Seto Restaurant

Humiliating treatment by waitress. I have been coming for almost 2 years. Today they decided to not to serve to vegetarian people. Denied to make avocado roll in Bento lunch special. So she made me order separately. See how bad they are in ripping customers. If I pay extra money, they don’t mind making a veg. special. She did not bring veg. tempura sauce, did not bother to bring salad which I had asked for. She even did not apologize for her misbehavior. Be careful, if you are vegetarian, they will disrespect you.

The food here is clean, fresh and delicious! The owner James is so friendly and accommodating. Feels like home here. Yum yum yum!

Food: while one of our rolls was decent, several of the others were not impressive. There just seems to be something missing in terms of flavor and/​or freshness.
Service: was friendly, but our food took way too long to come out, especially considering the restaurant was almost empty. Some of our party had to start eating before the others due to the unreasonable delay. Also, they could have done a much better job of communicating with us.
Ambiance: while the place has aged, it is still overall fine in terms of presentation and cleanliness.
Value: not great for what you get.

Great lunch spot in Sunnyvale! Come here with my coworkers and usually get seated easily since they have a big space. Parking in the back is very convenient. The employees are friendly and fast service, there’s usually a special bento that’s on display when you walk in and it’s $ 15. One of our top spots for lunch now.

I’ve dined her multiple times. Pretty much always for business lunches and a few dinners.
The experience has always been pleasant. I have no complaints about the food. The menu is nice and fairly comprehensive. Dining areas are spacious, so all guests are not crammed against each other. Last time I was there, the waitress was super awesome and funny.
A nice alternative to anything on Murphy street.

Interestingly enough but been coming here for many years but finally got a chance to take some decent photos for a review.
For as long as I have remembered, I have ordered the Seto Chirashi, which is mixed sashimi over a bed of rice. Seto Chirashi, named after the establishment and comes in a really beautiful double-​tiered lacquerware, is basically a step-​up from the regular chirashi. For the price paid $ 20.50, it’s a pretty good deal considering the amount of sashimi and other stuff that come with it.
Their lunch bento is also very reasonable. The tempura is prepared well without the heavy breading expected from other less-​authentic Japanese restaurants.
All in all, nice place and good value.

We love to go there whenever we crave for sashimi. This place always has the best service, and fresh sashimi around. And if sashimi is not your liking, their cooked dishes are just as delicious. We especially love their soft-​shelled crab which always cook to perfection. We always look forward to our next visit!

It is only fair to separate the rating into 2 categories: food and service. My husband and I had order a deluxe dinner for two. My daughter ordered agadashi tofu with some maki. The food was decent. They served a generous portion of sashimi. Salad was fresh. Tea was hot. Green tea ice cream was yummy. Yakitori is a bit disappointed but with big portion.
The problem was the service. There were only 2 waitresses. The older lady dressed in kimono looked like the owner. She never smiled once. Nor when she greeted customers. Not when she took order. Nor when she gave us the check (by the way, we didn’t even finish our dinner when she decided to slam down the check on the table !) Half of the restaurant was still empty. Why did she so eager to push us out? Probably she forgot she is in servicing industry.
The food was delivered pretty fast except the last two items: Yakitori and ice cream.
We had to get Ms. grumpy’s attention by trying to get eye contact, waving and finally asking 3 times for the missing green tea ice cream. Instead, she came back twice just to check if we had paid !
The other waitress was nice and much more responsive. Unfortunately she only served us briefly. (Yes, she was the one gave us the green tea ice cream!)
I won’t come back because of Ms. Grumpy.

this is my favorite sushi restaurant in the Bay Area! among the freshest fish in the area, but without the headache of a line like some other places. the fish is fresher than Tomi (either location), with far less of a line.
I recently rediscovered this place, after coming here regularly about 15 years ago. a glimpse of a memory of delicious uni made me hunt this place down; both the uni and amaebi are excellent, and these are my two litmus tests for sushi restaurants. i can list the number of restaurants with decent uni on one hand in the entire bay area, SF and wine country included.

The best sushi and ice-​cream! The boss is great. Sashimi is great! You should choose 3 items lunch special!

Great meal. Had a combo dinner with some sushi roll and nigiri. All pretty tasty.
Will go back for sure.

Had dinner here last night for the first time with a friend. We shared the medium sashimi combo which was absolutely fantastic! The sushi was as fresh as it gets, miso soup was fine, tempura was excellent, and they gave us some free green tea ice cream free of charge. The total for all of this plus one beer was $ 32.00 — — - it doesn’t get any better for that price.
In addition to the great food, the sushi chef was chatting with us the whole time and he was a really nice guy, if a bit hard to understand through his accent.
I’ll be a regular at Seto from now on.

Kind of standard, run of the mill sushi. Nothing spectacular, and nothing horrible.
The seating is kind of odd, I felt very close to our neighbors when seated at one of the tables. Also, the service runs just a tad slow where it becomes noticeable. There seem to be regulars who sit at the bar and get great service, so maybe it’s a customer loyalty thing.
I’d come back, but only because of proximity to home.

What a nice lunch!
Came here for a lunch meeting. The food was absolutely satisfying and the service on point.
The server stopped by our table to check in frequently. He even was nice enough to refill my water bottle!
I can’t wait to return! Yum!

Seto Restaurant is definitely one of those places where you would totally miss it if you didn’t look close enough. But once you get inside, it is a COMPLETELY different environment. The overall setting of the restaurant is aimed to be authentically Japanese, from the typical sitting style on pillows and low tables to the waitresses in kimonos. We sat down and were immediately greeted by one of the waitresses right away. One of the good things I liked about this place from the get-​go is that there is A LOT of choices to choose from, from ramen and soba, to sushi and combination plates. There’s just so much you can’t get your mind over what to choose from! A drawback though is the pricing can be a bit pricey for a Japanese restaurant, but perhaps all of their dishes are fancy? Let’s see.
After choosing a couple rolls, udon, and chicken teriyaki, we were greeted with miso soup and a salad for starters. The miso soup was good and like any other miso soup but the salad was okay, but then again, these were just complimentary sides that came with our entrees.
We received our rolls and I must say that the rolls here were decent. The California roll was great like most other places but their spicy tuna roll was a bit on the fishy side and the Crazy roll was a bit plain in presentation for a fancy authentic restaurant. Taste-​wise for the Cali-​roll and the Crazy roll were good though.
The Niku udon was great with the slices of cooked beef cooked inside but it seemed like it was missing something. Maybe more on presentation? Tempura? It had udon noodles, cabbage, carrots, beef, and shitake mushrooms and that was about it. Tasted great don’t get me wrong! But something was missing…
Then came the chicken teriyaki which I thought was great! Cooked to perfection and simmered in a teriyaki sauce, all of which is on a cast iron cooking pan and served with rice on the side. The flavor was not too salty nor bland, with the chicken cooked to just right.
In the end, we received a complimentary green tea ice cream which was delicious! It must have been fresh because the flavors were so vibrant and creamy, it just couldn’t have been from the store bought freezers. Overall, I loved the overall setting of the place. Very authentic and home feeling, with VERY nice staff with excellent service. The choices of food offered is overwhelmingly good but can be a bit pricey. Quality of the food is okay in terms of presentation. Rolls were alright and seemed so plain compared to their other dishes but tastewise, good as any other sushi joint. Udon was a bit plain too but tasted great as well. Chicken Teriyaki was excellent and on point! My favorite dish for sure. Would I come back here again? Yes, I actually would for a more authentic experience BUT I will not order the rolls here. Would I recommend this place to others? Yes I will!

This place has been around for such a long time. One of the waitresses that I remember as a kid still works here. This is one of the very few Japanese restos in the area that is actually run by Japanese people. So you know their food is authentic. Their waitresses even wear kimonos and speak Japanese. Soo cute! Their menu has a wide selection of entrees, bentos, and to share (if you ever get the dinner for 2 or 3, expect a lot of food!). Food is always delish, my fave being the fresh sashimi and crunchy tempura. Customer service is great because they treat you like fam. Sometimes they do lag on giving the check, but there’s waitstaff everywhere to easily wave down. The place is nice for dates, small groups, and big groups with their private rooms.

Love this place! The workers are extremely friendly and makes me feel so at home. I literally come here at least once a week. Their food is delicious. If you’re a fan of spicy food and sushi this is your place. They have tons of spicy sushi rolls.
The Uni here is really fresh. They’re really generous with portion.
Lastly… I never ever waited for a table. This place is huge… perfect for large groups.
Overall, I’m a fan of this place!

Couldn’t figure out where to have sushi one evening last week. My friend quickly suggested a japanese restaurant not too far from my place. I passed by Seto restaurant many times, mostly because I spend a lot of my lunch time at Gombei Bento. From the outside, Seto looks like a run-​down restaurant that mainly serves the American style of japanese food. Guess what guys? Japanese usually don’t order Teriyaki beef and california roll! Look is definitely deceiving and I apologize I think Seto isn’t an authentic japanese restaurant. Turns out they are more authentic than many japanese restaurant in sunnyvale.
We were seated at the table and offered the menu. We didn’t know what to order because the menu is thick and filled with numerous option. We quickly turned to the board behind the sushi bar and found out they have fish from Tsukiji fish market! That immediately caught my attention. Lets walk down the memory lane from my Japan trip in last December! Turns out this restaurant offer fish from Tsukiji fish market and also fish from other part of the world.
We had the Tsukiji sashimi platter with 8 kinds of fish in it. tempura appetizer, Chawa-​mushi, chazuke and some sake.
Overall the fish was very fresh, it did remind me about japan!

This is probably the most underrated sushi joint in the South Bay, which is good because it filters out the rift raft. All the loyal patrons at Seto know that Seto is one of very few authentic Japanese establishments, and that the owners and chefs take much pride in choosing the freshest fish from Japanese waters daily. So really, you silly Unilocal sheep, this place isn’t overpriced at all!
You can always tell the quality of a sushi restaurant by how fresh their uni is, and the uni here is amazing everyday. If it’s not, they won’t serve it (or anything for that matter). I never need soy sauce for the nigiri, which speaks to the skills of the head chefs here.
The tempura will knock your socks off.
The owners, chefs, and wait staff are really the kindest people you will ever meet, too.

Mediocre lunch today.
Ordered a sushi lunch, a crazy roll, hamachi temaki, and tempura udon.
The tempura udon — noodles were a good consistency, broth was just right, but I got two tempura shrimp with it and nothing else. No veggies? Seems like they could give you a bit more for $ 11.
The sushi items — for my wife and daughter — that didn’t come out until about 10 – 15 minutes later, after I’d already finished the udon. I’m not sure why it took so long — we were there toward the end of the lunch rush, the place was clearing out already, so they shouldn’t have been that busy.
It’s not the Seto that I remember from years ago.