Kokoro Sushi & Cuisine

Same great kokoro people with new name. GREAT food in a nice friendly atmosphere. Better value than those overcrowded chain sushi places. Freshest sashimi in town. Try the 3×3!

I have been coming here for years. In fact, I use to go there once a week. Unfortunately, the owner changed the rules that there is no substitutions. All I ask for is no rice and substitute for eztra salad. You think that they would substitute extra salad which comes with the meal anyways. I thought rice is more expensive. I do like the food and the service. I still go there but not as often.

Ordered takeout about a month ago from here. Boyfriend ended up with food poisoning for 2 days. Food not fresh. Awkward employees. Cost us 2 nights in a hotel room that we weren’t planning on in our travels. Disappointing

I’ve been ordering takeout of their lunch bento box specials for years now, and I’ve got to say that they are one of the biggest values around. After reading the good reviews we decided to try them out for a sushi dinner. Terrible idea!
When we walked in the first thing we saw was a customer spiting food out. Then they sat us next to a guy who ordered a sashimi salad but only ate the salad leaving all of the fish to the side. I thought it was odd that so many of their customers disliked raw fish…
I should have walked out then, and gone to a good sushi restaurant, but I was curious about their tuna flower that someone mentioned in a good review, and so we waited for someone to take our order… The waitress brought us our drinks but told us we need to place our orders with the sushi chefs. So we waited, and waited, and waited for one of the seemingly sleepwalking chefs to pay attention to us. We ordered the tuna flower along with some tuna and yellowtail sashimi but he acted as if we were crazy for ordering 2 tuna dishes. I reassured him that was what we wanted, and then we waited.
What seemed like an hour went by and we were only given the sashimi. We were ready to cut our losses and get out of there when he told me he was working on the flower.
We heard other customers grumbling about the disgusting food, and then finally it came! Quite beautiful, but one of the most disgusting things we have ever tasted. We asked for our check and drove straight to Hana Sushi to get a good sushi experience.
I would give 1 or 0 stars (if I could) if this review was only based on our dinner experience. The fact that they make such great, non-​sushi, bento boxes earned them 3 stars.

We stopped at sushi zen first and that place was so loud we couldn’t have a conversation. We had our 1 ½ year old with us and he was upset because of the noise. We looked on Unilocal for the next option and found kokoro. The atmosphere was quiet, calm and exactly what we wanted. The staff was so nice and friendly. They even had crayons for our son. This is our new favorite sushi place. We also love that they have other options besides sushi, such as Teppan!

This place is bad. TERRIBLE WAITRESSES. TERRIBLE. They dont know what theyre doing at all. If you have a question, dont ask them. She came over and took 1 persons order and left, brought back 1 persons food, and left again (we were a party of 4)??? When she finally took our order (after asking more than twice) the rest of us ordered the dinner combination. We were served with our rolls, then sushi, then miso soup, and then when our dinner salads and rice never came we asked our waitress. She laughed and said you actually want those? Such a weird and inexpierenced lady with no sense of customer service or how a restaurant works. Fish was very very iffy and had a bad smell. I wont be returning.

Local and fish is the best! I don’t have to drive to sandiego or la for good sushi!!!

Finally came out to give this place a try and I must say that my family and I were impressed. The staff is very friendly and they were constantly checking in on us. Once our food came, it was very good, definitely fresh! I’m glad we have a good sushi spot that is this good, so close to home. Will be returning, that’s for sure!

First time coming with my family and I’m glad we came. The food was great the establishment itself was small and quite which led it to have a nice home feel to it. The employees are incredibly friendly checking in to make sure everything is going fine and tasting great. The prices are reasonably good for a sushi restaurant, all in all a very good restaurant that I will be coming back to.

Been coming for years. The staff is awesome the owners are super friendly, and the food is delicious!

First off, the service was awesome. Very nice servers, greeted as we walked in, seated quickly. Drinks were refilled and all of that good stuff. The prices are better then most other local places. Most of the specialty rolls are $ 9.95 and edamame is only $ 3 for big bowl. The fish is really fresh, bright colors, nice and cold and very tasty! We had a few different rolls, baked scallop which was delish, spicy yellowtail and albacore on top, spicy tuna and shrimp tempura. All were really yummy! Get some ponzu sauce to dip your more fresh rolls in… very lemony and bright. We will be back!

Absolutely love this place. Amazing sushi at a great price. Very fresh fish plus the staff are always friendly.
Also not always busy i always get seated immediately without any wait.

Love this place! Delicious sushi, always fresh! & their customer service is friendlier than most sushi bars here in lake Elsinore!

Ive never eatin sushi anywhere except Hana and i was a little nervous but it was really good and closer to home ! Love them both tho!

I went today to pick up some dinner on my way home from work. It was close by, I love sushi, and I had never been so I decided to give it a shot. I got a Red Dragon Roll, and a Spicy Tuna Roll. They were both very disappointing. The spicy tuna didn’t taste fresh at all. Same with the rice. It was way too thick and very dry. The rice ruined it all. The eel in the Red Dragon roll was decent.
Only good thing was that the rolls were quite large and they were quick. But quantity doesn’t beat quality. Don’t recommend if you are actually quite the sushi connoisseur. If you want normal priced sushi, for below average taste. This is your go to place.

Grabbed an impromptu dinner last night as I’d been in the area after dropping off a rental car at Enterprise. Within walking distance from the rental venue and Kokoro was a welcomed cool place to wait for our ride home. I decided to try their dinner (bento) items: sesame shrimp and California roll. Also accompanying these personal choices, were steamed rice, miso soup, salad, and tempura (2 vegetable and 1 shrimp). These items were listed on a separate dinner special menu I believe. It was listed at/​about $ 13.95. Immediately saw that it was such a generous portion for the price! Could easily share with another person. I was going to give my son my steamed rice but my waitress must have misheard me when I asked for rice on side plate. She ended up ordering for me an additional steamed rice. Not a big deal but I did end up taking more than half of my dinner home as I’d anticipated I may. California roll was even 8 pieces, a typical size roll and tasted great. Again, I agree with other recent reviews about the generous portions for the price.
Service is just as welcoming as I’ve had in the past. Just not completely attentive. Never offered water or soda refills today, for instance. Restaurant was pretty busy at 6PM on a Friday; maybe saw only 4 vacant tables. Also, the batter on the tempura and the sesame shrimp were just too heavy and seemed heavy in oil/​dough-​y. Not the (seemingly) lighter/​airy crunch, crisp that I prefer with my fried foods. I could squeeze drops of oil out of my potato tempura, for instance. Saturated my napkin and inedible for me. The shrimp was kind of a crunchy and chewy unfavorable texture, sadly. I remember thinking I wish I had gone with chicken. Aside from the oil, I really enjoyed the other items in the (bento) box. My son loved their teriyaki sauce for his rice on this visit. Miso soup is tastier than I remembered too! The larger cubes of tofu is a treat. I don’t mind visiting here every once-​in-​a-​while, though I do prefer a couple other sushi venues that are in the area. Maybe I’m just more familiar with their menu. Nonetheless, it’s always nice to count on Kokoro’s pleasant service here.
NOTE: I didn’t realize my previous review had been given a response by the venue staff and I appreciate the consideration for my notes on a past visit. I may have misquoted exact prices or the entrée name, but if I named it, it was the best of my memory at the time and orices probably reflected my adding tax. Seafood udon may have meant shrimp tempura udon. All the more reason I am happy to have noted the past couple times I’ve returned and my experience here with this most recent review.

Our favorite Japanese place ever! Great food, friendly staff and reasonable prices. Whenever we drive thru Lake Elsinore we always stop here!

My wife and I went here for the first time, and it won’t be the last time, last week. We had a couple of different rolls and the sushi combination. The fish was good in all we had. The gyoza we had for an appetizer was very good as well. The only hiccup for me would be the tempura ice cream. I was expecting something a bit different as far as texture goes, but my wife loved it. So, it ended up being a wash, as I ate our mochi ice cream, and she gets the tempura ice cream.
Good value for the food, and the service was very attentive.
We will be back. Perhaps tonight if I can convince the Mrs to want sushi again. It shouldn’t be too hard of a chore, that!

Went out to eat here because we heard great things and didn’t want to drive and we wanted to keep it local. The food was amazing and our drinks refilled properly. Friendly atmosphere even with the birthday group celebrating and drinking next to us. Still a good time and very good food.
The bad though is very slow service. Just slow was the only complaint.

I love this place. I’ve been coning here for a long time. The sushi is always good, as is the service. Their prices are great. I’ve been to places around town by far this one is the best in Murrieta and Lake Elsinore.