Niwano Hana, Japanese with Sushi Bar in Wintergreen Plaza on Rockville Pike in Rockville

[Heather]

I finally got around to trying Niwano Hana a couple of weeks ago. My mother and I stopped in for lunch and I was surprised, based on the outside, at how cheerful it is inside. Book, cover, etc.

Mom is not an adventurous soul, so she ordered a roll combination - tuna, cucumber, and California rolls. All the rolls tasted as I would expect. I got a seaweed salad (way too sweet), and and various nigiri sushi - my benchmarks. Yellowtail was good, tuna surprisingly flavorless, and the saba was unpleasantly fishy, even for saba. The eel tasted good, but very few places manage to screw up eel. The prices seemed unremarkable, not cheap but not too high either. The miso soup was pretty wan.

There were a few special on the blackboard that looked interesting, so we may give it another go for dinner if not for sushi.

Greeting was very cordial and the service was attentive.

Niwano Hana
887 Rockville Pike (Wintergreen Shopping Center)
Rockville, MD 20852
(301) 294-0553

[DanielK]

If you have at least 3-4 sushi eaters at the table, the sushi boats become an incredible value, and bring the price down to rock-bottom levels.

[Heather]

But is it worth it for so-so fish? I dunno. "Rock-bottom" and "raw fish" don't usually go together.

[DanielK]

But is it worth it for so-so fish? I dunno. "Rock-bottom" and "raw fish" don't usually go together.

I haven't had so-so fish there; in fact, it's been the best sushi I've had in Mont Co. I ditched Momo Taro in favor of Niwano Hana a couple of years back.

I hope you just hit them on an off day.

[Pappy]

What a coincidence. I book marked their website (www.niwanohana.com) just this week. I've been thinking I would stop in one evening for a couple of their rolls (Dynamite?, Maryland?, Spicy Scallop?) and cold soba noodles to go.

Can anyone recommend a particular roll? More importantly, has anyone had the cold soba? I assume it comes with a dashi based dipping sauce?

[smokey]

More importantly, has anyone had the cold soba? I assume it comes with a dashi based dipping sauce?

I went there once maybe 6 months or so ago and really liked it (but don't remember any specific rolls, sorry). Do post back if you get the cold soba; I would be curious for a review.

[silentbob]

Does anyone know what comprises the Samurai and Shogun platters listed on the menu? Rock-bottom prices indeed, though I would still probably drive the extra 15 minutes to Kotobuki instead.

[DanielK]

Does anyone know what comprises the Samurai and Shogun platters listed on the menu? Rock-bottom prices indeed, though I would still probably drive the extra 15 minutes to Kotobuki instead.

If I remember, soup and salad for 4, plus a solid assortment of sushi and rolls. Tuna, salmon, yellowtail, whitefish, eel, egg, some veggie and california rolls. 3 adults and 2 kids got the Samurai, and we were stuffed.

And 15 minutes to get from Rockville to Kotobuki? Maybe at 3am...

[Heather]

Emma asked for sushi today so we wound up at Niwano Hana for dinner tonight.

Nigiri: tuna, yellowtail, mackeral, flying fish roe, and octopus. The fish was much better at dinner than at lunch, even the saba which I had previously found unpleasantly fishy. The rice needs a bit more seasoning.

Maki: eel, california, and spicy scallop (one of the special rolls).

Seaweed salad: still too sweet for my taste.

Chicken teriyaki - this was good, but huge. The kids shared it and we still took half home.

The kids liked the rolls and flying fish roe, and we thought the spicy scallop roll was very good - fresh sweet scallops broiled with spicy mayo. Our tab with 2 beers, iced tea, and juice for the kids was $106. The special sushi platters are a bargain but with 2 adults and two kids, 56 pieces is a bit much. Plus we usually prefer to make our own selections.

[jrichstar]

Can anyone recommend a particular roll? More importantly, has anyone had the cold soba? I assume it comes with a dashi based dipping sauce?

In Montgomery County, I'd be hard pressed to think of a better place for sushi than Niwano Hana.

Though everything is good, the Spicy Scallop roll is their signature roll for me. Though on the expensive side, it's a huge portion (8 pieces), topped with a really tasty creamy sauce with quite a zing. Not for the traditionalists who don't like mayo-based toppings but definitely a must-try for others.

[silentbob]

My grandmother and aunt took me here for a birthday dinner. We got the Samurai plate and the sushi is generally decent. I still think Kotobuki provides the better fish and bargain overall. The spider roll I ordered separately was not crispy enough.

Highlight of the meal was the yellowtail cheek teriyaki. Any fish cheek is bound to be good, but we could not stop picking at it until there was literally no meat left. Lovely stuff.

Even though this place is only 10 minutes away, I'll probably drive the extra 15 minutes to Kotobuki next time.

[DanielK]

Went here for lunch this week with a few fellow Rockweilers.

I had the "Sushi, Sashimi & Tempura" bento box, at $14. It came with Miso Soup (average, nothing special), a plain salad with ginger dressing (also average). It came with, if I recall, about 4 pieces of sashimi, 4 pieces of sushi, 3 pieces of maki, rice, two tempura shrimp, and a pretty large pile of tempura vegetables. Except for one of my pieces of sashimi, which had a bit of cartiledge in it, I thought all of the fish was very good. It was certainly a very large portion of food - I would have been happier with less food for less money.

It certainly doesn't compare to Sushi-Ko or Kaz for quality, and even at the bargain prices it's not quite as good as Kotobuki. But it's far easier to get a table (and a parking spot!), and if you're in Montgomery County, I still haven't found a place near it's equal in quality.

[Lydia R]

The spider roll I ordered separately was not crispy enough.

I really like a good, crispy spider roll especially when the softshell crab is fresh out of the fryer and still sizzling when it gets to the table. Sadly, not to be at Niwano Hana.

to my distress, I kept hearing the beep-beep-beep, power, ding of a microwave coming from the kitchen

Cleverly, Niwano Hana's microwave oven has no beep-beep-beep to warn you that the softshell crab had a very distant relationship with the immersion fryer located a frustrating two feet away. Soggy, stale and inedible My +1 and I sat in horror watching the high percentage of dishes sent out using items from the microwave on the shelf behind the second sushi chef and alternately the wonderful looking tempura fresh from the fryer. The sashimi platter was fair, but we'd already been put off by the spider roll. Darn, now I need a steak palate cleanser.

[deangold]

Hungry othe other night when most things were closed, we pulled into the parking lot at China East but the emptiness of the joint gave off a bad vibe. We pulled out and saw Niwano Hana was open and decided to give it a try. Our first time, or perhaps long ago we may have tried it. I didn't expect much.

Niwano Hana has some nice stuff, Sashimi & Octopus salad. The octopus sald was a lot of octopus and cukes and seaweed in a nice tart dressing for $4.95. The seafood udon pot would have been better sans seafood {availble both ways}: the dashi stock was very good, the udon nice and slippery. The agedashi tofu: not so great. Open late which is a great incentive for us. Under similar circumstances, would easily go back.

[Simon]

Is this place still owned by the Moonies?

[rorkin]

Tried it yesterday for lunch. Was rather disappointed . Toro on blackboard but were out. Cant figure out the 4 piece Rolls.. Cant eat in one bite and so much of he fish was sticking out of top that two bites required turning it int half mixed sashimi and the remaining bite a maki. I dont get it. Flavors were bland. Went to sushi ko today. Was more expensive but night and day better in presentation and flavor.