Tomodachi Sushi Bistro

Good service. Fabulous prices. Great fresh fish and vegetables!
Definitely will be back for another generous and filling lunch! Come before 2:00 as they close at 2:30 for s bit before opening for dinner.

Nice people, slow service. The generous cuts of sashimi have shrunk the last couple of years while the prices are higher. I have been to this restaurant at varying times during the weekdays and regardless of how early or how late you have lunch, the speed of service doesn’t improve. This is also the same whether you have table or bar seating.

Our go to place for sit down Sushi. It’s great when the rooms are available. The sushi, is great, we always get the sashimi since it tastes fresh. Decent price and great service.

Best sushi restaurant in hayward. Fresh, delicious sushi prepared very well and served by great and efficient staff. Oftentimes they have toro or white tuna belly. Good sake selection. Wish they had gluten free soy sauce but otherwise A+.

I’ve been going to Tomodachi for a long time. the owner, Benny is a nice guy
I always like the sashimi which is very fresh & he also generous of giving the big piece of it, hamachi belly & salmon is my favorite one. I think all the food is very good! You should try their rolls as well, my favorite roll is spider roll and I like their Uni too
Compare with any other sushi place, TOMODACHI is the best

We hadn’t been here for a long while and really enjoyed our recent lunch here.
We arrived as the doors opened and it didn’t take long for the place to be packed and folks waiting in line for a seat.
Even being so busy, service was great and the sushi was very tasty. I had a bento box with with grilled sea bass and some lovely sashimi and shared with Mr. S who ordered a trio of small rolls, hamachi, sake and tuna that were all quite good.
I think Tomodachi has really improved over the years, making it my new favorite sushi spot in town.

Its a cool local sushi restaurant. Big enough for big parties! Their sushi portions are small and a bit expensive. Wished their portions were bigger for the price they listed. I’ll come back eventually.

After searching and exploring North Hayward sushi bars — for lunch TO GO option only — I concluded that this place is probably the best one for that option. Their salmon rolls testy, spicy just enough and the staff is really friendly, laid-​back (in a good sense) and attentive. Both cooks and hostesses smile at you and seem to really want to be helpful.
I keep coming back to this place.

Like most days, I’m too lazy to cook after classes so I’m always looking for an easy place to grab some takeout, so I was super happy to see a sushi place that’s using Unilocal’s Order Online system. I got a Chirashi and a Raider’s Roll to go.
When I opened the box I was pleasantly surprised. The chirashi had a nice selection of the basic types of fish you find in chirashis (including a piece of surf clam that can’t be seen in the photo). Neither the selection or the quality stood out much but overall I’d say it’s about my money’s worth. The fish looked a lot fresher than it actually tasted. None of the various fish’s distinct flavors really came out except for the yellowtail. The rice was also not flavorful at all.
Now for the Raider Roll. First thing’s first, it’s actually quite tasty. The baked california roll and the sauce/​broth that it’s soaked in is great. But you pay $ 11 for the dish because of the scallops and the scallops were destroyed by the baking. They were borderline rubbery. If they added the scallops at the end then seared it, I would be in love with this roll.
Overall, not a bad place for a takeout meal. I would love to try dining in someday too because the interior is actually quite nice.

I remember eating at Tomodachi when this place first opened by one of the sushi chefs from Ray’s Sushi down the street. But after a poor experience (before Unilocal) and poor Unilocal reviews in the years after we have not considered Tomodachi Sushi Bistro as a Japanese choice. However after seeing some newer pictures and reading some recent reviews we decided to give them a try. I am not sure if the original owners /​management are still there but this time the food and service was good. The restaurant has always been a large beautiful space. We ordered the 20 pc. Omakase with a whole Lobster done sashimi and congee. Both were excellent.
Service was good. Plenty of parking in the large parking lot. The restaurant is large and can accommodate large parties. $ 123. before tip.

Clean restaurant, friendly staff, speedy service, and delicious sushi every single time!

My family and I have been here a few times. But mostly on rare occasions. The wait is always a struggle because its always packed and theres a limited amount of staffs on board.
The atmosphere is pretty sophisticated; a place I would bring colleagues or clients for business lunch/​dinner. Its warm and spacious with plenty of tables and an area for bigger groups that requires you to take off your shoes.
The sushi rolls are good and proportions are generous. Only bad thing is that some rolls are just filled with cucumbers instead of fish or artificial crabs that other sushi places would normally have them filled with. So youre basically getting a piece of sashimi, cucumber, avocado, and rice.
Staff can use some work. From the beginning until when we got seated we were not addressed at all. Not even greeted when we entered or when we were putting our name on the list. In fact, no one checked on the list for a good 20 mins and we were actually waiting for an hour while people were leaving and tables were not being cleared. Hence I said they were understaffed. Employees need work. Even the sushi chefs (during their free time) just stared at us while we were in front waiting.
Not sure if I’ll be coming as often as before but its worth a first try for others! I highly recommend the scampi yaki udon!!! Soooooo creamy and tasty!

This is a really nice neighborhood spot to grab sushi at. I’m really spoiled with AYCE where I’m from, so when it comes to eating sushi, I get real picky. It’s nice to have a bento box once in a while though, so that’s what I went with when coming here.
I got the lunch portion Chicken Teriyaki Bento with a California Roll. Everything tasted great and it was a good portion for me because it’s smaller than most lunch bentos. However, that’s also not a good thing considering it’s also the same price as most bentos and you only really have a choice of your protein + a California Roll or Sashimi as opposed to getting to pick between various entrees. You only get three pieces of California Roll instead of 6 and the tempura is a smaller portion. Like I said, it was good for me, but maybe wouldn’t be as satisfying for someone who eats or expects more.
We also order a Lion King Roll and a Salmon Skin Roll. The Lion King was the highlight of my meal! I try to order the version of a baked salmon roll at every sushi place I go to and this one is pretty up there for me. It’s only 6 pieces instead of 8, but the pieces are extremely big. The salmon on top is baked to perfection with the sauce and topped with Masago. As for the Salmon Skin, I happened to get a cut that had an extremely burnt piece of salmon skin in it and it was not very appetizing.
All in all, good spot if you live in the area.

Only been here for lunch but this place is a notch above any other sushi joint in Hayward. I recomend this place for people who enjoy sushi and not just california rolls and teriyaki chicken. Nice inside as well

I slid into the sushi bar at Tomodachi (thanks for the recommendation Unilocal) on a recent rainy, dark, weekday. I had already spent the last 40 minutes on the San Mateo Bridge and 20 minutes before that hopelessly lost in Foster City looking for a different sushi place (boo Google Maps). Dinner had all the makings of a major cranky pants moment on lm part, but that never materialized. I was greeted by one of the sushi chefs right away. I was barely seated when I had warm edamame and a nice cold glass of coke in front of me. That was followed almost immediately by my (requested) miso soup and less than 15 minutes after that, I also had my sushi. Most of that time having been taken up by me deciding what to have. To be clear, no one was rushing me. They were just on top of their game. I wish I had enjoyed the sushi as much as the overall dining experience. It was fine. But with raw fish, I tend to want «exquisite» or «amazing». The fish in my nigiri (Hamachi and shrimp) was just a tad dry, and I would have traded quickly made for a slightly slower but tighter roll on my maki (spicy salmon). It started falling apart when I dipped in soy. So much so the waitress offered me a fork (which I politely refused). Still, the atmosphere was really relaxing and I even got a nicely sliced orange for dessert. In addition to nice sushi chefs, the prices were good and they have their own lot. Tomodachi isn’t exactly on my normally beaten path, but I will probably visit them again at some point.

Brought my husband here for his birthday dinner. I searched Unilocal and this was one of the suggested places. We picked the right place for it. The best part of our meal was the grilled squid. It was perfectly cooked and tasted heavenly. The sashimi plates we had were decorative and delicious. The servers approached our table to sing «Happy Birthday!» to my husband during desert. We got free cake! Memorable moment indeed. We were surprised with a photo frame souvenir of us at the end of our meal. Wow! The meal was surprisingly cheap, too. We ordered a lot of food! This place is definitely a must-​visit-​again. You should try it.

I always get the Yakitori and eggplant with sweet miso sauce. Both have a sweet sauce that come with these two grilled goodies. Yakitori was tender and was hot and moist. Eggplant was sweet and juicy.
Today had the spicy shrimp curry ramen. I asked the lady if it was spicy, she said it may not be for me if I didn’t like spicy food. I love spicy food so I got it but when it finally came, it ended up not being spicy at all. Was definitely curried though and was still delicious. I was expecting it to be a creamy type of curried soup but was like a spiced curried chicken broth base.
The sashimi is always fresh; the best, top quality! I am never disappointed with the freshness of the fish and is always consistent.

Close to the time of leaving work yesterday, I hopped on Unilocal to see where I could place a pickup order from — this is what happens when it’s late on a weekday and I have absolutely no food in my fridge at home. I was craving Japanese and typically my criteria is close to or on the way home and they have Online Ordering. It’s just so much easier to work with for my indecisive self.
I chose Tomodachi since they had decent reviews, was on my way home (with only a few minute detour) and they had Online Ordering. I ordered (3) orders of their Maguro/​Tuna Nigiri, Chicken Teryaki Entrée, and Saba Shioyaki Entrée.
After placing my order, I received a call from the restaurant about 5 minutes later confirming and repeating my order to me. I appreciated this a lot since there have been times when I’ve placed orders online and my order disappeared into internet land or the restaurant just didn’t see my order until later.
I arrived at Tomodachi 30 minutes later and my food was ready to go for me at the hostess stand — all packed and on time. I got home about 15 minutes later and all of the food was great. Chicken Teryaki had a good flavor and the chicken was nice and moist/​soft, not dry at all. Saba Shioyaki was also good — just wish they included a lemon with it! Their Tuna Nigiri was good — tuna was delicious and the sushi rice was made just right.
I was very pleased with my experience with Tomodachi — I will definitely think of them the next time I want to pick up Japanese food whether I’m home or on my way home.

Before heading to the KMEL SUMMER JAM, my friend suggested me to try this place out because supposedly they had the best sushi in town.
OMG! i knew i shouldve just went to sizzlers next door!
The décor is nice. no, not really. i just like the unique seatings on the right side when you walk in.
FOOD was horrible to be called sushi! i can literally get better sushi from a buffet. The baked mussels order came with only 2 mussels. and both were burnt.
SERVICE was horrible too! no one checked up on us and no refills on water either, even though we sat RIGHT NEXT to the cashier so they literally always past by us.
im sorry, i really wanted to like you for my friend’s sake.

Updating my review based on our second visit. Because I was so impressed with the hamachi the first time, I was confident I could try a sashimi combo and be thoroughly satisfied. I was so disappointed. The fish simply wasn’t good. It wasn’t bad, but it was not good. Such a far cry from the hamachi I had the first time, which was some of the best sashimi I’ve ever had. I’m not sure how there can be such a discrepancy in quality. My partner’s meal was also not good. He got the grilled pork chop ramen. I’d say it was an odd choice. It was just okay.
So I reduced my review from five to three stars.
You can see, however, how impressed I was with our first visit:
Okay… finally found some outstanding sashimi!
First, the restaurant is large and tastefully decorated. Seating options abound — booths, tables, tatami — take your pick.
Service was prompt, attentive and helpful.
Edamame was brought to the table to whet our appetites. Fresh and tasty; cold, not warm.
The menu is huge. I knew I wanted sashimi and there were so many options. I opted for the seven piece ‘high end’ plate. There were three options at $ 17.50 and three for $ 14. All of these were ‘one fish’ options. There were also chef choice sashimi combos. I chose the seven piece hamachi.
First, the pieces were huge, so this seven piece serving could easily have been 14 pieces at another restaurant. Second, the fish was as fresh as I’ve ever tasted. Starting with a slightly salty flavor, the hamachi required very little chewing. It truly melted in my mouth. Each piece was a slice of heaven.
My dining partner got the Redwood roll. I had one piece. It was very good, but it paled in comparison to the hamachi. It was hard, but I did let him have a piece.
To make sure we had enough to eat and because I saw pictures of this on Unilocal and decided we HAD to get it, we ordered the grilled calamari. I highly recommend this dish. Be sure to squeeze lemon over the squid. I had a piece without lemon. After lemon was added, the flavor of the squid was elevated to something akin to steak. It was so delicious!
There were no missteps here. Everything — ambience, service and food, was top notch.
We still need to continue exploring sushi restaurants in the Bay Area, but rest assured we will be back to Tomodachi. Not only that, we will bring friends who visit from Ohio here to enjoy some high quality sushi.