except it didn't look or taste much like fatty tuna. It looked and tasted a lot more like regular tuna sashimi.
The difference is the coloring and marbling texture. The tuna belly is more marbled and fatty hence the name "fatty tuna" It gives you a very melt in your mouth luscious flavor. The color is more pink and marbled.
The reason it is market price is that Tunas only have one belly so it's not as common.
I was charged market price for Toro - fatty tuna - $10.99 for 3 slices of what looked and tasted like regular tuna. (see picture)
Then came the Rolls Royce Roll. It was super ricey, It was pressed rectangular and was 95 percent rice 5 percent filling. The menu on their website boast - Kani, Escolar, Tempura Crunch, Masago. - http://amura.com/wp-co...
I was not impressed at all. It fell apart into two pieces and the middle section where the "goodies" were supposed to be only yielded tiny scraps of kani and tempura. I could not find any escolar at all.
I was not happy with the extreme amount of Kale garnish and all of the garnish in the middle of the it. It seemed to be filler. in fact the whole roll is filler.
Basically it's a roll of rice and tiny scraps for 12.99.
1.5 stars. as the sushi rice is good and the service is good but I can not excuse the rest. -
Review from Nate B.
Austin, TX
8/16/2011 1 Check-in Here
If I had a dream of what a sushi restaurant could and should be, it would be Amura.
I started with the Coconut Shrimp as an appetizer. The shrimp itself was delicious... the sauce, however, must be directly imported from Heaven. It was fantastic.
*Tokyo Roll*
I'd totally eat it again. Every day. Order it.
*Rolds Royce Roll*
I can't talk about how good this roll was. It was too sacred of an experience. Repeating it would be a desecration, and I'd probably be smitten by the forces of the universe. Just go eat it. Now.
Seriously... now.
Go.
Now. -
Review from Joshua J.
7/19/2011 1 Check-in Here
1. It is important for businesses to have their correct hours of operation on Yelp. (Note: They are not open from 11:30am - 11pm on Fridays, they close at 3pm and apparently reopen later in the evening.)
2. If your restaurant is completely empty with the exception of one booth, you shouldn't seat me back to back with them. I don't have to be on the opposite side of the restaurant, but at the very least a booth between us would be nice. I get this is might be slightly less convenient for you, but you are supposed to be creating a customer experience, not your own.
2. If a restaurant is closing in eight minutes, the hostess should
notify you before sitting you at a table. This shouldn't be left for the waiter to do when he presents the menus and says, "if you order in seven mins I can bring you your food."
3. I don't care how nice the decor is, tables draped with nice linens and then covered by paper ruins all of your other efforts to "class up" the place.
4. If told that placing an order in seven minutes is acceptable, then don't bring the main course two minutes after the apps arrive. Forgive me, but I like to bite, chew, and swallow my food - this requires at least six minutes for me. Sorry, I'm no Takeru Kobayashi.
5. When a request is made for nothing spicy, that means don't put ANY spicy sauce directly on the sushi - decorative or not. The traditional wasabi ball and ginger garnish is fine, as it can be easily avoided if undesired.
6. When notified that a small portion of the dish is incorrect, DO NOT remove the entire plate, run the incorrect pieces of sashimi under water to remove said spicy sauce, and then return to me on what is now a very damp bed of lettuce. This is totally unacceptable!
7. When a drink refill is requested, it is customary to fill the glass full, not just under 3/4. Yes, I got the hint you wanted us to go.
8. When the check is brought to the table, it should be set down and left alone. Do not come back to the table just to adjust the position of the check in order to prompt us to get the hell out. I got this hint too! -
Review from Kimberly M.
Denver, CO
10/4/2011
This is hands down THE BEST sushi I have ever eaten. In fact, my boyfriend generally refuses to eat sushi anywhere else these days because he is so spoiled by Amura's sushi that he ends up disappointed when we go elsewhere. We used to routinely drive from Tampa to eat here, but since we've moved out of state all I can do is dream about it.
Our favorites are:
The Volcano Roll
The Bubba Roll
The Crunch Roll
The Tango Mango Roll
The Ginseng Stamina Roll
The rolls I listed are amazing. Every time. I recently ate at the Amura in Lake Mary and I think the rolls were even better than the ones at the Dr. Phillips location...Although I really didn't think that was possible.
Sushi is about $7-12 a roll. -
Review from James Michael S.
Chicago, IL
1/28/2012 1 Check-in Here
This is a bold, very bold statement but Amura has some of the best sushi I have ever eaten. Do not skip the rolls royce roll...everyone I ate with said it was in the top 5 best rolls they have ever had and we all get around quite a bit when it comes to food. The crunch roll was a close second. I would highly recommend this place and when I'm back in Orlando, I will be sure to visit Amura again.
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Review from Julia I.
Los Angeles, CA
7/26/2011 1 Check-in Here
Wear your 80's gear so you match the decor!
Decent but not stellar. Been there only with large groups and they seem to handle those well.
Appetizers are ok. Sushi is pretty decent. Rolls are too ricey. -
Review from Kathy D.
6/13/2011 1 Check-in Here
I have been to Amura's in Lake Mary several times, but this is the first in the Dr. Phillips area. We had a large party of 13, and had pretty good service considering the big group with a baby! Half ordered sushi while the others ordered off the regular menu. All the food pretty much came out minutes of each other between the sushi and kitchen. We started to realize that we forgot to order a dish for someone, and they were really quick to bring their dish out when everyone already had there's.
Beef tartar was a great appetizer to start with and one of my favorite rolls there is the salmon tower. We did order around 8 different rolls, but that one was the only one that stood out. -
Review from New O.
Orlando, FL
11/23/2011
This place has seen better days. They removed my favorite roll off of the menu (Kiwi Phila Roll) which I was told I could ask for when I came in (despite it not being on the menu anymore). Every time I ask for it they say "Oh, we don't have any kiwi." Supper bummed about this!
The seaweed salad used to be served in a plentiful portion....not so much anymore....
Overall, I don't know if I will be coming back here. It's sad because I really did like this place a few years back! -
Review from J C.
Scottsdale, AZ
12/22/2011
They always have great sushi and will make room for you if you don't have a reservation. They also have cool food options for people who aren't big on sushi like their chicken terryaki roll.....very yummy.
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Review from G L.
Windermere, FL
2/6/2011
We came here for lunch and had sushi rolls. Food was served fast and waitress was great. The rolls were delicious and with lots of fillings. It is pricy but definitely worth the bucks.
Loved it. We will be back. -
Review from Andrew H.
Port Richey, FL
1/24/2011
I love sushi. i really do. i love it more than beer or cigars. well, not really but if sushi was a lover, i would tell sushi that i loved it more than the beer or cigars just to sleep with her again.
Amura is a nice place but it is expensive. the sushi is very good. it really is but the cost and bad service make me want to not go back. our server assumed that her tip was big and tried to keep our change. we had to wait 10 mins for her to bring it back. i am a great tipper but only when it is warranted.
there was one waitress that was cute as hell, she had long red hair. -
Review from Lori F.
Orlando, FL
2/1/2012
I used to love Amura. I stopped by today for lunch and saw they made changes. I liked the new atmosphere. But, it ends there. I always ordered the Sashimi combo and what I received were 9 itty bitty pieces of fish, 2 pieces of fake crab, (labeled "krab") and 1 shrimp. Quality was OK, but portions were tiny and if I wanted fake crab..... I won't be returning any time soon. There are a number of other quality sushi places nearby and I will spend my hard earned money in those.
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Review from Melly M.
11/12/2010
This place has some really mouth watering sushi rolls, especially the eel rolls that always give me ORGASM in my mouth!!!
Unfortunately I have only been there twice since I can't find more expensive dates to take me there (Just kidding!), but it's pretty pricey @ Amura.
Don't expect to go there for dinner and chit-chat with your friends for a long time, it gets so busy sometime that the server/owner would come to your table trying to get you to leave!Listed in: Sushi Restaurants to visit in…
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Review from David M.
Updated - 10/7/2011
My sons and I visited Amura's Tepanyaki grill earlier this week. Although the service was not as good as we expected, the chef did a great job with our table-side show and the food was outstanding. Amura's happy hour (Sunday-Tuesday from 5-6:30 for the Tepanyaki) is a tremendous value.
Listed in: Dr. Phillips, Business Meals
2 Previous Reviews: Show all »
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7/14/2011
I recently discovered that Amura offers half price sushi from 5-7 (Sunday through Thursday).… Read more »
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Review from Sam A.
Alexandria, VA
4/19/2011
Rocked into town late Saturday after eating blah for a week off of a cruise ship and I needed Teppanyaki stat. Benihanas was fully booked so no love there but Amura Dr. Phillips came to the rescue during that holy grail of a time slot, 8 pm.
First, my co-eater (female) had some type of Tuna roll which she said was amazing. Sorry, I don't know what type of sushi it was, I only eat sushi when trying to impress a date. Anyways, female co-eater said that she would come back for the sushi so I figured it's worth mentioning here.
On to Dinner. If you have been to a Japanese Steak House you know the song and dance. The miso soup was good, the ginger salad dressing was good, and my use of chop sticks was especially amazing for a gaijin. YOu should have seen me eat the soup. Had the fried rice which was very serviceable and the veggies were very good as well. +1 for limited use of baby sprouts and -1 for having to request mushrooms. It's a wash but a good wash.
For the main course I had redneck surf and turf (Filet and Scallops). Filet was medium rare (medium rare for steaks should be a law) and the scallops were cooked perfectly. The scallops were fresh too because they made that farting sound when placed on the grill.
All in all it was quite yummy and I left with a full stomach. If I lived in the area and had a date that was not Benihana worthy I would take her here (that's a compliment Amura). Oh, and who the hell is Dr. Phillips? -
Review from Ricky L.
Orlando, FL
2/27/2010 1 photo
I visited Amura Sushi a while ago. Maybe I had too high of expectations, maybe I was hoping to find that one perfect place to go for some delicious, melt in your mouth, freshly cut, savory sushi at Amura. Alas, my hopes were too high and my visit to Amura proved to be quite ordinary.
I have a problem with places that charge too much for too little. That's how I felt when I ordered the Rolls Royce, and all I got was rice with a sliver of shrimp in the middle drizzled with sweet sauce and topped with masago. I know it looks pretty but pretty is not going to fill my tummy. The Crystal Bubble roll that I got reminded me of a Vietnamese spring roll wrapped in rice paper. Maybe I ordered the wrong rolls this time around, but overall I was quite underwhelmed with my experience at Amura. -
Review from Eddie N.
Orlando, FL
1/9/2010 ROTD 5/18/2010
I always enjoy Amura, I think i personally have eaten about 1000 sushi rolls at Amura, Spicy tuna roll, great, volcano roll great, sashimi is always fresh and good, be careful of the specials as they can wack you with a hi price tag- one star, enjoy the crystal Bubba Roll,
When i first moved to Orlando we would eat at Amura about 3 nights a week. we only had the teppanyaki grill one time, it was good fun but i always enjoy sitting at the Sushi bar and enjoying. Reason for 3 stars they start cleaning and bleaching everything before you are done, that's kind of a turn off and dont make the owner mad she is something
Go early don't stay late and you will enjoy this fantastic Sushi Place on Sand Lake Road -
Review from Ming Z.
2/22/2010
In the short month of this Feb, we visited Orlando twice. We ended up eating at this restaurant on both trips.
The credit belongs to our dear friends Mr & Mrs. Wong, who introduced us to this restaurant. Mr. Wong is a Korean. He lives in luxury Isleworth country club. His passion is to look for good restaurant serve top quality Japanese food. He is a prestige biz man in Korea and wherever he travels around the world, he bring this passion with him, he looks for the best raw fish of the area can offer to him. I dare not to doubt him.
I dare not to doubt you Mr. Wong, this is the best Japanese restaurant you can find here in Orlando, even when my waitress asked me if I prefer some Korea Kim-chi....:) Ha....
The owner is a sweet old gentleman from Korea. He will offer his advice on food if you ask him. He take it as a pride how he serves his guest. He is very proud of his restaurant and that is why it is one of the popular sushi restaurant around Dr. Philip. plaza. I disagree with other yelpers about the ambiance though, I think it is just average, except sushi bar, there is zero relationship with any Japanese element you may find in Asia.
The Sushi bar is long and clean. I always enjoy watching sushi chef prepare my food in front of me. It is pure, if you know what I mean. It is an art. There are plenty raw sashimi to choose. Good presentation of sushi rolls. There are couple different menu and paper sheet you can fill out of your choice on the rolls. Little complicated but you will eventually figure it out. Or you can just sit at the bar and point what you want which what we did.
Hubby and I had 1 order of sashimi combo and 3 separate order of tuna, white tuna, octopus sashimi, 1 crispy tuna roll. And Mr. Wong, you are right! The raw fish is darn good. I would prefer they can cut the fish a little more thicker....;p
We also took the owner's advice ordered some Korean food. We shared Bibiba (white rice top with veges and sliced beef roasted in a iron pot) and short ribs. Both are excellent choice. I have to say it is the best I had outside of Korea.
Total bill including beers is USD 88. For a Japanese/Korean fusion restaurant and amount food we ordered. I think it is reasonable. -
Review from d a.
Orlando, FL
6/1/2009
The elusive Amura...
Some love it because of the food, others because of the ambiance, and then of course, there are those who love it because of its status.
I am giving it three stars as I am trying to be unbiased and impartial. But the more I think of it, the more criticism I can come up with. Don't get me wrong--I've been to Amura since it opened. I've been there enough times, since my immediate family seems to think that it's a quality restaurant ("posh," maybe, quotes used for a reason).
They should not call it a Japanese restaurant--it simply isn't one--rather they should call it Asian fusion, -Korean (they have kimchi), or -Chinese. If you speak Japanese, you can usually tell which restaurant is Japanese owned just by the name, but I digress.
Doubt any naming changes would matter as the clientele seems to think that sushi = rolls (the consensus in America). You know, the type who "loves sushi" yet is disgusted by sashimi.
Rant aside, why give it a three?
The sushi is expensive and not the best (maybe slightly above average). You can get comparable sushi just about anywhere.
They use kanikama though you can get crab at a higher price. No explanation needed of why that is ridiculous at a restaurant such as this.
I ordered toro and what they gave me was *not* toro....if you're going to charge market price, you better have the real deal.
As already mentioned by other reviewers, the service is often lacking. Not because they are slow, but because they are complicated. The servers need to take some sort of course on how to be more effective.
Not so unique, typical blend of surf & turf to raise prices.
Haven't been to the teppan side, so nothing to say about that.
A few good things about Amura:
Their variety of rolls. They were doing it before it became ubiquitous in Orlando. Though again, the meat could be anything and it would taste similar...
They use quality rice.
You can impress someone on a date.
It's not the most horrible decision you can make, I go there when I get invited. I should give it a 2, but I am fair. -
Review from David S.
Templeton, CA
Updated - 7/21/2009
OK, had a quick bite here last night. The entire sushi bar was populated by guys, which did not thrill me, but did create an interesting atmosphere. The food was not quite as fresh as I had the last time, and the service was a bit slower (which seemed odd since there was not that many people in the place.
The other thing I have a hard time with is ordering from a waitperson, and not over the counter to the chef... just seems odd to me.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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7/10/2009
OK, so I was really hungry after flying across the US all day, that may have effected my judgement.… Read more »
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Review from Jason L.
4/29/2008
So every chance I get to go to Orlando I like to go here. The food is very good and the staff is attentive and courteous. I love their sushi and espeically their rolls. Im from LA and I eat a lot of sushi but their rolls here are different and tastes great. I think my fav is the dragon roll which I have never seen anywhere else. Also, the cowboy steak is great and the chiliean seabass is to die for! Their teppan was whatevers, I've had better.
Price is decent considering what type of restaurant it is. I have been to plenty of more expensive places where the food tasted like blah. I highly recommend this place.
By the way the person who thinks its managed by chinese... learn your asians. We arent all chinese.. lolz and the person who was complaining about price, go check out Yamashiros since you are from CA. Now THAT is EXPENSIVE and it tastes like whatever and you get TINY portions. I hate tiny portions, just pisses me off. This place gives decent portions.
Anyways, highly recommend making reservations on friday and saturday nite. It gets packed.Listed in: Top Restaurants
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Review from Janene H.
2/9/2009
We really enjoy Amura's sushi. My all time favorite roll can be found at this location... The Rolls Roy. It is a huge roll that is sweet and delicious. Another favorite would be the Bubba roll. The volcano is good too but not as big here as at their downtown location.
The restaurant has hit or miss service and the wait for your food can sometimes be too long. It has always been worth the wait for us though; once we get our sushi we forget about any of the other problems. We always ending up spending way too much money here but leave absolutely stuffed. -
Review from Christie L.
Kirkland, WA
9/4/2008
Amura is awesome...
... When its not really busy say on a Friday or Saturday evening.
When this place isn't crowded the service is awesome, the food is amazing, and overall is just a wonderful experience. The thing I would say is just avoid going at peak weekend times since its near the tourist areas of Orlando.
I highly recommend the Rock and Roll here (eel salmon shrimp tempura eel sauce and who knows what else but its SO GOOD!)
My husband always gets chicken with shiitake mushrooms and if I didn't like sushi so much I think I would always order that!
The other advice I can offer is that if its too busy and you really want to go, suck it up and eat at the sushi bar. The chefs are nice and if you want to be friendly they are too but if you're shy they wont trouble you either. -
Review from Jennifer H.
Austin, TX
4/28/2006 1 photo
Great for lunch, dinner or special occasions.
Their lunch time selction is wonderful, fresh and pleasing to the eye. I have not had a bad experience yet. The wait staff are very friendly and pleasant, and will make order suggestions if you ask.
Best bets: try the Atom Bomb, Godzilla Roll or the Volcano Roll. I love all three. Their seaweed salad is just singing with flavor.
I make it a point to visit Amura for birthdays, promotions or just a quick lunch if I'm in the area. I think the prices are well worth the value, flavor and presentation of their sushi. In my past experiences, if 2 people eat enough sushi to get quite full, the total bill will be around 60, plus tip.Listed in: Top Restaurants
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Review from Monika S.
Jacksonville, FL
9/20/2011
Went on 09/18/2011...for a birthday dinner....first off the AC was broken...second the service was shabby and the food was not good at all...I eat anything, so me saying the food was not good says a lot....it only gets 1 star just because I was in good company...
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Review from Po T.
8/19/2010 1 photo
Went there with my brother a while back and just now trying to refresh my memory to write this review. We went all out and spent about 200 bucks in food and 30 bucks for tips since the server was very nice to us and she was born in Taiwan just like us which made the dining experience even better.
We started with cold cloudy saki and the baby octopuses for appetizer and for some reason it was really good so we reordered it a couple more times (and another bottle of different cold saki). Then we went all out on the sushi/nigiri a la cart and they brought it out in this huge wooden boat (almost the whole table) which made the diners around us staring nonstop. Our typical rolls and nigiris were great and we ate the whole boatload full of it. The lady sitting next to us was impressed how much we ate and made a huge comment on it.
We walked out of there extremely full and satisfied. Perhaps that's not the way to enjoy sushi by stuffing ourselves to death but sometimes it's just the only way to satisfy the urge for sushi! Will go back again sometimes! -
Review from Michael W.
Orlando, FL
2/28/2011 1 Check-in Here
I have dined here a few times before and their sushi is pretty good. The Tokyo Roll is one of my favorite rolls.
But this last time I was here, the service was horrendous. The waiter had zero personality. We had a large party of 10 on a long table. He took all of our orders down and I purposely did not write my order down on the sushi sheet they gave us because we were all being separately billed. He ended up writing our order down on the same sushi order form anyways. Half the table got their sushi 20 minutes ahead of us. The other half got our sushi placed on a boat which he placed at one end of the table. When I asked him why he had placed all of our orders on one boat when we clearly all can not reach the one boat, he stood there like I had just asked him how to solve world hunger. He then proceeded to just let us figure out whose sushi was whose on the boat. We were a party of 10, so I'm thinking he was expecting to give the bare minimum of service and tag on the 20% gratuity to the check at the end. Which he did, so I raised hell. The manager then took the gratuity off and told us that unless we specify we want our sushi plated separately, the waiter will automatically bring it out on a boat. Either way, it doesn't make sense and the waiter should ask. Just seems like a lazy serving system.
I like their Tokyo Roll but not enough to come back for this crappy service. I've experienced better service at the downtown location. -
Review from Jason S.
Reno, NV
8/15/2010
Touted as one of the best Japanese places anywhere by Zagats. Well, it was good, but I wouldn't go that far.
Sake list is anemic and typically caters to the non-educated sake drinker. Flavored sakes (*dry heave*) dominate the list. To get to better stuff, dig deep. Daiginjos and Junmai Daiginjos aren't even listed that way. They're called "better" and "best." That's like saying a sauvignon blanc is better than a pinot grigio-- one isn't better than the other, it's just what you like or pair. Anyway, 0 points on the sake list. Stick to the Sapporos and other beers. You shouldn't have sake with sushi anyway.
Service: Pretty good. Not excellent, but overall attentive. Left us hanging just a couple of times. Can't really complain without being picky.
Food: Started with fried calamari, which was cooked perfectly. Well executed. Moved on to various rolls, all done very well. Rice to fish ratio was lopsided well in favor of the good stuff. Rolls were packed with the stars: Salmon skin, yamagobo, tuna, etc.
Three of us, with booze, $110. And we were satisfied. Each of us ordered 3 rolls, and we weren't tempted to get more.
Overall: Definitely one of the better sushi places I've been. Not mind blowing, but solid. I would go back for sure. -
Review from Basil A.
Orlando, FL
3/31/2010
First off, the food is excellent. Don't expect real, traditional sushi you would find at other places outside of Orlando. Not only is the sushi tasty, most of the main dishes are as well. This is my wife's favorite place to eat, and I enjoy eating here as well. If only the waitresses weren't so darn horrible!
For a main dish, try the stir fried scallops and shrimp in some kind of garlic. It is pricey, but also very tasty. The eggplant dish is also very good, according to my wife and mom since I do not do eggplant.
The two best rolls in the place, in my opinion of course, is the Rolls Royce and Napoleon. This won't satisfy traditional sushi lovers, but it will satisfy the average connoisseur.
Once again, the food is great, the service at the tables is horrible. Where oh where is my waitress??? -
Review from Wayne M.
7/6/2010 2 photos
Went here for lunch, just after they opened for the day. We arrived a bit early and so we waited around for them to open. I guess we weren't the only ones waiting! As soon as they opened, people were coming from the parking lot walking straight to the front door. That was the first sign that this place was going to be good.
We were greeted and seated right away. Our server was there in no time prompting us for our drink choices. I was surprised to find out that they did not offer sweet tea, no biggie.
Being our first time there, I wanted to try a variety of rolls so that we could get a good perspective of the sushi there. Needless to say, we over ordered and ended up bringing home half of the rolls.
For appetizer (Like we needed one!), we had the oyster tempura. Although good, I would prefer them baked because there was just too much fried batter on the outside for my taste. The sauce they served with the oysters was good also.
We ordered four rolls, two of which was recommended by the server and the other two we chose at random. The server recommended the Mango Roll and the Volcano Roll. Both were excellent. I can't seem to remember the name of the other two, but they were also very good.
Yes, this place is a bit more expensive than most, but I honestly feel that they give you your monies worth. The rolls were definitely not skimped on.
We were pleased with the service and the quality of the sushi and we will definitely be back. -
Review from Boba F.
Long Island City, NY
4/2/2007
This is one of those restaurants that PRETENDS to be authentic Japanese when it is, in fact, managed by Chinese. Not sure what the Chef's are, but the sushi here was standard nonetheless.
Anyway, I was out with the senior management team on business and we ordered one "Sushi Boat", which is a huge variety of sashimi, sushi of various sorts. It's about $150 and can feed 6 people easily. My colleague ordered with specific instructions to our waiter not to "overorder" for us, and instead, we received TWO boats. So, clearly, there was a communication problem, and I got up and spoke with the Manager politely describing the situation. He response was to brush me aside, stating, "don't bother me with these kinds of problems". Suffice it to say, I replied, "What goes around, comes around".
Perhaps their were surreptitious intentions from the start, to make as much money on all guests (most are on holiday that come here?). I wouldn't put it past this terd of a restaurant.
Treat others (especially customers) with respect, that's all we ask, right?
