Uzen Japanese Cuisine

Food was great. Interior was modern, clean and minimalist. Was here for lunch with a friend, we each paid $ 37, yeh, pretty darn pricey for lunch! It was very yummy but VERY pricey. We ordered all nigiri sushi including Scallop and Amaebi so those were pricier nigiri I know. The scallop was very fresh. Ika was very small. Amaebi was pretty good and the shrimp head was delicious. Not sure if I would go back again due to the high price. But if you are willing to pay for good sushi and a clean modern interior, then this place is for you. One star taken off for the pricey sushi esp for a lunch.

Order the raw stuff and forget anything cooked! The highlights of our meal were definitely the sashimi. The toro was so well marbled that it looked like steak. The scallops from Japan (talk about excessive carbon footprint!) were fresh and delicious. We also had the hamachi nigiri which was also top notch.
The rolls were less impressive. I liked the rainbow roll but the spider roll and another roll with salmon and jalapeños didn’t work for me. I found the flavours and textures a bit one dimensional.
Service was good so no complaints there. But beware of the fruit flies buzzing around. There are quite a few of them!

Wow, How on earth did this place get so many stars? This is hands down the 2^nd worse restaurant I’ve been to. The rainbow roll is what we ordered… the fish was not cut very nicely, it was torn on the edges, kind of rough. The avocado inside was mushy, therefore it wasn’t a tight roll, it was an unattractive looking roll. It didn’t taste that fresh. We also had the tuna roll, it was fine. But we ordered this grilled fish roll thing, it was a dried grilled fish and it was so gross. I like funky fermented foods but this just tasted bad, like it was spoiled and burnt, there was a weird bitterness to it. I sent it back the sushi chef said loudly across the entire room… you know it’s not fresh right and it’s not supposed to be. Yes, we know but we didn’t like it, then he proceeded to talk in Japanese and laugh merrily with his coworker, I can only assume about us. Let’s talk about service now. I’m not sure who is our server and that’s their way, ok fine, but I have to ask for water refills. I know there’s a drought but service? One of the staff just stands there spacing off so I have to say excuse me every time we want to order. And we got a bit of attitude after the fish incident. My friend gets a combo plate, main dish is served, but no sides. We ask ask if it comes with soup and salad, she just says, I’ll bring them out. No oops sorry about that, I’ll bring those now. Poor service, mediocre food. I wouldn’t come back. But they did take the funky fish off the tab.
Oh yes, I was handed a list of rolls with no prices, when I asked she said they range from $ 8.95 to $ 12.95. Kind of a silly thing no? So you just willy nilly charge what you want? It’s not an upscale market price sushi joint.

Excellent sushi and friendly service. Will definitely go back.
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I’ve been here several times now, and I’m fairly confident in saying that this is the best sushi in Oakland! Last trip was for my birthday, so we did omakase for the first time. Everything was excellent, and it was the first time I’ve actually enjoyed the salmon roe.
Minus one star because previously when I’ve sat at the bar, I’ve been able to order directly from the chef. This time, the waitress came around and it seemed we had to order from her or get omakase. I’m so tired of Bay Area restaurants where they have a «decorative» sushi bar where you are supposed to order from the waitress. No! It’s not like that in LA at all. I hate it!
Also, I enjoy all of their menu items, but I wish they’d take a stand and stop serving blue fin.

FRESH, FRESH, FRESH! I came here with 3 of my friends earlier this week. We had no problem grabbing a table, but I imagine on weekends there could be a wait since this place has about 10 tables total and the bar. The sushi was super yummy and fresh! The prices are very reasonable and the service is awesome too. Would love to come back next time I am in town again.

Got a quick to go order, so this review is just takeout!
Ordered before getting a wax next door (!) so had something to look forward to during my forty five minutes of pain!
Got the aji — OMG!!! Buttery and perfect with a dollop of fresh grated ginger??? HELLS YES! Had a tasty spicy tuna (loved the radish sprouts) too and loved it! Also liked that there was no to go bag, nor unnecessary chopsticks or soy sauce packets… You can get them by request of course, but less waste so +1 for these guys!

In an nutshell: Overpriced with slow service. Had a crunchy roll (spicy tuna with avocado and tempura flakes). It tasted fine. Nothing special, but nothing offensive either. There were no prices on the roll menu, so I was surprised to get a check for $ 12, since it was a small, 6-​piece roll that would be closer to $ 8 elsewhere. The place is small and was only about half full, but the two servers seemed overwhelmed, and the sushi chef was the one who ended up giving me a glass of water. With plenty of other sushi restaurants around, I don’t imagine I’ll return.

I came here per a friend’s recommendation of good Japanese food in the area, and was pleasantly surprised. Though it’s farther from Berkeley, it’s definitely a lot better than most of the Japanese restaurants in Berkeley. There’s a few pay for parking lots in the area, but you can also try to find parking in the residential area. Upon entering the restaurant, my dad and I were greeted happily by a server and seated us right away. The restaurant is pretty small, but it has an extremely high ceiling, which prevents it from feeling too cramped. Like all sushi restaurants, there’s a sushi bar area, where the fish is displayed. Although I didn’t sit at the sushi bar, I could tell that the sushi chef was extremely friendly by the way he was interacting with those at the bar and engaging in conversation with the customers. This is always a nice sight.
My dad and I ordered the baked yellow tail collar, udon, and sashimi dinner. The yellowtail came out first, and it was served with radish and sauce. The yellowtail was good, but it was slightly burnt on some parts, and I wish they put more salt on it before baking it. It was average. The udon was also just average. The noodles were cooked perfectly and there were a lot of different toppings in the udon, such as spinach, chicken, and shrimp tempura. However, I was extremely disappointed with the shrimp tempura. I didn’t eat the shrimp tempura first, and when I lifted it out of the soup, all of the breading came off, which was a lot, and there was amount of real shrimp was revealed. I definitely think that they should put less breading on the shrimp in the future. The sashimi dinner was my favorite part. It is by far the most fresh sashimi I’ve had in this area. All of the pieces were very fresh and were nicely cut. The sashimi just melted in your mouth and instantly put you in sashimi heaven.

This is the BEST sushi restaurant in Oakland! :)

If you’re an uni-​lover, don’t miss this place. We had the uni (japan) and it was refreshing. Don’t forget to budget for it too, though, as it cost us $ 11.95 per uni. So for all four of us to try it, it cost $ 24. The sashimi was also very fresh with great texture. We had the sashimi sampler dinner plate at $ 21.
The black cod appetizer (special) had a great umami flavor and a nice charred crunchy edge to it.
The hamachi collar was cooked with a nice smoky flavor to it. Wished it was saltier, but I really have no idea how this dish is supposed to taste.
The fresh oysters for appetizer with ponzu sauce was excellent. Fresh, tender, flavorful but well-​balanced starter.
The udon was good, pretty standard.
The soba noodles were delicate and mixed very well with the seasonings and sauce they provided. Loved this simple yet tasty dish.
The egg custard was good, but left something to be desired. Maybe it was overpowered by the mushrooms an underpowered by the fish/​shrimp in it which came across as overcooked.
All in all a great meal. I am reliving it just by writing this review. I would be overjoyed to eat here again!

Wanted sushi on a whim and Unilocaled uzen. It’s a small, quaint place with 2 servers and a couple of sushi chefs.
They have basic nigiri and rolls… not those crazy, overly sauced items you’d find at most restaurants nowadays. The fish was fresh… probably some of the best I’ve had in the east bay so far. The fish to rice ratio was great. The rice was seasoned well. We had everything from amaebi to albacore to fresh scallops. You pencil in what you want on a piece of paper.
For 2 of us, it cost around $ 80. That also included one roll.
Street parking. Service was decent. They forgot our tea until mid meal. I’d recommend this place to others.

Cute, pint-​sized restaurant (like every other one in this area) with very fresh fish and a nice atmosphere!
I came in a group of 8 without a reservation on a Wednesday night and the waiters graciously set up a table within 10 minutes upstairs in a hidden extra room! It even had the traditional floor seating, which we wholly enjoyed.
Dishes I would order again:
– The SASHIMI SALAD with SALMON and SCALLOP was amazing! The fish was SO FRESH and paired well with the spring mix lettuce. The scallops were buttery and sweet (there were about 4 pieces total). The dressing was light but I didn’t feel the need to dip the fish into soy sauce and wasabi. So so good.
– The SOBA was packed with shrimp tempura, chicken, and noodles in what seemed like an unending bowl. Definitely a good option if you’re extra hungry and you forgot to pre-​eat but you don’t want to spend an arm and a leg at a Japanese restaurant.
I’ll be back after I stop salivating just thinking about that sashimi salad!

Yesterday I was in pain. I couldn’t digest anything but good healthy broth, juices, a one meal of diabetic, aplastic anemic friendly, plate. I’ve now got to follow a very strict diet of specific proteins, carbs, and fats. However yesterday was almost unbearable. Headache, body sores, etc…
today is a world of difference! At this joint I get to munch on msg free, salmon Kama! Nice fats, medium rare! Ginger on the side, and a kick of wasabi! I love their dragon roll, however I’m super careful to not overdo it with the white rice.
For udong lovers… U must try their aldente noodles! My fellow diners rave about the soup!
I give only four stars, because there’s no brown rice rolls or the option of a brown rice bowl. Other than that, after feeling like a dead fish last night… I’m a live fish today! Dinner… Still searching. :)

Oh-​MAH-​Kahh_​SAYY!
Pricey, but oh-​so good sushi/​sashimi/​nigiri! We came here on a double date and all ordered the omakase!
I literally come here to satisfy my uni craving and I was extremely happy with the freshness of the fish. EVERYTHING was so good. I was pretty full after 12 pieces, but everyone else kept going. They got tempura mushrooms which were REALLY REALLY good too.
Definitely recommend coming here for the simple, fresh sushi. not for the rolls!
Service is a bit on the slow side, but they didn’t have that many people working on a Friday night. so that could be improved a bit. We sat at the sushi bar so i think there was a bit of a disconnect between who was helping us. the sushi chefs or the hostess/​servers.

Based on sushi quality alone, I’d rate this place 4 stars. Sashimi is fresh. The service brings it down to a 3. We had 2 servers both of which had trouble with the concept of omakase. We discussed what we expected/​wanted for a solid 10 mins and by the end of the meal, the only chef’s choice that was given to us was toro?!
After spending a bill there, we went to Kiku in Berkeley to finish our meal.
Too bad.

The best of the best! I’m happy to take suggestions on where to have better sushi other than Uzen, if such a place exists. This place is simple and traditional, so if you’re a rolls and cream cheese lover, this isn’t the place for you.
A few highlights of their awesomeness:
UNI: I still will have not had better uni anywhere than that of Uzen’s. Their different types include: Mendocino, top notch Santa Barbara, Maine, and Hokkaido uni. Fresh, vibrant in color, served generously.
SIMPLICITY at its finest: Tobiko-​tama (flying fish roe topped w/​quail egg), avocado roll, futomaki, udon/​soba (the broth!!!)
SAKE: um… have you seen that yellow sake menu?! Faves: Shochikubai Junmai (fragrant), Onikoroshi Daiginjo (silky smooth), Suigei & Karatamba (dry), house hot sake (default).
What holds it all together, other than the fresh fish? THEIR SUSHI RICE. In my years of exploring the world of sushi, I’ve learned that sushi rice matters. You might think duhhhh – sushi rice should be made to compliment the fish that it is paired with, not to offset or dull its taste but I’m surprised to learn that it’s damn hard for sushi restaurants to get this right! I could sit here all day just to eat bowls after bowls of sushi rice!
Must try’s:
APPETIZERS: shiitake tempura stuffed with ground fish/​shrimp, hamachi kama, kumamoto oysters, baby tako.
SUSHI: omg… too many… here goes… uni, toro, spicy scallop & shiso handroll, amaebi w/​fried head, blue shrimp, herring roe, seared ingawa, hamachi, wild sockeye salmon, sashimi salad with halibut & tobiko, spicy crunchy roll.
Drooool.

Cute, intimate restaurant-​limited seating & started filling up on a Friday night around 8pm. I ordered the uni, blue fin toro, amaebi, spicy tuna, and a dragon roll. Everything was really fresh and great quality. Toro was the perfect texture. The unagi in the roll was soo good– not too saucey. Spicy tuna was fresh, would have liked more of a kick to it. Amaebi was really fresh & sweet. Would have liked to try more sashimi but I was so annoyed at the end of our meal. The stars are based strictly on the quality of food. I say that because there was a confusion with the servers when I ordered omakase; I received a single order of nigiri even after we asked them how many pieces came in the omakase.
The quality was so good if definitely go again… now that I’m not annoyed anymore

Bad bad bad bad bad.
Came here for dinner with my bf before seeing Trampled by Turtles at the Fox. He found this place via Unilocal and we got promptly seated when we arrived.
We ordered all sorts of rolls and nigiri. I hate how the menu does not have prices listed so we had to ask the waitress what each of the rolls cost. She also told us if we order three sushis each we could get complimentary soup and salad because it counted as an entrée. Why is that not on the menu? We had ordered five and just had to add one more order of nigiri and I would’ve been pissed if she hadn’t told us and we found out later.
The sushi here was presented nicely but it was NOT fresh. We ordered toro, halibut, salmon, hotate, etc etc. We had a bill of $ 70 and we still left hungry including the salad and miso soup. We also added another order of hotate at the end because we were still hungry. I was super excited to see butterfish on the menu because it is my all time fave (besides toro of course) and their butterfish was AWFUL. If that was the first time I had butterfish I would’ve never ordered again but luckily I know how yummy butterfish really is and this place does not do it justice.

I really like uzen. I feel like the quality of fish is fresh and reasonably priced. I order uni nigiri, tobiko maki and spicy scallop maki along with a half dozen miyogis.
The staff will accomodate an order even if it isn’t listed on the menu, which I love.