Hiura Restaurant

Came here for the first time for sushi in NJ. I have to say, this place is pretty authentic. Comparable to Sakagura in the city. This place was smaller than I expected and from the Unilocal pictures (just a heads up). We came in around 9PM and the place wasn’t busy at all, which was sorta surprising since it’s highly rated on Unilocal.We ordered 2 rolls and a chirashi bowl. The rolls were small for the price. The fish in my chirashi bowl was really delicious. It was fresh and I can absolutely taste it! Given the décor of the place, I was sorta surprised (in a good way). Service was on point. I will definitely return if I were in the area!

This is a legit sushi place! This is a coming from a Japanese person (and my whole family).
Like other reviews have mentioned, it’s tucked away. They have valet parking but space is limited especially since they share the parking space with a Korean restaurant next door. The whole place seats around 25 or so (including counter space). So I suggest to make a reservation or get there early.
We got the Omakase sushi set ($ 55) and Hiura special ($ 33). The Omakase is as the hostess noted was more geared towards Japanese customers whereas if you’re looking to get the California roll and the standard sushi line up, go for the Hiura special. Both were delicious and fresh! For those that say the pieces are small, this is the standard size in Japan. But the freshness of the fish is what makes it on point. And so for the quality they give and price coincides with each other. Each set also comes with its own miso soup.
My mom also ordered the tempura don, which she said was delicious as well. And some of the side dishes we ordered were good too.
Service was good and everyone was friendly.
My family and I will definitely be coming back.

Stopped for dinner in fort lee after a long days work. Picked this restaurant based on previous reviews. This restaurant definitely lives up to what others have posted. We ordered tempura and gyoza for an appetizer, both were very delicious (sauce was excellent!). For dinner we shared the sushi special. Fish was very fresh. It was small for two people so we decided to order udon bowl. Overall, the food was very good.
My only complaint is they do not serve alcohol, it is byob. No other reviews mentioned this so I was a little disappointed.

Amazing omakase. Authentic fresh sushi. Great place for true sushi lovers! Much luv! If you want sushi seki quality sushi without the price tag… Come to hiura! You wont be dissapointed. The best! Anyone saying otherwise is a hater…

Being Japanese I have a pretty high standard when it comes to sushi — well everything Japanese :) My boyfriend and I were looking for a good sushi spot that we can come back to and not be disappointed as we’ve had with others. This place is a keeper!
It’s tucked away, hidden and probably overlooked most of the time because you can’t enter from the front and then you have to look for an alley to enter from the back (don’t worry it’s not sketch) but there is a brown lit sign that says HIURA in Japanese and then in english beneath.
It seats maybe 20 people, so getting here at an early time is key. We got there around 6 Saturday night and got seated right away. The staff appeared all Japanese at least from what you can hear :) that’s always a good sign since usually they have a great background in managing a Japanese restaurant. We ordered the chef special sushi selection which comes with miso soup and about 15 – 20 pieces of sushi. We thought it wasn’t going to be enough, but wow it was a lot of food! I read reviews that the pieces of sushi are small, but it’s really not about the size of food, it is really the quality and freshness of the fish and the rice they prepare. The price is pretty excellent for this dish, considering you get salmon roe, uni, scallop which are all about $ 5 – 7 piece and then 10 – 12 other pieces of sushi, all for $ 33 per plate.
I would love to come back to try their side and entrée items — a family had ordered a bunch of them and all looked phenomenal. We will definitely be coming back for our Japanese fix.

Hiura is a tiny, no frills sushi restaurant, seating maybe 20 – 25 people max. I chose Hiura after a quick Unilocal search for sushi on a Friday for lunch, because Umeya (my boyfriend’s go-​to) is allegedly closed for renovations.
Let me just say that I LOVE SUSHI. Like, I love it so much I wish I could eat sushi for every meal for the rest of my life, mercury poisoning and all. But, there are generally two risks with going out for sushi: 1. it takes F O R E V E R sometimes because there’s often only one or two sushi chefs in these tiny (usually family-​owned) sushi restaurants and 2. good sushi is one of my favorite things in the world but when it’s bad… it’s BAD (if you’ve ever had old/​stale uni you know what I mean).
And I guess 3. it’s expensive. Which really is only a problem when –bringing it back to– 2. the fish is bad. Some confrontational people may demand that the charge be taken off/​another piece of sushi brought out when their uni tastes like the excrement of polluted lake slime but seeing as I am generally passive, I have, more times than not, paid $ 8 – 15 for 2 pieces of tastebud death rather than the creamy, rich sea urchin I was hoping for.
Which brings me back to the point: Hiura had none of these problems. $ 55 for omakase (which is on the cheaper end of the spectrum), fish that was so fresh it pretty much just stepped off the boat, PLUS we were out of there in 30 minutes, definitely a record for me (and I eat sushi… a lot… if you couldn’t tell). I recommend you sit by the bar & ask for the pieces to be given out as they are made, rather than all at once, if you are in a rush (trade off — you lose the opportunity to Instagram the plate of ~15 beautiful pieces of sushi). Just let the chef know — he will likely be accommodating.
But seriously, melt-​in-​your-​mouth otoro, silky king salmon, perfect uni, sweet white shrimp (this is how you know a sushi place is legit — when they have this rather than the gross plastick-​y orange shrimp) — and so much more. And the amount of wasabi in the sushi is perfect, not overwhelming like it was when I went to Umeya. Even the ikura (fish egg) sushi was delicious, and I usually hate it because it can taste soo fishy.
Since I’ve only been here once, I can’t speak to the consistency of the experience I had at Hiura, because sushi places can be very inconsistent because so much depends on the quality of the fish, which then depends on how good the daily/​weekly fishermans’ catches are, which must depend on weather and other factors I know nothing about (right?) — but trust me, when it’s good here, it’s GOOD. I don’t come to Bergen county often, but I will for sure be back.

Went there yesterday and got Sushi assortment. I thought that it was generally «OK» but nothing really special. It was my impression that pieces of fish were extremely small, cut weirdly and not great tasking. The flavor was off. However, fish was fresh.
I guess I was expecting something better than that because the prices for the sushi were on the more expensive side and Unilocal reviews are very good.
Service was really nice.
I don’t think I will be coming back.

Wow wow wow! What an amazing place! Eat at the sushi bar and let the chef serve omakase, you won’t regret it! Great fresh fish and yummy rice. Must go!

Great place to try if you want a traditional sushi experience. The sashimi and chirashi we had were really good and fresh. If you are looking for specialty rolls, this isn’t the place for you. The entrance is hard to find and seating is limited so call ahead for reservations.

Hiura is best Japanese restaurant in fort lee.
If you want to best Sushi in jersey, this is the place to go… !!!

Great sushi. Absolutely fresh. We tried the special sashimi and it was one of the best I’ve tried. Also the hamachi Kama, simply delicious.
They don’t serve alcohol but you can bring your own. Also, they have valet parking and entry is in the back.

If you seek excellent authentic Japanese sashimi and sushi, this is the place. My wife and I sit at sushi bar and had omakase sashimi and sushi with our BYOB. Fish was very fresh and chefs prepared them to perfection. The price was a bit expansive for a small local restaurant but considering amount of high quality food we’ve consumed, it was worth the spend. We also had udon which was very good.

This is definitely more traditional sushi so if you don’t want the fancy stuff, it’s great. The fish was very fresh. The staff was pleasant but a little inattentive to us.
If you want the traditional rolls and sashimi, I would definitely recommend, however if you like the newer rolls (spicy girl, dragon roll, etc.) I would not go here.
I have to say again though, the fish was delicious. I would recommend the salmon nigiri.

This restaurant has been in my to do list for such a long time. Today was that day. My husband made a reservation to eat at the sushi bar. Saturday evening, we were the first Customers who walked in. It was just passed 5:30pm. Place got packed by 6pm. There are so many regulars. Parking was valet, shared parking with Masil Korean restaurant.
We met sushi chef hiura and his son. We got omakase for sushi and sashimi. We had so much food. Omakase was very assorted with prime fishes. And chef hiura gave us various rare fishes from japan. Our favorite were japanese uni, red snapper sushi, needle fish sushi. And toro!!! Wow.
They serve two kinds of soy sauce. Stronger ones for sashimi and sweet soy sauce for sushi.
Our bill came out pretty expensive but we tried so much sushi/​sashimi from japan. Mr hiura told us they also get seasonal fish from japan. Shipment comes in Monday and Thursday. Sometimes it varies depend on shipping and delivery situation.
This place is recommended for people who wants to try authentic Japanese sushi: sashimi. Not modernized fancy roll and fusion Asian. You might get disappointed if you are used to dining at modern/​fusion Japanese. But if you are into serious sushi/​sashimi, this place is one of the best options to try without driving down to the city.

I’ve been on a quest since my favorite sushi place in Fort Lee closed a few months ago. Where was I going to get good sushi? Everywhere I went, my hopes were shattered. Hiura was probably the most disappointing of them all.
–Fish of the day written in Japanese (and on a small slip upon request)? Check.
–A family-​run business where the father is the master and the son is the apprentice? Check.
–Cute, typical low-​key Japanese venue. Check.
–Actual Japanese clientele? Check.
–Seemingly solid review on Unilocal?Check
So what happened?
–The food. Woah, now, wait a minute.
I felt tricked. we got the omakase and the chirashi-​like dish — our usual items. The fish wasn’t cut properly. The rice came. almost cold. The fish came. almost warm. Fish that are usually marinated (or brined) were plain and vice versa; the flavors were not what we expected.
Sigh.
Maybe it was an off-​night?
The quest continues.

Don’t let the poorly laminated & battered menus turn you off. This restaurant isn’t half bad at this hole-​in-​the-​wall location. This place was recommended by a friend and I was eager to try it out after reading the reviews. It seems like the food prep was mainly taken care of by two chefs behind the sushi bar. The one waitress working at the time was having trouble keeping up: one chef had to start clearing tables to make sure customers were being seated. Service was great and the employees generally seemed well mannered.
Ordered the sushi deluxe, tempura, and a side salad. The miso soup and salad were pretty mediocre. Nothing out of the ordinary.
Most of the fish was fresh. That being said, I was pretty disappointed with my sea urchin. It seemed to be crammed on top of the rice and the texture/​flavor was completely ruined.
All in all, the food was decent but wouldn’t visit again. It’s a solid choice, but not quite worth the price for me.

This place is NOT authentic at all!!!
I was fooled by those good reviewers…
Sushi or sashimi aren’t supposed to be that dry n the size is sooo small…
U cannot have full taste of rice or fish!
It’s a ripoff!

First of all, THE ENTRANCE IS IN THE BACK! haha we went to the front of the building and just stood in the small area trying to open the doors!
Anyways the atmosphere is really nice. It’s very small and cozy and has an authentic japanese sushi restaraunt feeling to it. The service was also good-​the ladies were very welcoming and meticulous to our needs.
Although it is a little overpriced, the food is worth it. I’m sure there are lots of reviews on the fish-​they were very fresh (especially the uni). I ordered a soba, or otherwise the zaru, and it was probably the best one I’ve had. The noodles were very chewy, not mushy, and had a slight sweetness to it! The appetizers are also really good (get the ika mentai!)
Just a really fulfilling small restaraunt :)

My family and I have been coming here since 2004. I was blown away by their sushi when they first opened many years ago. While the pieces have gotten smaller, which is disappointing, I do love their other menu items (especially the nabeyaki udon). The pieces of the fish have been getting incrementally smaller over the past couple of years, which is why we stopped coming for a couple years.
Get the omakase ($ 55) while sitting at the chef’s table or try the sushi special or deluxe for dinner — YUM! I do, however, prefer Yamagata over any sushi place in NJ. Hiura comes in second.
The chefs (father and son) are so mannerly and very helpful in explaining the dishes as they are served. The waitresses are adorable and are extremely attentive with the patrons’ needs (e.g., refilling green tea). I like getting the red bean paste on top of the green tea ice cream at the end as well. The pieces of sushi have gotten a bit smaller over the years, but it doesn’t phase me!
Fish is pretty fresh! The place is very tiny — a hole in the wall, so be patient if you’re waiting without a reservation, as it’ll be worth the wait.
o BYOB, like many other Japanese/​sushi joints, so make a stop at Mitsuwa to pick up some sake.
For weekends, make reservations– it’s a small restaurant. Be patient with the wait service– there’s only one person and they try to be as attentive and quick as possible. Valet guy is always sitting in the restaurant next door (Masil), so look there if you don’t see them outside.

This restaurant has to be one of the most authentic sushi restaurants in the area. I had to give them 4 stars for their business hours because i had to stop by and be turned away twice before actually being able to go in and have a meal.
This is the only place that not only has fresh sushi but for all their white skinned fish (i.e: red snapper, stripped bass, fluke etc) they are aged to keep them chewy. Even though it may seem like a bad thing to age fish, it has actually been a long customary tradition known to many sushi chefs.
Although it may seem overpriced for sushi seeing that is isn’t a cheap cuisine, hiura is definitely worth it just for their originality. Even their wasabi is freshly grounded instead of using powdered wasabi like most sushi places around.
I ordered a chirashi bowl which is assorted fish over rice and i chewed slowly to absorb each flavor of the fish. Each bite made me want to savor each moment satisfying every part of my taste bud.