Miyabi Tacoma

So delicious!!! We just moved here from Texas, and we are huge sushi connoisseurs. Seriously eat it like once or twice a week. This is the one of the best sushi places we have found near Pugent Sound thus far! The salmon sunrise was amaze balls! Very authentic feeling. Great ambience!

If you are in the mood for a bento box or sushi you can’t go wrong here. There is a healthy mix of Japanese and non Japanese regulars here.
I ordered salmon shio and tempura for my lunch bento special.
The salmon shio was cooked well and the skin was very crispy. Tempura was lightly battered as it should be.
If you ever have any doubt how to evaluate a sushi bar, you can get a good idea by ordering aji and hamachi. Contrary to popular belief fresh aji or Spanish mackerel is not fishy. If the aji smells a little off or tastes fishy, it’s not fresh. Likewise if the hamachi seems a bit watery or pink, it’s likely frozen.
I’m happy to report that the aji and hamachi here look, smell and taste fresh.
It’s so rare to find a Japanese restaurant that is equally competent at the sushi bar and in the kitchen.

Service was kind of slow, but food was delicious. It’s not incredibly busy so I figured service would be better, hence all the other wonderful reviews. Though, I would probably come back for lunch. The nigiri was great! I had the red snapper and it was cut perfectly. The spider roll was also pretty good, especially with the mayo inside the roll. It all came together.

Slow service and I had the spicy tuna roll, tasted more like the old tuna roll. Never again.

Good food, and nice atmosphere! But the service can be lacking and the wait for food long. Also the food is a little overpriced. But just the same, I’ve come back a few times!
They give you a complimentary small bowl of edamame while you wait for your food, which is nice. If you have a larger party (more than 4 I believe), they have lovely little rooms with floor-​level seating. You do have to take your shoes off to go in though.
The bathrooms are nice, and clean! There is a little gift shop as well.

Great food and great service. We ate takoyaki as an appetizer and a few rolls of sushi. A couple of the rolls had fewer sushi than anticipated (Sounders and Storm roll each had 4), but they were larger than the other rolls. Everything tasted fresh and presentation of food was appealing. The waitstaff was courteous and checked on us often for refills.
Went here on a Saturday evening and it wasn’t crowded, but it wasn’t empty, either. We were motivated to try this place thanks to Groupon (which requires you to make a reservation). Prices are a little high, but that is to be expected from a restaurant that makes such fancy and delicious foods.
Overall it was a very good experience. Would recommend to a friend who is not afraid of raw fish.

Food was very good, service was a little bit lacking. Probably would be 5 stars just going by the food.
We were here on a busy Saturday evening, so it was 2 hours spent at the restaurant if you include the wait for a table. One appetizer order came out 15 minutes before the rest of the food but our other appetizer never got to us at all, we had to get it removed from the bill at the end. Disappointing to have that happen since the rest of the experience was above average.
The four of us tried the meat skewers, the Miyabi roll, sunny California roll, crunchy California roll, and the Mt. Rainer roll. All the rolls were tasty, and they were good sized sushi portions for the prices. I don’t know enough about sushi to determine how authentic it was but by flavor it was very good. I also tried an order of udon soup (very good noodles) and sampled someone’s cold spaghetti noodle salad, which was okay but not really something I’d order again (cold noodle and carrot salad dressed with mayo).
Price was 28 for two people, and the other couple paid 38. As sushi places go, this isn’t a bad price in my opinion.

A little pricey but the sushi is definitely delicious! Love it when it’s their anniversary they give out 15 $ gift cards to those who are dinning in! 3 rolls I recommend trying. Baked Scallop roll, Salmon sunrise and Dragon roll!

Still good but they have gotten busier so if you don’t mind waiting for your food then you should still eat here. We waited an hour only to find out that my friends order was given to the wrong table

This is the best Japanese restaurant in Tacoma so far. I love the food, everything is on point and the service is superb.

I was born and raised in Japan, moved to Washington in 2010, and this is the first place that legitimately made me feel like I was back at home. I was texting my parents photos the entire time (they’re still in Japan). My boyfriend had sukiyaki for the first time… He loved it! Practically inhaled his food. The Katsu Ni was delicious and I’ve been hunting for a restaurant that serves it for a while now! Also, they serve Calpis Soda! I could cry. I’m so happy. Other notes… the portioning was perfect for the price. I am more than satisfied with my experience. We made a reservation for our next visit already. :)
UPDATE: Our second visit was just as amazing and we sat in the tatami room for my boyfriend’s birthday. The family of 8 enjoyed it so much, and we loved the birthday treatment. Thank you again!

Miyabi has three restaurants located throughout the Puget Sound. Tacoma is fortunate to have one of them! They took over the old Kabuki Restaurant after Joe Kosai, a leader in Tacoma’s Japanese American community, passed away. He would be happy Miyabi in carrying on in his stead.
Miyabi is an izakaya, which is basically a Japanese Tavern. You can get Japanese beer on draft and various drinks, including hard to find Japanese whiskeys like Hibiki. This also means it’s not strictly yakitori or sushi — you can find lots of different foods at izakayas — which Miyabi ably delivers!
Masa-​san, the head sushi chef, came to us from the Tukwila branch of Miyabi. He is an excellent chef, but also very friendly and accessible. He will explain anything if you sit at the sushi bar or even visit your table if he’s not too busy.
Well-​prepared nigiri sushi and sashimi. You may order omakase (chef’s selection) here. Tell them how much you want to spend and the chef will prepare your meal. If you are a regular, they will come to know what you like and make sure to include those things. My favourite thing at Miyabi is the Uni Shot — uni, yuzu, quail egg & shiso leaf combined in one delectable shot ($ 5). I could eat this for days.
A lot of people comment on the maki (sushi rolls) — just a note, they have a lot of choices: they’re well done (toasted nori & good sumeshi) but that’s not their primary focus.
Yakitori is available. Skewers of chicken, pork belly and yummy harder to find things like chicken gizzards come grilled on skewers. I love the beef tongue preparations here — grilled beef tongue or the stew, which is decadent & rich.
You’ll also find standards like udon, sukiyaki and tempura done well here. Slightly harder things to find (in Tacoma) like agedashi tofu, chawan mushi and takoyaki are also available.
There are tatami rooms available for large parties or celebrations. Miyabi is child friendly and casual, but it can be pricey — so that is a consideration. My family comes here regularly for celebrations and they handle our parties of 10 – 15 very well. I’ve also brought friends here to introduce them to different facets of Japanese cuisine with great success.
If you are serious about Japanese food or sushi — this is the best spot in Tacoma for a stop.

This place is great. The tatami rooms are nice but the food is really great. There is a wide variety of traditional Japanese dishes, for sushi lovers, and for people who don’t eat raw fish. There is obvious attention to detail. The fish is very fresh. The toro (fatty tuna) was particularly delicious, as was the geoduck and hirame. Prices are slightly higher than some other area Japanese places, but you get what you pay for. The food here is at least a step above other restaurants in town. We had a Happy Tuna roll, some nigiri, the seafood chawan mushi, the seafood salad, and a few other things including bento dinners for our kids who are 2 and 4. The waitress was very attentive and knowledgeable and went out of her way to accommodate our overactive toddlers that really shouldn’t be taken out to a nice restaurant…
We will definitely be back soon, just without the kids so we can spend more time enjoying the food.

First time at Miyabi. I was hoping for fine fish, and found it.
Fresh and fine.
My companions ordered a roll of some sort, which I was unable to eat. It reminded me of Tuna salad — just what non-​sushi eaters enjoy. That’s fine for them; I need the real thing: nigiri and sashimi.
The saba was particularly nice — my favorite.
I will be back. Since Kompai in Puyallup closed, I think this is the place.

Interesting sushi restaurant. Let me start by saying the sushi itself was very good. My friend and I ordered the sashimi platter which had a great presentation. It was very good and the miso was good as well. The waitress we had was attentive and the prices seemed fair. However, my green tea tasted like fish — no exaggeration and the bowl of rice we shared was small.
The ambiance was confusing. It was a quiet and relaxing atmosphere allowing for good conversation if it weren’t for the two big screen TV’s at either end showing basketball. Plus the music being piped in was Hawaiian. It was like this place didn’t know what it wanted to be when it grew up.
I was a regular at the last sushi restaurant located here and miss it. I don’t think I will return to this one. I’ve had others much better.

Hands down the best sushi! After having sushi in Japan, all I could think about was the sushi there and no where has come close until we dined at Miyabi. This place is the REAL deal. The restaurant is Japanese– owned. The staff was great. We were greeted once we walked in and drinks and edamame came out shortly after we were seated.
There was a good amount of different choices. We marked what we wanted on the order form. Sound corny for some, but I think it was convenient and much more efficient than trying to blurt out every single rolls to the server.
Sushi will always expensive. It’s not a cheap date, but Miyabi is worth every penny. I thought the prices for the rolls were on par with the rest of the area… but taste-​wise was SO much better than Trapper’s and the like. I liked that the chef took his time to make the rolls, letting us enjoy our appetizer and drinks, as opposed to rushing to deliver the plate as quickly as he can.
The second I took a bite, I couldn’t believe it. The rice melted in my mouth, just like how I remembered it in Japan. The fish was fresh. The rolls were not drenched in sauce to mask the flavors of the fish. Everywhere else I have been in Tacoma had been disappointing, as the rice would be too dry and the rolls would literally fall apart as you pick it up. Not here. You won’t be disappointed. If you want REAL sushi, this is the place to go to.

overpriced place. that’s two simple words to describe this restaurant. I’m a sushi lover I try sushi everywhere in Seattle and Portland area. Miyabi’s chef is certainly trying hard to be creative. Their food is fresh, you can feel. But in terms of culinary, rolls are not creative enough. lots of people recommend bake scallop roll however I think it’s not as creative as popular sushi like Buffalo Vocalno Rolls or other variations of Spider Rolls in southern California area. They try hard but not creative enough.
The main point, is, everything is over-​priced. This is not a $$ level, it’s a $$$ level restaurant. Please be prepared. check my photos for their newest price menu. Again, food is fresh, service is fine. But OVER PRICED.

My mouth is watering just thinking about this place. It’s right next to our office, so we go here for business lunches pretty frequently. My bf and I are also relatively new to the northwest, and we still hadn’t found a sushi place that we craved going to — now we’ve found the place! The service is always excellent (even when our office goes for business lunches and 5 of us order 15 minutes before they close between lunch and dinner) and the sushi is always fresh. The baked scallop roll is to DIE FOR. The baked rolls of course take a little longer, but everything is always fabulous and well worth the wait. I’ve only really tried sushi rolls, but everything I have had is always yummy. I would never even have known this place was here if it hadn’t been for Unilocal,so thank you Unilocal for introducing me to this gem of a sushi spot! Everyone try; you won’t be disappointed.

Nice food. Nothing to really elaborate on. There was a lot of confusion with the staff. It was a busy night.
I wish I had more to say. I think I will give it another chance.

Stopped in for lunch yesterday. This place lived up to its previous reviews! Friendly waitstaff. Pristinely clean. Beautiful ambiance. Well timed food arriving at the table. Nice menu selection. Authentic employees and customers… always a sure sign of great food!
We ordered the Mt. Rainer and Super Salmon rolls, seaweed salad and karaage chicken. All beautifully presented and absolutely DELICIOUS!!! We will definitely be back for more!