Once again, not disappointed with anything we ordered, i had sushi, chefs pick! Awesome......we ordered tuna and salmon mixed salad, wanted more! The fish is so fresh, they out a dab of wasabi under the fish now, have not it had it like that in years! For me, that's how it should be! read more

Ponzu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Waltham, Massachusetts

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Had zero expectations and they knocked it our of the park! Fresh, fresh, fish. That's it. Killer!!

Spectacular food, I've eaten here 3 or 4 times since I moved to Waltham. The nice woman that works lunch taught me how to eat a Dotol Bibimbap, and is always very friendly and accommodating. read more

Ponzu rocks! The food is excellent, especially the sushi. My boyfriend and I have experienced several outstanding meals here. The "tapas" are well executed and use fusion well without being overly precious about it. I particularly enjoyed the spicy tuna quesadilla. The crab rangoon and baby octopus salad are lovely as well. Another excellent item to try is the spicy scallop in a cucumber roll - like a temaki (handroll) but without the nori. Entrees do not disappoint either. My favorite is the sashimi margarita plate which comes with an assortment of extremely fresh fish and cubes of salmon (it appears to be cut from the belly based on the fattiness) marinated in ponzu. Warm rice is served on the side. The service is attentive and caring without being intrusive. We were offered wasabi peas with our drinks, refilled often. On a recent occasion, we were offered giant clam sashimi - an off menu special item as well as a complimentary desert soup of coconut and tapioca (bo bo cha cha). Prices can be on the pricey side and there is a significant mark up on the wine list, but the lunch specials (which are around $12) are a more inexpensive way to give the place a try. read more

I go here every once in awhile - for lunch. Or rather, to get take-out lunch - they have lunch specials that are well priced and quite delicious. A few dinners have been delicious too, but they sometimes seem to be more about ambiance than substance - the plates are well-garnished. On the expensive side (except the lunch specials) if you're looking to fill up. read more

I really wanted to leave an awful review of Ponzu after their delivery took almost an hour and a half to deliver, but unfortunately, the sushi was just too good. We tried the spicy maki combo, which was delicious and generously portioned, as well as the Snow Mountian Maki which had an interesting flavor. When the delivery finally arrived, albeit scornfully late, everything was packaged beautifully, which I really appreciated. While I'm not sure if I would order delivery again, I would certainly order and enjoy their sushi many times over. read more

Great Sushi spot, me and my Girlfriend come her almost once a week and are never disappointed

We stumbled over this place and I think we'll be their regular from now on! The sushi was great, very clean place and great friendly staff. What else you may want? Did I mention that the prices are very reasonable?! read more

People giving Ponzu less than 5 stars are not ordering the right food! Their sushi is great and they have a huge range of different maki rolls. I personally love the Asian Tapas both cooked and raw. The enoki mushroom miso soup is lovely. The quality and value you get for their prices blows most other Waltham restaurants out of the water. Add on great, fast service and the freshest ingredients and you have a great dining experience. read more

Great service, very kind workers. Great place for a dinner date! My boyfriend and I were taking our time while ordering and eating, they did not rush us out at all they let us take our time to enjoy our time there. Would definitely recommend the Snow Maiden Sake! It was my first time having Sake and it was delicious! read more

Really great place for Sushi and dishes. I like trying something new every time. Definitely recommend. They also give you samples of some fillers for the foods. My favorite is the sesame bean sprouts. read more

The tuna was delicious and came in a crispy tasty little concoction! The bimbambob was pretty good , had plenty of sides but the eggs was well done almost burnt on the edges and the beef was sparse and what was there was barely recognized as beef. Over cooked is putting it lightly Friendly Staff and clean dining area. I will try again some point and update reviewbut just 3 stars for now read more

Below is long, I'll admit. But worth a read for anyone interested in delivery. First off, let me start by saying that I consider myself somewhat of a foodie with an affinity for sushi. I get Fugakyu usually once a week, and I frequent Douzo as well. But I decided to branch out tonight and try a new place--and Ponzu came up on GrubHub. I read the reviews, which highlighted delicious food but poor service. Perfect, I thought. Service--especially for take-out--has never been an issue for me. I am willing to tolerate quite a bit for delicious food. You can see from my Yelp profile that I rarely write reviews, so it has to be a very special occasion for me to comment. After waiting half an hour after GrubHub's promised delivery time, I called to ask about the status in a friendly manner. I never mind waiting for good food. The very amicable GrubHub rep apologized and called the driver. He promised that the food would arrive in 10 minutes and asked that I call back if it didn't arrive in 10. I politely waited 25 minutes (now almost 2 hours from the original order) and called back. This time, the GrubHub rep put me on hold to contact the driver. He came back on the line mortified that the driver swore at him repeatedly and treated him like less than a person. In addition to this, he informed me that the driver had been driving around with our food for 45 minutes--certainly not something you want to hear while awaiting sushi. When the delivery man arrived, he offered no apologies. I politely answered the door and thanked him for his service. But before I closed the door, he proceeded to berate me about putting in the wrong address. I got out my computer to show him the exact address, and he started yelling about some other address, which was apparently someone else's order. I tried to explain the situation, but he refused to listen. Then, as I was again closing the door, he rudely pushed it back open and told me that the owner wanted to send the message that if I ever tip less than 20% again, he'll never deliver to us. At this point, I was shocked. I was willing to forgive his tardiness, lack of apology, and rude and aggressive behavior (i.e. pushing my own door), but I could not excuse him for treating me like less than a person. I consider myself a person who tips well. I always tip over 20% at restaurants, regardless of the service. For takeout, I happily pay delivery fees and pay anywhere from 10-30%, depending on the price, since I know that delivery men are paid better. In this case, I tipped the driver 15%. But, regardless of my tip, it was completely rude and inappropriate. The food itself was decent--nowhere near Fugakyu or Douzo, but better than most I'll admit. However, even a foodie like me could not look past the horrendous service, nor could I get past the bad taste in my mouth. I am not offended as a customer; I'm offended as a human being. And so, to the Yelp readers who actually read all of this, I encourage you to save your money and go to a much more decent restaurant. I've been to almost every sushi place in Boston and will happily provide a recommendation if you message me with a price range. And to the owner of Ponzu--I definitely got your message. And I hope you get mine right back. I have complained to GrubHub and written this review as an attempt to save unknowing customers from being treated like less than a human. I will never recommend this restaurant to anyone, and I hope for your business' sake that you change your customer service attitude. read more

Sorry, I wanted Ponzu to be good, because Asian Grill is awful and there is a desperate (unmet) need for great sushi on Moody, but Ponzu is not good. Frankly, as far as sushi goes (and we tried three maki rolls, just to be certain), Ponzu is downright terrible. The sushi rice is particularly bad, tasteless and grainy and the rolls are loose and not cut into equal portions. The fish was fresh, but putting even the best fish on top of such terrible rice is a travesty to sushi. I think the service was OK, but not fantastic (how many waiters did we have? 2? 3?) and we liked the table by the window, but in light of the bad food, I couldn't see myself going back. We tried some cooked dishes too, trying to find something that would justify dropping more than $80, however the ribs were awful (the meat was low quality) and the shumai was undercooked. Not impressed. For sushi, we will have to stick with Absolutely Asia, which, while not on Moody St., still serves decent sushi. read more

I love you, Ponzu! I probably came here ten times already with different people, and all of them seem to really enjoy the food as well. The appetizers that are served before the main meal are such a treat, they offer to give you refils as well. I always go for Soondubu jjigae with pork. The service is amazing, the chef and the servers seem to genuinely care how you like the food. The chef comes and greets us every time and asks about the food. I am sure we will be back soon!!! read more

Wow! Amazing service! Wonderful side dishes on the house. Sushi was impeccable and extremely well presented! Entrees were generously portioned! These folks really care about their food and your experience! Will come again! Best sushi I've had in the Boston area! read more

Horrible. Bad food, bad service. Sat unacknowledged for 20 minutes, and even after that, service was extremely slow. Evrything we ordered, even Miso soup + fried soft shell crrab app was over priced and tasted awful. Once our sushi arrrived, we each took one bite and realized we had better not eat anymore. Definitely NOT fresh fish. We asked for our check, and an 18% gratuity was added on our bill! For a party of 2! Once they ran my card, they HANDWROTE + totaled MY credit card receipt! I have been working in restaurants for 15 years and have never seen such a thing! I'm also fairly certain its illegal. Needlesss to say, we will not be back here. read more

I've been here twice in the past year, and after what happened last time, I will never go back there. First off, we did not go at a busy time at all, but the waiter had no personality whatsoever. The food was really good, but we had to flag down the waiter for everything from soy sauce to another drink. Both times that I've been there, I've received the same lousy service, from a generally rude demeanor to missing entire orders of food. Both waiters acted like they did not want us to be there, never checking on us or recommending menu items. The worst part of the evening was when the bill arrived. Naturally, I left a low tip for such bad service. The waiter came back to our table and said that we hadn't paid him enough, so we all explained that he got exactly what he deserved. He was angry at us, saying that his service skills don't matter; we should just tip him 20% no matter what. I don't give my money out to rude waiters. There are better places to get sushi where you don't have to be guilted into tipping. The most that I could recommend is take-out, and even then, I would hesitate for fear of being expected to pay for more services that I'm not getting. read more

I'm a giant pain in the ass at Chinese restaurants because I dislike much Chinese food and much of their standard vegetables. Ponzue has all 3 menu items I like and they put up with my substitutions. (Unlike you, Absolutely Asia!) Ponzu also has an extensive sushi menu which is great if you like sushi. I, of course, do not. read more

Service has always been horrible here yet lately it has hit a new low. The food itself is above average. Too bad ownership can not get competent wait staff. read more

Great lunch specials. I got the sashimi special which was a very good value. Give it a try and get the miso soup with dumplings - score!

I had the most wonderful dinner at Ponzu last night (http://www.theponzu.com/index.html). I was joined by my husband and two friends. I was in an adventurous mood and we ordered a lot of things I have never tried: sake, sea urchins, and most of the items on my sushi sampler dinner. Everything was wonderful and so impressive. It was one of the best dinners out I've ever had! We got some cold sake: Momokawa Pearl, which is the cloudy type We split 3 small plates, and all were excellent: * Ponzu Hot Ribs * Torched Sashimi Napoleon * Sea Urchin Shooters These were the entrees we ordered (and shared bits of): * I got the Sushi Martini Sampler. I wanted to break out of the tuna and salmon I always have. I gave those away to others along with the "crabmeat" and shrimp pieces. I sampled the striped bass, eel, octopus, yellowtail (I have had that), squid (never had it as sushi), and there was another I can't remember the name of. It was a really nice sampling platter. * My husband got a Red Creamy Spiced Curry Chicken. It was delicious. * One friend got the Basil Seafood with Malaysian Black Bean Sauce which was absolutely impressive. * One friend got the Banana Leaf Dried Curry Beef which was amazing We were brought a complementary Mochi plate for dessert sampling. I've always wanted to try mochi! I can't say enough nice things about Ponzu. It was one of the best dining experiences I've ever had. The people were nice, they were good at recommending things to me. The atmosphere is chic. read more

I was pleased with my dining experience at Ponzu. The food was good and the service was exceptional. I particularly appreciated that they offered to refill our panchan (side dishes) without us having to ask. read more

This place is slightly inconsistent, but hits some very high notes all the same. Slightly over priced, but perhaps they can get away with it by dominating the Waltham sushi scene. read more

loooovvve this place, one of my sushi faves. and they have mango! mmmmmm. theres a white tiger roll i like, had like flakey fishey stuff on outside and wasabi mayo flavoring. and all the sushi and sashimi apps ive tried ive liked. i liked the wine selection too althow im quite the novice. read more

Doubtful that I would return. Several issues here ,both on a food and service level. Three of us had lunch, ordered a few pieces of nigiri sushi, two dolsot bibimbap and one "regular" bibimbap. The sushi arrived. It was completely underwhelming. I can't understand the raving in some of these reviews. There was no particular artisanship or skill displayed here. The fish itself was OK, nothing special. People who post how their fish tastes "fresh" don't understand that BY LAW it has been frozen first. The sushi rice was OK, underseasoned and not quite as sticky as is proper, but at least it wasn't cold. Miso soup arrived. Meh. Basically flavorless. We were served a selection of small dishes such as beef, kim chi, sprouts, all were decent. Then the problems really started. The menu clearly states that the ingredients in the bibimbap and dolsot bibimbap are identical save for being served in a hot stone bowl. Completely false. The plain bibimbap is a cold dish, consisting of approximately 1/4 salad, with the rice served on the side. I have never encountered this presentation. When we asked the waitress, clearly unhappy, she simply said bibimbap is a cold dish. I'm not Korean, so I can't dispute this, but have had bibimpap in at least a dozen places and have never seen it as a cold dish. Especially given the menu description, which I pointed out to her, the restaurant should have offered to remake the dish, or take it off the bill. Also, asked for water, and for some reason the waitress only brought two glasses. Pretty bad experience at what appears to be at best an ordinary restaurant. Not recommended. read more

This place is very clean and most of what I have tried I love. Their spring rolls are THE best I have ever had. I didn't care for the indian bread(Not sure why they are on the menu) but the veggie potstickers were great too. The main chicken dishes I have had were great too. read more

The food is always fresh and delicious. I can recommend many choices but will give you three you must try such as the volcano sushi, Crab Rangoon, and the beef teriyaki. I also want to mention that the guests I had dinner with ordered soup and said they thoroughly enjoyed it. read more

I'm surprised to see this place doesn't have a 4-5 star rating. I loved it! I had the curried dumplings soup, a caterpillar maki and a X' mas maki. Everything was delicious and fresh. Also - I'm allergic to Wasabi, and for the first time at a sushi place, they actually listened and didn't serve me Wasabi on my first visit! This is a big deal to me. My friend got an Indian style soup and Mee Goreng. She, too, was very pleased with her choices. Green tea was served in the cutest cast iron tea pot and kept our tea warm. I'm a fan and will definitely go back! read more

I hated everything that I ordered. I should have read the reviews and ordered only sushi. Unfortunately we ordered the curry which was horribly watered down, flavorless and heck sweet. The appetizer platter had a good crispy shrimp and fried dumpling, but the wasabi pork dumpling was the most disgusting thing I've had ever - it's a shame they even tried to call it a pork dumpling. The filling could have been newspaper and I wouldn't have known the difference. EEK. Please DO NOT order the roti prata. It came from a frozen package. The sushi roll I ordered was the best thing we had, but even then, it was subpar. HUGE disappointment! Especially at that price range. read more

I love PONZU, both the food and the family atmosphere. It's a great example of Asian Fusion, classic dishes exquisitely prepared without the boredom of one cuisine My problem with most Asian restaurants is chop chpp Same old same old. they dont try to Wow you. This place will wow you for sure The chef is a nice guy with a sense of humor and I admire ad respect how he has his life wife and LOVEly daughters working g for him They obviously adore him read more

Sadly this was the worst sushi I have had in awhile. We had the spicy tuna, celtic, & the king crab roll and none of them tasted fresh. It just seemed the fish was previously frozen, and many of the spices & sauces just didn't gel well. The prices were reasonable for the quantity of the portions and the service was very good, but fish quality just wasn't right. The spicy tuna roll was a joke since 1/2 of the center was just filler and not tuna. Maybe their non sushi plates are better, but for discriminating sushi lovers I would stay away. read more

Best sushi around waltham. Owner ( billy) is so nice and remembers customers names. Food is priced right and is out of this world. Sit at the sushi bar and watch them make your food. Great place read more

First impression was the horrible odor. Somewhere between cleaning liquid, fish and a chinese supermarket. My compadres echoed the same sentiment. The waitress was nice enough. The fish was bland (previously frozen). I thought I would try the native fare and order the Kung Pau chicken - close to the blandest KP I've ever had. read more

Our experience there was pretty mediocre, especially considering the price. I got the banana leaf dried curried beef. The curry was good, but the beef was terrible. It was low grade stew beef, which was extremely rough to eat and was very fatty. I would not get this dish again, even if it was cheaper than $16. We also go the spicy seafood kim chi soup. The seafood in the soup was too big (couldn't take a full bite) and it was not very flavorful. We also got the snow white roll. The roll itself was ok, but the white tuna on top was way too fishy, probably not the best quality ingredients. Sierra Nevada for $4 was a decent price for the area. read more

In the area for a couple of days. My (adult) daughter - a sushi aficionado - and I decided to try Ponzu as a result of scouring the other Yelp reviews (as opposed to some of the other sushi places listed in Waltham). This smallish cozy place on Moody Street is adequately described in other reviews. However, I found it interesting and odd that (1) many local reviewers thought that their rolls were somewhat overpriced and (2) many of the out of town reviewers thought that the sushi itself was either tasteless or not memorable. We went on a Friday night about 6:40. We were told that there was about an hour wait, even though there were some empty tables, so we decided to sit at the Sushi Bar. The wait servers were not very attentive, having to flag her down several times to get our water glasses refilled. We only ordered sushi rolls. Six to be exact, most from their specialty maki menu. Total bill was only $75 before tip. We were both surprised at how inexpensive we thought the bill was, compared to what we would have paid in the South Jersey/Philly area. The portion/size of the rolls were typical of what we've been served in many cities and states where we've travelled. We both felt that the presentations were good, but overall the rolls were underwhelming. The fish - tuna, yellow tail, scallop, crab (imitation not mentioned on their menu), salmon - had no taste. Disappointing. Outside of the vegetable ingredients in and sauces on the rolls, we were not able to differentiate what fish we were eating. I've eaten in many little hole in the wall local sushi places in different states throughout this country that are really, really good... And that I go back to when I travel through the areas. Unfortunately this is not one of them. Ponzu may be a great local spot, for locals.... But if you really like sushi, and know what you're eating, find another place to dine. read more

The Ponzu has changed hands (ownership or just management) recently, and things have gone downhill pretty fast. We have ordered delivery from them on a fairly regular basis for years; they were definitely our favorite in the area, both because we enjoyed the food and because the people were always very nice. Since the change, the portion sizes are smaller. This is particularly noticeable in the sashimi, which the last two times we have ordered it was a good 25-30% smaller per piece than it was just a couple of months ago. The price is, of course, the same. There have also been a sudden rash of quality control issues, starting with a 90+ minute delivery (during which we found out about the change of management). They also seem to have forgotten how to do tempura, which used to be excellent. My favorite dish on their menu has always been the Filet Mignon Tempura Maki. That's also seen a little bit of downsizing recently. But during our last order, I had to call because it wasn't there; they'd sent something else instead and everything was so similar we couldn't figure out what was what. According to my phone call log, I endured 7+ minutes of verbal abuse from a raging woman who kept accusing me of lying until someone took the phone away from her and said "We're sorry, we'll send you another one right away." Which, at least, they did. Ironically, it turns out the angry woman was sort-of right. When we got the replacement, we were able to determine that it did loosely resemble one of the items that we had been sent. With the exception that the first one hadn't been fried. It looked (and felt) wet and squishy like it had been boiled in water instead. We actually thought it was some kind of shumai, which is not a ringing endorsement for tempura. The replacement was fried, but was still kind of a sickly white color, not the beautiful golden tempura yellow that Ponzu used have down to a delicious science. At this point, there are enough other good sushi options in Waltham that we'll be taking a break from Ponzu for six months or so to see if they get their stuff together or go out of business. read more

I had dinner here with my boyfriend last night. The menu is interesting, and the sushi rolls in particular were very good. The service was sub-par, and we were seated near the kitchen and I could smell hot bleach while I was trying to eat dinner. The atmosphere is okay...I didn't get why other people were marvelling at how "zen" it was...it's not. read more

This is my favorite take-out for sushi. It is really fresh and there are lots of good options. I'm not in love with the atmosphere for eating in but usually it is easy to get a table. read more

This is a gem of a restaurant in the heart of Waltham. We come here for the Korean food, we never order anything else. The bulgogi is awesome, they use quality meat and the marinade is spot on. We also get the tofu stew (seafood) and it's very tasty. The bibimbap is amazing too. We are Korean, and bring our 87 year old mom and she gives it 2 thumbs up, which says a lot. Restaurant is clean, they recently renovated, but it still has a bit of a "cafe" feel not really a warm, cozy, date night kinda place but come for the food. It's worth it. read more