Uni'ko Japanese House - San Antonio

I stayed in San Antonio for a couple of days and ended up having dinner here. The service was great; even though we didn't have a reservation, our waiter didn't rush us at all. He made some excellent recommendations, and overall, the service was very good. We ordered five different dishes, and everything was delicious. The atmosphere could use a bit of improvement, as the chairs and tables felt a little worn, but I really appreciated the private vibe of the place.

Writing this review is quite a challenge. We were seated promptly upon our arrival, but that was the last of the good service. Our server brought us warm water after about five minutes and shared some information about the menu, but then disappeared for the next 40 minutes. We watched as she chatted with her friends and tended to the guests who arrived 20 minutes after us. After spending over half an hour trying to get her attention, we decided to leave. If you decide to go, I wish you the best of luck. You might need some magic powers to summon your own sushi dinner of fish and rice!

If I could rate this place with zero stars, I definitely would! I made a reservation for 7 PM earlier that day. When my friend and I arrived, we waited for 5 minutes before being informed that the restaurant was closing early for a "random deep clean" and that we needed to place our orders quickly. We ordered our food, but it arrived cold. Meanwhile, the staff began stacking chairs on the tables as if they were already closed, even though we had just arrived. Our server was unhelpful and seemed completely unconcerned about the situation. I will NEVER return to this restaurant. This is incredibly poor business.

Came in 2 hours before closing and was told they were getting ready to close in two hours and weren’t taking anymore food orders then was told there wasn’t anywhere else to sit while there were 4 tables open, then was told no one has gotten their food while literally everyone seated had food in front of them. So I was basically told 4 lies within the matter of 2 minutes. I just walked away because I could clearly see they didn’t want to service me because of my color. That’s okay because I had an AMAZING experience at KONA GRILL! I hope the girl who didn’t greet me with a hello but “um we won’t be taking anymore orders” has the life she deserves. I also watched waited from a distance for a few minutes and watched three people walk in, sit down AND get their order taken.

Uni'ko offers a truly unique experience. From the decor to the food, this definitely made for a memorable lunch.As a party of 2, we were seated quickly which was a pleasant surprise for a Saturday.As a starter, we ordered the beef sashimi. The dish included several strips of raw meat on a plate and a separate hot stone to cook the meat. The meat was so tender and very tasty. This appetizer is not to be missed, but be sure to place all the meat on the stone as soon as possible to ensure the beef cooks before the stone cools too much.We also ordered two sushi rolls which took quite a while to come out, but we're worth the wait.The Romeo and Juliette roll was served on a long plate with fire (and possibly sugar) along side it. This made for a somewhat room temperature roll but was still very delicious. It included salmon and was topped with spicy tuna. The salmon was partially cooked from the heat of the fire, which added to the flavor. The roll was delicious but also very spicy.The other roll we ordered was the Kani which was a little more basic but also very good. The shrimp was very small, even for shrimp, but overall was fine.The seaweed salad was pretty good too. It was a little spicy but also very tasty.