Doraku Sushi

I don’t know if they are under new management or what but the whole vibe seems different. The food is meh. I ordered a coconut roll and it was alright, kinda small. All of the dishes are toddler-​sized. You need to spend $$$ just to get full. I just feel like you get better tasting food at better prices elsewhere. Not impressed… and this used to be my fav spot.

Pretty good items but I would skip the most expensive sushi roll. That was the worst item. We had ordered about 6 items and were full. The best was the fish bowl with rice. IT wasn’t too costly and tasted the best.
We also noticed a bad smell possibly from the menus or the wet cloth used to wipe the table.
But that didn’t stop us from enjoying the food. It was very busy with lounge like music and trendy atmosphere for eating/​drinking.

The ambiance and cuisine is perfect at this Lincoln Rd sushi restaurant. We started with the spicy edamame which had a great balance of sauce and texture. Then we moved onto the Age tofu, Wasabi Roll, avocado roll and Red dragon roll. All of their sushi was fresh and absolutely tasty. Our waiter, Steve, was super friendly and fantastic!

I used to really like this place, but unfortunately I have noticed that the quality of the food has really gone down hill. I went a few weeks back for dinner with some friends, I ordered a roll and the color of the fish was a bit off. I should have gone with my gut and mentioned something. I ended up with food poisoning, sick in bed the whole next day. I’m fairly certain it was contracted from there. Lesson learned.
Also, the service… I myself have worked in the biz for 10+ years and the service was TERRIBLE. The hostess walked us past a clean table, onto a dirty table. Instead of wiping it down, she set down our menus. When I asked whether she could wipe the table down she said someone would get around to it and walked off! Talk about working as a team. The waitress didn’t even notice the dirty table and when I asked her to please wipe the table down she brought ONE damp napkin and wiped it down. Later, our food was served and we sat there for a few minutes with no set ups and nothing to eat our food with. It was terrible. Although I would admit, of all the times I’ve been there, this was the one particular time the service was that bad.
There are still tasty items on the menu, but they have removed certain items (the sweet garlic edamame) that I once loved. Anyhow… I don’t think I will be visiting again anytime soon. It’s a shame.

Given the high prices for small portions of mediocre sushi and subpar service, I can’t rate this place anything more than two stars.
My friend and I stopped by Doraku for an early dinner because we had some major sushi cravings. This place had AC on full blast inside (in the middle of January, really?) so we decided to sit outside because it was actually warmer. We ordered two rolls:
Emperor Roll ($ 15) — Tuna, salmon, krab, shrimp and avocado rolled riceless with nori and breaded with panko. Tasted good, though nothing special. Sadly the rolls began unraveling and falling apart once we picked them up. I’m guessing since the rolls don’t have rice in them it’s difficult for everything to stick together. Still, this dish could have used more finesse.
Red Dragon Roll ($ 14) — The size of these were small compared to rolls at other sushi places. Tasted okay and looked pretty but I’ve had way better for the same price.
Overall. unfriendly pricing considering the quality and quantity, forgettable food and slow service. Me no likey. If you insist on eating here, maybe take a stab at their sashimi or donburi or drop by during happy hour.

I all most never write reviews and it’s even less common that I would write a bad one. This place didn’t even get out of the blocks!
The waiters were so rude and (at least 3 waitstaff) unlnterested in serving us that we finally left. There were several tables that had been served. My wife finally walked back into this place and still no one came to give us menus fire the staff and start over!

The smell drew us in.
We had just finished watching a movie with our 4 & 5 year old girls and wanted to grab a bite to eat. We were walking around and there were a lot of different lunch options, as we walked by this place I got a wife of something delicious. As I looked to my wife and made eye contact she immediately read my mind. Had right turn and we were standing at the hostess stand.
Immediately seated our family made drink orders and we were informed that this is a Japanese style tapas restaurant. To which we were excited about, and of course the kids love sharing our plates anyhow. We ordered a seaweed salad (my favorite), a teriyaki chicken with rice for the kids, Brussels sprout appetizer, a chicken stir fry, and a lobster sushi roll. We probably looked like we were starved the way we licked our plates clean.
The kids loved everything, except the lobster sushi roll, because we didn’t share. The seaweed salad was traditional and delicious, the Chicken Teriyaki was amazing, came with a light teriyaki sauce, broccoli and rice that was cooked to perfection. I kept stealing some off of their plate as they were eating. The Brussel sprouts were finger licking good, came with almonds, a wonderful sauce and were cooked to perfection. The chicken stir fry, my pick, was great. Kids and wife loved it, next time I’d order double chicken. The lobster sushi roll was amazing, soft but had a fried outside.
I cannot wait to stumble back into this place.

The best sushi place I’ve been to in years. I was visiting the South Beach area for the Art/​Basel weekend and wanted to indulge in something delicious. My counter part is not a adventurous eater so once we scanned the menu and she was able to see that they had ‘cooked’ items, we decided to stay. I had a couple of sushi rolls and sake. She had the chicken and fried rice. All was delicious. In fact, I went back for more the next night after she left. I wish Doraku was closer to home.

Our Airbnb host recommended Doraku Sushi, so we decided to check it out. We came NYE Eve eve, so it was relatively busy. We waited for about 30 mins to be seated, but we had the best seat in the house. A window both right in the front. Definitely the highlight of the trip.
Our server was very nice and upfront about how the food would come out. He explained that it would arrive to the table at different times. Unfortunately, it took longer than usual to receive drink orders, but that was his only flaw. I was impressed with the food at all, but it wasn’t bad by any means. Highly unlikely that I would come back.

Good ol’ trusty Doraku. Always been a fan. Been coming here for years, this location was a fixture for me and my friends for years and we have gone back to their HH, which is great.
I have always liked their food and sushi rolls as they are always fresh.
HH has great prices for drinks such as sake, margaritas and wine.
We ordered a bottle as all my friends are wine drinkers and as we were a large group we ordered a bunch of plates. Worth mentioning their brussel sprouts, tuna tataki, miso eggplant and mighty sushi roll.
Ambiance is typical Doraku, club-​like music and great service.

Happy hour here is one of the best deals for amazing food on Miami beach. Usually I get a little skeptical with happy hour food, especially at a Japanese restaurant. I immediately think of the chefs in the back taking week old Tuna and smothering it with spicy mayo to mask the un-​fresh flavor of the fish. However, doraku does just the opposite. Every single dish was delicious except the Japanese sausage. It tasted like a hot dog.
Favorites of mine: salmon carpaccio, tuna tataki, salmon donburi bowl, and the squid kara age.
It’s worth coming here just for the happy hour deal. The food is fantastic, the atmosphere is hip and energetic, and the staff are friendly and always close by if you need anything. Don’t Waste money at sushi samba or nobu. I’m a New Yorker and I don’t eat bad Japanese food! Come by and try this place out and you won’t be disappointed.

Estuve el dia de ayer celebrando un cumpleaños. Fue una experiencia increible. El lugar bastante acogedor con una decoracion espectacular. Ambiente bastante calido he intimo para ser un Sushi Bar. Nuestro camarero fue Ivan el cual tuvo un servicio al cliente espectacular. La comida me encanto ordenamos varios rollos pero el que mas me gusto «Volcan» la enasala de jengibre de la casa fue una delicia. Sin lugar a dudas volveria a este lugar aparete se mi recomendacion 100%.

Average sushi rolls. Asian steak is recommended. Service is good but there is pungent smell of bathroom cleaning mop which wanted me to puke and leave the restaurant. It would have been so much better without that smell.

I had a bad experience my first time at this location and posted about it on social media. I was contacted by the GM, JC who truly made an effort to remedy the situation. Although my experience here was not the best, I must admit that management seems to value their customers and take complains seriously (which not all places do). So I am editing my past review (below).
I’m only giving this place 1 star because it will not let me give a lesser rating. I called this place 15min before I arrived on New Year’s Eve and by the time I arrived they told me that the kitchen was closed. I called the restaurant at around 8pm and the hostess on the phone encouraged me to come in, when I arrived the hostess informed me that the kitchen had closed at 7pm. Not only was the hostess incredibly rude but the manager did not seem to comprehend that I had just spoken to someone over the phone and they had told me I could come in for dinner. Not only was the kitchen closed but I cancelled an existing reservation to eat dinner here bc I had tried the one in Brickell and loved it. Not only was I forced to scramble and find a new place for New Years ever dinner last minute but the lack of empathy or concern from the staff was something I’ve never experienced.

I’m not really a fan of the sort of glam sushi bars specializing in rolls. I think they’re sort of an overpriced way to try to make sushi «fun» when all it needs to be is tasty. On the plus side, the happy hour prices are decent.

Maybe it’s because we ate a huge meal beforehand and I was a bit full, or maybe it was the actual food, but Doraku was just alright for me. When I got my glass of water, there was a bug in it… so had to get a new one. My friend and I shared a spicy roll of sushi which was pretty good, and the grilled salmon salad. The salmon was grilled chunks and was a bit dry for me. The salad dressing was good but there were a ton of shredded beets on top.
Overall I wasn’t too disappointed by the meal because we ordered from the lunch happy hour menu and it was inexpensive.

Oh Doraku, you definitely come to mind when I recall my days living in Miami Beach. Nothing like the feeling of knowing that you were there whenever I felt like having decent Sushi and drinks, before or after a session of people-​watching at Lincoln Rd…
The décor combines this nice asian flare with a modern, trendy vibe. The food is really good, not the biggest portions I’ve seen, but good stuff nonetheless. The cocktails are yummy (I’m totally addicted to their lychee martini), and their happy hour remains one of the busiest in the area (…because of their lychee martinis, obviously…) and still one of my favorite HH spots If I’m in that vicinity.
Too bad the food takes a while to come out, but this place is crazy busy so whenever I’m headed there the first thing I do is remember that fact to avoid any frustrations…
Did I mention it is right next to the movie theater? Definitely a PLUS, at least for a movielite like myself…

I first discovered this place in Brickell and was very happy to see that they also have a location in South Beach. The SB location has a very good vibe with a good blend of techno/​house music pumping at just the right tempo so you do not have to scream to have a decent conversation. We ordered a vast array of food:
Miso sea bass, fried bok chop, shishito peppers, edamame (of course), salmon jalapeño rolls, Emperor Rolls (Note: Krab is imitation meat, so we subbed for Hamachi), spicy tuna rolls, avocado/​eel rolls, and a roll that consisted of yellowtail and scallions. Everything was amaze-​balls and very fresh. The prices are reasonable and the service was excellent.

Fantastic rolls — God of Fire and God of Longevity were awesome! Fish was very fresh and key for me was that the rice wasn’t «over rolled» meaning that there wasn’t so much rice on the roll. I hate when place do that cause they are trying to fill you up with rice or give you less fish. This was perfectly portioned and the Tuna Tataki and Tuna Poke were great starters.
I love that you can sit outside and people watch, the servers really know their Sake, and food came out really fast too.
Next time I’m there, definitely hitting happy hour as you may easily spend $ 50 a person on an average night.

After not visiting Doraku for about 2 years, I decided to come for lunch to get a fix for the sushi craving I was having that day. Their lunch menu offered various of their regular dishes, but at a discounted price which was a nice surprise.
I decided to order the hamachi crispy rice and the snow queen roll from the lunch menu. The crispy rice was 3 rectangles of deep fried rice topped with chopped hamachi (yellowtail) in a delicious and refreshing sauce. I was surprised at how much fish it actually came with. The snow queen roller had shrimp tempura and avocado inside and was topped with hamachi, a garlic aioli and eel sauce. The flavors of the roll were very good, but I wished the yellowtail flavor shone a bit more. I also tried a piece of my coworkers God of Fire roll (spicy tuna and cucumber roll topped with tuna, jalapeño, and a spicy aioli), which was tasty and had a nice kick. All the sushi was fresh which I think is one of the most important characteristics of a good sushi place.
The ambience of Doraku is cool and hip and it definitely makes a great happy hour /​night spot. Definitely not my last time here!

Went to Miami beach during spring break with my friends from college, and I was researching reasonably-​prices restaurants we could eat at during our stay. I stumbled upon this find, and it didn’t disappoint! I had the salmon salad, crispy spicy tuna, and the tempura brownie for dessert. The salad was super fresh, the crispy tuna was delightful, and the tempura brownie was outta this world.
For a lunch for 4, everyone got 1 – 2 dishes and shared desserts. The bill ranged from 70 – 90 $, I can’t really recall, but I thought it was a steal compared to other south beach food spots. I loved it and the convenient location within the outdoor mall.

Excelente!!! Principalmente o Atum, muito fresco. O único porém é que a cozinha encerra as 10:30 e nos dois dias em que fomos a música estava muito alta.

Worst service ever. I don’t mind paying much for great food, but the food here is regular, small portions and way overpriced. I don’t recommend.