Sushi Okalani

Place was packed and they put us in a back room. It was awsome the kids were trapped!!! We really enjoyed it and the food was great along with amazing service!

I have never been treated so rudely at a restaurant.
I eat out in Hood River fairly regularly, and was really looking forward to sushi last night.
The «host» was a very tall, long blonde haired man. My boyfriend and I waited for a table for 2. We were the only ones waiting for a 2-​top and we wrote our name on the wait list, even though Host never looked at the list. He told us when we’d first come in, that it would «just be a couple of minutes.»
Fifteen minutes later, Host came back to again tell us that it would just be «a couple of minutes.»
Then, a couple (who were apparently friends with Host) walked in. The table we’d been waiting for cleared, and Host chat with his friends for a minute, and then promptly sat his buddies at the table.
Now it’s been FORTY MINUTES and we ask how much longer he anticipates it will be, to be seated. Host surveys the room, shrugs, then turns to us and says:
«Looks like there won’t be a table opening up.»
What? But you told us it would be just a few minutes, 40 minutes ago, and you just sat that couple who just walked in.
Host, unapologetically says:
«Sorry guys, it slipped my mind.»
‘Sorry guys, it slipped my mind’?!? What kind of response is that?! After all this time waiting, did he really just tell us that we wouldn’t be getting dinner here AT ALL tonight, and without offering neither apology nor alternative?
We left & had dinner elsewhere, as it were. I couldn’t eat dinner in the end, being so shaken that a host at a restaurant would treat someone in this way.
I don’t generally write reviews of targeted employees (I never have, to date) because I understand that restaurants can get hectic and everyone has rough days. But I have no hesitation in writing this review.
It’s fine to lack experience or make a complete err in estimating a wait time.
–But the host overtly lied to us about the wait.
It’s fine to forget you reserved a table and that we have to wait for another.
–But the host blatantly seated his preferred buddies at our table after making us wait 40 minutes for it.
It’s fine to make mistakes, and it’s extra fine if you make customers feel okay about it by admitting your fault and trying to make it better, if at all possible.
–But the host topped it all off to shrug and tell us it looked like we wouldn’t be getting dinner that night.
The whole situation was appalling. The host truly ruined my night and left a bad taste in my mouth for the restaurant.
If that’s service, then Okalani is going out of business real soon.
I don’t recommend this place to anyone. Instead, go somewhere where you will be treated with decency.

The best sushi in Oregon, and possibly the Pacific Northwest. Great service, great variety and great daily specials. Could not ask for better, nicer service. We always look forward to our visits here.

This is my husband and my «go to» place. We have been there many times, and NEVER had a bad, experience. We even went on an evening where clearly everyone in the Gorge wanted sushi, and the wait was long… What did they do? They immediately came over, gave us water, and edamame to snack on. The food is always fantastic, (best tempura around), and the specials area always inventive, and delicious. It is really nice seeing the owners taking care in their restaurants, and customers. Highly, highly, recommend this place. I know I will be a loyal customer.

Oh man!!! Still kicking out great sushi in a small local joint they were kind enough to take our number and call us when they had a table ready. Great food. Cat five maki fire wire tempura roll. Endame steamed. Giant fried tempura shrimp… Cold beers. Keep it coming.

Great place. Really enjoyed their house smoked Steelhead roll. I mean really, really enjoyed that. The service was fantastic both at the bar (2^nd night) and at the table (first night).
Yes we returned the 2^nd night, just to make sure the Steelhead was really that good!

Great Japanese eats! Small plates are small… I was still hungry. Next time I’ll order two or add appetizers.

Tasty sushi from a gang of white dudes. Great little find. Servers are hit and miss, but if you’re looking for creative sushi and sashimi in a mountain town it’s high on the list.

I guess I’m spoiled coming from the S.F. Bay Area in the sense that I’m used to authentic Japanese food. This food is inauthentic and terrible. The «seared scallops in a ginger cream sauce» was rubbery scallops in a thick gravy-​type sauce. The miso soup tasted like dishwashing fluid. The vegetables in the vegetable tempura were raw. However, my sister had avocado maki and really liked it. Her pineapple tofu was average. The service was slow and rude. Ordering is done by writing the order down on a card. After we did this, the waitress still asked us what we wanted to order. I really wish I could rate this place higher as I want to support local businesses. Hopefully they can improve their food and service.

I have never experienced such bad service. Went in with my parents and waited to be seated along with another couple who had been there far before we got there. The woman asked the extremely creepy host if they were going to be seated soon because her husband had low blood sugar and was not feeling well. The host, who also seemed to not be all there… Told them their name was crossed off the list, offered them complimentary edamame and proceeded to seat our party. My mom insisted that the older couple sit down before us and the host told her that it was a four top and it didn’t matter. So we sat at the large table all together. When we sat down, the couple still had not gotten the edamame they ordered 15 minutes ago, the gentleman was physically shaking and was having a difficult time even sitting up. We ordered our edamame 15 minutes after the couple and received ours at the same time.
On top of that, we had to ask multiple times for chop sticks, plates and napkins. We ordered 6 rolls and only four came out. The last two took so long that we told her to just put our last two rolls in a To go container. We were very very disappointed in the service! Wish Kaze was still open!

Delicious rolls. Even better sashimi/​nigiri! Big chunks of fish (we got salmon/​red tuna). So fresh and smooth. Get the Gonzo roll! Our favorite! Great little basement sushi joint. Underground secret in Hood River! Great prices even! Our second time in just over a month and we live 2 hours away! Went here two nights in a row! Doubled up on red tuna sashimi and Gonzo rolls!

Amazing little sushi restaurant hidden under stairs. I’ve had sushi all over the world and this is top 5!!! Amazing service with great ambiance, this is a must if you’re a sushi lover! We prefer the Gonzo roll and red tuna sashimi… Huge chunks of fish and very fresh! There was nothing about this place we didn’t like! Actually having it for dinner two nights in a row! Enjoy all!

Great food at a great price! The location is great! Walking distance to great shopping!

I LOVE this sushi restaurant. The whole menu is so amazing, and the staff is pretty cool!

Awesome service and some of the best vegetarian sushi ever! Loved that we could get the soy wrap. I judge a sushi place on how clean it smells. It was great and it was also a packed night.

Great food and nice beer, Make sure to make a reservation as this place is nearly always full.

Sushi Okalani offers an assortment of delicious sushi rolls and other staples of Japanese cuisine, along with a wide selection of sake and beer. The chefs are all professionally trained and very friendly — eager to take special requests and make recommendations. If you do plan to try out Sushi Okalani, I would advise that you arrive early or go in a small group of two or three; seating is very limited and fills up quickly.

Excellent sushi… Green Goblin by far my new favorite! Will be back again for sure :-)

I had heard great things about the sushi but was not impressed at all. I tried 4 rolls and none of them were anything special or really all that great. It wasn’t bad but also wasn’t good. The prices were not bad and they had a happy hour menu that had some good options.
The service is the main reason I will not go back. The waiter treated my (20 something year old) friends and I as though he would prefer to not waste his time at our table. He wasn’t very helpful and overall not friendly at all. When we asked to split our bill, he handed us a calculator and told us to do it ourselves. He brought our food out at different times (10 minutes apart), even when we requested to have the main items at the same time.

Let me start with, I love sushi. I would certainly be considered a sushi snob. Conveyer belt sushi joints disgust me. Not just because the presentation is lame, but they often use a poor quality product. And we are talking about raw fish. Not something you want to eat if it’s of any less than stellar quality.
So, what I suggest while in Hood River is venturing over to Sushi Okalani. I was delighted to see the quality of fish (no conveyor belt here) and I asked about it. Lots of wild options, some local, Ahi from Hawaii and an overall nice variety that is changed up frequently. I tried Walu for the first time here and now have a new obsession. There are some creative rolls and a variety of Tobikko which I was delighted to try as well.
The chef’s are personable and knowledgeable. The Sake selection is wonderful. I never knew how much that stuff could kick your ass… and the more you drink the better looking the chef’s get. There is one guy there that speaks Japanese which is really cool if you have cultural questions.
I also just learned that Sushi O. is now open 5 days a week for lunch with some new lunch specials. I haven’t tried them yet but am looking forward to it.
Here, Here for Sushi Okalani doing it right!