Sushi Sam’s Edomata

The fish ingredients must be top class. The seafood quality makes perfect uni, tuna nigiri or sashimi. Absolutely love the sweetness of fresh uni. The sushi rice is mediocre. Mind the seaweed tho. Maybe it’s just me but it tastes disgusting. The first time that I tried their uni sushi, it comes with seaweed around. It almost ruined my appetite and wasted the wonderful seafood. Good thing is you can always choose to waive the seaweed.
There is always a line waiting. But if you go half an hour before they close, the wait time will be relatively short and they’ll still take your party. But then they will only take your order once and nothing can be added later, which is reasonable.
The place is very crowded. The moment you step into the restaurant, people stuff at the door area waiting. And the chairs and table are not the most comfortable. But the food is worth it.

Ordered the 8 piece omakase with dessert on my second trip here and was pretty impressed. Had a reservation at 7 pm on a Saturday, and the place was packed so we still had to wait for a while. After we ordered we were told that our sushi would take another 30 – 40 minutes to make, thankfully it only took like 15 minutes.
Highlights were the bluefin from Boston, the horse mackarel (was super impressed with this because I usually do not like mackarel at all), and the toro. Could’ve done without the lobster tail (a little too much mayo for my preference), but otherwise it’s definitely a solid sushi spot on the Peninsula.

お任せ.
お任せ!!
お任せ!!!
Go check your available funds and earmark at least a Benjamin per diner (because «seasonal» means $ea$onal), tell the wait-​staffer that you’ll be having «Omakase» (sushi or sashimi), set the bottle of soy sauce far away from anyone’s reach, trust in the Chef’s choice, and enjoy the decadent sashimi/​nigiri journey.
It was my first time here, under some heavy-​hearted emotional circumstances and that might shade my review, but how much the meal and experience lifted our spirits was priceless. Like «not flinch at dropping a hundo for 10 morsels of sushi» priceless. I’m not certain how it works and likely can’t recount everything that we tried — 8 different offerings with 2 encores — but each was a subtle-​but-​tantalizing elevation on anything I’ve had before anywhere else. (Granted, I’m not a worldly traveler and my sushi experience goes only as far or wide as most of the west coast and Hawai’i, but still…)
Whether intentional or an artifact of a busy/​high demand restaurant, our 8 selections were brought out to us in a eager anticipation-​bearing pace of two sets of three, then two singles over the course of a little more than an hour (then the two single encores). These pauses in between is where everyone suddenly becomes a head-​nodding, slow-​chewing, contemplative connoisseur, discussing things like how «the touch of lemon juice brightens the kanpachi (amberjack) perfectly» or «the textural contrast of nuts and baby lobster is fantastic» or «kiwi on gindara?! SAY WHAT?!» or «I WILL STAB MY DINNERMATES WITH THESE CHOPSTICKS FOR MORE SEARED TORO!!» (Can you guess which were me?)
Then, after the eighth selection has arrived and been consumed, the debate begins — which two will we collectively agree to have encores of? (At least one of them was the seared toro.)
So. Is ~$ 100 per diner a lot for 10 morsels of sushi? Sure. Yes. It totally is. (Is my blue collar showing?) … I couldn’t personally do it more than 3 – 4 times a year, BUT the festive, high-​bar setting, shared-​with-​friends experience is novel and phenomenal.
いらっしゃいませ!
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Clients to entertain? Date-​y person to impress? Occasion to celebrate? Solo AF and want to do something nice for yourself? Keep this one in your back pocket.

–1 One Star for the couple that walked right in front of me and took the last walk-​in table.
I had to put my name on a list!
I waited 45 minutes!
As a couple we ordered two of most things and singles of the others (nigiri).
Come for the Hamachi. Stay for the Seared Toro.

It’s difficult to have a bad food experience at Sushi Sam’s. My coworkers and I came for dinner on a weekday night and made reservations earlier that day. However, they gave away our table for 6pm since we ran late, so we had to wait another 15 minutes+ for another table to open up for a party of 6. For a Wednesday night they were really busy, so lesson learned on showing up on time for a reservation. We tried:
–Barracuda (
): This was my first time having barracuda and it was good! I liked the crispy skin since they sear the top, and the fish had a very light but sweet flavor. Recommended!
–Hokkaido Uni, Ikura, Tako, Sake (
): I only had the Hokkaido Uni and Ikura. The uni was super fresh and delicious, but the ikura was just ok– I wouldn’t order that again here.
–Baby Lobster, Firefly Squid, Artic Char
): I only had the firefly squid and artic char– the firefly squid (only available for a few months during summer) was DELICIOUS. It was super tender and flavorful, and highly recommended! The artic char was just ok– I wouldn’t get this again.
–Rainbow Roll: Totally not authentic since the roll was huge, but I loved it since they use a ton of mayo for the crab mix inside the California roll. I would definitely get this again.
Service was slow the night we went since they were so crazy busy, but this is still one of the best places to go for Japanese food in the Peninsula. Not everything is the most authentic, but it’s always fresh and reasonably priced. I also love the rotating menu of specialty fishes they have. Parking is usually always tough in this area during the lunch and dinner rushes, but street parking is available as well as multiple parking lots.

Have been here twice now and it still doesn’t disappoint! Great selection of lunch specials (bento boxes) and also sushi or udon, etc.
PARKING: Restaurant is located in Downtown San Mateo so there is either street parking or parking structures. Fees go from $ 0.50-$ 1.00/hour depending on where you park.
WAIT TIME: It gets busy during lunch! Rush hour is probably goes from 11:30am-1:30pm. I’ve been here after rush hour on weekday and there was no wait. Another time, arrived around 12pm and waited about 20 mins. There was a huuuuge line at 1pm (late lunch anybody?).
FOOD: Sushi options are awesome here! They have fresh fish and it definitely doesn’t disappoint. You can definitely see that there are regulars who come back time and time again. Lunch special bento boxes are a steal! About $ 10 each and you can pick two of the listed selection. I personally like the salmon teriyaki & mixed tempura combo. Comes with miso soup and a perfect portion for lunch!
SERVICE/​AMBIANCE: Quick and attentive! They have sushi bar seating, but also plenty of tables as well (despite that fact that it’s a pretty small restaurant).

There are a few things I look forwards to after a long week of work and that is: Acai bowls, boba, omakase, and sit at a park analyzing when I’m going to quit my full time job to move to Japan, so I can eat all of the Omakase I want. LOL, jk but seriously it’s in consideration.
My friend & I came here yesterday (4÷30÷2016) and both opted in for the Omakase: Chef’s Choice 8 Piece Nigiri. ($ 50) Yesterday, the chef chose:
— Kanpachi (Amberjack) & Medai (Butter Fish)
— Umimasu (Ocean Truot) & Nama Hotate (Fresh Scallop)
— Sawara (Spanish Mackerel) & Uchiwa Ebi (Baby Lobster)
— Toro (Fatty Tuna) & Hokkadio Uni.
Everything is pre-​sauced and seasoned as is, so no soy sauce needed! Each nigiri was paired with a special sauce such like (ponzu, citrus, etc.) Regardless, I really enjoyed my experience here and will come back again. The highlight of our dinner would have to be the baby lobster, hotate (it literally melts in your mouth), hokkadio uni, and the complimentary dessert which was Strawberry Crème Puffs with fruits. AMAZING
We also ended up ordering Shiro Sake (White King Salmon) & Hirame (Halibut) and it was pretty good. Not to mention, all of the fish was meticulously sliced and fresh.
Notes:
— Expect to spend $ 75-​$ 100 a person including tax and gratuity if you want a good meal.
— Sushi Sam’s is located Downtown San Mateo, so it would be street parking. There’s also a packing garage around the corner of Ellsworth Avenue.
— Make reservations, of course.

Really popular spot as evidenced by the long wait. The über driver that took me here told d her sister drives over from an hour away just to have this!
My friend and I were short on time after the long wait, so decided to get the omakase as it was the most recommended and presumedly the fastest. But nope, we were wrong. It actually takes longer than the other rolls!
Super high quality and fresh nigiri but also very pricey :(. For 8 pieces, I think it was about $ 50! Yikes! My all Time favorite is still Uni and theirs was so so sweet! Definitely worth the order.

Left my house in San Francisco at 6, got there Around 6:30. Got my name down for a table of three at the second line– back of the sheet. Waited two hours and half because several people left after waiting for an hour.
Finally sat down and order at 8:55 pm. We thought to ourselves this place better be great. Why? because they are in Michelin guide from 2009 to 2016 and top 100 restaurant! Result: Yeah it’s pretty damn good.

Most of the servers were Chinese, so we asked:
Us: «is this place Chinese owned?»
Chinese guy: «no, Japanese owned. But they hire us Chinese because we are FAST»
LMAO they were absolutely right. Staff were lightning quick, and that definitely helps with the long line inside and outside of the restaurant.
I have tried multiple items here but none of them earned stars from me until I tried their Omakase selections. BOOM 5 STARS! Put away the generic soy sauce because you won’t need it. The sashimi was seasoned and flavored to perfection, accompanied by its own unique sauce.
Prepare to wait, but if you are there for Omakase, it will be worth it.

Came here with a friend back in 2013. Loved it.
— Delicious sushi.
— Exceptional service (my tea cup was refilled while I went to the loo!)

Still in love!
They have seasonal desserts and since Omakese comes with a dessert, my boyfriend & I tried the spring dessert. It had a delicious mochi that had red bean inside and a pudding marinated in sake and cherry blossom. BLOWN AWAY!
Sushi Sam still remains my favorite restaurant at all times, never fails me!

Very very good sushi.
Very long wait.
Make reservations
Go eat sushi there now. You’re welcome.

Dined here in the past and felt that the food was quite alright. Good selection of fish/​sashimi along w/​cooked items. Fish was fresh and the bill wasn’t too bad. The restaurant feels a bit cramped, however.
I was dining in the area last week and wanted to order for pick up. They had an hour before closing and I only wanted to pick up some sashimi for the hubs. They refused the order.

Our salmon was cut wrong… which made it very stringy and chewy. Besides that, the fish was pretty fresh but it was just okay… i dont know about waiting in line for this…

There’s really nothing I can write here that hasn’t already been written. The sushi at Sushi Sam’s is consistently delicious, well-​priced and the service is great if eating in.
I’ve eaten here many times and have never had any issues. I’ve had lunch picked up, eaten in for dinner and everything in between. The fish is fresh, the portions are in line with what you’d expect and the atmosphere is all you could ever want from a local sushi spot.
I recommend trying the Shrimp tempura hand roll that is a specialty. Their California rolls are also great, and I rarely ever order those anywhere. The lunch boxes are also great, and have a huge portion size (I tend to get the chicken teriyaki).
If only they weren’t so popular and packed all the time!

Mostly lives up to the hype.
I’ve been wanting to try Sushi Sam’s for years after hearing all the praise heaped upon it, and decided a birthday was worthy justification for possibly blowing way too much money on what would hopefully be fabulously delicious sushi.
First of all, it was very good. But it was not fabulous, mainly because their omakase sushi mostly came *slathered* in sauce. The baby lobster was practically swimming in mayo, and way too much fried onion/​some other topping came heaped on top of way too many other options. Good fish is supposed to speak for itself, and too many side sauces is a big of a red flag. A shame, because the fish I could taste was quite good, and likely would have stood fine just on its own. To be fair, I sat at the table and had my omakase come out 4 pieces at a time, and I would definitely choose to sit at the sushi bar next time and request less sauce. Furthermore, at $ 40 for 8 generous pieces of nigiri with your choice of dessert, their omakase is way more economical compared to most other sushi establishments.
Otherwise though, a perfectly good experience: we had a reservation (note: do NOT even try to come here on a weekend evening without one. Our reservation was 30 minutes after opening, and one side of their sign in sheet was already completely full), we were seated within a reasonable amount of time considering how crazy busy the place was, we had acceptable service and attention paid to us despite how crazy busy the place was, and I received a free dessert as a birthday treat! Our waiter even took the time to wait for my date to come back to the table before lighting a candle and delivering a (delicious) green tea tiramisu, as well as good naturedly singing me happy birthday.
Overall, I would say for the quality and the price, Sushi Sam’s will likely be my bay area go-​to place for sushi (provided I can get a reservation!).

Top notch sushi, but you don’t have to take my word for it. A coworker of mine from Japan says this is his favorite sushi place in the the Bay Area. He says the soba is awesome. Call me crazy, but I trust Japanese people when it comes to Japanese food.
That said, I enjoyed the food as well. The fish tasted really good and the rice was out of this world! It reminded me of the awesome rice I ate when I visited Japan. I had a roll with sweet seaweed and mackerel which was so damn good! I ate a bunch of my dining partner’s chirashi and that was also so damn good! In short, this place is damn good!
The place is somewhat small and very, very popular so don’t come unless you have some time to wait to be seated and some time to wait for your food to come out. All that said, it’s definitely worth it if you’re craving some delicious sushi!

If you come here, I would order only the nigiri and skip the special rolls (Dragon rolls, and whatnot). What we ordered:
Toro (seared): Amazing fatty flavor. Like buttah
Sake: Standard good salmon
sweet shrimp: so good. came with fried shrimp heads, too!
uni: creamy sweetness, loved it
Saba Shioyaki: great char flavor and crispy skin
Sam’s special hand roll: Came with sweet soy. It was very mediocre. I would def skip it.
Dragon roll: Not bad, but for $ 15, I would rather get an order of toro.
Service was great. Expect a wait no matter what.

One thing that makes this place stand out from the other sushi restaurants is their choice of sushi! It is always in constant rotation (weekly i think). So if you’re willing to try out different types of fish besides salmon, tuna, etc., then this is the place to go!
This was my go to sushi joint when i was living in North Cali (San Mateo to be exact — 20miles south of San Francisco) if i was in the mood to explore exotic types of sushi not usually seen inside your usual sushi joint. What i usually get is the Omakase (it’s approximately $ 50). And this is basically a chef’s special in which they bring out a variety of their new fish imports for the week, and they bring it out to you one by one. Now, you don’t really get quantity at this place, but what they do best here is quality! And man oh man, their sushi here is fantastic! I usually order a tall hot sake with my Omakase along with a roll or two, and that to me is a great meal!
Keep in mind though that this place gets packed — so you definitely want to come here right before or right when they open! But even if you do end up waiting, the wait will be worth it! As far as parking goes, downtown San Mateo can get kind of busy during the weekends but there are plenty of garages to choose from and parking is free after a certain time, but just make sure to check the posted signs.

It’s not often to fall in love with a joint every time but I do. Even with the long wait, you just leave your name and stroll or chill at all the cool places just steps away. These guys work so hard and move fast. It may first look hectic but I’ve not seen them rush any customer. Whether or not you speak Chinese, I see them pay friendly banter and smiles without taking away the careful attention to what they serve.
The sushi is simply grade A, without the fanciness. Don’t get me wrong I like that too but why have to be so formal to get delicious exquisite ngiri? Sushi Sam offers this same quality sushi in more casual flair. Don’t hesitate to venture beyond the plain salmon or tuna or tamago, there’s so much variety that is also seasonal. But if you want to stick with what you know, it’s still good.
The chefs I find so cute but they work their ass off. Yet they still make time to smile and I get a chuckle hearing them joke with the waiters. Sam threw me some smiles and jokes that I melted!
My sister from SD missed them for the past 3 years on her visit. This time we nailed it going 2 nights in a row. She loved everything and amazed how friendly they ALL are!
p. s. They don’t advertise it but ask for a magnet, buy a t-​shirt or tea cup, grab the matches. They’re awesome!

Came here for lunch this past weekend. Wait was not bad at all. We decided to pick out some nigiri pieces that we normally don’t get at other sushi restaurants. The rice portions per nigiri piece is pretty small so you don’t feel super full from eating it. I believe we paid about $ 75 for the lunch which seems pretty pricy but a lot of the fish we ordered was MP. Uni, shrimp, scallop, king white salmon, baby lobster, horse mackerel, and blue shrimp. I think the gross part was that they didn’t clean off the blue shrimp on the nigiri. Who wants to eat that?!
I thought the place was good but nothing I would drive out of my way to go to.

Easily my favorite japanese restaurant in the whole bay area. They have a great variety of fresh fish that is not common in other Japanese places.
Nigiri/​sushi I recommend
— butterfish: buttery good white fish.
–artic char: if you like fish with lemony flavor.
–Miyuzaki beef: best I ever had. it’s so good I call it unicorn meat.
–spicy scallop: good unique heat; scallop and seaweed are good together.
–red snapper: very tender fish with bean sprouts on top with citrus.
–pike mackarel: fresh and seared.
–uni: very fresh, can be ordered with quail egg on top
–baby lobster: It has a mayo-​based sauce and almond bits.
–black bass: surprised that kiwi and fish work well
Cooked food
–Katsu curry: reat curry flavor wich chunks of beef and carrots. Their secret is that they use bits of miyuzaki beef in the sauce.
–oyster agadeshi: I cannot go back to tofu agadeshi after that; very flavorful.
–Black cod: perfectly grilled and seasoned well
Dessert: Can’t go wrong with green tea tiramisu or almond tofu.
The restaurant is pretty small and old, but, in my book, is a good thing for a legit sushi restaurant. Service is fine and they make great recomendations when I am feeling adventurous. The only downside to this place is the wait. This place is so good I am willing to wait an hour. The best time to go, tho, is at lunch.

I can’t believe I forgot to order the green tea tiramisu :(
BEST SHITAKI MAKI EVER! What i mean by best is that the rice was not too mushy, the piece of shitaki was normal size and something about the seaweed tasted a lot better than the rest. Don’t believe me, come and try it yourself (especially since yum yum fish closed).
Came here during dinner time but thank goodness we got seated right away before it got crowded. I ordered the dinner combo (veggie tempura and teriyaki chicken) with rice, miso soup and salad.
Now i know why so many people come here and I agree, it’s worth the try!

Overrated! Clap. Clap. Clap clap clap. Overrated!
I mean it’s good. But not like «omg this is good»

Haha, got an interesting private message offering to set me up with an omakase with «Chef Yoshi» to teach me that there is no difference between their fish, and that at Sushi Yoshizumi, and to prove that my palette is not as sophisticated as I think it is. Apparently, I «wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Sushi Sam’s high quality fish» and that from fish market in Japan. I’ll leave it to you Unilocalers to judge how ridiculous of a comment that is to your own degree.
Thanks for trying to «teach me a lesson» about what food I enjoy, but no thanks! If you look at my review history, it’s heavily biased towards the 4 and 5 star ratings. I enjoy good service, fresh fish with good cuts and texture that do not leave the entire table with food poisoning, and nice staff.

First time we tried coming here, the wait was over an hour long so we learned our lesson and decided to call to make reservations to try this place. All of us ordered the omakase which we heard was bomb. It comes with 8 pieces of nigiri sushi with the fish selected by the chef on a daily basis. Almost always two of the pieces will be the toro (fatty tuna) and baby lobster which they are well known for. Each nigiri is paired with different brushed sauces that complement the different pieces very well. I did not need any extra soy or wasabi for these.
The omakase also comes with a dessert of your choice. I don’t really remember what I chose for dessert as I’m not really into them anyways. Pricewise $ 40 for the omakase isn’t too bad and offers decent value as the pieces of fish were pretty generous. Overall, a solid sushi place on the peninsula that did not disappoint but not the best I’ve had.

I lo-​ove this place! At first, I didn’t get the hype. We went a few times, ordered some typical rolls and felt it was more or less similar to other sushi places. It wasn’t until we ordered the omakase that we became true converts.
Omakase is $ 40 for 8 pieces. Considering that most places serve the same number of pieces for more than double, I’d call this a steal. They switch up the options depending on seasonality, but my favorite consistent pieces are the Blue Shrimp (the citrus tang with coarse salt is amazing), Baby Lobster (love the textural contrast with the almond crunch), and the Seared Toro. I could write a sonnet about the Seared Toro, but I won’t subject you to that kind of torture. It is a perfect bite of food that just melts in your mouth — trust me. Bonus? Omakase comes with homemade dessert. We always get the Green Tea Tiramisu — it is SO GOOD.
Non-​omakase standouts — Scallop nigiri is super fresh. Philadelphia rolls use a ridiculously creamy cream cheese and make a normal roll much better.
And finally, this place gets crowded! We once tried going for dinner and was told the wait was 1.5 hours (this was at 6pm). Try going for lunch instead or make a reservation.

Probably will get murdered for giving this place 3 stars, but the quality of food is ridiculously overrated… While the flavors are good, the food is really just meh for me. Maybe I’ve been spoiled with grade A sushi joints, but this place is mediocre at best.
We ordered:
10 pc omakase w/​dessert — the fish isn’t fresh AT ALL and they mask it by drenching each piece with sauce and toppings. Yeah it’ll be an explosion of flavor in your mouth, but not from the fish and rice itself… you’re basically paying $$ for ponzu and green onions. You can see in pictures below how bad the drenching is…
Spicy tuna hand roll — I’m not really a handroll kinda gal, but my friend is obsessed with them so I’ve been opening it up to it more. THIS handroll is exactly WHY I don’t like handrolls. The seaweed felt stale and didn’t cut off with a bite, it had to be torn out of my mouth. Good handrolls should be easy to eat and not a tuggawar between food vs mouth. Again, the flavors of the spicy tuna were good, but lacking in freshness.
Oysters — Huge oysters which I normally don’t like, but this one was bearable because it was drenched in sauce (yay one good thing came out of the sauce overboard).
Yes, come here if you are looking for a quick fix, but don’t be fooled by the reviews for a authentic omakase experience. $ 200 for 2 people for the quality of food I got was NOT worth it. Service is mindblowingly slow as well…
Highlight of my meal was seeing Mark Zuckerberg here with his wifey boo. Stalker game level 10.

Um, I don’t get it.
I had visited a few weeks ago and was told the wait was 1.5 hours. Nope.
Fast forward two weeks, and I’m standing in line 20-​deep at 5pm, when they’re set to open. Seriously? This must be some tasty sushi! We’re seated, given menus, and order about ten minutes later, when things have settled a bit and the waiters have picked up their groove.
I opted for the combination sashimi plate with yellowtail, tuna, salmon, and whitefish (
) and completed dinner with the matcha tiramisu (
). The sashimi was good (not eyes-​rolling-​to-​the-​back-​of-​my-​head amazing, but good) and the tiramisu was insanely creamy (more cake, less cream, please).
I mean, for the price and all, it was fine, but I’m still left wondering what’s so great that people line-​up for it before it even opens.

Sushi Sam’s is the one place that, if I ever moved out of the Bay, I would miss dearly.
THE WAIT.
Yes, if you come here without reservations or in the middle of their dinner service, you’re going to wait. I’ve seen many ‘holier-​than-​thou’ types scoff at being told it was an hour+ wait, and watched them walk away and never return. I say good, more sushi for me! But honestly, if you don’t want to wait, you come early or make reservations, it’s not rocket science, guys.
THE FISH.
I’ve never had a single bad piece of ANYTHING here. Sam’s excels in basically every dish on the menu (at least every dish that I’ve tried). They also have some of the best omakase I’ve had (with a very realistic price-​point). The boy and I have made a name for ourselves by making a point of always getting at least 2 extra orders of their seared toro (get this, you’ll thank me later).
THE SERVICE.
Some of the nicest guys around. Yes, they’re running around non-​stop for hours at a time, and their sole existence is not to pat you on the back and make you feel good about yourself — that may come as a shock to some, but again, you’ll get over it. Considering the amount of stress and running around these guys (and a few girls!) do, they’re a fantastic, really nice bunch.
Sushi Sam’s, you da real MVP (and yes, I had to update my review because 2 years later, they still rock my world).

O-​m-​a-​k-​a-​s-​e!
Not the best sushi that ive had in the world (which is really hard to be on my top list), BUT they have higher-​than-​normal-​grade sushi that puts this place 2^nd on my list of awesome sushi at an Affordable price.
BF and I opted for 12 pc omakase which resulted to ~$ 60/​per person– and it comes with free dessert!
The most memorable nigiri from the omakase:
White king salmon
Uni from Japan hokkaido
Baby lobster
Yellowtail
Red snapper
Shrimp (ebi)
Fried shrimp head (complimentary)
I thought my Toro nigiri was grainy and didn’t have enough fat, but my bf said that his was really good. Maybe I didn’t get the better side of the cut?
The nigiri here is not made super duper traditional. Half of the nigiri from the omakase has some sort of sauce on it. I usually like my nigiri very traditional where just the fish (and not sauce) should be the main highlight of the show. Still, not that big of an issue.
The geoduck karrage appetizer was awesome! That one blew our minds a bit since we didn’t have high expectations for it.
Green tea tiramisu was a delight. A very clean dessert to end the meal.
I recommend eating at the bar. Was watching chef Sam prep the sushi for table customers and it’s not as carefully handled (he rushes) compared to if you were seated at the bar.
Service? Really really really attentive. They get a major thumbs up

I always walk by this place and it’s always either closed or has a line. San Mateo is full of delicious sushi places so I always wondered what the big deal was. However, any place that has a lot of asian people congregated outside waiting for at least an hour probably has something good going for it. So after coming here, my verdict is that it is totally worth the wait. The prices here are also quite good for the quality of the sushi.
I think the real star of the show here is the nigiri. We tried the following:
— Hotate & Hokkaido: The hokkaido is fancier than the hotate, both were very good. I would definitely recommend getting these if you like scallops.
— Uni: Good uni, would definitely recommend!
— Uchiwa ebi (baby lobster): This was delicious. I would definitely recommend that you try the baby lobster nigiri. In fact, after eating this on Saturday, I’ve been dreaming about having it again.
— Shiro Sake (white king salmon): This was also super delicious. They covered it with green onion garnish.
— Hamachi: Very good and very fresh.
— Ebi: Also very good and fresh. If you like shrimp, I’d recommend but there are better things to try.
In addition to nigiri, we also tried these dishes:
— Chicken Karaage: We thought this was kind of expensive for karaage, at over $ 8 per order. It was quite tasty chicken karaage, but probably not worth $ 8. Probably pass on this next time.
— Spider Roll: The spider roll has avocado, soft shell crab, and lettuce in it (and a few other things too I think). We’d probably pass on this next time too. It was a very big roll and the nigiri we got was so much better than it that we’d probably just get more of that.
— Chirashi: The chirashi was decent too, but really, the nigiri was the star of the show.
For dessert, we had the green tea tiramisu. It was sprinkled with small pieces of raspberry. It was good but it wasn’t the most amazing dessert I’ve ever had. If you’ve never had green tea tiramisu, I think that it is definitely worth a try.
All of this food ran the two of us about $ 100 and it definitely filled us up. Pretty good for the amount of food we got and the quality! The service was also really good. Our server was attentive and our food came out very quickly. I would definitely come back again! Especially for that baby lobster.