Good sushi in the Mountain View area? (live in, to eat)

[Wendy97]

Remember, I'm looking for a sushi restaurant in MOUNTAIN VIEW, not SF.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by Spiderwebs95

BTW, Sawa only has 3 1/2 stars on Yelp... not that I trust the Yelp reviews of people in the bay area for sushi as they have failed me CONSISTENTLY.

I don't recommend trusting the star rating of Yelpers for anything. Its worth reading peoples' opinions in order to get an idea of what a place might have to offer, but there's a strange tendency for people on Yelp to have a similar writing style and say "I've had better elsewhere" without elaborating or explaining what made another place better.

And the star ratings people leave often times have more to do with the service and ambiance than they do with the food - which I find supremely annoying when I'm trying to find out if the food's good or not! Half the time I take food to go, and if I'm trying a new place out I really only want to know what's good. If its the best of something, I could care less about the service. I wish they'd do two separate ratings systems, with one for food alone. But even then you'll get someone praising a place that sucks or bashing a place after only trying one dish. So its better to read a few opinions of one place and then move on.

Chowhound is a lot better for Bay Area food places. It doesn't have reviews for everywhere the way Yelp does, but it can steer you towards some really good stuff that you might not have heard of before.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by Spiderwebs95

You're right for avoiding cheap sushi... up here... in LA I would disagree. There are sushi restaurants all over that county, and a TON of them are cheap and EXTREMELY good at the same time. For some reason that is just not available in the bay area.

You are right to an extent about Japanese chefs. Thing is, a place with a Japanese chef is likely to be really very good, whereas all you can say about a place with non-Japanese chefs is that it COULD be good.

Also, the definition of "top sushi place" in the bay area seems to be really very... wrong. Just because a restaurant has 5,000 rolls on their menu and they're all smothered in unagi sauce doesn't mean the restaurant is good. I've noticed no one up here seems to look for quality nigiri and fish in a sushi restaurant. And they always claim like the fish is fresh in their reviews, but then I actually visit the restaurant, and it's some of the FISHIEST fish I've ever tasted! I'm not saying Sebo is bad or anything... I'm just really really skeptical of sushi reviews up here, hence my requirements in the first post in this thread.

I realize that not all sushi fish comes from Japan... salmon never does, or at least I don't think so... I know that every time I've had salmon it's never been from Japan, regardless of where I'm eating. It depends on the fish... hamachi from Japan is an absolute MUST as I have NEVER had good hamachi that was distributed from a location other than Japan.

This is absolutely true. I've never known of a quality sushi place up here that was cheap. Cheap = bad up here, without a doubt from my experience.

I've heard good Korean food is a lot cheaper in K-Town down south too. My one experience there was excellent, and way cheaper than what I'm used to in SF.

Unfortunately the vast majority of the sushi places around here are not Japanese-owned. Many are either Chinese or Korean. Sushi Sam's in San Mateo is Chinese-owned as I recall, but I believe the sushi chefs there are Japanese. I think the quality of the nigiri there is pretty good, but I'm admittedly one of the guilty Americanized-palate having sushi eaters that likes the complicated rolls. I know you said don't respond with that being the case, but I am able to ID the fish you've named so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

It might be worth checking out on the way down to Mtn View if you're not interested in the other options, but you'd be stopping off about 15 minutes or so (w/o traffic) before getting to Shoreline. If you do try it I'd like to hear your take on it.

[Wendy97]

Originally Posted by jman650

And the star ratings people leave often times have more to do with the service and ambiance than they do with the food - which I find supremely annoying when I'm trying to find out if the food's good or not! Half the time I take food to go, and if I'm trying a new place out I really only want to know what's good. If its the best of something, I could care less about the service. I wish they'd do two separate ratings systems, with one for food alone. But even then you'll get someone praising a place that sucks or bashing a place after only trying one dish. So its better to read a few opinions of one place and then move on.

Agreed... I can't stand how some people are all about service! I really don't care about service all that much unless it's unbareable... like your server is actually downright rude. Who cares if they're a little slow though? I mean really... you're likely out with a friend/loved one anyway, why not just enjoy your time with them while you wait for your food? You'll get your food eventually, and it may be the BEST food in the world!

I look for reviews that talk about the food, and for sushi I look for those that don't say, "I HAD THE KING KONG ROLL AND THE VOLCANO ROLL AND THE ELVIS ROLL AND THE FIRETRUCK ROLL AND THE PUMPKIN ROLL AND THE APPLE ROLL AND THE ORANGE ROLL AND THE BEEF ROLL AND THE LIVER ROLL AND THEY ALL HAD SAUCE BUT I COULD TASTE THE FISH ANYWAY AND IT WAS SO FRESH!!!!!!!!!1111111" LOL

Lol, this thread is almost getting off topic.

[Wendy97]

Originally Posted by jman650

This is absolutely true. I've never known of a quality sushi place up here that was cheap. Cheap = bad up here, without a doubt from my experience.

I've heard good Korean food is a lot cheaper in K-Town down south too. My one experience there was excellent, and way cheaper than what I'm used to in SF.

Unfortunately the vast majority of the sushi places around here are not Japanese-owned. Many are either Chinese or Korean. Sushi Sam's in San Mateo is Chinese-owned as I recall, but I believe the sushi chefs there are Japanese. I think the quality of the nigiri there is pretty good, but I'm admittedly one of the guilty Americanized-palate having sushi eaters that likes the complicated rolls. I know you said don't respond with that being the case, but I am able to ID the fish you've named so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents.

It might be worth checking out on the way down to Mtn View if you're not interested in the other options, but you'd be stopping off about 15 minutes or so (w/o traffic) before getting to Shoreline. If you do try it I'd like to hear your take on it.

LOL @ your American palate. I said what I said to deter those with NO knowledge away =)

So Sushi Sam's is on the way to Shoreline? I go to Hana in Rohnert Park ALL of the time... it's my absolutely favorite up here... anyway, one of the chefs there used to work at Sushi Sam's and HIGHLY recommended it to me, and if it's on the way to Shoreline, this is a great opportunity for me to try it! Yaaaay. I just have to make it down there by 2... I have a soccer game up here in Santa Rosa at 9 AM, so we'll see.

[mdwstrnkid]

Originally Posted by Spiderwebs95

LOL @ your American palate. I said what I said to deter those with NO knowledge away =)

So Sushi Sam's is on the way to Shoreline? I go to Hana in Rohnert Park ALL of the time... it's my absolutely favorite up here... anyway, one of the chefs there used to work at Sushi Sam's and HIGHLY recommended it to me, and if it's on the way to Shoreline, this is a great opportunity for me to try it! Yaaaay. I just have to make it down there by 2... I have a soccer game up here in Santa Rosa at 9 AM, so we'll see.

A lot of people I know like Sushi Sam's. I've only been there once and was underwhelmed. While the fish seemed fresh and of good quality, I was not impressed with the way that they cut the fish - the slices were too thick and so the nigiri was difficult to eat (some cuts even being a bit tough/stringy). Maybe I was there on a bad day, but it'll probably be a while before I make my next visit.

[Wendy97]

Originally Posted by mdwstrnkid

A lot of people I know like Sushi Sam's. I've only been there once and was underwhelmed. While the fish seemed fresh and of good quality, I was not impressed with the way that they cut the fish - the slices were too thick and so the nigiri was difficult to eat (some cuts even being a bit tough/stringy). Maybe I was there on a bad day, but it'll probably be a while before I make my next visit.

Well we shall see and I will let you know =)

[BayAreaHillbilly]

I don't think Sushi Sam is particularly special. Way over hyped.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by spiderwebs95

agreed... I can't stand how some people are all about service! I really don't care about service all that much unless it's unbareable... Like your server is actually downright rude. Who cares if they're a little slow though? I mean really... You're likely out with a friend/loved one anyway, why not just enjoy your time with them while you wait for your food? You'll get your food eventually, and it may be the best food in the world!

I look for reviews that talk about the food, and for sushi i look for those that don't say, "i had the king kong roll and the volcano roll and the elvis roll and the firetruck roll and the pumpkin roll and the apple roll and the orange roll and the beef roll and the liver roll and they all had sauce but i could taste the fish anyway and it was so fresh!!!!!!!!!1111111" lol

lol, this thread is almost getting off topic.

lol.

[jman650]

Originally Posted by mdwstrnkid

A lot of people I know like Sushi Sam's. I've only been there once and was underwhelmed. While the fish seemed fresh and of good quality, I was not impressed with the way that they cut the fish - the slices were too thick and so the nigiri was difficult to eat (some cuts even being a bit tough/stringy). Maybe I was there on a bad day, but it'll probably be a while before I make my next visit.

Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly

I don't think Sushi Sam is particularly special. Way over hyped.

Man, I haven't been there in a little while. I hope they haven't fallen off. I think I could see what you mean about the nigiri being sliced a bit thick, but I've never found it difficult to eat. I just always thought of the fish there being good quality. It would be disappointing if that is no longer the case.

Have either of you tried Tomokazu in Burlingame? I've always found what they have to be decent too, but I haven't been there in quite a while either. Man, I need to go out for sushi soon!