wow this place so deserves a 4.5 rating. It is well designed and decorated and you can feel comfortable dressed either casual or well. They give you a nice warm towel when you sit down which is a great touch. Service is exceptional (reception and table-side) and the ratio of staff to customer is perhaps the best i've seen in a reasonably priced restaurant.
If you are looking for a place to take the lady I think most will love the vibe here and it will feel like "a date night." Though Nori is more or less a strip mall, once inside and you are in another world that feels contemporary, clean and rich. Steady grooves of Thievery Corp and Nightmares on Wax sneak around all night at just the right volume. Great lounge vibe.
Sake is served elegantly and correctly in a wooden box and mine had an integrated ice compartment to keep my sake cold. Sweet!
The fish quality is very good. They had bluefin toro a few of the nights I've been there and it was old school good. They also seem to consistently have fresh Saba and fry the bones correctly afterwards. Their presentation wows you every time and they have great plate ware and garnishes.
All of the sashimi as very fresh and high qualify right up there with some of the best.
On the down side I would say that I typically enjoy talking to the sushi chef and interacting on and off throughout the night but there is not a lot to work with here. They are a little indifferent and a little too serious. If this was a language barrier than my bad but I didn't detect that in our limited interaction. They do certainly know sushi so this is a minor gripe.
Kanpai