Nara

Reviews 7

GU

Guapozbar

Naras is truly one of my favorite dining experiances in KC. Known for their sushi, they also offer an asian fusion menu w/ soooo many options! Of course, the sushi is as good as it gets in the midwest, from the nigiri & sashimi to the rolls. I love their Mega Roll filled with tuna, salmon, yellowtail and avocado then tempura fried with yuzu mayo over dynamite sauce. I also enjoy what I would consider the non-traditional, "Americanized", rolls like the Mr Dandy which has tempura fried alligator. Or the Forbidden Apple roll that combines apple & mango wi/ tempura shrimp & a peanut sauce. The Mr Lobster roll w/ lobster salad, avocado, cucmber & dynamite sauce is another fave! My ONLY knock on their sushi menu is that they do not have Toro, but I guess I can suffer without it, lol. But, Naras is much more then just sushi! There are 16 small plates including the grilled scallops in lemon cream sauce & the steamed Vietnamese Bun. They also offer tempura shrimp, chicken, veggies & tofu. Plus grilled Robata skewers like the spicy Thai-Peanut sausage that is made by The Local Pig butcher shop in KC. Also, the Korean kalbi style beef short ribs, which are absolutely craveable w/ the perfect amount of heat. Round the menu out w/ nine entrees (PLUS a special every night) like the Beef Negimaki, thinly sliced sirloin wrapped around green onions served in a large metal bowl w/ their house-made teriyaki, perfectly stir fried vegetables & steamed rice. A mouthwatering must have! They have plenty for those that "do not eat raw fish", haha! In fact, you could dine at Naras 3-4 times a week, doing "asian tapas" one night, sushi the next and then come in for an entree & salad while sneaking in a lunch or two. Combine all of that w/ a large saki list & a fully stocked bar & OMG, Naras is like 4 asian restaurants & a bar all rolled up in one. But even w/ such a large menu, they truly do everything well. And the service is of fine dining quality! Naras staff is engaging, attentive, knowledgeable and consistant. Check out there specials or their AMAZING Industry night for you restaurant peeps out there!

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A

A Private User

I visited Nara for the first time last week since moving downtown. The interior is well decorated, and the location is in the Crossroads district. We were seated quickly as it was a bit early for dinner and relatively empty. At most places Ive been that serve sushi, they offer complementary miso soup before your meal. Not so here, youd have to pay over $5 for it. We had ordered two rolls of sushi for an inflated price, about 30 - 40% more than what I would pay elsewhere. So I had hopes that it would be excellent sushi, but that was just not the case. It was extremely mediocre. Id say it is on par with the premade sushi at most grocery stores, and even then Ive had better sushi from the little sushi bar in Cosentinos. The menu was very diverse, however, offering much more than sushi, but I dont have high expectations anymore. Our waiter was helpful, but not very personable. At least our water glasses never ran out. I would say this is a resturaunt for people who are not comfortable talking with an asian waiter or trying anything too different, but still want to feel hip, and that seemed to be the type of people who filled the seats while we were eating. I dont see myself returning again.

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A

A Private User

my boyfriend and i recently had a date night at nara last weekend. we made reservations but hit traffic on the way and ended up being almost a half an hour late. i called, and the hostess was very nice, said not to worry, our table would be ready when we got there. we were sat immediately at a small table and the server was over within a minute to greet us and take a drink order. i got their signature cocktail, and it was delicious. my bf wanted to start with sushi, so i let him pick the rolls, as im a newbie to the sushi world. im not sure what he ordered, but it was all fantastic. the plates came out looking gorgeous and the portions were so filling, we ended up not ordering off the dinner menu. our server was awesome and very knowledgeable about the menu. as we were leaving - 9:30ish - the bar area was filling up quickly and there was a full entryway of people trying to get tables. a dj was setting up too... it appears to be a great late night spot away from the P&L (

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A

A Private User

I love this place, really. Ive been eating sushi for a long time, and Id be hard pressed to find a better place for it in land-locked Kansas City. The sushi chefs are so knowledgable and creative, and they always accommodate for any special requests. Vegetarian? they got your back. Vegan? No problem. Dont like rice? Those boys will do a mean cucumber wrap for you. Ive never seen anything like it. Plus, theres a good-sized non-sushi menu for those who dont feel the raw fish. My boyfriend happens to love the green tea soba noodles with prawns, theyre fantastic. To top it off, though, the servers are great. Cheerful, attentive, accommodating, Ive never had a bad waiter here, which is much, much less than I can say about so many other restaurants Ive been to. I love it.

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A

A Private User

Went there for their "happy hour." Once waiting for 15 minutes to be seated in an empty restaurant we finally got a table. Told them we were there for the happy hour and it got real snotty, real fast! Was told we "SHOULD have said that at the door" and was moved to the bar. Once the order was placed it took forever to get our food and after we ate that and wanted to try something else it was met with more attitude. The waiter/bartender wouldnt even make eye contact with us and his horrible attitude ensured we would never eat at their mediocre establishment again. The food was just ok and the attitude made it awful! Do these guys a favor and dont eat there so they can shut down and find something they want to do, other than treat customers like crap that is!

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JO

Jordan Robertson

I was here on Valentines day. I had the soup. No idea what it was called. I couldnt even remember what this place was called. I spent the good part of a month trying to track this place down. Then, at 3 in the morning, I see it on here. I remember the outside of the building and the dark wood bar. This place was worth tracking down. When we went on V Day it was pretty packed. We didnt have a reservation. Our initial plans had been interrupted so we had to change it up at the last second. The hostess was sympathetic and fought pretty hard to get us a table. When we did get seated, our waitress was amazing for how busy she was. The food was amazing and the service was amazing. I cant wait for us to go back.

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MI

Miranda Buchanan

I went here with my girlfriend last weekend, Im 19 shes 20. I feel like one reason we were treated poorly is because we are both young girls. We had reservations made for 9pm, upon arrival we were not seated immediately which isnt a very big deal. The waiter took at least 15 minutes to take our drink order, then another 10 for food. After ordering our appetizer, and 2 entrees we had to wait another 20-30 minutes. Our appetizer was brought out with the food which we did not ask for, and it was cold. The sushi was not good. Overall it was terrible service, and nasty food. For that being our first time there I had high expectations, but I will not be returning. Not worth the wait or the money.

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