What a mess! The food here is far from authentic, in fact it's a very simple and amateur version of Wagamammas. Service is slow, food is tasteless, they'd ran out of the basics, and judging from the menu, the chefs have never actually been to Japan. The matcha cheesecake for dessert was the most disappointing... I really struggled to taste anything in it at all! The interior is quite nice, which I suppose is what drags people in... but anyone who enjoys real Japanese food will wish they never bothered. Yuck!

After recently returning from 3 weeks traveling around Japan, my wife and I were in desperate need of some good Japanese food. We'd seen Oki-Nami a couple of times and decided this was a good time to go and check it out. I wish we hadn't.

After waiting for 5 minutes to be seated, when several tables were sitting empty, we were sat at some high stools and given the menus. We looked to decide on drinks first and, after passing over the massively overpriced house cocktail of a chu hai (since when has a chu hai been a cocktail?), we decided on o-cha tea. We waited 10 minutes for a waiter to come to the table and ordered our drinks. Which they had ran out of. Of course we had we found this out 10 minutes after placing our order, not when we initially ordered it.
We then started to order our food at which time, after we had decided what we wanted, we were told about the specials. We decided to order edemamae, miso and main courses of soba noodles in broth with vegetables and tempura, and teriyaki salmon with rice. The edemamae were passable, but the miso was so salty you couldn't taste anything else. The mains that followed were no better as the tempura had just been dropped into the soup making it soggy and limp and the salmon was second rate thrown over the top of some rice. All of the food, apart from the salt-lick miso had little or no taste: even the matcha cheescake didn't taste of anything and the fruit on top must have had all flavour extracted before serving. We were so disappointed that by the end we just wanted to escape from the restaurant as soon as possible.
Our advice? Avoid at all costs as a novice could make better at home.

So disappointing! I loved going to Oki-Nami when it was just around the corner from me in Hove, when it was really quite unusual, both in its menu and physical layout and style. Now the menu is much smaller, less varied and less imaginative, the food was bland and the layout makes it look and feel like just one more western-style restaurant. Please return to your roots!

We went to the Oki Nami this Saturday (21st June) with a group of 12 and had the most fantastic time! (We wanted to try it out now it has moved to Brighton)I was a little unsure at first as a few friends went after it had just opened and said that the service was a little slow, however, these all seemed to have been ironed out.We started the evening with several cocktails - I can really recommend the Cosmos - very Sex and the City! We love the new cocktail bar upstairs and in particular the Eastern versions of the cocktails - fantastic!!!Many of our group had never eaten Japanese food before so we left it to the Maitre 'D to order for us and what an incredible selection of food we had! The oysters were to die for and the soft crab sushi. The staff were fantastic and spent time explaining the menu and how Japanese tapas works. Some of our group didn't like fish so it was great that there were so many other options including organic chicken and lots of vegetarian options (loved the Edamame!)A great place to go with friends who like to share different dishes and spend time enjoying a fabulous meal.Oki Nami is definitely the place to be and I can now understand how it got such a fantastic reputation when it was in Hove. Top class! Not just a place to eat out but a dining experience; has to be one of Brighton's best restaurants.

Fantastic; everything was perfect.

I went to the new Okinami for Father's day with 2 15 year olds and my 14 month old baby. The food was fantastic - it was fresh, authentic, high quality and above all reasonably priced. The staff were friendly and made us feel very comfortable. The interiors was beautifully detailed and comfortable.
My 15 year olds made lots of origami characters and surprisingly enjoyed their sashimi & sushi; while the baby ate his chicken terryaki and fell asleep listening to the calm background music.
All in all an enjoyable lunch for all.
Well done guys.

I was very pleased to hear of this new Okinami venture as I have enjoyed food at the Hove restaurant and from the London Road shop. So I'm disappointed to say the experience wasn't entirely satisfactory.
They had only been open a week and a half so let's hope the staff get more training (especially with those hand held electronic ordering devices... horrid!) and in customer service.
Only one out of four cocktails ordered ever arrived and nobody seemed to care a jot. The food WAS good and very reasonably priced, but so let down by the service that it paled into insignificance. I have never been waited on by so many different staff during a meal so no wonder no one had a clue what was going on. If they get their act together I would happily go back for both the food and the attractive surroundings, don't let yourselves down Okinami!