Bonsai

What a beautiful and delicious sushi joint! Sake flights to noodles available. This place is definitely date night worthy.

What a gem of a place! Tucked into the hilton hotel, almost feels like a speakeasy. Small, intimate space. Great service. Great sushi and cocktails. I cant wait to go back.

+1

Enjoyed one of the best meals I've ever had here at Bonsai. They had a special Thanksgiving dinner pairing and everything was fantastic from start to finish! A definite must try if you're ever in Pensacola Beach!

+3

A hidden gem in Pensacola!💎 Located in The Hilton on Pensacola Beach, this modern, coastal restaurant is worth the trip! Atmosphere: The space is beautifully decorated with modern coastal decorations that ranged from the glass tentacle decorations on the table that held the cocktail menu, a screen showing marine life, and windows that show the beach. Their open concept sushi bar fills up some of the dining area space, so you can see the chiefs putting the sushi together! Service: Our waiter was polite, gave recommendations, and frequently checked on us to make sure that we were well taken care of. Menu items: I got their Sashimi and Faroe Island Salmon Brule in addition to a boiled egg (it was amazing) that my friend gave me from her dish, and it was all so delicious and fresh. I left feeling full from the protein, and the freshness of the ingredients didn’t leave me feeling heavy or sluggish. Bonsai is a great, fine dining experience in our area🍣

By far the best fine dining experience in Pensacola. Everything from the service to the food was exquisite. Every little detail is looked after, and it reflects in the excellent experience. You get more than what you pay for. Chef Rowell goes above and beyond!

Wow! Omakase in Pensacola done amazingly! You need to hunt a little to find the restaurant hidden on the second floor of the Hilton, but you will be well rewarded. Delicious sushi presented impeccably and with obvious care. And their sake selection meets the same level as the food.

+1

I loved my experience here! I had Christina as my server and she took care of every question and need. I started with the crispy rice with spicy tuna on top and the chef, Mark, even came out to help me make the tough decision of what to get—pork belly and scallop ramen which I slurped down and had plenty of pork belly to take home with me. The small atmosphere made it feel like a private dining experience! It’s like Pensacola’s own tiny Nobu on the beach!! 10/10

11/10 customer service both times we have been. Just had our 5 year anniversary here and the waiter knowledge and food/drinks were above and beyond. Staff went above and beyond with a signed card for us and amazing food. Can’t recommend bonsai enough, the best sushi and ramen period.

+2

We had the Omakase (5 course meal plus dessert) and added the Hickory Smoked Tuna. The best fine dining experience ever! Sara G. was beyond exceptional! She was very attentive and took her time to explain everything to us. The food was amazing! We enjoyed everything. You definitely have to go hungry! It is pricey but totally worth it. **you can skip to the next course and they will box everything up for you if you cannot finish it all** We went in the evening so didn’t get to see the view but the interior was beautiful and the chairs were so comfortable! (Located inside the Hilton Pensacola Hotel on the 2nd floor) Definitely recommend!

+3

Summer was a great hostess and Mitchell was an amazing server. Beautiful atmosphere and had a lovely dinner. Would 100% recommend.

Summer greeted us at the door with a warm welcome and mitchel was our server. He was very attentive.

Best restaurant in town. Chef Omar Torres is so creative, Michelin star caliber.

This place was amazing. An unexpected surprise. The service was excellent. The food was as beautiful as it was tasty.

Amazing dining best sushi iv ever had. And even better service was above and beyond

Amazing experience from beginning to end. Well executed from distinguished service to flawless cuisine.

Amazingly fresh, Devine, sushi. They shave the Wasabi root at the table. A must.

The food was amazing and the waiter, I believe Keith, was knowledgeable and very professional.

The best sushi in town! Outstanding food and service!

the most amazing meal I have ever had!

Food is AMAZING!! I've never experienced anything like it.

Good service, very sweet.

Great place and great decor .

The Best, private, hidden gem.

The staff was delightful!

Magical

Perfect food and outstanding service from Kevin. The sushi was some of the best we’ve ever had, and the hand-rolled ramen was incredible. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and made with care. Great atmosphere, excellent staff, and an overall amazing experience. Highly recommend!

Hi! I posted a review from 7 months ago along with a picture of your fabulous sushi. The photo has now been 47,988 views as of today. Wow! We are coming to Pensacola Beach this Saturday for a week & we hope that we can get to bonsai again!

probably the best japanese restaurant we have been in the US so far. Great sake menu. pork belly was so good.. the fresh wasabi grated at the table, amazing sashimi, and choice of soy souce.. we were very well taken take of by Sarah, learned a lot from her. really a special place!

One of the best meals that we have ever had. The service was top notch, fabulous food & awesome presentation. Ambience was great. Looking forward to dining here again!

RE: World Class Experience With A Hidden Speakeasy Vibe Ambiance is beautiful as it is private with views overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, service is delightfully detailed and thoughtful in every way from beginning to end. This experience is unlike any I've experienced. I highly recommend the Omakaze which allows you to have sampling of an impeccable offerings complimented with fine specialty imported soy sauce choices and fresh table side wasabi. I especially thoroughly enjoyed (maybe too much) the "Sun Over Japan" (sake, which were made with asian pears presented in a scientific physics flair) and "Shu-Hai" (progressive infused cocktail). That is honestly the best sake you'll ever have. Thank me later:)

One of our favorite places to go to celebrate! The food is always amazing and the staff is so friendly.

My 7byear old son and I ate dinner there last night. The food and service were beyond outstanding. My son loves to try new restaurants and different dishes he also gives you a five star review!

Some of the best food I have had. A wonderful experience to eat here and be hosted by Rob. Delicate and well balanced flavors created a truly memorable experience.

Amazing dining experience! Our waitress was very knowledgeable, and the food was incredible. We will definitely be returning.

Amazing service, very personable experience, and delicious food! We loved the concept of the “open kitchen” concept and the story behind the restaurant.

Tremendous atmosphere, amazing service and the food was sublime! Highly recommend this sushi restaurant couldn't ask for a more romantic dinner at the beach!

An Amazing experience... Some of the best sushi I have ever had. Pricey, but well worth it

I always go back there for the ramen. Delicate and authentic. Highly recommended to Asian customers.

My server Christina was very friendly and helpful with the menu she even had Rob make me a great mock tail ! My Shrimp and Lobster salad was delicious, I also ordered the Crab Ravioli which to be honest was my favorite! The restaurant had a great vibe ! Relaxing dinner we enjoyed chatting with Christina and our food very much . We’ll be back .

Yes -- it is expensive -- but Bonsai was truly a special meal for our group tonight! There are plenty of cheap sushi options in town, and I love those, too -- but the complexity and quality of the rolls we enjoyed at Bonsai is unmatched. The pork belly was indulgent and delicious, and the desserts we tried were lovely. We would love to come back for an omakase experience sometime!

I love coming here when in Pensacola. It's my special night for great food and wine. The staff is always wonderful and helped me to navigate my gluten free needs. I have to get the wagyu beef no matter what, it melts on the tongue with a delightful salty feel. I love the new crab dish with delicate radishes. And always find the sashimi to be top notch!

I came to bonsai to visit my friend, Christina while I was in town from Indianapolis, and OMG!!! She was not kidding about how amazing the the smoked tuna & fort Pickens rolls were. I can’t wait to visit again and go back.

The Chilean Sea Bass was delicious and had ordered the sake flight selection. I had mentioned to my waiter that I particularly liked one of the sakes and he brought me a glass of just that one free. They were very accommodating. This was my second time to dine here. I’ll definitely be back.

Great dining experience at Bonsai. Absolutely love the hand roll special my husband and I had. Chef is very talented and the service is excellent.

Cannot stop raving about this place. From the minute you get greeted the service is 5 Star. Morgan, our waitress, was extremely knowledgeable about the food and guided us perfectly in our choices. Every dish was a piece of art and delicious. As the only vegetarian in our group I did not expect much especially in a beach resort where I could not find any food on any menu in the area but to my surprise they had the most amazing Vegetarian choices and they were a dream! I hardly ever write a review but this one deserves to be known as the best place to eat at Pensacola beach. Thank you for making our evening a memory we will never forget.

Amazing food and service. This place is expensive but it is worth it. The food is fresh and delicious. I can’t recommend this place enough. We like to come when they have the special menus with the sake paring. They usually have these during New Year and Valentine’s Day. Chef Omar definitely battles it out with top Michelin Star chefs out there.

Unique amazing experience. We got the chefs special. So cool. Great staff. Perfect for date night.

a little expensive but very good service and food. mitchell and summer were very nice and welcoming.

The sushi is excellent here. The slices on the nigiri and sashimi were thick and felt proportionate to the price. The ramen broth and noodles was on par with Noms but the pork belly was not near as tender. The desert was just kind of meh. I would come back again for sure but I would not order the omakase again.

It is a high end sushi place. It is an old executive lounge converted to a restaurent. The A5 Waygu was excellent. Everything else we tasted were very good but over priced as expected for the quality. Omakasa was 5 course meal. I had cerviche, about 7 pieces of sushi, a full size roll ( the one with the smoke), half portion of ramen noodle, and a complementary bite size 7-layer crunch cake. I would only recommend spend the money there for the sushi experience not other items. Order individual sushi instead.

The service (thanks Sean!) and food were excellent, comparable to other fine dining restaurants I've been to throughout the country. The location and atmosphere felt kind of weird, as it appears they took a couple hotel rooms (with no view) in the middle of a hallway and turned it into a restaurant. It's even more unsettling when you walk out after dropping $150 per person. The restaurant was empty when we went on a Friday night, with only our waiter and one cook working. Again, our server was great, but sitting in an empty, bright restaurant on a Friday night kind of makes you wonder... I do feel that Bonsai's unnecessarily inflated pricing and twilight zone-ish location would keep me from returning.

The food is prepared wonderfully, however it takes forever between dishes. I will try it again but order everything up front and maybe they will bring things out in a timely manner.

+4

While the service was good, i was immediately disappointed with the atmosphere, as i was expecting a place like this to make some attempt at a japanese restaurant's ambiance. It fell far short of my expectation there, but as they say, the proof is in the pudding, and this was incredibly disappointing. There was little authenticity to their menu, but im not a stickler if the choices made make sense to the palate. Unfortunately, theirs didn't. The most incomprehensible decision they made was to plate their wagyu directly in their turnip puree, giving me no chance to savor the meats flavor separately. They might as well slather it in A1. The lobster ramen wasn't as flavorless as suggested elsewhere, but the lobster was overcooked, and it was definitely not the quality one might expect at this price. Also the broth was not as hot as ramen should be. The service was fine, nothing to applaud, but no real problems either. If you're looking for a fine dining option, i would give this a pass. There's much better food in pensacola and definitely much better prices. My japanese wife was actually upset with me for rating the place higher than one star, but i feel my rating is fair. She's a bit more of a stickler for authenticity.

The taste of the sushi doesn’t match the presentation. Service is a bit slow, but that’s part of their bit ( I think ). Weird location on the second floor across the hall from actual rooms.

Food was great! Atmosphere was lacking and restaurant was located in a hall of a hotel. I ordered a drink and it wasn’t super balanced or prepared well.

Over priced for a poor attempt at haute Japanese cuisine.if I wanted heavy feeling food, I would go and eat something German. Service was fine. Wine had been sitting on the shelf for too long after being opened.

The service was okay we came today for our anniversary and the server was nice she did good with the wine selection. But the food wasn’t that great for its price. My husband got a tuna tartare but it just tastes like lemon and the portion is so small. We both got ramen and we didn’t expect it to have a clear broth, I got the lobster tail ramen and it was mediocre the lobster was actually over cooked too. My husband got a sea scallops also the only thing he likes was the scallops we also got the cream brûlée which my husband loves but the rest was not what we expect and the ramen was bland. Also I think it was the manager he was wearing a Hawaiian button down shirt color mint green. He went to check on all the customers they have but except us he even went to the next table but didn’t bother to check on us. I mean it’s fine but it feels like we didn’t belong in there. Maybe because we don’t look like people that can afford to eat in the restaurant.

Скажу вкратце, я поставила 2 звезды, одна из них за дивный вид на океан, который открывается из окна, вторая, персоналу и в целом приятную атмосферу в ресторане. К сожалению, это тот самый случай, когда цена, даже близко не соответствует качеству. Красивая подача, на этом все приятные слова заканчиваются…

I was looking forward to a great dining experience at this restaurant. Unfortunately it did not meet my expectations! The product served was either average or below average and for the prices they charge you expect more creativity! The pork belly had no flavor and only a few pieces. The broth had absolutely no flavor. the noodles had no flavor. the tuna and salmon suchi were below average for freshness and flavor. They also had no alternative to the suchi rice . They did not have a low sodium soy sauce that all good suchi restaurants have. The Hilton does a great job with customer service so I hope they can improve this experince. Where I live in Louisiana the suchi restaurant is owned by a Japenese family that really cares about the product they put out.

Amazing service everything you could expect. Beautiful restaurant with a great view. Food was ok but considering the price and atmosphere the food severely was lacking. I would definitely not return unless they gave more options or at least were not so stingy with the fish. What is normally a 9$ roll is over 30$. I expected higher quantity for price. I walked away wanting more but no other menu options. The sashimi was cut paper thin for salmon, but appoint for tuna. Not sure why.

My wife and I had the Omakase menu without wine and saki pairing. Horrible experience. The ambiance and staff were great. While it's in an odd location within the Hilton the restaurant is beautifully designed with great views. Staff was highly attentive and knowledgeable, it felt upscale, and was great for a date. The meal is where I have issues. The presentation and staff were great. First course was a pork belly with caramelized sugar. This was prepared well and tasted great. Might be a little heavy to start in a tasting menu, but good nonetheless. Second course was nigiri. All of it tasted a little off. We go to high end sushi restaurants a lot... The salmon and tuna they served here wasn't very flavorful at all and the snapper, trout, and local catches smelled and tasted off. Almost felt as if it was old, frozen too long, or not kept at correct temperatures. Third course was some form of Sushi Roll. Same as the prior course. Taste was off so we refused to eat it and sent it back. The servers/staff were amazing and brought out another roll to replace but instantly had the same issue so we skipped it. Fourth course was ramen. This was absolutely perfectly prepared and amazing. Final course was desert. It was good, but we were pretty burned out by our experience with the fish. My wife and I eat sushi/sashimi constantly, both in high end restaurants like Sushi Den (Denver), Kabooki (Orlando), Mizumi (vegas), etc... We also go to local places in strip malls for quick boring standards like tuna, salmon, and yellowtail sashimi. We're not amateurs or new to the game. Something was very wrong with the fish last night and in the end I paid a whole bunch of cash to sit on the toilet sick throughout the night. Wouldn't recommend or go again.

Met at the door by a gentleman who was surprised we were there. No smell entering the restaurant. Staff was friendly but not knowledgeable. We order sashimi (2 pieces not 3) and found it to be warm and very thinly sliced. We left to find a meal elsewhere. Very overpriced too.

I'am a former Hotel Manager of a 4* Hotel in Switzerland with e 16 points Gault et Millaux restaurant. What I lived today with Bonsai Restaurant is simply horrible and unexplainable! At noon today I booked on the Phone number of the Bonsai Restaurant for two persons for 8pm today. When we arrived somerhing befor 8pm the Guest Manager of the "empty" Restaurant explained me he has no reservation, the one I did was for the "normal" H2O Restaurant and that he can't offer us a table in the empty Restaurant... Unfortunately he was so clumsy to make me see on his reservation tablet... Very upset I went down to the reception and gave my reclamation to the receptionist Jamie. He was so kind to give two complementary entries what I appriciated but this couldn't calm me. He explained me the phone of the Bonsai Restaurant was put on the normal H2O Restaurant and that I did no mistake! How can I guess? So why the person on the phone who should know the detour of the phone doesn't ask "for what restaurant you want to book"? And why happening all this we couldn't have the Bonsai Restaurant Menu in the H2O Restaurant? And why the Guest Manager of the Bonsai Restaurant couldn't make e exception seeing that e reservation is existing especially when he has got an empty restaurant...tables were not occupied? I will put this review everywhere I can. I'm so sorry! The only positive thing the reception in the H2O Restaurant by Katie and her crew was top. THANK HER VERY MUCH, Sincerely Alex Trinkler Hotelier Berne Vérissey

For a hotel restaurant on the second floor they’re remarkably rude. We went there at 7:50 and the hostess at the door made a face like something out of the Rodeo Drive scene in Pretty Woman (big mistake, big. Huge). I guess she was upset because we were there an hour before close. She said the “experience” takes 2 hours. We left. Grand Marlin down the road is incredible and they had no problem with us sitting down at 8:00 even though they close at 9. Photo is of Grand Marlin for reference.

Very unhappy with the food and experience. Very subpar food. Was excited to move home to Pensacola and have a “high end” asian fusion spot, very disappointed. Don’t waste your money. Crunchy rice was overcooked and the tuna on top had no flavor. You don’t get to cook the A5 at your table on a hot rock like every other restaurant, makes me wonder the quality of the meat. It was also overcooked with some burnt pieces. The best thing was the sake. Told the manager we were disappointed when he came to our table at the end and he offered no apologies or resolution. Will never go back or recommend to friends.

Hard to find. Overly expensive. And not the selection advertised on Google.

A/C was not working and 4 courses for a $500 plus Omakase was very very weak.....definitely not worth the dining experience..........

Waaaay overpriced. Got two sushi rolls, steak and two lower levels of sake. $350 later I left very disappointed. Food was fine, but jeez

Extremely limited menu and pricing is triple over other premium sushi restaurants.

Crispy rice was so hard you couldn’t cut with a knife. Asked the server about it and he said we fry them hard. Never had crispy rice dish so bad. Rolls were not flavorful at all. We eat sushi all the time and have eaten at the best across this country. Truly a waste of $200

Probably the worst, over-priced sushi I've ever eaten. We love sushi and we were very disappointed with the options and the flavors. We always stay at this hotel and tried this place for the first time, and now, last time.

SAVE YOUR MONEY! The food is wayyyyyyy and I mean wayyyy overpriced! You can go somewhere else and get better tasting and better quality. I'm shocked this place is still open. The service me and my husband received by a new waitress was exceptional, but the food was more like a -5 star. I wish I had read the reviews before spending well over 100.00 for food with no taste. The pork belly was so tough and Raman bowl had hardly any flavor.

Restaurant was practically empty at 7pm, yet the hostess told us they had a bunch of reservations “coming in soon“, and that they were unable to serve us. She lied to us because they didn’t want to serve us with our 2 young children that both wanted avocado sushi.

Don't bother... They should give us back our lounge, it would be better. So 2 years to reply? You took an executive lounge and changed the name and charged outrageous prices for mediocre sushi. It's not a restaurant, it's a lounge, shame on Hilton

The sushi was very dry and tasteless. It was pretty but not good at all. The drink I got a smoky old-fashioned that was amazing and the crab cake dish was awful the rice was dry and the mushrooms tasted at dirt. The waitress was very nice. They did their Best to accommodate my friend scallop allergy, but I would not recommend it. Our bill was almost $200.

Food was disgusting and extremely overpriced FOR AWFUL QUALITY. Awful service and will never go back here. We complained and they took no ownership of how gross their food WAS was AND CHARGED US FOR FOOD AND DRINKS WE DID NOT EAT. DO NOT EAT HERE!!!!!!!