Over priced food. Service was okay, but does not justify the price. I have never been charged at an Asian restaurant for a bowl of rice.

After trying nearly a dozen sushi joints in the area, I finally found one that I look forward to returning to. I love the sashimi plate. Both times I've been there the chef has been generous with portions and the fish has been melt-in-your-mouth good. The staff is attentive and friendly, the location clean and cozy. Parking on the street is free after 6pm. Bonus perk, this part of south lake is very walkable at night, perfect for walking off the sake and asahi buzz.. read more

Noda Restaurant - The sashimi plate. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

This place has really good sushi ! I'm not a sushi person so I let my friend pick out what we ordered, one of them being a lobster roll. Surprise .... It was good. Plus that they had my favorite beer; Kirin Ichiban Light ! Yay ! The staff is really nice and there was no wait. I enjoyed myself didn't feel like I had to rush either. Casual and relaxed is the vibe I get here. I like when a place gives me that feeling. I highly recommend this place. read more

My mum absolutely loves the chirashi here. She says it's the best chirashi she's ever had in SoCal, and believe me, she's tried it at various Japanese restaurants. Her love for the chirashi here is what ensures that we will be here at least a couple times a year. And it seems like it's not only her; she's brought several people here to try the chirashi and they all say the same thing. And I bought the chirashi here for my friend for his birthday and he also enjoyed it. I don't like fish, especially raw fish, so I have never tried it, but I can definitely recommend it based on what everyone else says. To me, the food here is just okay. I always get the bento when I come, usually with tonkatsu and tempura (or maybe california roll), and everything is just okay. I've also tried their chicken teriyaki, and same story. Nothing ever tastes bad, but nothing is amazing either. I guess their specialty is their sushi, which obviously I have never tried. This restaurant used to be located on Foothill, which is how my mum first came to try it, as it was across the street from her work. They moved to Pasadena years ago, and we followed. The owner is a nice Korean lady who usually comes out to say hi to my mum since she's a regular. Service is okay, never too slow since the restaurant is never packed. And while the parking lot isn't very big (it's on the south side by the dry cleaners), parking shouldn't be an issue. Easy restaurant to go to and park, and you can always stroll around on Lake afterwards (or before) to see the shops in the area. read more

I absolutely love this place! The sushi are delicious, freshest fish, and nice yuzu or shiso twists on some of the sushi. The halibut, Spanish mackerel and jumbo scallop sushi are among my favorites. The whole crew is also super friendly. Highly recommend read more

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Just tooling around Pasadena last Friday with my lady friend when we saw this little place and decided to give it a go. Tiny and cozy on the inside complete with singing drunken patrons, I knew right away this was my kind of fish joint. We sat at the bar and proceeded to order several rolls including the ordinary spicy tuna and Unagi which were simple and tasty. After a few different items off the mundane/standard sushi menu and a few shots of Soju, we were ready to try out some of the specialty plates offered at Noda. My favorite of these was the Dynamite Roll which consisted of a plate of California rolls covered in crab, roe, scallops and a amazing creamy sauce that tied the whole fishy thing together. On top of the great rolls offered here you have some the most friendly sushi chiefs I have ever been served by. These guys were so friendly and the other diners seemed to know everyone by name. This was the Cheers of Pasadena sushi joint. We also got some free sashimi for no real good reason. I gotta say even the small sample was enough to bring me back for more. Combine this with the affordable booze, delicious fish and a cozy, laid back attitude of this place and I say it's a must visit. read more

Noda Restaurant - Dynamite roll. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

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First time here and I absolutely love this place! cute ambiance. The food is delicious but my favorite thing about it is the staff. Really has a genuine mom & pop vibe. Our waitress Jenny was so sweet & so funny & helped us celebrate my friend's birthday! Had a great time here. read more

Good place for a cheap lunch bento box. But it is cheap, so know that it's not the best quality. I would stay away from any the sushi with actual fish here. It's not that it's bad (as in old) it's just not from the best parts of the fish. So if you want to spend $10 for lunch, try this place out. Tempura is decent, but remember, stay away from the fish. read more

This is hands down the best sushi I've ever had. Everything we ordered was amazing. We got the Cynthia Roll, Crunch Roll with spicy tuna, Lake Roll, and Crispy Rice. Everything was phenomenal. I've been coming here since I was 7 years old and it's always been outstanding. Looking forward to my next visit! read more

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We only had the Sesame Fried Chicken and the Teri Chicken dinner plates. Portions very large for $14.95-$15.95 dinners and it was fine. We have had better but if you're on Lake Ave looking for Japanese food, then this small place will probably be fine. read more

Noda Restaurant - Chicken Teriyaki - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

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Sometimes Noda is perfect, especially for dining in - it can be a cozy little nook with good food. Other times... you order your favorite roll to-go, the dynamite roll, and it's topped with frozen peas and depressingly overcooked, tough, tiny scallops and shrimp, and super dry, no mayo at all. I hadn't experienced that until now, though I can see that other reviewers have complained of the same problem. I've never had such overcooked food from a restaurant. Maybe it depends on who is making them, because sometimes it's great. My other roll was fine, not exceptional. I was really looking forward to treating myself to sushi for the first time since the pandemic started, so it's particularly disappointing that it wasn't better. Sigh. read more

Noda Restaurant - Dynamite Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

I was just exploring the restaurants close to my work place but found this spot closed a few times due to the short hours of lunch operation. Today I finally got to try it a I had a really really good chirashi bowl I didn't expect at a very honest price. Very traditional sushi style, plus some American style rolls I wouldn't worry to try. Good quality for a reasonable price, will come back for sure! read more

Noda Restaurant - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

I can't say enough about this place. It's the type of local sushi bar you miss if you move away. Fantastic service, excellent food. It's the perfect neighborhood sushi place. read more

Noda's is by far the best sushi we have e had. We have been going to Noda's since they were in Arcadia in foothill. HIGHLY RECOMMEND them. read more

Perhaps the worst chirashi I've had. It had chopped celery, iceberg lettuce, and peppers (not ingredients you would ever find in authentic chirashi), the rice was dry, and the fish mediocre. Service wasn't great either, nor was the price. I may just have ordered wrong, as I recall this place being better, and know others who love going here. I hope they get better. read more

Dude - what the f is up with the low ratings? This place is THE best sushi spot in Pasadena, far and away. Not only is Noda my all-time favorite restaurant, it's practically my second home. The chef/owner, Kim (gotta love the name - wink wink nudge nudge), is the coolest. He's super generous with the freebies and always makes great suggestions on what's especially good on any given day. Service is fast, friendly, and reliable. Prices are perfectly reasonable, considering the superior quality of their sushi. I've saved a small fortune by joining their frequent diner club - $20 off the bill every few visits is a nice little bonus. If you're expecting a Kabuki (1/2 price sushi is 1/2 price for a reason, people - barf) kind of experience, you should go elsewhere. In fact, please do. Cause, I really don't want you harshing my mellow while I chow down on the finest sushi available to humankind. Questions? Comments? Feel free to contact me at my second home. I'll be at the bar. read more

Literally just put my chopsticks down to stop "eating" and a write a review. got take out and spent $35!! (first mistake) tried my sushi (veggie tempura roll and the cynthia roll- tasted like it was from a gas station) but i continued eating bc I was so hangry (anger due to hunger) that I just had to push through the disappointment. then the worst! I saw a gnat crawling around my food, at first I thought it was a cast shadow, but no, it moved, a lot, and quickly. what the (insert expletive) MAN!? I went to this place after reading reviews which i actually might stop doing because this place was capital DISGUSTING! read more

Sushi was great, servers were super nice and friendly. Sat at the bar and the head chef did a sake shot with me on the house... can't complain at all! read more

Love this spot. The fish is fresh as can be and the staff is friendly. The owners are an adorable husband and wife couple who love to have a few shots of sake with their customers! Highly recommended as a delicious, approachable, affordable, friendly sushi spot in Pasadena. read more

I can no longer can say that this is my favorite sushi restaurant. I went back to Noda recently and I don't know what happen ?! Every single time I go there I always have a wonderful dinner, but this time it was horrible!!! Some of the pieces of my sushi was FROZEN and the of the pieces that weren't frozen just didn't taste as good. I've been to this place so many times and Noda...you lost a very loyal customer!! :( I'm sad because now I have to find a new sushi restaurant. Previous Review 05/19/08 I rated this place 5 stars: As an active sushi lover since I've moved to Pasadena, Noda is my favorite sushi restaurant!! I love this place. It's a little pricey, but well worth it! The fresh oysters are so amazing. I also recommend the albacore, tuna and hamachi. For the not so non-adventurous sushi lovers, try to Barbara roll, it's has shrimp tempura and spicy tuna. Noda also has great dishes for non-sushi lovers, like beef steak, chicken teriyaki (not sure if those are the exact names on the menu). The quality of the sushi has far surpassed any other sushi restaurants in Pasadena. However, I'm up for suggestions on other great sushi places. read more

Seriously worst sushi place ever ... Can you imagine ? We were in a group of 5 we paid like110$ n ended up kicked out of the place by saying go finish!!! cause they close at 2 n we were still there talking !!! Not to mention their sushi , worst sushi ever Never coming back read more

After passing by this place countless times, we finally decided to give this place a try for the sake of convenience, even thought every instinct in our gut screamed STAY AWAY. After all, S. Lake is infested with bad quality sushi; luckily, it is also the graveyard for which these same sushi place came to rot and parish (3 shut downs and counting since 2012). Despite of setting our expectation to an all time low, Noda proves itself to be worse than even my overactive imagination. This is another run of the mill Korean owned sushi restaurant with ill trained korean sushi chef churning out below mediocre food at over the top price. I ordere the Sushi deluxe B; for $32, what I got was 16 pieces of paper thin and poorly cut sashimi from equally poor quality fish. The tuna and salmon were so thin they were almost transparent ; the quality was shameful in texture and color. The tuna had a sickly white hue to it, lacking any flavor and oil one might find in even cheap (albeit fresh) supermarket cut. And as any sushi enthusiast will know, rice to sushi is as important as bread is to a sandwich; more importantly, most of the time, the quality of the rice is what separates a true sushi chef from the imitators. Unfortunately for Noda, its sushi rice was old and stale. Bottom line, if you want good sushi with top quality sashimi, goto Yoshida in San Marino. If you want bad sushi and to pay Yoshida price, then come to Noda. And if you think I'm exaggerating, come on a Sat night and see how dead this place is. Note: If you insist on going to Noda, order the Unagi (ala carte). They do whip up excellent unagi sushi; topping it with fresh avocado which enhances the richness of the eel. read more

I'll start this out by saying this restaurant is a perfectly nice Japanese restaurant, I'm fine with going here but I would definitely prefer Oba Sushi Izkaya any day of the week. Noda's menu is significantly smaller and they don't provide as detailed of a description of the dish, instead relying on photos. IMO, the photos are nice but the lack of listed ingredients makes it hard to know what you want! I've been here on several occasions and was just in last night with my parents and their friends. One of their friends has some pretty serious allergies to sesame and chili so we had to ask a LOT of questions of our waitress to make sure we could get our dishes without either of these ingredients. She was more than happy to oblige our requests, which was great because they used to have a rather rude waitress on staff who soured our experience considerably. The calamari and crunchy roll were the highlights for me last night, the calamari was very light and not too fishy so you could tell it was fresh. The crunchy roll is basically just shrimp tempura wrapped in rice and seaweed with a sweet sauce poured over it. The rainbow roll was okay but nothing too special. I wasn't that excited about the edamame, I like my edamame piping hot and this edamame is kind soggy and only a tad warm. read more

Finally we have found our "go to" Japanese restaurant in Pasadena. My husband and I have been looking for a local, small Japanese restaurant that we could call "our place" and this is it! After hearing from a neighbor that this place was great, we had to go in and give it a try. It's a small, dimly lit restaurant that offers a cozy ambiance. We were greeted when we walked in and sat down in a booth. We decided to focus on ordering sushi only since we weren't too hungry. The sushi arrived and all the pieces were served with a long cut of fish and a small ball of rice. I had never seen sushi served this way before but was immediately happy since typically you want to eat sushi for the fish and not for the giant hunk of rice underneath it which can sometimes be too overpowering. In the case of Noda's sushi, it was PERFECT! The salmon and yellowtail were extremely fresh. We also loved our halibut and kampachi sushi as well which are served with a splash of ponzu sauce. Gotta love ponzu sauce! The best part of the meal was the Jumbo Scallop Sushi. Those babies were huge! Giant scallops, juicy and sweet and delicious! The best scallop sushi that I've ever had. The service was wonderful and we were even given a small fried fish appetizer that was compliments of the chef! At the end we had to order their tempura green tea ice cream which was icing on the cake. This is place is a wonderful find if you're looking for a quiet, mom and pop, sushi shop in Pasadena. We love this place and will definitely be going back for more!! read more

2 item bento dinner, with soft shell crab and sashimi (tuna and salmon) - comes with miso soup, salad and rice. the sashimi was fresh and so was the crab. tasty, tender and tempura dipped and fried, but not greasy. rice was good and sticky (this helps any meal!)... also came with cucumber salad, a gyoza and some edamame. overall, the meal was pleasant and the chef sent us over a little sample some tempura - it was a piece of seaweed with a very thin slice of fish. nice gesture, and gorgeously presented, but most of what i tasted were the tempura and fish, yet it wasn't overly fishy. good spot for a decent, well-portioned and freshly prepared meal. read more

The sushi is the best quality you will find in a 25 mile radius. Very fresh, very good. The prices are very reasonable. If you are a sushi connoisseur, you'll be able to appreciate the quality of fish here. If you're still ordering California rolls - sorry, you don't really get a vote. That's not really considered sushi. Anyway - it's a small joint - somewhere you go b/c you want sushi. Not much of ambience, not many cocktails or many desserts. So if you're serious about fish - go eat here. Then go somewhere else for the other stuff. read more

My boyfriend took me here the first time I flew into Pasadena and it was by far the best sushi I've ever had. The fish is so fresh and delicious, and the staff was simply wonderful; friendly and nice and very attentive. They also always give us complimentary hamachi mint leaf tempura at the end of our meal. I don't know what all the bad reviews are talking about, we have been back many times since and the owners always welcome us and treat us wonderfully. To the girl who said she had a gnat in her food, maybe that's because she got take out and the gnat was from her house. I've had sushi in NYC, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and many other places, and none compare. Noda is REAL, and delicious. They are friendly wonderful people and when we went there with my boyfriend's parents, our waitress took his mom aside to tell her how pretty I was. Can you get any nicer? If you have the option, sit at the sushi bar. It is fun to watch them make sushi and the chefs are friendly and nice. The restaurant is on the small side, but it is intimate and lovely for a date or family dinner, and there is always enough room. read more

Our family loves Noda. The service is great, Mr. Kim and his crew are happy to welcome you. Cynthia roll, rainbow roll w/ spicy tuna are delicious. Kambachi sushi/sashimi slices with Mr. Kim's special touch just makes my mouth happy. My husband enjoys the oysters in spicy ponzu with lemon and spices. Sushi boat is the kids favorite. Spent many special occasions here. Place is comfortable, can be quite or noisy depends on the day. read more

Noda Restaurant - Kambachi sushi, Sashimi Combo B, Cynthia roll, Rainbow roll w/spicy tuna, oysters, and tuna crunch roll. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

The sushi chefs here are awesome... always happy, cheerful and funny. They even like to have a drink with people at he bar. The food is not bad, but it's not great though. I think the price is a little too much for the quality. But the atmosphere is cool. I'll proabably come back every now and then. I'm not sure if it's a creative stroke of genius or just some random decorating move... but they have bunch of golf clubs hanging on the wall. It just seems kinda weird because everything is Japanese themed! read more

This is my new favorite sushi bar in Pasadena!! The sashimi is the freshest to be found. The oysters....OH MY GOODNESS! I have to have three orders of them. Perfection...the sushi chef adds jalapeno to mine because he knows I like my food with a kick. The service is unmatched, they always remember who you are and greet you with exuberance =) Like I said, I like my sushi spicy so I ask them to make me a "special HOT n spicy roll" each time I am in and they do not disappoint. This is indeed a hidden gem....check this place out!! Oh....and did I say affordable??? NICE.. read more

Please tell me who closes the restaurant on the lunch time on work day???? It's 2.19 pm of Friday and it's closed! So disappointing and ridiculous!!! I had a hope to eat sushi for my lunch and came especially here.. I don't recommend to spend your time for a trip to here! read more

Two and a half stars. Forgettable. We ducked into Noda on a Thursday night, looking to try another sushi restaurant in Pasadena. Good sushi pickings are slim in Pasadena but we were hoping to stumble upon a gem. Sadly, we'll have to keep searching. My BF had the chirashi, which had salmon, tuna, seared albacore, and some sort of white fish. I ordered a combination dinner that had beef teriyaki, tempura and salmon and tuna sashimi. All of the fish we had was fair to middling. The beef teriyaki was sub-par. The meat was tough and the teriyaki was so thick, it just stuck to the meat. The tempura was okay but the flavor profile of the dipping sauce was all wrong. It was dark, thick and far too salty. I would give Noda two stars but it got an extra half star for the order of jumbo scallop sushi we ordered. I love, love, love, live scallop and try to eat it where I can. Noda's scallop was pretty good but it was unfortunately drowned in a ponzu sauce that overwhelmed the delicate flavor of the scallop. Despite the scallop, Noda's not worth another visit. read more

I have been coming to Noda Sushi for years and I can't say that I had a bad experience. Their sushi is fresh and the service is quick. I find the rolls to be on a more expensive side ($13-$14) but the sizes are just right. Not one of my top 10 but no major complaints. read more

Great spot in Pasadena for an intimate yet homey eating experience. Every time! The food is yummy and head chef Mr. Kim is in a class by himself. Cant say enough about this eating establishment. read more

Noda Restaurant - For his bday, head chef Mr. Kim made a special set of sushi rolls. Yum - Sushi Bars Near Me - Pasadena, California

I have eaten here a number of occasions with different friends for both lunch and dinner. Everytime, I have always been impressed with the quality of the different sushi dishes we have ordered, which are imaculately and lovingly prepared and presented. I love all their rolls but the shrimp tempura roll from the lunch bento box combo menu really is to die for. I also recommend their rainbow roll, and also the special rolls for the culinary originality of presentation. I have tried the lake roll, and crazy roll so far. The sushi chefs are extrovert and friendly and greet the customers warmly as they enter and leave the restaurant, and the service is quick and efficient. Go there and give it a try, if you are a sushi monster like me you will lurrve this place! read more

I am a person that is incredibly picky with my sushi and usually tend to stick to one place and one place only. So when my date picked this place instead of the usual place i was a little iffy about it. But i am sooo happy that i came here! The sushi was incredible, it was fresh, it looked appealing and the taste was just amazing. Now, i could be exaggerating a bit seeing as i was incredibly hungry and was so excited to eat sushi but my date agreed as well about everything. I love the fact that it was practically empty when we arrived seeing as it was a saturday night. The service was great and the sushi chefs behind the bar was incredibly sweet and funny! I love the complimentary pepper they gave us. I was a bit hesitant about it because i can't handle spicy food at all but this wasn't too bad and it tasted delicious! I will definitely come back here when i'm around the area! read more

When it comes to restaurants, there's quality, service, price, and ambiance. A good restaurant needs at least 2 of these things going for it. Noda only has 1 - very good quality sushi. I realize I may come off as superficial, to give a restaurant only 2 stars when I admit the quality of sushi is good. But the place definitely lacks ambiance, and the service is just meh, and the prices are as high as any Beverly Hills swanky joint. It definitely doesn't look like one. read more

I like checking out new sushi places in Pasadena. Most of them are just ok. And I find it funny how most independent sushi joints don't ever have a solid 4 or 5 rating, as a whole. This place is exactly why. It's the typical sushi joint.. albeit slightly warmer in atmosphere (ambiance-wise) than the strip-mall ones. Their menu isn't extensive, but it works. Perhaps sitting at the sushi bar would yield better results in terms of choices they tell you about - or just give you, that aren't on the menu. The service is not wowing by any nature, but I noticed that there was one waitress who was super nice, and totally conversational with customers. I didn't get that waitress. The sushi chefs seemed cool though.. pouring and sharing saki with the sushi bar patrons.. They're serious, yet easy going.. neat combo! I ordered the AAA roll. which is albacore, asparagus, and avocado. $11.95. I like soy paper, or rather, I'm not a fan of nori - and to sub it, it's $1.00 extra. Not bad. One thing I loved about the roll is that the pieces were small. As in, you won't have to stuff your mouth with a piece of sushi the size of a mattress, or cut it up (aka ruin it) before attempting to eat it. I believe they cut it so that it's about 10 pieces.. super cool! The fish. There was only a small amount of albacore inside, but it was also probably not fresh - since it had a fishy taste. Yes I know, it's raw fish, but 9 out of 10 times, sushi grade fish has no pungent fishy taste at all. I ate it all, because it was still good, but it wasn't anything out of the ordinary (minus the way they cut it). It wasn't worth spending nearly $14 (not including tip) on it, so I won't return when there are other selections to still try. :) It's not bad, and it's not wow. It's just "regular" good. Hence, these places hovering around the 3 star average rating. Oh, parking is good. They have a small lot to the side, and on a Friday night at around 7:30pm, it was not packed yet. Although after a short while.. by the time it was around 8pm, more people seemed to be showing up. There is metered parking on the street (free after 6pm), and you'll more than likely find something near enough. read more

Noda is one of the best sushi places! We go there all the time and the fish is always fresh, the service is wonderful, and we love the new place. It's really an unknown gem, but more people should eat here. I really like the Crunch Spicy Tuna Roll, but the Salmon Sashimi is always great, as well as the Halibut Mint Tempura. Definitely a place to get sushi in Pasadena - so much better than those cheap places or expensive places, like Sushi Roku. Check it out! read more

I will start out with the positives, since my 1 star rating obviously indicates that my overall experience was not good. Pros: * street parking - seems like it's relatively abundant, although we did go early (6pm) on a Thurs evening; it's metered until 6pm, so free after * large venue - lots of tables and seats around the counter Now for the negatives: We get there at 6pm, and it's empty (seriously not a single person in there) - the 4 waitresses and 3 chefs just stand there and say/do nothing. Unbelievably rude! After seating ourselves, the one server then asks what we want to drink, so my gf asks what kind the house chardonnay is, but she just doesn't understand the question (lack of English skills). Finally after several minutes of back and forth frustration, she goes and grabs a bottle of 2 Buck Chuck (TJ's Charles Shaw for those who don't know that goes for $2/bottle) - would've been fine if they didn't charge $6.50/glass! We then order the agedashi tofu for an appetizer, my gf got the chirashi, and I played it safe and had the chicken teriyaki/tempura combo. So when the appetizer comes out, all it was was a plate of deep fried breaded cubes of tofu, but no sign of the broth that it's supposed to come in. When we asked about it, she points to my dish of tempura sauce. What?!? Major fail!!! Then the entrees come out. My gf said the fish was "ok". My plate: the chicken was "ok", but the tempura was awful - clumps of batter and overcooked, not to mention the ingredients were not good to begin with either. Extremely disappointing dinner considering it cost almost $70 for the two of us, which is about as much as we would pay for a good sushi restaurant. Usually I don't come to a final conclusion until after a second visit at least, but am gonna break my own rule and not waste my time/money this time - will be perfectly fine to never go here again. read more