NINJA Sushi & Izakaya

If you are looking for really good sushi then this is your place. If you are looking for really good and inexpensive sushi this is not your place.
My wife, 13 y. o son and I went last night on a recommendation of a friend. I had the Temptation and Shark roll, son had two rolls and the wife had a dinner plate. The bill came to $ 81
Once again the food is really good and you will pay for it as well. So if you have a teenager that can eat his weight in gold I would suggest you pre-​party at McDonalds to keep the bill down.

We were excited when learning about a new sushi joint ten minutes away AND $ 1.99 sakes after 8PM on Fridays and Saturdays. Sold we decided to give it a whirl.
Walking in, the smell of fresh paint was prominent. Granted, they’ve only been open for a couple months. We stood in the front of the restaurant for a couple minutes before we were greeted, which I find odd especially when you’re greeted right away by the hostess and/​or sushi chefs at other establishments. We were seated and perused the menu. Our waitress was really nice, but also new so didn’t know the menu or about their special. We ordered fairly quickly, but a lot of the rolls were so repetitive.
Our food came out fast, but one of the rolls they made incorrectly and when we pointed it out, they remade a new one, but that one was also incorrect and was missing an ingredient. Oh well. Lots of too for improvement, but when you’re paying for a $ 60 meal, I would rather spend that else where.

I’ve been to other sushi restaurants in san jose but this ninja sushi has been my fav. spot to have a dinner or perhaps lunch as well.
Main chefs steven, jay, they are very professional about what they explained to me about sushi. And they served me couple of specials that go well with my appetite.
They were shy in the beginning. But i gave a try to ask them questions and talk to them about the restaurant and they came up very polite and kind.
This kind of service? Whether the restaurant is busy or not i think they can handle customer service as well as food.
Food wise, i ordered salmon sashimi dinner. And, nigiri /​sashimi (fish in general) were very fresh. Presentation wise as well, they tried really hard to serve me good dishes.
Servers are very kind. But only concern ‘if’ i have to say, then. It would be… I wish servers could smile to greet us little more. It isn’t like they are rude. (They were very helpful) but wish they could understand that having a smile is part of customer service.
But overall, i would come back here for sure to try more food here.

I’ve been wanting to try this place since it switched ownership and names. The last place was very pricy like Ninja but their sushi was very good. Nina is very expensive but the sushi was just ok. For these prices I expect a lot more. My son ordered the chicken karage and it was awful. Needless to say this was a one time only trip to Ninja.

We went last Saturday Jan 31^st, and sat at the bar. Very cool place! Enjoyed watching the sushi chefs.
Started off with the Miso. We both loved it.
The TNT roll, VERY spicy came first. Of course that kind of killed my taste buds for awhile. In the future I’ll make sure to recommend that comes last lol. It was very good, too spicy for my husband though. We also liked the spicy tuna roll, creamy crab roll LOVED the yammy yam.
Sorry to say the teriyaki chicken roll was really bad. I had to ask the sushi chef what the roll was, hard to tell, very dried up chicken.
It was very busy and slight delays for our dishes but to be expected since it was a Saturday night. The wait staff was good too. I wished they had a decent chard but hey it’s a Sushi place so not going to complain! We will be back. My daughter loves bento boxes, especially teriyaki chicken, so we will test that out. I hope it isn’t like the chicken that was in the roll though. It was so bad!

I’ve either dined in or taken out 6−8+ times now and adjusted my review to 4 stars. I’ll definitely keep coming back, but there is room for improvement. They have some pretty good combinations (Blossom Hill Roll is my favorite). They are willing to make adjustments (remove cucumber and add mango). The most recent visit, I wanted a sweet sauce along with the mango — unfortunately it was just smothered in mayo (yuck!). My husband won’t eat mayo, so that meant dividing up the remaining rolls. We have also ordered tuna and avocado rolls — they end up very small, breaking open (small pieces of nori), and sparse on the tuna and avo. When adding on avocado to a tekka maki roll, they need to make the roll bigger, or adjust to an inside out style.
On previous visits, I’ve found the spicy tuna to not be as fresh, with a little funny taste. To the point when I didn’t even finish it on one occasion. The regular tuna has always been fresh! Avoid the spicy tuna…
The main reason for the drop in stars is the extra charge for the gross mayo and small amount of tuna & avo.

Tried last night. Very busy with about a 20 min wait.
New look inside is nice and inviting. Really needs some noise dampening as it is a bit noisy. Also seems to be missing something. Not sure what, but needs some lite music.
Service was very good for being so busy. Server even as far as to explain that the sushi bar was backed up and could be a delayed in getting food out. That was appreciated. Food timing ended up being pretty good and not an issue.
Menu is extensive with a lot of rolls. Nicely detailed descriptions make it simple to understand. Sushi/​nigiri seemed an after thought as rolls dominate. The fresh sections are limited to the standards with the exception of adding Aji, which they didn’t have (my favorite). As others detailed in their reviews it is a bit pricey but not unexpected in Almaden.
Nigiri was just ok. Pieces were a fair potion, just didn’t seem as fresh as I would expect for a Friday. I ordered hamachi and sake as they are typically the most popular and should be the freshest. Tried sampler platter that included 4 fried items and a fresh slaw. It also was just ok as well. Shared two rolls (baked scallop and iron man roll. We were not blown away. Scallops were a bit tough and chewy but they we’re both a good portion size.
Really had high hopes for a proper sushi place but really walked away just wondering if I should try again. I think I will because it could be growing pains being new. Fingers crossed because I REALLY need a good sushi place in south SJ.
3 stars for first trip.

Never.Ever.Again.Took over an hour to get most of our food. Our server disappeared 20 minutes in to our dining experience. Had to cancel part of our order because it was taking too long. Got there at 6:30, ordered by 6:40, my food came out around 7pm, husbands food came out at 7:30, by 8pm we gave up and cancelled the rest of our order. Surrounding tables were experiencing the same issue and we’re having their food boxed togo because they couldn’t wait around any longer. I asked for the manager but he/​she didn’t even bother to come out of the kitchen to speak to us. Just sent out the bill and told the waitress (who was friendly and I felt bad for her) to just offer us complimentary icecream which we declined cause we just wanted out of there. So disappointed in this place.

Our friend took us here because she knows the owners. It was fantastic.
We started with the miso soup. Large Sapporo of course.
The must have here is anything with their spicy tuna. It is so good. The best way to experience the spicy tuna is by having a spicy tuna hand roll, it’s stuffed with the stuff.
The baked scallop roll was great.
We got the crazy fire and Iron man, of the two we liked the crazy fire more.
We also had the Santa Teresa and Spider-​Man as well, delicious.
My tongue and my stomach had a great time there, so yours will too. I tend to produce a lot of saliva, so I had to have extra napkins and an extra shirt.
This place has so many rolls to try, it will be fun trying them all.

Finally got a chance to check out Ninja. Very good! Will definitely be back.
So many rolls to try. I had a little bit of everything, tempura, a handroll and a specialty roll (I will not be eating for days!). Everything was really good. Their spicy tuna is awesome! Service staff is friendly and the owners want very much for you to feel like you are their guest.

What a great establishment! We arrived here on a Friday night around 7 and were seated within 10 minutes. There was a bit of a wait after ordering our food as they were understaffed but they kept apologizing and even gave us complimentary edamame and miso soup! The waiters were very attentive and kept refilling our hot tea and water. It is obvious by the kindness of the staff that they really do value their customers.
We ordered the baked scallop roll (which I’d prefer over Cha Cha Sushi’s Ocean Side roll since it wasn’t too rich), rainbow roll (delicious unagi with macadamia nuts… What?!) and the kitchen sink roll (definitely lives up to its name).
The prices are a bit higher than usual sushi restaurants but that is expected given the location.

I was so excited that there’s a new Japanese Restaurant in Almaden. Unfortunately, I was disappointed with the rolls. My daughter ordered a roll that had more rice than fish. I had a roll which had more avocado inside than the tempura shrimp. My sisters enjoyed the bento boxes though. If this restaurant would like to be competitive with Almaden Sushi, which always has a queue, they really need to have thicker slices of fish on their rolls. I have to feel that what I ate was worth what I paid for.
As an Izakaya Restaurant, I typically expect Japanese finger foods, as in Japanese tapas. I asked the waiter for their Izakaya menu, and he replied that Izakaya means «drinks» in Japanese. My point being, if you serve drinks, appetizers should be served with it.

it’s Friday n it was time to get some fresh sushi! we haven’t had any in a while so I decided to try this new sushi place out to c how it stacks up against our favorite one in this area, Yuki Sushi. the restaurant has just opened for a couple of weeks I think, but has garnered pretty good reviews so I thought it was worth checking out.
Ninja Sushi is located in a small plaza off of Almaden Expressway where the new Mo’s is. (Mo’s is still under construction.) it’s an average sized space with a bunch of tables plus a sushi bar.
when u c that the name of the restaurant has the word Izakaya in it, you would expect to find some good small plate items. I only saw some of the more basic appetizers such as Agedashi Tofu n Chicken Karaage. nothing really special. they should either rethink their menu or just take the word Izakaya out of their name. it can b pretty misleading.
the service was good tho. the waiter n hostess both came by to ask how everything was. the prices r a bit higher than the other sushi restaurants in the area. plus they don’t have any special promotions i.e. happy hour prices or a complimentary appetizer or dessert. most of the more popular sushi places have some sort of special like those.
Miso Soup: this came lukewarm at the most so I wasn’t impressed. part of me wanted to ask them to heat it up for me, but I didn’t want to b rude.
Soft Shell Crab: pretty good. crunchy n the presentation was cute.
Super Ninja: this is the kind of sushi roll I like n usually order. some crab with a bit of a crunch on top for texture. it was good. they did put a lot of the mayo mixed with teriyaki sauce. it was a pretty plate.
Fantastic 4: the spice level wasn’t that spicy. it’s just average at the most. it seemed ok fresh.
for the most part, their food is good. just not amazing for the price. it’s still a new establishment so I hope they work out their kinks n become better in the future.

First time here and we ordered the Super Ninja, Titanic, Super Star and Spicy garlic edamame. They were all so delicious!
Highly recommend ordering the spicy garlic edamame.
It had a spicy and sweet sauce to it that complimented the edamame so well.
The décor and ambiance was soothing.
The customer service was spot on!
Great place for a date night.
I’m glad we found this place.
We will be coming back.

I unfortunately did not take a lot of pictures cause I was busy eating their delicious food. I came in for lunch with my two boys and we had a awesome time. The boys had the kids bentos and the portions were just right.
I tried the spicy tuna roll (8 pcs), baked mussels and the Jalopeno Bomb. It was all amazing. Ninja Sushi is the second sushi restaurant in my area but now first on my list. Since they are brand new it’s a bit intimidating going in when is sparsely populated.
The food was reasonably priced and delicious, the service was great and there is plenty of room for the kids. It’s a great neighborhood sushi joint. Come try it out!

I highly recommend this place for sashimi.
Thick fresh cuts of sashimi. Soft shell crab not over battered. Too bad there’s no freshly grated wasabi (my fave) but no biggy!
Venue is spacious and clean. The service was also good.
Great selection of alcohol that compliments the dishes well.
And best of all, the pricing for the quality is not going to burn a hole in your wallet! So worth it.
We love this place. Definitely coming back!

Very happy with this place. The service is awesome, there’s a good selection of sake’s, they’re friendly, and it’s small enough to feel quaint, but big enough to host a large party.
My wife and I have been in 4 times so far, and have been treated wonderfully, served fast, and even got a few little extras here and there from the chef. J and Steven are always very nice to talk to, and make beautiful sushi.
After having our orders messed up and missing items multiple times, and having a rude server experience at Almaden Sushi, this is our new place… not to mention, the quality and presentation is much better as well.
See you at Ninja!

Happy to have another sushi place nearby! Miso soup was good and salad was crisp with a perfect amount of dressing. I really enjoyed the tempura veggies and shrimp. Usually I don’t enjoy tempura because it’s just too much deed fried taste, but they did a really nice job with their batter. The sauce served with it was delicious too! Had the seaweed salad as well and it was delicious! We got 3 rolls and all were good, nothing super impressive, but I do like how nicely they grill their unagi. I did feel that they went a little too heavy with the tobiko… Also, I agree with a previous review, the wasabi isn’t very powerful and I had to add a lot to finally get flavor. Service was good, though you could tell our waiter was still getting the hang of things (understandable since it just opened). Place was clean and nicely redone!

Great little sushi place in Almaden. The Unagi here is really thick, flavorful and you can see that it has just been grilled. The Titanic Roll was great. The tempura was done really nice and seaweed salad was delicious. This is a great addition to Almaden as we could use more sushi spots.

Looks like these guys just took over the location and brought a new menu and new people. The service was excellent. The fish is super fresh. I will be back. The menu is huge!