I found this cute sushi place, Kiki Sushi and Vegetarian, when I was practicing using the voice commands while using the full self driving feature in my 2018 Tesla Model 3, "find sushi"! (There button on the right steering wheel must be pressed down until it beeps, then you use your voice command.) The nearest sushi restaurant in my Tesla car screen was Kiku Sushi! This is a little gem of a restaurant with a cute interior dining area with television for people watching the FIFA games, a good bar selection of you imbibe, and a delightful patio where you can sit under a covered awning. The place has a small parking lot along the side of the restaurant located in the back. If you're shopping at Whole Foods or Mount Diablo Foods, this restaurant is located down the street from them on a side street on Lafayette Circle. I spoke to the owner, they only use the best quality sushi: Atlantic King salmon, bluefin tuna, the shrimp is cooked here, white tuna is from Korea, the onso hamachi is from Hokkaido. The onagi is high end, and ordered from Thailand. There are two other Kiku Sushi & Vegetarian locations, one is located in north Berkeley, 1416 Gilman Street, Berkeley, CA, and one is located at 538 Valencia Street, San Francisco. The food is absolutely delicious, nicely presented, and the sashimi is cut into very thick slices. I ordered my favorite go-to dish, chirashi sushi, and a specially ordered eel handroll with rice and veggies. The matcha tempura ice cream was delicious, too. You must absolutely come and try out this place, they play relaxing, nice jazz music in the background, it was good for a very nice before-the-250th-anniversary of our country, the 4th of July! Check out this place, you surely won't be disappointed! read more

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i love this restaurant!!! i love that they have super unique flavorful vegetarian and vegan sushi rolls. i have tried the kiku roll, vegan spicy baked scallop roll, and the gogo roll. they're all so delicious!! the service is wonderful and everyone is so kind and welcoming. very clean restaurant as well with both indoor and outdoor seating. read more

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We've been looking for a sushi place since moving to the area a year ago and I think we found it. We've ordered to go a couple of times, but their restaurant has a really nice aesthetic. The quality of the food is excellent, so fresh, and the service was great. The sushi chef and server were both very warm and welcoming. read more

Only got pictures of the rolls but we also had mushroom soup, goma ae, stuffed mushrooms, crispy rice w avocado, and ice cream. The last two were on the house which was so sweet! Really incredible service and hospitality. I also enjoyed the decor! The vegetarian/vegan options are extensive and on point. My favorites were the vegan baked spicy scallop roll (it could have just a touch less mayo but still fave) and the plum shiso maki. Will definitely be back, maybe at the Berkeley location, and looking forward to trying more of the rolls and some hot items too read more

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Gave it a try. MIxed review. Its average. I'd need encouragement to return despite it being an easy drive. Price: $225 for a party of 4. No alcohol. Kinda pricey! Food quality: very good. Fish size was great. Rolls were good, but on the smaller side - 5-6 pieces on a cut roll for $16-20 each. Service: slow and could improve two notches. Water glasses are so small, had to ask a couple times for refills. Ambiance: elevator music on low. It's a family restaurant so expect some kid noise/crying. Overall: good quality sushi at an higher end price, suburban setting, you might still be hungry after. read more

Kiku Sushi & Vegetarian - 7 piece Sushi Dinner (comes with Miso, no salad, no rice) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Lafayette, California

I went in Thursday last week during lunch time and was greeted by a super sweet lady called Duma, showed me the menu and directed me to the lunch specials. I ordered the chicken teriyaki bento box. It was empty. It should be full at every lunch hour! Duma also offered me a miso soup while I waited for my food. Definitely will be coming back especially since I'm working down the street ! read more

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Kiku Japanese Sushi & Vegetarian (Lafayette, CA) has thoughtful GF options & standout vegetarian sushi I came to Kiku to celebrate birthdays with a friend after seeing strong Yelp reviews and their feature on Check, Please!. Earlier that day I'd called around to several sushi spots asking about gluten-free options. One texted me a menu link but no human to answer basic GF questions. Kiku won me over the moment I sat down. The server provided knowledgeable service, gluten-free tamari on request, and a kitchen willing to modify to customers food preferences. We started with the Crispy Rice & Sweet Potato (a Check, Please! recommendation). It was fantastic with a crispy rice on the outside, soft within, finished with a silky sweet-potato purée. It looked good and tasted better. A nearby diner let out an appreciative moan, I had to ask what it was they were eating: Goma-ae. I ordered the Ingen Goma-ae (string beans with sesame) and loved the tender beans and nutty dressing. I purposely tried their vegetarian sushi because making vegetarian sushi that ANYONE would enjoy takes real culinary skill. The Green Dragon Roll (sweet-potato, avocado, eggplant, special sauce) was a hit. I originally hesitated ordering it because of tempura, our server immediately offered a gluten-free version. The thin, flame-kissed eggplant on top gives it depth and you'd never guess it's vegetarian. For nigiri, the ikura was bright and briny, and the maguro was the silkiest I've EVER had. I've eaten sushi in Japan! It was rich, clean, and melt-in-your-mouth like butter. I was so busy eating I forgot to take photos until the end. We finished with green tea and a strawberry mochi; the strawberry was wonderfully fragrant and juicy. Between the gracious service, smart gluten-free accommodations, and imaginative vegetarian rolls (alongside pristine fish), Kiku delivers both quality and value. I don't usually think "sushi for breakfast," but their weekend breakfast menu is calling me back. Highly recommended. read more

Kiku Sushi & Vegetarian - Ikura and Maguro - Sushi Bars Near Me - Lafayette, California

I tried this sushi spot for the first time and it was absolutely delicious. I ordered the crispy rice with avocado and a spicy tuna roll. Heads up -- the spicy tuna is definitely on the spicier side, so keep that in mind if you're not big on heat. The restaurant was spotless, the staff was very friendly, and parking was easy. One thing I wish they offered is a crispy rice topped with a flavorful raw fish. I actually ended up taking some spicy tuna from my roll and putting it on top of the avocado crispy rice -- and it was amazing. Honestly, I could've made a meal just out of the crispy rice - it's so filling. I also had the miso soup, which was flavorful, not watered down, and really well balanced. I'll definitely be back, and they have plenty of vegan and vegetarian options for those with dietary preferences. read more

Kiku Sushi & Vegetarian - Crispy rice with avocado - Sushi Bars Near Me - Lafayette, California

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The Sushi didn't taste fresh. The sushi was dry and the salmon was stringy. The service was good. Also fairly expensive.

The sushi was fresh and good. However, the restaurant has succumbed to making giant sushi rolls that are too big to shove in your mouth. Many other Sushi places also make these giant rolls. I've eaten Sushi for a 50 years and was disappointed that they have giant rolls. Otherwise, I would've given the restaurant four stars. The service was excellent. And the ambience of the restaurant is also very nice. Instead of giving you five giant Sushi rolls they should give you eight or ten smaller Sushi rolls that fit nicely into the soy sauce dish for dunking and your mouth. read more

Yum. Came for lunch. Tried their lunch special Chirashi bowl comes with a miso soup. Soup was pipping hot, which I like allows for it to cool while you socialize. The chassis bowl was a great size. Fresh tasting, and filling. Service was patient, helpful in answering menu questions. Ambiance is a typical sushi spot. Plenty of seating, good for small groups. Parking can be tricky there's a few spots near the restaurant but the rest is first come first serve street parking. read more

Welp! Sorry but I can't speak to their food. Unfortunately, my 8yr old son and I waited for around 10-15 mins and the waitress NEVER came to check on us. So we left, better luck next time. I read more

Had to write another review because this place is amazing! I love fish, and my wife is vegetarian, and this place managed to have plenty of options that tasted great for both of us, which is an extremely rare occurrence! Usually if a restaurant has a bunch of vegetarian options, their meat options are not great, but this place is an exception. Every piece of fish I had here was fantastic! read more

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Fantastic little place I've never heard of until a week ago. I got the Gilman roll, and it was delicious. I'm usually pretty picky about sushi, but this place has plenty of vegetarian options for those of us with sensitive stomachs. It wasn't super busy for a week night, which was nice. Parking is a little tricky, but if you come here after 7 PM, it's pretty easy. Her weight was was super attentive and asking us what we needed always. read more

We stopped here for lunch yesterday and it was very tasty! We enjoyed the sushi rolls and we also loved the chicken teriyaki. The service was wonderful and kind. The ambiance was clean, spacious, and nice to sit inside. The rolls were great, please keep in mind there are a lot of Vegetarian options hence the name. I am not big on tofu so we didn't order any. Overall food was great and we will be back! read more

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Very tasty fresh food with unique vegetarian menu. Visited this place multiple times and food is consistently great! The service can be slow as this place is quite popular and gets busy. I normally call ahead to check the wait. Restaurant itself is not very big but cozy and clean. They have patio seating as well which is great for summer/spring season. read more

Wanted to get some sushi and this was a close spot with lots of choices for cooked fish. They have a large vegetarian selection which was nice but I wanted to do some cooked fish rolls. I ended up getting roll with cooked eel and tempura, as well as a simple bowl of udon noodles. It definitely hit the sushi craving and the udon soup was nice accompaniment. It's not the best sushi you'll ever have but still, decent spot in the area read more

Small cute place in Lafayette! Service is a little slow but it is what it is. The food was AMAZING! Get the fatty salmon roll you will not regret it! read more

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This place is probably one of the best Sushi experiences I've ever had! I got the sashimi/nigiri lunch special. The fish quality was great and very fresh. Don't miss on the wasabi as it's not your typical store bought. Highly recommend it! read more

Sushi restaurant with good variety of sashimi, rolls and nigiri. Good selection of beers including Japanese ones All cuts are fresh and delicious. Service is quick and responsive. Indoor and outdoor patio seating. Accessible with flat entry with easy wide navigations inside. Good for groups, gathering, seniors & meetups. Limited parking with paid/free street parkings. read more

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LOVE this place!!!! Such great vegetarian and vegan options for me, and my daughter loves the salmon bento box for lunch! Honestly, I have mixed feelings about writing this review - I love this place and I'm always pleased when I can get a seat quickly, but the food and service is so good, and I definitely want them to succeed, so I shouldn't keep this gem to myself any longer! Go for lunch! Go for dinner! You won't regret it! read more

Delicious and fresh. I love that they use fresh crab meat, not imitation. We love getting take out from here.

Absolutely loved this spot the first couple times I've dined here, but my recent experiences haven't been as great. I love how they do regular rolls as well as vegan options. Items are somewhat on the pricier end for what it is, but the quality is mostly good. Fresh tasting fish, as I loved the lunch moriawase I've tried here. Their combo / bento are good too. My kids really enjoy their udon- both the tempura one and the plain one. One time my daughter got the tempura udon with shrimp tempura and that was super delicious to her. The recent time, they didn't even offer shrimp and just gave her veggie tempura. It was a hard pass for her. I've enjoyed their Chirashi in the past- various sashimi over rice, with some pickled veggies and such. Tho pricey, it was tasty! I got it again recently, and I wasn't really impressed. First of all, they didn't give me the miso soup that it came with last time. I was wondering if it was a shrinkflation thing cause the amount of cuts in the bowl wasn't as much as before and they didn't give me my picked radishes/veggies in the bowl as they did last time. Everything was still decent, but a bit disappointing. Then I saw someone else order the same thing and guess what? They got their miso soup and their bowl had those veggies. WTH??? Mentioned something and they brought over the miso soup after I was done with the bowl. Ugh. The interior has been the same- good seating indoors and outdoors-ish, sushi bar area in the back. Service can be hit or miss. Water has mostly been refilled. 10% discount if paying in cash. Overall, decent fish and soup noodles. No sauce for tempura. Non soup noodles/sukiyaki (?) was good as well. Nice rolls. Hit or miss with the consistency and service tho. read more

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Nice and cozy ambiance. Came in for lunch and ordered the Sashimi Lunch special, vegan roll, and tempura mixed. The food here is made fresh especially the sashimi. They also gave a complimentary matcha hot tea as well. Host and chef were accommodating and friendly. read more

Kiku Sushi & Vegetarian - Vegan roll, tempura mixed, and Sashimi Lunch - Sushi Bars Near Me - Lafayette, California

It's a great spot for vegetarians and sushi lovers. Staff is polite although it seems they are short staffed in servers. Limited seating inside. Definitely call and make a reservation for parties larger than 4 people! Love the sushi options and miso soup! read more

Stopped by for dinner with our newborn and toddler and sat outside (although this was during one of the crazy hot days, so whilst safer from infectious diseases - it was uncomfortably muggy). The waitstaff were very attentive to us and our son loved the cooked food - although it was a little heavy on the sweet sauce, which may have explained it. Sushi was otherwise excellent and we left with full bellies! read more

Kiku Sushi & Vegetarian - Sushi Bars Near Me - Lafayette, California

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Food was excellent! Mushroom Udon, California Roll, Gyoza and Bento box with grilled salmon. We ate every morsel, happily! It was lunchtime and the service, too, was excellent. If we would change anything, it would be the choice of music...a bit loud, a bit fast paced, jazz... read more

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Great fresh food and very good service. Highly recommend. We only go for the vegetarian options and they are all very good.

I tried this place for a quick bite to eat at lunchtime. Great place to eat. Fast for lunch, good quality food and a very friendly staff. I got the sashimi. It was fresh and tasty. Nice seating area and comfortable for families or just one. read more

In town checking out layfayette after watching ZipTrips on KTVU. My partner is pescatarian so this was another reason for this choice. Restaurant is clean and outdoor patio was great for sitting outside. Everything was fresh and tasty except one thing - the dragon roll was different than most places and let's just say it was not to my liking.- read more

had their hamachi / salmon nigiri and wow it was mouth wateringly delicious. very impressed with the food quality. yum! nice guy helped with my takeout. thank you. read more

Extremely abbreviated, slow, and rude service. I had one of the bowls with a variety of listed ingredients and it was nothing more than sushi salmon with sweet sushi rice and a pickled mushroom. The salmon was nice and fresh, but overall the food was barebones and nothing like what I might expect from a nice sushi restaurant. read more

Our favorite restaurant! Outstanding fresh food made to order. Very accommodating about dietary needs. Www.kikusushiveg.com read more

We really enjoyed our food here, everything tasted fresh and the service was good. The place is clean and does the job, plenty of seating. They have tons of vegan items, it would be good if they were on a separate vegan menu to make it super simple for those seeking vegan items. They were very open and kind about making sure items are gluten free. The gluten free batter they have is amazing, would never know the difference. It is definitely pricy for how few pieces you get with the price of rolls, but they were all tasty and we will def be back. The only item we weren't crazy about was the vegan spicy baked scallop roll (way too much mayo and not very flavorful, the faux tobiko on top is impressive though). read more

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I did not enjoy my meal. The seaweed salad was like rubber. The soup too salty. The sushi rice terrible. The rest was lacking flavor. Mediocre service. read more

Great sashimi plate! I'll be back. Service was slow but only one waitress for a number of tables. read more

Cute Japanese spot with a full vegetarian menu (4/5 green stars) Went to Kiku Sushi in Lafayette for dinner and the staff were welcoming and efficient, even on a busy night. A main attraction for me is that there's a full vegetarian menu, so you can find dishes beyond avocado roll and don't have to worry about whether they contain fish stock or flakes. Memorable dish: Nasu Miso, which is grilled Japanese eggplant with sweet miso, $9.50. Kiku has a sister restaurant in Berkeley - I enjoyed eating at both of them - service, food, and ambiance were solid in both branches. For those looking for fully vegan Japanese restaurants in Berkeley, I can also recommend Cha-ya or Tane Vegan Izakaya, both of which are on Shattuck Ave. I'm also giving Kiku Sushi 4/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact. * Both branches of Kiku have an emphasis on vegetarian items with a fully vegetarian menu that helps avoid any confusion or mistakes while ordering. * The menu does feature fish and a couple of chicken or pork dishes, but avoids the most climate-unfriendly meats - beef and lamb. * Fyi, if you want to choose climate-friendly fish, then small pelagic fish (sardines, mackerel, anchovies), farmed bivalves (oysters, mussels, scallops), and some wild salmonids (salmon and trout) are your best bets. Avoid crustaceans such as shrimp, prawns, crabs, and lobster. * Kiku doesn't provide any information on sourcing of fish or other ingredients. Please join in and include a Green Stars rating with your own reviews! read more

I love this restaurant !! They have another location in Berkeley, same menu w/ so many vegan selections !! This location is clean, spacious, well - lit & offers outdoor seating in a covered patio !! Service is quick & knowledgeable, she checked back often & they allow brown rice for the sushi for extra charge ! We've had brown rice sushi @ other restaurants but it often is not sticking together or looks like it's falling apart - but here it looked beautiful & stayed in one piece !! The seaweed salad is so colorful & fresh-looking with different colors & textures, not like the green stuff @ other restaurants! I love that there are so many vegan dishes, mains plus sushi featuring such a variety of vegetables ! My favorite is a delicious hot bowl w/ potstickers & so many vegetables in a light broth (can't remember the name :( Everything is presented with great care @ attention to details, looks as good as it tastes !!! Yummmmmm! read more

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Jay at the bar was friendly and had great recommendations. Amazing nigiri, would recommend

Such an awesome find in Lafayette! As an aside, Yelp's search feature needs A LOT of work. I've been searching for sushi places in this specific area for a long time, and this place never once came up, even though it's been basically under our nose the whole time. Come on now, Yelp. So imagine my surprise when a Yelp friend posted about her experience here - we couldn't get there fast enough to try it out for ourselves! I have recently been very much taking an interest in a mostly plant-based diet, and endeavoring to find places that can not only accommodate, but specialize in this. I was absolutely thrilled to find a SUSHI place that does! If you've known me for any length of time, you know that sushi is pretty much an obsession of mine. So to find a place that can blend my love of sushi with my interest in a plant-based diet was absolutely delightful! My carnivore partner took me here for date night, because he's that awesome. Right off the bat, the service was very good; everyone was friendly and kind. We ordered the Green Dragon Roll, the Vegan Baked Scallop Roll, and the Sunshine Roll. All vegan, all delicious and satisfying. The Green Dragon was my favorite, and tasted pretty much just like a 'normal' Dragon Roll, but they use eggplant instead of eel - yum! I left satiated but not stuffed. Will absolutely return, and soon. If you're vegetarian/vegan-curious like myself, and are wondering if meat-free sushi can be just as good as the 'real thing', please try this place, I don't think you'll be disappointed. read more

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