Sushi Kuine Japanese Restaurant

If you are looking for a deep fried roll with sauce sprayed all over it, this isn’t the place for you. Though their menu is fairly limited, they offer some of the best tasting sushi I have eaten. The owners definitely love what they do, and it shows. Service is extremely quick and friendly. Prices are very reasonable to boot! Be sure to bring cash, they do not accept cards.

Best Sushi restaurants in Kent. Reasonable price and real Japanese Sushi made by real Japanese sushi chef.

I work a few blocks away and was craving for some sushi so I decided to order some to go. I called in and a lady took my order and I gave her the time I would pick it up. When I came to pick it up, interior and exterior wise, it was clean and cozy like a typical Japanese sushi joint. I paid cash and got my change but no receipt. I got to work and opened up what I ordered and was very very disappointed. Serving size is great for the price I paid but you can tell it was rolled poorly like an amateur. My tuna and salmon did not look fresh one bit. The «wasabi» was a light lime green color and had a very runny texture. Overall, I would never order from here again. Definitely not worth it!

I would not give any rating to this place because first time we came to this place he closed early second time I made sure I called early and went in at 715 pm and he ran out of rice. Two times I have wasted going here I m not gonna go here again

This little restaurant is what I was looking for in the sea of mediocre, at best, «Japanese» joints in the south end and valley. The owner and his wife carry on the wonderful tradition of authentic Japanese cuisine and service. The sushi/​sashimi is impeccably fresh and complete. I was shocked by the prices of the menu items as they reflect pricing from 15 years ago. I had a beautiful sushi lunch special for $ 8.95 with miso and green tea. Friendly, generous, authentic and very reasonably priced. No reason to go elsewhere in the Kent/​auburn Valley!

This place is great! The owner is very nice, and the food was very fresh and tasty. I had the salmon and tuna nigiri, and they were amazing. you can taste the difference compared to commercial sushi.

Do you like quality/​authentic sushi at an amazing price? No? Well, then what are you doing on Unilocal?
Like the other reviews have said, this place is only run by one man (the owner) so it may be closed or it may be open, but is it worth it? Definitely a big yes.
*Order the Dinner Plate, $ 13.95 for 9 Nigiri, California roll, tea and miso soup.

Such great sushi for an amazing price. Really fast service. The two owners were really nice
The restaurant is very small and could possibly get busy very fast but because the restaurant is in Kent and not in a great location I don’t think it ever gets too busy.
Cash only
Lunch special is fantastic deal. I would recommend that definitely

We came in for dinner tonight and both got the $ 13.95 dinner special a California roll and 9 pieces of nigiri with miso soup and green tea. The sushi was delicious and fresh. Everything else on the menu was really affordable. The guy that owns the restaurant (I think) was the same guy preparing our food and helping us. He was friendly and seemed pretty nice.

Finally had the chance to eat at this sushi café. Small and intimate setting. The sushi chef has a clean, simple and fresh style. I will be back for sure. Far from the americanized sushi craze going around and I was OK with that. I actually enjoyed it more.

Came here on a Sunday at 5:00, was greeted with a smile as I sat myself down. I usually eat sushi at Maneki or Tsukishinbo but I wasn’t gonna be in that area so I came here as my mom told me about this place.
The price for nigiri is great, at $ 2.99 per order it’s priced the same as sushiland and cheaper than trapper’s. Though the choice in fish is relatively limited, I understand Kazu’s difficulty in obtaining more special species as this is Kent — gonna be hard to find chutoro cuts and uni pieces that aren’t frozen and boxed wal-​mart style.
Everytime I go to a new sushi place I order Saba. It’s my way of testing the person behind the knife, as mackerel isn’t a popular fish and it’s easy to make nasty (i.e. too briny). For example, if you get saba at sushiland, genki, trapper’s, whatever, you’ll essentially be eating a sea salt bomb with a deep, dank, fishy fallout that can rival a long day at the gym in leather pants. Kuine’s saba is cool, not too much brine as to overpower the mackerel’s fattiness, not that fishy at all either. Granted it’s not as tasty as my go-​to spots, but for the area this is awesome.
Fish and rice portions are good. I ate full for $ 19.56 after tax eating nothing but nigiri orders. To put that into perspective I am a 6′, 21 y.o. male who runs once a week. If you want some ordering advice, the tuna is lean. If you are one to hunt for chutoro or otoro, ask to see the tuna strip first because, again, this is Kent and fatty pieces of tuna are rarer than an honest politician, though the former is actually possible to find.
Come here instead of Trapper’s, open your stomach’s eyes, be happy. Cash only.

This is not «Americanized» Sushi so you won’t get the the usual heavy loaded stuff. We go here when we want really good sushi and sashimi. The Itami (sushi chef) makes everything himself; so it does take some time, but he is a nice friendly man and the sushi is great. We love take out platters as well, just give the 3 hrs notice and you’ll be happy. I was told it was so he could buy fresh extra fish. Lol. Cash only, otherwise this is a 5 star place.

I generally hesitate to mark a place down when there is confusion about opening times, but this one was a real frustrating head scratcher. Read the great reviews, stopped by earlier in the day to check out the place. Said, «open at 430pm» Hey, it’s Valentines day on a Saturday, we will come down shortly after opening and enjoy it. Came by after their stated opening time, but no lights on, nothing. Checked by later and it was still closed. Weird. Sorry we had to take 2 trips by there when they couldn’t bother to put up an «on vacation» sign – or SOMEthing. for potential diners. I guess their, «:cash only» stipulation may be an indicator that the owner flies by his own rules.

Wow. I am in shock right now. 4 of us (my brother, sister, husband, and myself) came to grab some sushi after a workout at Fenwick Park and we were so excited to grab some sushi. We got to the restaurant at 6:40pm-there was a couple that was finishing up their dinner and the owner/​cook was chatting away with them. After seeing that it was cash only (which is odd and super shady for a restaurant like this) my brother and sister left us there to grab cash from an ATM. The owner/​chef came up to my husband and I said that he’s closing. We’re like wait what? We thought you closed at 8pm and he said he’s going home because he’s sick. Ummmm… you were just serving another party and were chatting away with them. Are you kidding me?!?
Who the heck does cash only at a sushi restaurant?!?

I have eaten many kinds of sushi from many types of sushi restaurants. I can’t say that I’m overly impressed here. I like a good variety of options. Sometimes I like sashimi, sometimes I want a fried roll, sometimes I want some extra special. I am more than willing to pay for great sushi. I was disappointed that they had no fried or tempura rolls at all. I had already ordered my drink so I didn’t want to just leave. I got the sashimi plate and my yellowtail was room temperature, which doesn’t make me happy when eating raw fish.
In other news, parking was a nightmare, and not having cash on me was a problem. I had to run across the road and get some from the ATM.
I won’t be going back here.

Yup, this place is as good as all the reviews say it is! This small hole in the wall sushi joint serves delicious, fresh fish alongside yummy miso and green tea refills galore. Service is excellent! When we walked in, we were told it was going to be a bit of a wait, as was each group that came in after us. I appreciate the heads up and don’t mind waiting on this one man show!
Cash only, as many others have noted. Very reasonable prices. Get the combo (nigiri and half a california role). A true hidden gem in Kent.

This place is a hidden GEM located in downtown Kent. This is the only sushi place we’ll go to now ever since we found it on a Unilocal.It’s a small little restaurant, it’s clean, but the décor is a bit dated.
Kazu, the restaurant owner and «sushi chef» runs the restaurant by himself. He takes the orders, makes the sushi and is also the cashier. Nonetheless, our orders are always made efficiently.
I’ve been to many sushi establishments from Sushi Land to Umi Sake House and Sushi Kuine offers the simplest form of sushi there is. The rice mixture is perfect (not too sour & not too bland either) and the fish is always fresh. I love that Kazu doesn’t add any frou frou «sushi» into his menu. The sushi he offers are straight forward. My favorites to order are the Salmon & Tuna Nigiri, the Gowe roll, Kent roll, Cali roll, and Spicy tuna roll. If you don’t like wasabi make sure to let him know, sometimes he adds them to certain rolls. The prices are great as well, very cheap. We usually end up ordering 2 orders of Nigiri (1 order includes 2 pieces) and 4 – 5 rolls and we usually pay between $ 35-​$ 40 plus tip. Don’t forget to bring cash, but if you do forget, no biggie because there are several banks right next to the restaurant.
My husband and I love going here and we hope Kazu keeps his business running for more years to come!

Can’t get enough. The owner is a kind man who was trained in Japan as a sushi chef. It may look like a hole in the wall, but don’t underestimate this little sushi shop. Cash only, no alcohol but that is ok. His ingredients are fresh and seasonal, which means he doesn’t always have everything in stock .
We always ask him to surprise us after we eat a few nigiri. he will make a few wonderfully balanced pieces for you.
You won’t find any Americanized sushi here! Thank goodness!

This place is just amazing! Just remember bring cash. We had the sashimi lunch, the kent and Seattle rolls and the sweet squash roll. Everything was excellent!
The first thing to strike me was you could taste the nori — very fresh. Often times I never taste it though I love the flavor. The sashimi was excellent — well cut and tasting good. We missed that most of the sashimi was accompanied by an herb or vegetable with which it should be eaten — for example a small piece of cucumber with the squid. We won’t make that mistake again!
What really stole the show though was how nice the owner/​chef was to our children. He carried our 6 month old daughter around the restaurant while we ate and made my son a paper airplane and musubi with our leftover rice. The is place is awesome! I would easily drive from Seattle for it. It’s a small place though so I think a group would not be a good idea.

This place is awesome! My boyfriend and I had been meaning to go here for months, but finally got here this past weekend (kind of sad considering how close we live). We got there about 5pm and the place was empty. This surprised me, but I know they close between 2:30 and 4:30, so perhaps it wasn’t quite dinnertime for some people yet.
The menu is small, but has a lot of great choices. I had the avocado roll and the sweet squash roll — both were SUPER good and the ingredients were very fresh and tasty. My boyfriend had the tuna roll, spicy tuna roll, and masago roll. He loves tuna rolls and said that these were some of the best he’s ever had. The chef prepared the food incredibly fast — I think we had our items within 5 minutes of ordering!
I am guessing that the chef was Kazu, from the comments made by other reviewers. He was the only one there, but managed to take our order, prepare our sushi, keep our tea glasses full, and make sure we were happy. He was friendly and nice.
Prices are AWESOME! I can’t believe how cheap it was. The total for the two of us was just under $ 20. Speaking of — this place is CASH ONLY, so keep that in mind.
This is definitely going to become ‘our’ sushi place — we already have plans to go back this coming weekend!