Restaurant: Nami Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar Location: 5th and University, Hillcrest San Diego, CA Phone: (619) 297-7888 Price Range: $6.95-$14.95 for main courses.

Number of visits: 1
Last visit before review: September 16, 2000

Randy had: Seaweed salad, baked yellowtail in banana leaf (with vegetables and noodles), hot tea iced tea.

Jeff had: Miso soup, braised short ribs of beef (with noodles, sugar snap peas, onions, carrots), iced tea.

Rating 8 (of 12) Good

Jeff says: The miso soup was good and not too salty like other misos I've had.

Randy says: I also thought the miso was good. On the seaweed salad I thought the dressing was too strong.

Jeff says: I thought the seaweed salad was good. The short ribs were delicious. They came in a big bowl mixed in with the noodles, vegetables, and sauce that was just perfect.

Randy says: The short ribs were flavorful, but the sauce was a little too sweet and salty. The yellowtail was served with an elaborate production made of removing it from the banana leaf, but the fish and vegetables were very bland. The noodles on the plate were about the only thing that wasn't disappointing.

Jeff says: The iced tea was very good. It came in a nice tall glass with an artfully carved lemon and had a good taste. The waiter kept the glass full.

Randy says: I first ordered hot tea, but when I saw that it came in a bag, I switched to iced tea.

Nami offers trendy "Calasian cuisine" with showy presentation, but as we discovered some items are superb while others fail to deliver, making it very hard to arrive at a rating. Because we know this, we may go back for more of what we enjoyed.