March 27, 2021
By Casey Cirne
Staff Writer
A plethora of menu options, expressive waiters and a family-friendly dining experience make Nizi Sushi, located on 340 Paterson Ave in East Rutherford, the perfect restaurant for Japanese and Korean cuisine.
Having recently relocated from Rutherford, the new, aesthetically pleasing location is much better suited to host the dozens of diners each night due to its larger size. Also catering to take out and delivery, Nizi’s kitchen stays busy throughout the night.
Meeting our waiter for the first time, my family knew the night would be fun. He was extremely welcoming with an over-the-top personality and a Spider-Man face mask. He handed us our menus and was quick to take our drink orders. I opted for a lemon Snapple.
As someone who does not like seafood, I was glad to see the large selection of alternate options. My chicken dish was deliciously crunchy and cooked perfectly. Looking at the menu, I could not wait to return to Nizi to try other beef and pork entrees.
The menu includes over 70 variations of sushi, various appetizers, entrees and lunch specials. Since my family dined in at Nizi on a Friday night, my eyes were drawn to the section of the menu titled “Dinner Sets.” This portion has beef, chicken, pork and shrimp options. Each dinner box comes with a California roll, miso soup, rice, salad and shumai.
When the animated waiter came to take our orders, I selected a chicken katsu box. Chicken katsu is a breaded chicken filet with a thick Worcestershire-style sauce on the side. My sisters both ordered sushi rolls: the Godzilla Roll and the Mike’s Roll.
The Godzilla Roll consisted of avocado, masago and spicy tuna. The Mike’s Roll is the perfect order for a picky eater or someone who does not enjoy seafood. It has avocado, chicken tempura and mozzarella cheese in a cucumber roll.
My table also ordered a “Love Boat for Two” to share. This included 10 pieces of sushi, 15 pieces of sashimi, a California roll, a dragon roll and a shrimp tempura roll.
While we did not order appetizers, the menu listed many intriguing foods, such as gyoza, kimchi and tofu fry.
The Nizi staff are particularly friendly and very helpful. Unfortunately, our table was placed in a side room, meaning we did not have quick access to a waiter and often had to wait long periods of time before being assisted.
The food arrived after a short amount of time considering how busy the restaurant was. After making everyone at the table wait for me to take pictures of all their plates, we were all eager to dive in.
As someone who does not like seafood, I was glad to see the large selection of alternate options. My chicken dish was deliciously crunchy and cooked perfectly. Looking at the menu, I could not wait to return to Nizi to try other beef and pork entrees.
Though there is not a specified vegetarian portion of the menu, there are salacads, soups and rolls that would all cater to this lifestyle. The waiters also made sure to ask if anyone at the table had any allergies.
For dessert, we each ordered mochi. Mochi is ice cream wrapped in caked Japanese rice. I went for simple vanilla. The other flavors offered were chocolate, green tea, mango, red bean and strawberry.
The dining experience was overall joyful and our waiter made sure we were always satisfied. Nizi did not disappoint and I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for perfectly crafted Japanese or Korean food.
PHOTOS BY CASEY CIRNE
Mochi is Japanese caked rice filled with ice cream.
