Ai Japanese Restaurant PERMANENTLY CLOSED

Ultimately the best. No nasty Pate style musded up sushi to make it extend to more...real full pieces!! Super good In house Ginger dressing...... Tempura is hand's down the best.

Very quiet place with little atmosphere and a server who didn't seem to want to be there. The sushi tasted freshly made, but the other food tasted like it had been reheated from the day before. Palm Coast has many better Japanese restaurants and definitely with better atmosphere and service and I rate Ai an average for all categories.

Server was not the friendliest or the best, she seemed to find us annoying or something. But the sushi and other items were very good, and I really liked the Japanese Tofu Curry. The Nigiri Sushi is reasonably priced and tasted very fresh.

Well. we saw the ratings and had to give it a shot. The server was a little short on personality, (possibly partially due to culture), but she was very good with how many tables she was taking care of. The food was very good, definitely going to be a regular stop for us. She got the seafood soup with glass noodles and there was quite a generous amount of seafood in it and more than she could finish. I got the Shrimp Yoki Soba and the flavor was quite interesting... in a good way! There were layers of flavor. I got the melon flavored Japanese soda, and it was also interesting... quite a ball of sugar! LOL.

Nice little hidden gem of a place. Had some soft music playing and a decent ambiance. (Contrary to previous reviews)

Highlight of visit: Every dish that came out of the kitchen looked very good!

I heard about Ai and drove down here from St. Augustine to try, and was very impressed with the quality of the food and service. The food is very fresh and perfectly prepared. The batters are light and crispy, and the broths are very flavorful with plenty of umami in many dishes. I didn't have sushi, I just wanted to try their Japanese dishes as Japanese is one of my favorite cuisines, and Ai definitely has the best for miles around. We ordered many appetizers and my favorites were the Kyoage Tofu, Fried Sift Shell crab, the Vegetable Tempura, and the Tokoyaki, which is always a must for me and it really hit the mark. The Yosenabe Hot Kettle Pot took the award for the best dish. A bowl of fish, shellfish, udon and veggies with an incredible dashi broth. Save room for Mochi at the end. A great pallet cleanser. The service was excellent and I liked the calm atmosphere which is really authentic.

I've been coming here for over 20 years and it's remained consistently good. It's a very minimalistic restaurant with polite service and impeccable food. Just a nice calm place with delicious sushi and excellent noodle dishes. This is the closest you will find to authentic Japanese food in Palm Coast.

Amazing super fresh sushi and all their food is top notch. Best fried rice ever also udon soup... yum. They have the very best tempura hands down. Homemade ginger dressing is...... WOW.

Highlight of visit: Owners are the only ones that operate the restaurant.

Sushi and nigiri tasted very fresh and I enjoyed the yaki udon with pork. The restaurant is small and quiet and I've always had good service. My only complaint is that they tend to close earlier than posted.

Highlight of visit: The Ai Roll, Dynamite Roll and Shrimp Tempura are my favorites.

We enjoyed the sushi here with all our rolls tasting and looking great, and the ingredients appeared very fresh. The server was nice and helpful and was happy to answer questions about the menu. The atmosphere is kind of flat though and needs some livening up.

I don't like sushi but they have the best Japanese dishes in town. Their Katsu and Tempura are excellent and they make some great rice bowls and ramen. Never had bad service here and the atmosphere is very minimalist.

I had a very good Salmon Dish that was very flavorful and some very good Maki rolls. My GF had a Japanese Curry Tofu & Veggie pot that was very tasty. The Gyoza appetizer was not so good as it was very tough and oily, but everything else was superb. Service was OK and the atmosphere was kind of dull and needed a lift.

Got there about 7:30 pm and they seemed pisssed off we arrived close to closing at 8 pm but their website says 8:30 pm. Felt rushed and Japanese dining to me should be a more slower paced experience. Food was good but would have enjoyed it more if we had more time and the server was happier. Update your website Ai and then of us would be upset!!!

Amazing... Fresh, fresh, fresh!!!!! Totally hidden gem. This is the BEST place for Sushi, Yaki Udon, tempura and their homemade ginger dressing is utterly the most addictive stuff...... Scrumptious!

Small quiet sushi restaurant with minimalist decor. Service was OK but she wouldn't elaborate much on the dishes when questioned. Miso Soup was not very hot and the Vegetable Hibachi had a good crispy coating but little flavor - thank God for soy sauce! The sushi rolls were good and the fish on the sashimi appeared to be very fresh. Don't expect any bling or fancy plating. Overall I'd say just over average across the board.

We first found this place when my son saw the sign and thought Ai was Artificial Intelligence and was some kind of high tech Japanese restaurant 😂 But it was about the opposite of that! It's a small low tech family type business with a few tables and only one server. So, service was on the slow side and the food appeared to be made fresh to order so it did take a while to come out, which isn't always the best when you're with an impatient 12 year old, but it was worth the wait as everything was delicious. The batter on the Shrimp & Veggie Tempura was so light and crispy and the Tokoyaki Balls were excellent... even my son loved them and he swore he wasn't going tp like octopus. For entrees we had Chicken Curry and a Salmon with Miso dish, and both were very good. Mochi for dessert which was a nice ending to the meal. Overall, we found Ai to be very good with delicious food that doesn't overwhelm and providing you're not in a hurry, it has a nice slow pace that allows time to enjoy your meal and chit chat about real ai and Japanese gaming.

They only had one server, which was fine because there was only 3 tables take, but the one server made it known for us not to be demanding, even though we hadn't even as much looked at the menu as yet, plus she said there was only one person in the kitchen and to be patient. Strange way to run a restaurant but we placed our order and food gradually arrived in stages, which I will say was very good. Two of the other tables left but service for us didn't improve. The atmosphere was completely dull with no music and dead silent, and combined with the unapproachable server, took away from the excellence of the food.

Amazing food and great service... Fresh and delicious. The very best in town. Tried others but Ai ranks above them all.

I'm sorry that my experience here didn't go along with everyone else's! First, I wasn't very impressed with the dining room as I found it lacked any ambiance and could do with some decorating. Second, the woman serving wasn't very pleasant, seemed very defensive over simple questions, and wasn't welcoming at all. Finally, the food was very plain and completely lacked anything that would make me want to eat again. I don't know if this was just a bad night for them, but it appeared to be run by just two people, and neither with any kind of enthusiasm. Overall a very dull experience. Pass on this one!

The atmosphere here is dull and the server was quite lifeless, but the food was very good. The tempura is very light and crispy, and the Miso Salmon was fresh and delicately seasoned. The Nigiri Sushi selection was excellent and the highlight of the meal. If they work on the atmosphere and teach the server to smile, this would be a gem of a place.

Very good service from server and fresh sushi. Calamari was excellent plus the Tempura shrimp was very tasty.