Yuzu Sushi & Grill

My 85 year old friend took me here, its her favorite place and she would eat her everyday! It was so good and fresh. Very tiny but l like that!
Love the Grilled Oysters! Crispy Rice Yummy!

Tiny Japanese Izakaya style restaurant my BF Kyle Y brought me to a week before my birthday after a long shopping trip.
Place was tiny, with around 6 tables so we got tucked into a romantic little corner.
Order from the specials menu and you will not be disappointed. I had hamachi, tako, and a few other specials from the board as well as a dragon roll Kyle ordered. Everything was extremely fresh and delicious, the service was impeccable.
There was a couple at the bar celebrating their anniversary, where they celebrate their anniversary every year — bought us a round of sake to wish us luck in our marriage. Sake was smooth and not too sweet. Perfect.

Not from the area but staying in town at a friends house. Stopped here about 8:00 PM. Sushi was fresh delicious and the service was great don’t pass this place up

Walking distance from SMMC so while my sis had many doc appointments I passed by this place and one day decided to go for lunch. Small Japanese ran restaurant. They have $ 20+ daily specials and lunch special is on a $ 15+ range too for bento box meals. Portions are small. The restaurant was rather empty on a weekday during lunch hour. Saw a few hospital staff ordering to-​Gos.

Worst service in all of San Mateo! No excuse to be completely ignored for half an hour. Absolutely terrible. Drive right past this place and don’t look back!

Curry chicken. Too bad it’s only served during lunch.

Yuzu is quite small (just about four tables), so we had to sit by the sushi bar.
We ordered 14 pcs sashimi combo B, three other rolls, miso soups and regular rice. The sashimi was very fresh and tasty, and rolls were also good. But my favorite was miso soup, in which we specially asked for shrimp head, and the soup was exactly what I had in Japan.
Another thing is, Yuzu is a real Japanese place, as you can see, the utensils are elegant and the decoration is correct, like you are dining in Japan.
Great experience in such a small place!

Very solid Japanese restaurant. Their Sashimi and Sushi dishes are very fresh and tasty.
I usually prefer to go for lunch — lunch menu includes Organic Chicken Katsu Curry. Curry is little spicy but the Chicken Katsu is excellent.
Their daily menus for Donburi are great — usually comes with small udon which has very clean broth.
It is a very small place so if you want to go for lunch — show up before noon.

love my belated birthday lunch here! while the dishes were more $$ than i was expecting, this was some of the best sushi I’ve had in a long time. The portions of fish were generous, and the sake melted in my mouth. Im excited to return for another lunch session! the interior is tiny… but i loved every bite. dreaming of salmon avocado rolls…

I really couldn’t decide what to rate this place. I’m between 3.5 and 4 stars but since I’d definitely get the same item again without regretting it, I’ll round up. Ok I lied, my wallet will regret it but anyways… I ordered the item to go but I would like to try eating here in the future for a weekday lunch because the small restaurant vibe is perfect for eating alone. There were some parking spots on the streets nearby and on the weekday there were a handful of free spots so parking wasn’t an issue.
The restaurant wasn’t too busy and finished my takeout order for the Super Chirashi really fast. It’s not a huge chirashi for the price ($ 39) and I was starving and tired so I was looking for something a bit more substantial. It comes with a decent miso soup with the amaebi head. The flavor of the amaebi really added a nice touch to the soup.
As for the chirashi itself I have some mixed feelings, but like I said I would get it again. Mainly because it offers the specials of the day and that’s not something that usually comes in a chirashi. I’ve had «special chirashi» that come with ankimo or uni or amaebi or tai (usually only one or two) but you’ll rarely get things like mirugai or toro or kurotai. Let alone all of these things together. So it’s a nice way to get a more interesting selection of fish without getting a full-​on omakase. The price is a bit steep but the fish is fresh (clean taste, most of them had a good «bite» to them still) and it’s hard to pass up on an opportunity to get to sample multiple things at once. The main downside of the chirashi besides the price was the rice. It had great texture but not enough flavor. If I had a choice, I’d still pick an omakase from a reputable place but considering that this takes time and usually company, the chirashi here is a good alternative.
Overall Yuzu was quite a pleasant surprise. I will definitely be back!

I don’t have much to say except that it was the best sushi I had in the peninsula. They are one of the only few Japanese restaurants that is authentic in the area. Yuzu is Sakae’s second location.
The fish was fresh, crisp and moist with a firm texture and no discoloration. Chicken teriyaki — chicken was moist, topped off with a light clean flavored teriyaki sauce. The tempura batter was light and tasty.
The place is small with a max seating capacity of 25, seven counter seats. Decent menu with daily specials listed on a board. Prices are a little high, expect to average about $ 30/​pp.
I definitely will be back soon. Also want to add, don’t be shy in asking the chef for his daily specialty.

Had lunch today at Yuzu with an ex-​coworker. It’s a tiny place, with more tables than probably ought to be in there. But the food is excellent.
They have an assortment of lunch box options. Their fish is seriously fresh, and their organic chicken teriyaki is juicy and cooked perfectly.
It’s not cheap, but sushi is never cheap.
Overall, an excellent lunch.

I’ve eaten at hundreds of sushi restaurants in my life. All over California and in Hawaii, Colorado, New York, and many other states. Even in other countries (but not Japan, yet!). I’m not an expert at sushi, but I’m an expert at what I love about sushi, and I’m here to tell you that Yuzu is one of the greatest sushi restaurants I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating in.
First, it’s a dying breed. It’s authentic, and that’s becoming more and more rare. The staff is predominantly Japanese. The manager/​sushi Chef is Japanese. Not being Japanese doesn’t mean you can’t make amazing sushi, but for authenticity, being Japanese helps. Especially if your sushi chef was trained in Japan.
Second, having eaten at almost every sushi place in San Mateo, I can assure you that you’d be hard-​pressed to find better quality fish. Most sushi places in this area are poor examples of a sushi restaurant, but Yuzu is a superb example. The texture is always correct, the taste is dependably delicious, the firmness is appropriate and the fish is never too wet, or too dry.
Third, Yuzu strikes a nice balance between traditional Japanese style and portion sizes and American style and portion sizes. There’s some of both, and they’re both delicious. You can get more traditional sushi with smaller pieces and no sauces, and American style, with larger pieces, more filler and lots of sauces.
Finally, it’s tiny, but it’s worth the wait, worth the cost and worth your time. If you appreciate sushi made with fantastic quality fish, in a gorgeous presentation, with friendly staff and a knowledgeable, extremely competent sushi Chef, then Yuzu is an absolute must.
Some things to consider:
— very few tables, so there might be a wait.
— menus have no photos, but don’t be afraid to ask your server if you have questions.
— definitely order «Omakase», at least once. If you’re a real fan of sushi, it’s worth it.
— Tip well, the staff work hard!

For those looking for the real deal, Yuzu’s is the place! This is not a Japanese/​American-​ized restaurant, so don’t come expecting American style service. Be respectful and appreciate the experience.
We have been coming here for lunch on a regular basis for the last couple of years as it’s one of the only few Japanese restaurants that is authentic in the area (many of the local Japanese restaurants are ran by Chinese or Koreans, not that there’s anything wrong with it ;) but Japanese owners usually have the better Japanese restaurants — they have a different food ethic than some others. Fish is fresh and the chicken curry is the bomb!

So, I had a chance to talk again to the manager on Friday (not at Yuzu). Long story short, he apologized to me, and I accepted it. He appealed how badly Yuzu had been missing me, and that no other restaurant would ever know my palate better than Yuzu. I was admittedly moved a little bit. We shook hands, and I even left a tentative 3-​star review to offset my last 1-​star review, only to rescind it in mere 3 days. Why?
Today, I heard from a mutual friend that he was making up a story that «I» showed up «at Yuzu» to «apologize to him». Excuse me? And was he boastfully saying that he would drive me back if I would ever show up at Yuzu again? Thank you! I completely lost my words. When «he» apologized «to me» and appreciated my listening to him again, he «asked» me to be back at Yuzu, and even promised that he would always be ready to serve the best sushi so I could be back anytime.
Well, I accepted to listen to him «again», «only» because some of his «friends» pushed my back and said he had been regretful about the incident in December and wanted to get over the quarrel. And now what? He deceived his «friends» too.
I’m not very surprised, though. That’s exactly what he had been doing in front of me against his good employees, the nice owner, and the royal customers including his best patrons (seriously, you may be one of them!), and that’s the #1 reason I stopped eating at Yuzu (and escaped to Tami, which is now gone, again). Yuzu is filled with lots of slanders of customers and the employees/​owners, all by its amazing manager.
Thank you, the manager. I had never been insulted like this by anyone else.
Again, it’s a fine restaurant otherwise. I added 5 stars for that this time.
Fellow Unilocalers, dine there if you don’t really mind being cursed by the manager behind you. They have some good raw materials (and even better staffs).

Man, this one is a tough review. Because honestly, I loved my experience at Yuzu — the food was delicious, the servings were generous, and it had a quiet, intimate but casual atmosphere that I truly like. However, I also got food poisoning from dining here, so that makes it difficult to sing words of praise.
CHIRASHI DELUXE.
One of the best (and fanciest) chriashi bowls that I’ve ever had, with the smallest fish to rice ratio that I’ve had the pleasure of eating. Each slice of fish was thick, and cut generously, without being overwhelming, and there was an excellent variety of seafood, including uni, toro, squid, and tamago. It comes at a hefty $ 39 price tag, but is quite worth it.
I’m still slowly recovering from the food poisoning, which, admittedly, has been the mildest that I’ve experienced before, so that’s saying something. Give it another month or two and I’ll probably be back to try it out again, because honestly, we had a fantastic dinner here, I might just try to go on a night when the fish shipment is more recent, possibly?

Another visit… lunch today on Halloween!
Fish is really fresh all the time.
We ordered lunch combos:
Chirashi donburi with udon and wakami salad. Udon was simple in flavor but good. Fish was very fresh.
Super sashimi lunch special:
The best thing about this place is the chef adds just the right amount of garnishes with the sashimi to accent the natural flavor of the fish, unlike most other sushi joints. To truly enjoy the fresh flavors of the fish, don’t eat with soy sauce and wasabi.
— came with fried shrimp head which was perfectly seasoned and perfectly crispy.
Another great experience for the freshest sushi place we know in the peninsula.
See attached pictures

This is a review of their omakase course ($ 80/​person or $ 150/​couple). I will qualify by saying i am a fan of yuzu since they opened. It’s one of my top three sushi go-​to place on the mid peninsula (seiya san carlos and sakae Burlingame) yuzu’s fish is usually top grade and there are good selection of specials from Japan. The only two reasons I don’t always go to yuzu all the time is because they aren’t cheap (they serve $ 15 toro sushi) and usually packed.
Tonight’s experience left me underwelm and disappointed unfortunately. Anyways below are some pix to give you an idea of what you’d get for $ 150
— started with two oysters per person — quality good but not great
— shrimp miso soup — abv age
— okra stuffed with crab meat tempura style — ok
— platter of sashimi and sushi … this is probably where I felt most disappointed. since it’s omakase the chef is suppose to give the best and I thought ot was not worth what they charged
— sushi
— maguro — meh
— Tasmanian salmon — fair
— ikura — meh
— hamachi belly — fair
— ameabi — fair
Sashimi
— hamachi — good
— katsuo — meh
— scallops — meh
— akagai — meh
Then there was two other dishes
Grilled organic chicken — this was simple but good
Nimono style fish head — the problem with making this one of the main dish is that my companion doesn’t eat fish head and there really isn’t much else on offering. Even if you eat fish head, quality of the fish was lacking and overly sweet on the stewed sauce.
I am sorry to have to write this review. But I think it would help other reviewers so they know what to expect. I hope the restaurant will do better

If it was 93 degrees outside, it was 107 inside Yuzu.
I don’t know why air conditioning is so unpopular here, but it might be something to look into given days like this past Friday. And I’m actually a person who loves summer and the heat, but I like it outside, where it belongs… not inside enclosed establishments (where I’m obligated by social norms to keep my pants on). That’s called an oven and that is not for me.
The temperature isn’t even my beef here, just something worth noting if you don’t like watching your raw fish ready to cook in front of you from the elevated temperatures.
I guess my beef lies more with what my expectation was. It’s a tiny place with room for 25 diners maximum, and that includes the small dining tables and the sushi bar — I like that. A lot. It’s cozy and the site of the single Japanese sushi chef behind the bar when I walked in led me to believe I’d be getting an authentic and intimate sushi experience that I was downright ecstatic for… only that feeling was fleeting.
I was the first and only customer when they opened for dinner service at 5:30 on a Friday and my greeting was definitely the coldest thing I experienced while dining at Yuzu.
The sushi chef briefly eyed me but in no way acknowledged me personally, instead left me standing in the middle of the tiny place waiting for a staff member to come up only to tell me to take a seat wherever I’d like. Ok.
I take a seat and a few minutes go by. I think about ordering an adult beverage but it’s just too sauna-​like to consider anything but ice water to drink. I poured over the menu for quite some time and while I’m sure the sushi rolls are authentic, they just didn’t stand out to me and I have a personally rule about ordering veggie sushi, and that rule is that I don’t do it. Gimme the business; gimme the fish — that’s my motto.
I kept looking at their chalkboard specials menu and seeing the ever-​present notation of which items were Japan-​caught, and since that seemed like such a point of pride, I decided to go bold and get the Chef’s premium sashimi platter for 1, that goes for $ 38 and comes with a side of rice and miso soup.
The miso soup was as good as a hot bowl of soup in a 100 degree room can be… and I know that sounds hella snarky, but I do mean it. It was a mighty fine bowl of miso.
The Sashimi platter… well, had I not had an absolutely superb sashimi plate in the city the day before that had thicker cuts, a more plentiful platter, a lesser price tag, more premium pieces, and far less fishy than the selection served up here, I might have been less non-​plussed with Yuzu’s arrangement.
Obviously if I was willing to shell out $ 38 on a plate of raw cuts I had some faith that it would be fresh, but more than half of my platter left a fishy fish flavor in my mouth. Bites weren’t buttery or particularly generous and when the platter was dropped off– even though I’d splurged to get the premium sushi– nothing was explained beyond the fried shrimp head, which was pretty obvious what that was and didn’t really need explaining, but other than that I really didn’t know what much of it was and the server wasted no time after dropping the dish t my table to leave and never come back… and to be honest, it was a little sloppy looking for a $ 38 dish.
The uni was particularly disappointing and I was glad there was only one piece of that. There were two pieces of something that I really liked but they were incredibly small and served with a slice of lemon that wasn’t cut thin enough to eat without pulling the rind out of your mouth. I left trying to think on the positive side– that at least I was full, but in hindsight I don’t know if I was more full or just tired of the fishy fish flavors because I totally went home and down a big bowl of ramen just an hour after dining.
I don’t believe Yuzu to be a bad place to dine on sushi, but I absolutely think they can do better than they did on my visit and I believe based on prior reviews that they generally are better, but my experience fell quite shy of my expectations.

Came here again for sashimi from Japan! It was good. The presentation was beautiful. I was also excited for my scallop sashimi order — it was fresh and tender. I had been thinking about that one for a while…
At the end, they fried the rest of our mackerel’s bones so that it became crispy enough to eat. I had never seen that before, and I liked how they used every part of the fish.
Why the 4 star rating? It was good, but this time, we really felt the price. I forgot how expensive it was. It was also quite empty when we got here on a Friday night at 6pm… it was a little strange because it sounds like it’s usually pretty popular.