River Japanese Cuisine - Oakland Gardens

Elly Zhang

It was hot outside and my mom was craving some sushi rolls. So we ordered crazy dragon roll, salmon lover and Rock’n Roll through Uber Eats. We didn’t like them at all, they just tasted off, for example, the salmon lover was very sweet and we could barely taste salmon (the color of the filling looked like salmon but it was definitely not salmon or not much salmon, it actually tasted like sweet potatoes). Same thing for Rock’n Roll. Crazy dragon roll was okay but the eel was very fishy and chewy (bad quality). We are very disappointed and we felt sick because of the sweetness, we’ve been to River multiple times for AYCE, and we never felt the quality of the food being so bad. I don’t think we will ever go back.

REBECCA HO

Your typical Japanese restaurant. Only ordered bento boxes but from what I ate, I am going to guess the sushi is like any other Japanese restaurant. Nothing really stands out here. My side salad was aesthetically dull and the ginger dressing tasted clumpy. The steak and shrimp lacked sauce but the steak teriyaki had an abundance of sauce. No biggie there. I just mixed the sauce. I would not go out of my way to revisit River seeing that there are other restaurants around the area, but I guess if you’re craving Japanese cuisine, you could give it a try and see for yourself

Christophe D

I came a for weekend lunch with my wife and daughter. We ordered a variety of signature sushi rolls and shared everything. The sushi was delicious! We loved everything we ordered. The service was a little sporadic and disjointed. There was no dedicated server and the staff didn't communicate well. We ordered hot tea and they brought us all ice water. We waited to see if they were going to bring tea as well but they never did, so we asked for it and then they brought it. The water had a little bit of an unpleasant taste. I think the ice gave the water a little funk. Ice machines are usually filthy and full of mold and mildew, so I like to avoid it whenever possible. Another critique was that the food took a long time to arrive. We waited 30 minutes for our sushi. The restaurant wasn't empty, but it wasn't super busy. Maybe they prioritize deliveries? I don't know what it was, but 30 minutes for sushi rolls at lunch time regardless of weekday or weekend is just too long. We were hoping to be in and out in an hour and it took an hour and twenty minutes from the time we walked in until the time we walked out the door, so be sure to pay for the full two hours on the parking meter. 4 Stars for delicious food alone. I'd like to give 3.5 stars because of the service being below average.

Eric Zhou

Great food and service. Make sure you have your vaccine card if you're sitting. And be sure to do the all you can eat Option if dining in!