[rating:4]

I was taken here today by the Mrs and a few close friends. I’ll be honest, I have mixed feelings. Where does one even begin?

We were originally supposed to go to Cabana, but that place was completely packed. This was my wife’s backup choice, and we had reservations here as well. It was a busy evening for dinner, and the whole Forest Hills area, particularly this strip, was buzzing with energy. Summer is definitely in the air.

We had to wait for our full party to arrive before being seated, which is fair. I was hungry and a little impatient, but the hostess who spoke with us was very friendly and pleasant. When I asked for the men’s room, she pointed me in the right direction and made a lighthearted alternative suggestion with a smile.

Her warm manner and good humor helped me settle down. I had a ginger ale and some edamame while waiting for the rest of the group. That helped quite a bit. I’ll admit it freely, I do not function well when I’m hungry. Eating on schedule matters a lot to me.

I ordered a regular salad, which came with a mayo based dressing rather than the ginger dressing I expected. It was good, just a bit of a surprise. I also had a kani salad, which was quite enjoyable and well received by everyone at the table.

I went with a spicy tuna roll as usual. This version leaned more toward the tuna than the spice, but it was still good. The spider roll was just okay. Not particularly impressive there.

For my main dish I ordered beef teriyaki well done. My only real complaint was that it arrived quite heavily sauced. There was a lot of teriyaki sauce on it. My wife offered to trade her Chilean sea bass for it, and I eventually agreed. The sea bass was quite good, and the beef was solid too, but the amount of sauce was just a bit much for my taste. I also tried my friend’s salmon sashimi, which was pretty good. I have been making a point to try more raw fish options lately.

The staff was friendly and attentive throughout the evening. They sang happy birthday and used a gong to get the room’s attention for it. Slightly embarrassing, but genuinely fun. I got a good laugh out of it.

Service felt a touch slow at times, though I am not entirely sure whether that was because they were pacing the meal, dealing with a busy house, or something else entirely.

Narita is a solid spot and I can see us returning. Probably not on a Friday night though. It gets pretty lively out there.