Sushi Main Street Lounge

What a huge disappointment this place was! For starters the service is slow! While the employees were nice they were extremely slow and mind you we arrived at 5pm prior to any other customers.
The salmon sashimi was not fresh salmon. It tasted like smoked salmon. You would think — it’s half moon bay, the fish should be very fresh! No!
The rolls were okay.
Do not order the tempura. Way too much batter that wasn’t cooked all the way through because it was so thick.
Overall it was an expensive meal and extremely disappointing!
I want will not be back as the food was not good.

Good food but the service is really slow. If you have all day, then it’s the best sushi in town.

Great atmosphere and really fresh sushi for an incredible price. Service is a tad slow, but thats definitely offset by the décor and taste.

Amazing atmosphere, freshest sushi served with artistry in an incredible surrounding of décor by original owner Caroline. She built a beautiful environment and the current owner (s) (I don’t know who they are) have kept a great tradition of a relaxing, inviting, experience that goes with fabulous fare. Jazz on Thursday nights are a special treat from a local trio.
Here you’ll find Buddhi, my 2^nd favorite sushi chef who is incredibly well trained and the only Nepali sushi chef I know.
PS; Sato who use to be at bonsai RWC, then Shiki HMB will always be #1.

Do yourself a favor and try the sexy me roll, you wont be disappointed. When I got laid off, I drove 40 mins by myself, just for that roll, as I knew that would be the only thing that would cheer me up. The service in the lounge is a bit slow, so do NOT be in a rush. But their amazing food makes it worth it.

Great ambience! Sexy Me, Hamachikama are very good. Will definitely come back and try more.

My family and I visit Half Moon Bay often, but this is the first time we ate at Sushi Main Street, a small, intimate restaurant right on the center of Main Street. We will go back.
The décor is stunning — think natural materials, soft lighting. Its a calm and relaxing environment.
The food is delicious, inventive, and precisely executed with farm fresh ingredients. Our family of four vegetarians (parents and two teenagers) left satisfied — not only full, but having tried options well beyond the usual vegetarian fare at most sushi restaurants. The menu is quite broad for such a small restaurant.
The service was pleasant and professional, but quite slow. We didn’t mind too much, given the peaceful vibe it was a nice way to wrap up our cold day at the beach.

First time coming here. The sushi I ordered was pretty good. I got Saba, Hamachi, Sake and Walu. The Walu, Hamachi and Saba were very, very good. All were very fresh and melted in your mouth. I was a bit disappointed with the Sake though. For my entrée I got the dinner combo of teriyaki chicken and beef. Came with salad, miso soup, gyoza and pickled cucumbers. The chicken and beef lacked any teriyaki flavor, so that was a disappointment. The miso soup was a bit tart as well. Overall, very happy with the sushi, not so happy with the entrée.

I really, really am not a fan of being even in Half Moon Bay… sorry locals, but the last time a redneck tried to run me off the road on Rt. 1 for doing the speed limit, I stopped driving there. Nothing personal, but I also like avoiding tourists and overpriced garbage.
So really, a four-​star rating for a sushi place in HMB? I’m really quite happy that it kinda salvaged my last trip.
I love the décor, especially the really odd but completely functional and even comfortable handcrafted wood chairs. The lighting is perfect, and there’s a rustic feel in there that doesn’t feel replicated or forced. Real nice job there.
Our service was friendly and helpful in navigating me through some of my dietary restrictions (what tempura batter they use for instance), and we got our food pretty quickly and in a staggered pace that made sense.
As to the sushi? I always start with tekka and sake maki at any new place, but here I also sampled the chicken teriyaki, which was actually probably the most pleasant surprise. It came with some nicely cut and cooked veggies and a particularly well-​reduced sauce. As to my rolls? They were good — very good, but not great. There was an inconsistency in the application of wasabi… some rolls it was perfect, two others almost made my sinuses explode. Served in a diamond formation instead of a traditional rectangle? Okay, if you really want to, but seemingly for no reason.
I’d definitely come back the next time someone feels like driving down there who isn’t me :)

Beautiful décor. Fresh fish. This place was super yum! We had the Naruto Salad (twice because we loved it), some nigiri (we tried the toro, hamachi, and escolar), and a delicious roll with hamachi and ginger.
We tried a few of the cocktails; the mint julep and the ginger cocktail were the best. So much good about this place! We loved the self-​service ginger! It was spicy and crisp. Our one criticism is that the nigiri seemed to be micro-​portions.
We will definitely be back!

This place was amazing. My friend and I stopped by here for lunch after wine tasting at a local place.
The décor was super awesome. Reminded me of going into anthropologie haha
I ordered the chirachi bowl, and the monkfish liver.
Both were fresh and amazing. Presentation was spot on.
I would definitely come back here.
Thinking about this place is making my mouth water.

Stopped in here on a Thursday afternoon and was pleasantly surprised at the place.
The sushi is very reasonably priced, and while the rolls are a bit on the smaller side compared to other places, it’s still a great value. You could order 3 rolls for the price of 2 somewhere else.
The quality was nice as well. I enjoyed everything I had and nothing was out of place or bad.
The service was quick and friendly, and I found the décor to be pretty charming. The driftwood chairs are very cool looking, though I have to say I opted not to sit in one because the ergonomics of them aren’t that great. It might be something you want to consider if going with a group of 3 or larger.
I’d definitely stop in again.

As every sushi-​lover knows, there are TONS of variables that go into the equation of why certain places are better than others. Certain restaurants are great if price is no option, others are better if you’re looking for certain seafood, and others may be better because because you’re dining with a diverse crowd with different tastes.
Although I live in San Francisco, I stumbled upon Sushi Main Street and Sushi Main Street Lounge a few years ago and have been coming back regularly since then. It cracks me up that it actually takes me less time to drive to Half Moon Bay than it does for me to drive to some areas of the City when there’s traffic.
What I love about Sushi Main Street and the Lounge is that it scores high in all of the variables that I use to evaluate a sushi restaurant: (1) quality & freshness of the seafood; (2) diverse menu (which includes traditional standards, innovative and yummy rolls, and a stellar sake/​beer/​wine/​spirits menu); (3) reasonable prices; (4) gorgeous décor and ambiance (this place is prettier than any place I’ve been to in SF); (5) appropriateness for an intimate dinner or large group; and most important (6) the friendliest staff that I have ever encountered. Please don’t be dissuaded by any earlier reviews about service — those must have been anomalies, because the staff (including specifically Buddhi, one of the sushi chefs) are very helpful and attentive.
If you’re in Half Moon Bay for lunch or dinner, be sure to check out Sushi Main Street or the Lounge. And be sure to try the esolar if you go. You won’t be disappointed!

I highly recommend Sushi Main Street. I’ve never been disappointed, always fresh and a comfortable and relaxing place.

The best sushi ever. Really creative and fresh rolls, this place is a staple when in the Half Moon Bay area.
The green tea and ginger are fresh, the décor is one of the coolest parts (think Indiana Jones fusion). All the rolls are handcrafted (you can tell) and certain rolls you can watch as they use a torch to finish it off!
Try any of the rolls. You have to go through the whole menu to make sure you know all the options and it’s always fun to try a new one (which ends up becoming the next favorite one). Try the Sexy Me Roll or Hawaiian Roll. Guaranteed good. Absolutely check it out when in HMB

Thank you Sushi Main St. for always having great customer service and AMAZING sushi plus design of restaurant/​food. This is an experience everyone who loves the beach and sushi should have…

I had lunch here. The sushi was, as always, the best I’ve had. I had a caterpillar roll, tuna/​macadamia nut roll (without mayo sauce), unagi papaya roll, and an unagi roll. All were fantastic.
Service was poor. It took 10+ minutes just to get a menu (there were two other tables filled at the time). Then another 5 or 10 for a glass of water. While the waitress was pleasant, she was very slow. And unfortunately, the cool slate tables are very dirty and attracted so, so many flies. I was constantly batting the flies away while waiting for my sushi and while eating. It was really disgusting. I did tell the waitress about the fly problem. I don’t suspect anything was done to actually CLEAN the tables, floor, and seating area after I left. She knew the flies were rampant. They need to clean the place and keep it clean. I most definitely will not eat there again if the flies are still present.

I recommend your place for the artistic job you did decorating. I love the chairs made out of trucks of trees and the woodsy décor and interesting lighting. The ambiance was fabulous, such a cute place. Very cozy and inviting.
We also liked your food. The sushi was very good and my mom liked your bento box special. She also really enjoyed your green tea ice cream. We both liked your imported Japanese beer. Thanks for a lovely lunch :)

I feel like a scuba diver who discovered a sunken treasure chest full of exquisite gems. I adored everything about Sushi Main Street lounge, it is seriously the bomb.
Let’s start with the décor. I was enamored from the moment that I walked through the majestic entrance — gates of intricately carved wood encased in etched granite and set in reclaimed wood. The dining are is a fung shui of natural raw wood, stone, lighting and plants with comfortable seating nooks. Wooden posts support slabs of stone with natural, irregular textures and shapes and each table has it’s own character.
We started with a bottle of cold, unfiltered sake which put me in the best mood to enjoy the delightful menu. Clay pot bowls are a house delicacy; they include noodles, broth, and many variations of seafood, meat, egg and fried tempura.
Somehow the sushi rolls were even better than the clay pots. It takes mastery of the knife to create artistic presentations using many color and textures of fish and seaweed. Our Itamae was able to design masterpieces with the extensive fresh fish that took my tastebuds on a great adventure. You could take a photo of any of our plates and it would be suitable for framing.
If you are anywhere near Half Moon Bay Sushi Main Street Lounge is a necessary stop.

Read as 2.6 stars
If I could eat the décor, I would. The minute I walked in, I was mesmerized and at the same time confused by the décor. It as hard for me to believe I was not in an antique store but a Japanese eatery. Ironically enough, the décor was not Japanese and was all Balinese (Indonesian). Kudos to whoever designed the one of a kind interior. Think Flintstones as the furniture and fixtures were anachronistic like they belonged to the Stone Age. Kudos to the stonemason who sculptured the booths out of hewn stones, designed the odd shaped slate-​slab tabletops with matching stone lampshades to boot. Kudos to whoever that did the awesome woodwork by carving chairs from teak wood… a hard wood from South East Asia that appeared to be disfigured by forces of wind and storm, then crafted and polished to look like antlers. Don’t even try to lift the chairs. You need some biceps! I am not sure how practical the tables and chairs are as they are bulky and heavy to move around. The intricate Balinese wood frame against the back wall of the sushi bar was a sight to behold. The Balinese artifacts added more mystiques to the vibe albeit inappropriately since this is after all a Japanese eatery.
After the initial distraction, I soon realized that I came here for sushi/​sashimi and not nasi goreng (Indonesian fried rice). I started with uni ($ 6.95), blue fin tuna ($ 6.75), hirame ($ 4.75) and anago ($ 5.25). The Santa Barbara uni was impressive with a sweet taste and a custardy texture. Color was golden yellow and mine was the first order from a brand new box of uni. The blue fin tuna and hirame were just ok and I can’t complain, as the prices were cheaper than average.
I intended to have some sashimi but I skipped, as the fish quality across the board was pathetic. Everything else went downhill from here. Anago (sea eel) has a soft texture. It is inherently a little sweet and SMSL killed the taste by over drizzling it with teriyaki sauce. It became so sweet that I couldn’t eat more than two bites. Ika sugatayaki ($ 8.75) (grilled squid) suffered the same fate. The ika was buried in teriyaki sauce. It should be served with a side of ponzu and grated ginger. Zaru soba ($ 5.95) (cold soba on a bamboo mat) was way too cold as it was precooked, kept refrigerated and then served right away. It should only be as cold as the cold water used to rinse the soba after it was boiled. Finally, I thought SMSL would at least be able to make decent miso using miso paste and hondashi (bonito soup stock). Wrong! I ordered a bowl of asari miso ($ 3.95) (miso with clams) and the taste was off. I couldn’t pinpoint what the problem was. The clams however were fresh and tasty.
The restaurant was busy in spite of the lackluster fish. Jive ass rolls galore and they seemed to be very popular with the majority of the customers. One would think this is a traditional Japanese restaurant as the menu has a good cross section of traditional dishes. The kitchen menu has a good variety ranging from agemono (deep fried like tempura, tonkatsu), nabemono (clay pot like sukiyaki, yosenabe, nabeyaki udon), yakimono (grilled like chicken, beef, yakitori), nimono (simmered or steamed like tofu and veggies) to salads and donburi (rice bowl).
The sushi chef is a pleasant young man who knows just barely enough to get his job done and requires a great deal more experience. The servers do not know the first thing about sushi or Japanese food. You can’t get too upset with them, as they are all sweet and personable. I remember coming here more than 10 years ago when the food was pretty decent. I guess for as long as business is still booming, why should management bother to improve?
Ambiance: 4 stars for uniqueness and originality
Food: 2 stars
Service: 3 stars