Just walked out of Crogan's next door because the waiter wouldn't come to our table to take our order. So we came to this awesome sushi restaurant for the first time. Thank you Crogan for the terrible service. Because of you we found our new favorite sushi place. The food here is delicious! The service is so friendly and accommodating. They clearly appreciate our business. But the food, the food, the food! Yum!!! We'll be back. What a find! read more

Sadly I doubt I will return here unless they kick it up a few notches. Great service but you cannot make up for bad sushi with good service. This is really not a good experience on the food front for a few reasons. My son had the chicken teriyaki - the chicken was all stringy and fatty so he had a hard time with it. My sushi/sashimi combo was not good and I couldn't eat half of the sashimi because it was both warm and did not smell fresh. The salad and miso soup were fine but if that is the best you can do at a Japanese restaurant there is a problem. Not to mention the pricing is not in line with the quality of the food. I hope they improve their food quality or I can't see them succeeding in this neighborhood which has a lot of other great options. read more

Service is always great and we frequent here with friends often. The food is pretty good, basic and prices are reasonable. Got take out from there one night and the service was above and beyond with tiny containers of EVERYTHING they normally give you at the restaurant. Great job! read more

Kotobuki (Jr.) is just getting their footing you might want to wait a while before venturing in: The food: I ordered the bento combination w/teriyaki chicken and spicy tuna. The chicken was tasty (nice teriyaki and grill flavor) but it was just barely warm when it arrived. The spicy tuna roll was not very spicy. The coleslaw sauce was nice, but the slaw was drowning in it. The rice was barely warm. The miso soup and salad that came with the dinner were average and unremarkable . I don't know why owners don't seize the opportunity to take common items like these and add just a smidge of interest to distinguish themselves. The person I was with ordered the bento which included the vege tempura. I tasted the tempura, and (other than the broccoli piece) was OK and nicely presented. Chef please note: The brocolli was gooie and mushy inside. The brocolli needs to be fried in smaller pieces so it doesn't retain all tempura batter inside a huge florette. Give your customers 3 - 4 pieces instead of the one gigantic piece. The service. They do not have their beer liscense yet, so no beer or saki for me (Even though their large "lucky cat" with a beer in his paw looked like he had something to offer. So I ordered a diet coke, which was never served to me, but did show up on the bill. I didn't bother asking for the DC, turned out that their water was fine. I felt bad for the waitress who who accidently (of course) dumped the plate of food she was trying to serve us right on our table. She cleaned it up quickly, but we had to wait about another 6 - 7 minutes later for the other dinner to be served. The bill arrived promptly after we were finished. When I explained that the diet coke was never served, he removed that without hassle from the bill "Sorry" he said. The place was full by the time we left, I don't think there was an open table. I hope that other people had a better experience than we did, but I will go back and give them another chance. I would like this place to succeed because it is a real nice atmosphere and I think there is potential. Some of the rolls looked interesting. If they can get it together with serving their food HOT, serve an icy beer and HOT saki... we'll see. I'll report back on that later. read more

I love this place due to multitude of Japanese food options. The menu comes in a full blown binder reminiscent of high school but is full of choices. The portions are generous and prices reasonable. I had the chirashi and my bf had the chicken teriyaki and agedaahi tofu. We shared a seaweed salad and blue Hawaii roll too. Really satisfying and yummy. Pair this with a couple of bottles of hot sake and we were happy people. read more

Best Sushi and service in Oakland. The staff welcome you like a guest into their home. I'm a regular weekly and recommend it to anyone who loves sushi and friendly warm service. read more

My picky family loves this restaurant. And the service is always quick and friendly. I wish they had a little more interesting food, but a happy family makes a happy mom, so we keep returning. read more

So I thought I would give one of the too many sushi places in town a try. I travel all over and I know sushi and this place was terrible. It is even worse than the sushi boat places I go to, but at least I expect them to be mediocre. I should have trusted my instincts when I saw the faded menus. The menu that printed on a home inkjet 8 months ago where all the pictures are different shades of red, this should have been a clue to the attention they pay to their food. Alas I did not get up. Then the Gyoza arrived - soggy, tasteless - simply terrible. All the sushi was cut with a heavy hand. Large chucks, uneven and literally everything was dripping in mayo sauce. It was terrible. At least the old standby spicy tuna has to be good - wrong. The same heavy hand on knife and sauce then they 'added' avocado, cucumber, garlic and lettuce. Seriously lettuce? Looks maybe it sounds good to you, but it is not a spicy tuna roll. If you want to deviate from the norm at least be intelligent enough to put a description on the menu OR do a traditional roll and name your roll something different. I could not get out of here fast enough. It is terrible - you are better to go home and burn two $20 bills and eat a can of tuna fish. Please go elsewhere for sushi and hopefully Montclair can turn this space into a real restaurant. read more

Tried this for lunch last year and decide to try dinner on a Sunday evening after the super bowl game. I ordered a combination dinner tempura and beef teriyaki. Nice presentation, but the beef teriyaki was cold. Not what I would expect. I would not be excited about coming back. Tempura was ok, A little lacking in flavor as was the beef. read more

The staff here is always very friendly and fast. Sometimes you have to be clear in ordering but overall they are pretty on top of it. Food is excellent. I've gone there many times and the fish is always fresh. The prices are pretty reasonable too. Most times I am served salad, miso and tea free of charge. Love that there's a woman sushi chef there too! Kotobuki is laid back, can always get a table whenever, and not pretentious at all. Definitely one of my favorite close to home places to eat! read more

Excellent service, decent quality food at a reasonable price, expansive menu, and huge portions. I do miss the italian place that used to be here, but this restaurant could be the new neighborhood go to joint. Our party of 7 came here after we were shafted at Montclair Bistro despite having an 8 pm reservation. How rude, but glad we went to Kotobuki instead. read more

This is our absolute favorite family restaurant. The sushi and noodles are so fresh and delicious, and they have other choices for those who aren't fans of sushi, so it makes a good choice for parties etc. My son would eat the miso soup and gyoza here every day if he could and so would I. The staff is very friendly, always remembers their regulars and their favorite foods etc, and graciously accomodate any special requests about food or sports viewing on their tv. Very family friendly and overall just a great neighborhood spot, and large enough that there is never really a wait. read more

Food was very bad. I am not a frequent reviewer, but tonight's dinner made me vow to post this review. I had Yaki Udon, of which there was a picture in the menu. My plate arrived looking utterly pale and colorless, in direct opposition to the colorful menu picture. I am hardly a complainer when it comes to food, but my friend, who had Spicy Seafood Udon, commented after a few minutes that while the broth was tasty everything else in her bowl was tasteless. I immediately chimed in that my food was indeed tasteless, also, and not fresh. The broccoli, celery, chicken, shrimp, carrots, mushrooms, cabbage in my dish were definitely not fresh and were tasteless. The worst was when I had one of her mussels, which was the stalest mussel I've had to date. It could only have been worse if it had been rancid and spoiled. If you get good tasting food, lucky you. But, after the meal I had I knew I had to warn others. Service, ambiance, cleanliness all fine. read more

The food was not that good. The most important facet of good sushi is the freshness of the fish; well, the fish we were served was barely OK; most sushi restaurants serve fresher fish. The cooked food was also not that tasty. The soft-shell crab was way overcooked, the miso soup too salty (sitting in the heater for too long?). For the price they charge, I would expect better. read more

Food was mediocre and didn't look anything like the photos on here--I can't believe those plates came out of the same restaurant I ate in tonight. The service was awful and I seriously contemplated just walking out at least 3 times during my meal. As a veteran service industry worker that is not something I say lightly, but I seriously just wanted to to leave so bad. I wish I hadn't wasted my money stopping in here. Lesson learned. read more

Though the take-away containers were all beat up (a good portion of my udon noodle broth ended up in the plastic bag), and the pricing was "okay-ish", the food was DELICIOUS, and I will definitely be going back (when I have a little pocket change to spare!). read more

The food is really good. The service could not be worse. They need to add a staff member and train the staff on how to look at tables for people in need. Everything from leaving us for 15 minutes without an initial drink order to our appetizer coming 10 minutes after our entree has happened. The last time we managed to stagger our order but still the service is too frustrating to recommend this place read more

Great service - fairly kid friendly. The kids' miso soup had extra tofu so the kids thought it was awesome. Fast service. Will be back!

Really good for the price. We did takeout and the Sashimi combo was fresh and good quality. We had spicy tuna and shrimp tempura rolls. Kids liked the yaki udon fried noodles. It's a local spot and we'll come back! read more

For many years, there was only one Japanese restaurant in Oakland's Montclair district. Suddenly, there are now three with Kotobuki opening up last week. (Actually, in my books, there are now 4 Japanese restaurants in the hood, if you include the newly opened Sushi Park on Park Blvd) I sat at the sushi bar and ordered 3 rolls (lion king, shrimp tempura roll, rock and roll, and a plate of sashimi. All were good. The size of the rolls were a little smaller than I had hoped. Prices for the sushi rolls were around $9-10 per roll. Frankly, I'd need 3 rolls to call it a meal... so I'd consider this a little bit on the pricey side for sushi rolls. This location is a nice upgrade from Piedmont Ave. Piedmont Ave restaurant felt dark (no windows). This place in Montclair is the complete opposite. Lots of light thanks to the store front which is all glass. read more

We bring out young kids here a lot. They know how to cater to the little ones. They put extra tofu in the miso soup for the kids and always make sure the soup isn't too hit. Fast service and relatively inexpensive for sushi. I got the Godzilla role today and I liked it a lot. The only reason it didn't get five stars is because I've had some frickin amazing sushi in my day that blows this stuff outta the water. read more

My kids and I go here every week without fail. The sushi is good (better than Oni across the street IMO), the atmosphere isn't pretentious, and the staff is always friendly. read more

Was around the neighbor hood and randomly picked this place to eat at and the food was okay. The fish on the sushi was not fresh, and service was not good. Was not welcomed in when walked in and was told to sit anywhere. After giving us our food, no one came back to check on us to give us more water or tea. read more

Everything that has been said below is true! Amazing quality and diversity of sushi, outstanding service and care (genuinely nice people) ... all at a very reasonable price. Thank you. read more

Went on a day time hiking date in the hills and both of us were starved after 3 hours. Drive to Montclair and decided to stroll under we a place that looked good. In short, we made the right choice. Sashimi was excellent, the Piedmont role was perfect, as was the nigiri. My favorite is in SF (Zushi Puzzle ) but we said that it was a good rival. Will be back soon. read more

Friendly, close to home and casual enough for dinner out with the kids make this a place we will continue to visit. We had a variety of rolls, all of which were OK, but not spectacular. Better than Toshi Sushi across the street, but not as good as Kakui around the corner or Sushi House in Alameda. read more

We stopped in for a quick bite. Very fresh and tasty. Good selection of specialty rolls, as well as complete sushi menu. Will definitely return. read more

Small portions, over-fried agadashi, over salted edamame and maki, gloppy salad dressing, tea tastes as if it sat overnight in an old Tupperware. Miso soup was warm but the service was not so hot. read more

Ever since Kotobuki was on Piedmont I've enjoyed the place and the people. Consistently good, fresh and reasonable. Always a favorite place to visit. read more

Had a wonderful birthday dinner with my wife. I was raised on Japanese food in Hawaii... :-) Yellow fin sashimi, teriyaki salmon, and a crab, scallops, and avocado sushi creation was wonderful. Kotobuki Jr. service was attentive and the meal arrival was well timed. Decor is very pleasant. Highly recommended. read more

Went there for dinner Friday night Very busy a good sign. Sat down and waited and waited. The wait staff were running around and ours was very very slow Our waitress was grumpy she should know she is in a service industry They need to revise their menu and get more help The Hamachi Kama was good but the sushi was boring and tired had better in small towns on the East Coast The other two Japanese places in town are better with the upmarket one with the better sushi Will not go back read more

The hot food was served cold, the sushi took 45 minutes to get to the table. The portions are small. The service was poor. Our waitress actually watched a member of our party spill hot tea on the table, walked away and never came to help us clean it up. Don't put up with this restaurant - so many better ones in Oakland. read more

Excellent food, service @ 3pm on Monday. I am recommending this restaurant to all my friends without qualification.