Obento-Ya Japanese Bistro
| Address: | 1510 Como Ave SE, Minneapolis, MN 55414, USA |
| Phone: | +1 612-331-1432 |
| Site: | obento-ya.com |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM 11AM–2:30PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 15
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Nuey S
First timer here. Read amazing reviews and did not entirely meet my expectations. Was seated immediately upon arrival. Walls were being repainted so they had big plastic sheets on them behind where you sat. Did not really bother me however. I had takoyaki which was delicious and is the closest thing that rminded me of back when I was in Japan. Also tried their karakatantan noodles for $12..not pleased at all. Felt it was kind of a waste and overrated. It was bland, bitter, and fishy tasting. It was not spicy tasting like it said it would be. The grounded pork meat bits had the best flavor and too bad it was drenched in weird tasting broth. One hit and miss I gotta say. Service was great anyways! Coming back for takoyaki, not ramen please.
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Helen Lin
I used to love obento ya, and then it changed owners. Now they dont serve sushi anymore and only do bento boxes and an expanded Ramen selection. But their Ramen is really not as good as it used to be. Their new tantan is still really flavorful but devoid of the additional garnishes that gave the flavor so much dimension, like the wood ear, green onion, and the dried pepper strings. This used to be my favorite hole in the wall where I happily paid $13 for a bowl of ramen, now its just another mediocre, slightly overpriced, Minneapolis Japanese restaurant.
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Megan Braunlin
The sushi that they make right there at the bar is wonderful; however the reason my review is so low is because I ordered the Robata grilled scallops with a side of sticky rice and when the entrée came out, one of the scallops was freezing cold on one side! Not a good thing! I brought it to the wait staffs attention and they said it is supposed to be that way even though the other scallop on my plate was hot. The sushi was amazing but I found the customer service to be very rude and not understanding in dealing with my order.
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David Mendolia
Visited last night having not known you had dropped sushi. There were only two waiters working the whole room and the place was packed. There was no host... We waited quite a while to be seated; only to be dumped next to the seat the post mates, bitesquad, amazon etc guy kept coming in and out of at the sushi bar. The person that sat us did not make it clear that no one WAS WORKING THE BAR otherwise we would have left that moment. Service was slow and overall the atmosphere seemed hectic and understaffed.
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Eric Evanson
Worst service Ive had in years. Didnt have any utensils at the table (not that big of a deal) but each person had to individually ask the waiter for them as he brought us our individual plates. Every time we asked he acted like it was some big chore. Most the food was mixed up and brought out to the wrong people and he asked us to sort it out, not even telling us which sushi roll was which. Sushi was below average, Ramen was good and so was the Yuckatori, too bad the service was awful.
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Brett Hebert
Weve been looking for a good ramen place (there are virtually no ramen dedicated restaurants in MSP, based on my Google search). This place does ramen very well, though youll be able to tell from the menu that its hardly their focus. Its got a nice storefront, Japanese counter service vibe. The head chef was exceedingly nice to apologize for the long wait due to the rush that preceded us - the food was worth the wait. Its a nice spot with good prices - Ill be back again for sure.
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A Private User
The food here was good and it was a nice atmosphere. The service was very disappointing though. I had a portion of my sushi dropped all over me by the waiter. The food was replaced, but was disappointed with how it was handled. Also, the waiter offered to split our bill, but it took close to 30 minutes to get our bills after we were finished and they were not correct. We had to send them back several times to get them correct. Hopefully it was just an off evening.
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Andrea Matthes
They NO longer serve SUSHI, service was average not like it used to be, atmosphere seems like a totally different restaurant by the service, and overall feel. There was one other couple at 7 on a Wednesday night. I think it was a mistake stopping their sushi menu. I had the somen poke which was good, my friend had the shrimp bowl also good and a delicious banana crepe. But it was a serious disappointment because those items were nothing like their sushi.
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A Private User
Ate lunch there for the first time last week. Service was exceptional, the ambience was pleasant, the decor tastefully done, and the food was terrific. The presentation in its laquered wooden box almost made it too beautiful to eat. I ordered pork, my wife ordered salmon, and both were done to perfection. The potato salad was a tasty surprise. The perfect amount of food, and the price was just right. Cant wait to go back! Highly recommended.
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A Private User
There is nothing to fault here, not insanely expensive (for sushi) great decor and attentive, knowledgeable wait staff. The large bento box is a lot of food and is a good way to try a variety of things. The rolls we saw at other peoples tables looked amazing. My wife tried the sake flight and was treated to three very different high quality sakes and the menu description of each was spot on. I cant wait to go back!
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A Private User
The restaurant is beautiful and clean. The sushi and other Japanese foods are delicious. I lived in Japan for a long time and this is some of the best sushi and sashimi Ive had outside of Japan. The happy hour specials cant be beat. Not only do they have low-priced drinks but extremely cheap sushi rolls. If memory serves, spicy tuna is around $4! Definitely stop here for their "Sushi Bowl" on Sundays.
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Justin Kennemur
Easily one of my favorite restaurants. My wife and I moved to Minneapolis a year ago and I work with a few Japanese colleagues. They all recommended this place as the #1 place in town to get Japanese food and sushi and they were right. Ive been to this place over 10 times now and never had a problem with the food or the service. Please make the curry pockets that you had on New Years Eve a permanent menu item!
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Cesar R
Great service and very friendly staff, its casual relaxed atmosphere with great Japanese food reminded me of small restaurants in Tokyo. Will definitely come back here again and try out other dishes. The dessert are rice cakes with ice cream inside (green tea, vanilla and strawberry), they are ok but so cute I can look at them all day. The other one is the Bento box sashimi tuna cubes which is very good.
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Mary Beth Beckman
Excellent, delicious, wonderful, and honestly the best value for my dollar Ive found at a Japanese place in town. The service is prompt and friendly. The food is wonderful. I especially love the shrimp tempura. SO GOOD! It has a clean environment (though not the most comfortable seating). The restaurant is small and it is not open very late, so plan ahead if you want to eat here. But I love it.
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Megan Johnson
Love Obento Ya! One of my good friends lived down the block so for a while she and I were frequent fliers. I moved away for a while and every time I would come home to Minneapolis to visit I would try to get back to Obento Ya. Love their yakitori chicken bento and shrimp bento! Really havent had anything I didnt like here but can relate to weekend lunch waits being rather long. Worth the time!
