Hokka Hokka Japanese Restaurant

I went here with my family last night and enjoyed some good sushi and a delicious scallop appetizer! This is one of our go-​to Japanese places for the fresh food, reasonable prices, and pleasant ambience. The aesthetic is a classy twist on casual, and makes for both a fun experience of going out to eat and a relaxing dinner.
The house salad with a ginger dressing and avocado is a perfect, light and healthy– yet flavorful– way to start the meal. The miso soup is also very good. We usually go for the grilled scallop appetizer; the peanut sauce is great. The sushi is good too — I’m not much of a seafood person, but my mom loves the Hollywood Roll and Spicy Love.
The service is attentive, and the waitress was prompt and happy to answer questions about the menu.

This review is long time coming…
Hokka Hokka (HH)is a really good restaurant. I will comment on the sushi bar as this is where I always sit.
When you first arrive at HH, there is a charming feel to it… like walking into an English cottage. As you enter HH, the vibe of cool Eastern washes over you. The colors, décor, music and vibe all come together well together.
I like sitting at the sushi bar as the owner is the primary chef. He takes great pride in making very tasty and artistic presentations. I generally ask for modified menu items and he always delivers. For example: a white tiger roll with jalapeño mixed inside and topped with bonito.
The fish here always is fresh and savory. You will be completely satisfied whether you order sashimi or nigiri. The sake sashimi and tako sashimi are my personal favorites.
There is a full cocktail bar at HH. The bartender is talented and personable. The staff is always engaging and genuine.
Parking is easy if you don’t park in HH’s very small lot.

Just popped in for lunch – everything was excellent. Service, atmosphere, greeting, presentation, and sushi. Reasonable lunch specials abound. I have been here multiple times for dinner, as well. The sunshine roll is one of my favorites. Many years ago, I had a server that was subpar – and a friend of mine had to force me to go here again. As I write on, I realize that Hokka Hokka is now my preferred Chestnut Hill sushi spot–

I’ll keep this one simple. In this part of town there are really only two options for good sushi. I’ve been switching between Hokka Hokka and Osaka for the last 15 years or so, they both may have even been around longer, but the auld memory isn’t what it uses to be.
So the eternal question has always been which one is better. I would say it’s pretty much tied when it comes to quality and freshness. But for the last few months Hokka Hokka is on top and for one simple reason. Uni (sea urchin), is my favorite. When I’m thinking ahead, I’ll sometimes call first to make sure which one of the two has Uni and that’s where I’ll go. A matter of fact, that’s kind of my litmus test for Sushi joints. If they have Uni, I’m in, if not, stay away. Uni has a very short shelf life, and if a sushi joint doesn’t usually stock it, then that tells me enough. But I digress, as usual. Hokka Hokka has done a great job of giving me my fix of Uni over the last several months, whereas Osaka either doesn’t «have it today» or they’ve been stocking some Uni from Japan that literally costs twice as much.
With all that said; my vote for best sushi in Northwest Philadelphia goes to… Hokka Hokka.

I went here for dinner tonight with my boyfriend. We order the Chestnut roll, the spicy salmon roll, the New England roll (special), the shrimp tempura roll, and crab sashimi. Everything was delicious. For dessert, we got the green tea ice cream (good) and the oreo cake (average). We will probably go back for dinner. The bill came out around $ 80 for the two of us (no alcoholic drinks… just a coke and waters).

Good portions and tasty rolls. Having just moved to the area from Brooklyn, I was surprised by the price points for simple rolls, but will return. We made a Saturday evening take out order and it was ready quickly. 4 stars for high prices, but good Japanese/​sushi.

This place sucks for sushi. It was dry and it was worse than sushi I could buy at the supermarket. I have heard their hot food is good from others, but this place could not make sushi so it doesn’t even count as a Japanese place. And parking is not good. Only a little parking lot for maybe 4 or 5 cars and you are going to have a lot of trouble getting out if you have a bigger car, because there is not enough room to back out.

Just discovered the new Farmer’s Roll this week, one word, DELISH!!!
I also must agree with Josh with the previous post.
My family has been coming here for 2 reasons for the last few years.
Reason #1 Their sushi rolls are amazing and very affordable.
Reason #2 Our favorite server, especially our kid’s favorite server Paul is absolutely incredible.
We cannot imagine Hokka without Paul, and Paul without Hokka.
Not only is the food good, but Paul makes visiting Hokka a experience!

My wife and I have tried them all, and we’re convinced that Hokka Hokka is the best sushi in the Philadelphia area. Incredibly consistent and fresh food, with the best servers around – especially the amazing and hilarious Paul, who’s pretty much an institution there. We regularly drive out from Center City just to eat their Spicy Love roll, which is far and away the best roll either of us have ever had (and we’ve lived in NYC and LA for years). Can’t say enough good things… hope Hokka Hokka is around forever!

Love this place. The Sushi is always fresh and well made. I especially love the Miso Manila soup. In the winter, they have a great fireplace which I like to sit near. They do a great job overall.

I’ve been going to this restaurant for years and have always had impeccable service, food and experiences. Tonight was such a horrendous encounter that I’m not sure if i’ll ever go back.
I made reservations for Mother’s day dinner as my mom specifically requested we go to a Japanese restaurant for sushi. Upon my family’s arrival the manager (or possibly the owner) informed me that the hostess I had spoken to the night before did not write down our reservations and that she was not going to honor it. She then had the audacity to request to see my cell phone log to verify that I had in fact called to make reservations. After going back and forth with her for 5 – 7 minutes she threw us at a corner table.
When the waiter arrived he seemed confused to see our bottle of wine. I informed him that when I made the reservations the hostess told us to bring a bottle of wine as the restaurant was BYOB Sunday’s and Monday’s. He then replied that excluded holidays. At this point we simply had to laugh. Aside from the disorganization (and overpriced menu options) the only saving grace was the food. The food is consistent.

My friends and I probably go here once every two weeks when we are craving sushi. While meals do generally get pretty expensive, (especially with miso soup and dessert!) it is definitely one of the best places in Philly for sushi. Personally the green tea mochi is my favorite, and I highly recommend the tempera shrimp.

I simply order 3 rolls over the phone. Nice woman answered. I asked to sub brown rice. Some places it is no cost. Some charge a small fee. Usually not a big deal. However charging $ 4.00 per roll for brown rice is absurd. I paid $ 12 for rice? The rolls with white rice would have been $ 18 – 19.

Ohhhhhhh the negimaki changed the rotation of my universe. It was PERFECTION. Like I purposely chewed each roll at least 32 times just to savor the flavorful tenderness of that steak. Divine.
I also treated myself to Chestnut Hill and Sunday Morning rolls and they were also delectably fresh, crisp and flavorful. Takeout sushi is a bit of a new thing for me so pardon me if I’m still impressed with the commitment to presentation. I’ve always loved this spot – it’s still quite intimate but large enough to come with a few friends, and the service is always impeccable.

Great sushi at an affordable cost! King Kong roll is a must have! Best sushi I’ve had in Philadelphia!

Love the environment at Hokka Hokka, not to mention their impressive array of tasty sushi rolls and sashimi! While I primarily order take out, the staff are always pleasant and professional.

This is my favorite local sushi spot! A variety of fresh rolls and unique appetizers too. (avocado tempura YUM!) Be aware it is a small place so weekend evenings in the fall/​winter get very crowded with little parking, but worth the wait, have a drink at the bar :)
Love, love, LOVE!

The waiter, Paul, that served in this place made Hokka Hokka fabulous. Part of the reason that we continued to come was because of him. The sushi is not bad, but at times, there are inconsistencies with the taste. It seems to all depend on who the chef might be. I gave it three stars because of the service that we get (five), the atmosphere (three), and the food (two).

I wish I could give zero stars. Below is an email I wrote to the owner, to which no response was given. Never again.
Hello,
I am writing to inform you of the experience that my fiancé and I had last night dining at Hokka.
I made a reservation over a month ago for my fiancé’s 30^th birthday on the recommendation of a colleague. He wanted to have a sushi boat, and your restaurant is one of the few that offers one in the area, so we were excited. When we arrived, the hostess did not acknowledge us. She proceeded to answer the phone and talk while we stood there awkwardly for about 3 minutes. She then grabbed menus and walked away, expecting us to follow her, without acknowledging our reservation. This was disappointing as this was a special day. When I made the reservation, I informed the person that this was a special birthday.
About 10 minutes into the night, a man came in and sat two tables behind us. He was being loud and belligerent on the phone. After we ordered, he proceeded to vomit on the floor several times. The staff went to his aid and cleaned up, but no one ever came over to us to ask if we wanted to move, re-​seat us somewhere, or apologize. My appetite was ruined at this point, but I tried to salvage the evening for my fiancé’s sake, and I had seen the sushi boat being prepared and felt bad about wanting to leave.
We got up and moved to the sushi bar, where we then waited a long time for the sushi boat, that I had previously seen being prepared. When our waitress finally brought it over, the sushi was not cold. All of the cuts were lukewarm, like it had been sitting out for a while. For $ 75, this was not at all worth it and unappetizing, as I wondered whether our server had washed up after tending to vomit.
After the vomiting incident, the man returned and sat back down, and apparently ordered something! I could hear him back there apologizing over and over again for the incident, which just further ruined my meal. We ate the food, but I left feeling nauseated and angry that I had spent $ 108 on mediocre sushi and was underwhelmed with the way we were treated.
I normally do not write to owners; I just do Unilocal reviews. But, I think that this situation deserves a letter to the owner. I am sure that this is not how you want your customers to be treated, or your restaurant to be run. I believe that given the situation, we should have been compensated for the inconvenience, i.e. a round of drinks, an appetizer, maybe a discount on our meal or a dessert (it was a birthday). Instead, we were basically ignored. I still feel ill today, and I believe that based on this experience and the lack of compensation from the staff, that I should be given a refund from last night.
Please let me know if this is possible. I look forward to your response.
SO…there you have it. I know it was a stretch asking for a refund. But I thought this would at least prompt SOME kind of response. It didn’t. Also, the menus were really dirty, which was a bad omen from the beginning.

We have made it a tradition to go here every Valentines Day! I must say this is probably one of the freshest sushi places I have been to. They offer everything from sushi, sashimi, noodle bowls to crazy sushi rolls. Most recently we were blown away with the lobster sushi roll so good! Lightly fried wrap topped with lobster. This is a must try. They also offer cocktails, wine and beer. They have a happy hour Monday to Friday 5 – 7 but does not include holidays. This is a cute quaint place to go to for sushi especially in the winter when they have the fireplace going.