Shogun Japanese - Tucson

I came here for lunch today and service was great. We sat at the sushi bar where you get free edamame. I like the nigiri and the pieces were huge! I tried tuna, salmon and yellowtail. They have rotating daily special rolls and today included the spicy tuna which I tried. It was decent. I'd definitely come back.

I have 0 idea why Japanese restaurants in Tucson cannot get it together. I haven't been in one that wasn't dirty, cluttered and ultimately disgusting when you look around enough. While the booth design is admittedly adorable, being hidden from the waiters turns out to be most unhelpful. Who would have thought! I did also appreciate the hand made aprons that are apparently made by a relative in the family who lives in Japan, however this is besides the point. In terms of food, they had an extensive menu that caters to everyone whether you enjoy seafood or not which is always a point in restaurants I look for as I have a few family members who don't eat seafood but enjoy Japanese food. They are weird I know. Back to the point. The lunch special price made me almost believe inflation isn't that bad, but then I saw the portions and... what they say about a deal being too true. Now you look at the included picture and tell me that looks appetizing. The sushi could have been colder but was decent enough for what it was. The hunk of watermelon to disguise the barrenness of the plate was a choice. The tempura is why the review is so low, and had it been better might have at least gotten a 3 star review. I am currently lying sick in bed after eating this tempura. I can always tell when eating tempura when the frying oil is not changed often, bc it makes makes me feel ill. Go at your own risk, is how I'll end this review.

STAFF: ALL.... Always very kind! AMBIANCE: Good concepts but could use a refresh to spruce things up. FOOD: Delicious! Not sure what's in the freezer up front by the entrance but... who knows. Food is always good!

I guess I should write this review before I forget how delicious the sashimi was how substantial the portions were! That pic of the Unagi is a disservice to how much eel was on that plate as my dad I were so looking forward to our Unagi we devoured it like it was the dessert haha the tuna salmon portions were massive while not skimping on quality, we were so happy when we saw the bill were completely blown away that we could eat so well here for such a reasonable price! The decor was very aesthetically pleasing, they have some private seating spaces available as well as sushi bar options. Aaron the young lady who sat us (she also returned with complimentary miso soup our drinks like she was Flash Gordon! were great! If I had anything to complain about, it would be too pedantic to even mention in a review. I look forward to returning in October so my dad I can share another phenomenal meal! Shogun? Sho-nuff!!

The best nigiri I 've had is probably at Shogun. The rolls are okay, but the nigiri, you actually get great portions of the fish. I highly recommend their unagi and hamachi. The karaage on the appetizer platter was good, too. For drinks, the sweet potato beer was tasty and something different, I have probably only seen in this Japanese place in town so far. The ambiance is reminiscent of a typical Izakaya Japanese place. It is slightly darker in there. There 's a nice fountain thing next to the back wall, and they have these semi-exclusive booths with nice Japanese art curtains as you go into them. All these good things make this place great, but the service is somewhat lacking...been there multiple times and it 's really hit or miss with the servers, sometimes takes them forever to refill drinks which is quite astounding as the last time I was there with a group of 3, our bill total was greater than a $100 and the server tacked on a 17percent service charge! Their reasoning was that because the bill was over a $100 they normally add on a service charge... I don 't know why, but it didn 't make sense. I 've seen automatically added gratuity for a group of 6 or more, but nothing like this. There 's no signage anywhere in the restaurant or the menus that explains why they do this, and as I mentioned already the lackluster service doesn 't really deserve an automatic addition like that for a table of 3 guests. I gladly added a tip each time I go there, but when they did that, it just seemed shady, and left a bad taste, and made the experience unpleasant. Luckily we checked the bill that time but honestly, most people don 't and I don 't know if I would want to dine somewhere that has hidden fees like this place. It 's too bad, cause their nigiri was real good.