Nippon Restaurant was one of the first Japanese restaurants in Houston and is run by a husband (Naoki-san) and wife (Miami-san) team. The food is delicious, and very authentic. My mother is Japanese, and Nippon is where I go when I miss the homecooked Japanese meals (from umeboshi onigiri to sukiyaki) from my childhood. The sushi portions are less American-sized than other, trendier restaurants, but the fish is fresher and tastier than those trendy sushi spots. In Japan, sushi is a food of celebration, so go celebrate your love of fresh, delicately-flavored sushi and sashimi at Nippon...but don't forget to sample the reasonably-priced bento box lunch specials and the deeply-satisfying noddle dishes (I recommend the tempura udon). Appetizers I recommend are the seaweed salad and the hotate butter yaki (scallops cooked in a butter-white wine sauce).
Pros: great sushi, authentic Japanese dishes, nice ambience
Cons: parking, Japanese-style service that can seem slow to Americans (the server will not come to you for fear of being rude without you calling for service)
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