Went here for sushi. Unfortunately it was an underwhelming experience. The sushi was not fresh and it was tasteless.

Came here for a job interview/lunch. The food is delicious!!! You can't go wrong with the bentos. They have private Japanese style rooms where you semi-sit on the floor. -1 star for awkward service. We only had a hour, and we waited uncomfortably before they took our order... read more

solid 3 stars. i had the Seto Chirashi (Seto special chirashi sushi). there are two chirashi lunches, and the waitress commented that the Seto is the better one (costs $3 more than the other one). very fresh fish. I'm not a fan of octopus, but the octopus was very tender. the tamago (egg) was not as sweet as i would like it to be. i like the scallop. unagi was not warm :( ooh, the mushroom were pretty tasty. i probably won't order the chirashi next time, but i would go back to try their bento boxes. read more

Seto Restaurant - Seto Chirashi - Japanese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

Really loved the service here. All of the staff was extremely friendly and the owner was even on hand to chat. I loved my sushi and thought the presentation was above and beyond. For those looking for a spot to eat alone, the sushi bar is a good pick. read more

One of the best quality Japanese restaurant I've ever tried. I travel a lot, and this is an authentic place where people are real Japanese with real Japanese food. Kaori will check that everything is good and will take care of you, very professional and friendly. You can tell that they want to put the customer satisfaction as the first goal. Definitely one of my favorite Japanese restaurant, and cheap for the quality served! read more

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First time patron. Not particularly impressed. From the outside, Seto doesn't look like a restaurant that's open. It looks like an old, condemned building next to a gas station. The parking lot is very cramped, the spots are slanted and narrow, the side of the building facing Maude is dark and lifeless. You'll need to park your car and walk to the Borregas side to enter the restaurant. We went on a warm day (it was about 85 degrees outside). When we entered, we noticed the sushi bar to the right and additional seating to the left, but no host stand, so we weren't sure whether we had to seat ourselves or wait. After about 30-seconds, a hostess emerged and walked us to our table. The restaurant was sweltering inside (they didn't appear to have AC at all) - which was immediately off-putting, since you don't typically think to eat raw seafood that's been prepared in a hot environment (where bacteria grows more rapidly). The hostess immediately returned with miso soup for us. Miso is tough to screw up, so I wouldn't say it was bad, but I would say that it had many, many more green onions floating in the broth than I'm used to. There was no less than half a stalk in my bowl alone. We placed our order - opting for bento boxes, since we didn't trust the sushi, given the inside temperature. I asked for a Sprite, my brother asked for a water. The waiter forgot both of our drinks. When I reminded him about my Sprite (after our food came out), the drink he gave me was completely flat, with little to no carbonation. Tasted like 7-Up that had been left out in a glass overnight. And, since water is (apparently) by request only, I had no choice but to endure the lousy soda with my lunch. My bento box was 3-items: beef teriyaki, tempura, and California roll. The roll was very good; fresh, tasty, and accompanied by a loaded dollop of dynamite wasabi (which I thoroughly enjoyed). The tempura was decent, but I was disappointed to only receive 1 piece of shrimp with 5 pieces of vegetables (my typical sushi spots tend to give you 2 pieces of shrimp). That being said, the tempura was light and crispy, and the sauce played it's part well. I was not happy with the beef teriyaki. The cut wasn't offensive (seemed to be decent quality), but the teriyaki sauce was extremely heavy, syrupy, and overly sweet. Far bolder than most other places. The other contributing factor was: the teriyaki sauce was served warm, but the meat itself was not hot. Which was very odd. I'd describe it as room temperature or lukewarm. When you think "beef teriyaki", usually you get sliced meat that just came off the grill, so it's nice and hot. This was either pre-cooked or it had been sitting for a minimum of 10-minutes before being served to me. Just didn't hit the spot... and, to be completely transparent, I've never in my life left a restaurant and been disappointed with the teriyaki. I didn't think you COULD screw up a teriyaki dish. But, it turns out, you can. I also want to mention: maybe it was the heat, maybe it was something else... but throughout our entire lunch, there was no less than 3 flies crawling on the window behind my brother, occasionally circling the restaurant, landing on the table next to us, always in plain view... and eating in a restaurant that's infested with flies just does something to your psyche. You start feeling queasy and nauseous, even if it's just a placebo thing. So I need to mention that here. When we went to Seto, there were flies everywhere. Despite our disappointment, we never complained and were very nice and polite to the wait staff... but before dropping off the check, the waiter offered us some free mochi ice cream ("on the house"), so I think it was pretty clear that something went wrong with our lunch. Overall, I'm not going to dock Seto on the location or parking lot (cause they really can't help that), but they lose 1 star for the ho-hum food (cold teriyaki, weird miso, soggy salad, flat soda) and another star for the poor service/experience (flies everywhere, too hot inside the restaurant, and a waiter who'd disappear for 15 minutes at a time... namely, when we were trying to pay the bill - a restaurant should never be holding onto your card for +15 minutes). If I had a friend or co-worker vouch for this place and confirm that I had an unusual experience, I might go back and try Seto again... but as it currently stands, I can't imagine heading back there for another attempt at lunch. read more

Had lunch at Seto today with a group of co-workers. I've had drinks here before, but never sat down for a meal. Initial thoughts we NOT positive. The place looks old and rundown...not the kind of look you want when about to eat raw fish, ya kna? And the menus kinda matched that look. We kept being assured that it was great, so we all ordered bento boxes. Kinda a nice deal - you pick what you want in the box. We each did our selection, and when the boxes came, we were all pleasantly surprised. VERY good food indeed! Between us, we had hand rolls, sushi, tempura, teriyaki chicken, salad, and a CA roll....ALL were very well prepared and tasty. So, based on all that, ignore the look of the place, and enjoy your lunch! read more

3 Stars for Service 2.5 stars for food Met a friend for lunch here yesterday, the place has not changed much since my previous visits many years ago. I'm a sashime lover but opted to have the 3 item bento to stay on the safe side; my friend had the sushi lunch with a side of Uni. Service was pretty good and efficient, food was just OK nothing special. In fact I thought the portion size was on the stingy side. My friend who picked the place liked her food. The place filled up around noon so obviously they have a decent customer base. For me to come back here requires some update / improvement on the part of the restaurant. read more

Get a group and reserve a tatami room I love the sushi hear, and I love the fact that they have Tatami rooms. I kind of feel like the place smells a little, but then maybe I am just not used to authentic Japanese tatami mats? Great rolls, Great Bento Box's They will make any kind of sushi roll you want. Love the staff. Will come here again and again. read more

It's not close to any business. One of our coworkers really likes this place. So we went there for lunch. Not many people showing up. I guess the whole area is quiet. I like their sashimi a lot. They have one layer and two layers options. I chose two layers and it's over $20. It's too much for one person. I was totally stuffed. read more

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This place used to be ok for lunch. The quality has gone down a lot. We came here for lunch and my coworker asked for a California Roll minus the crab. The waitress said she would have to charge an extra $2 for that. Isn't that ridiculous? I got the Nabeyaki udon and it was served with the tray they used in the kitchen - http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/umX6_PPMuO1SlVPlyoy8FA?select=4JFJjeI6Fd2n8UiNmLKOOQ Super duper ghetto. The broth was uber sweet and everything was just ok. My coworker's tonkatsu was over cooked. I would say their sushi is decent, but skip the cooked food items. read more

Seto Restaurant - Nabeyaki udon brought out with kitchen tray.. Kinda ghetto. - Japanese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

Came here during lunch time and service was incredibly slow. All workers were literally rushing yet I came alone and was neglected due to larger parties. I had to ask if seating on the bar was open because there were so many dirty dishes on the table tops and I was unsure if they were actually inviting people to sit there. Finally sat down and no menu. Had to stare up looking lost until someone handed me one. Same with taking my order. Food was ok. I got the chirashi bowl and while it was fresh I've definitely had better elsewhere. I also ordered an udon soup for to go and that took extremely long!!! This place was a let down and I will not return in the future. read more

In my opinion, the perfect chirashi would contain the following ingredients: *multiple slices of sake, hamachi, saba, hotate, maguro, unagi, amaebi, tamago, white tuna *ikura (salmon roe) *slices of sweeten braised shiitake mushroom *pickled radish or daikon *seaweed salad (optional) This restaurant's chirashi had the following pros and cons, relative to my notion of the perfect chirashi: Pros: Very fresh, shiiakes, scallops. Cons: Only one piece per type of fish, often restaurant runs out of fish. read more

Seto Restaurant - Japanese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

We love this place! It is close to home and the food is authentic Japanese cuisine. My wife and I get Udon regularly and love it! I also recommend the soba noodles. read more

The Benchmark for Great Japanese Food: A very nice traditional Japanese restaurant featuring a Sushi Bar and many dining tables. Quite large, it is always crowded at lunchtime! (Get there early!) This is my favorite place for Japanese food. The best and highest quality Sushi in town. I enjoy their Bento boxes for lunches giving you the choice of 1, 2 or 3 items. Have some Eda Mame while you decide! For lunch, their service is quick and efficient, food arrives quickly allowing you to enjoy the meal and yet get back to work on-time. Alot of years ago, I had three engineers working for me who were on-loan from a company in Japan. During their 6 months in the South Bay Area they tried alot of Japanese restaurants. Before they returned home, Seto was their choice for the best Japanese food in the area. Since then, I have visited Seto many many times and comparing Seto to other Japanese places, Seto wins everytime. BTW, they have a deli across the street which is great for take-out. read more

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We came here for lunch around 11am when they just opened the restaurant. It took them a few minutes to pay attention to us, because the chefs were preparing massive to-go lunch orders. The restaurant does get busy around 11:30 to 12:30. If you plan on coming in with a large group, call ahead! The food here is very good!!!! The chefs were speaking to each other in Japanese (: I felt like I was in Japan for a moment :) Our food was served within 10 minutes after we placed the order. The restaurant is super clean with lots of authentic Japanese element decorations. Lunch special sushi combo or lunch bento is highly recommended. Very good price with plenty of food!!! read more

Seto Restaurant - Lunch bento box - Japanese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

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I'm not sure if this is still the same owner as 20 or 30 years ago, we used to like this place a lot. Came by recently And the quality of the fish was very bad. It's like one of those all you can eat sushi place as far as fish quality goes. Maybe we are too accustomed to fish from Japan like at Sanraku or places like that. The Yellow tail (hamachi) nigiri was so bland, tasted like it was freezer burnt. The geo-duck clam nigiris were uniformly squared pieces. I've never seen that before, and when I took a bite it tasted like processed meat or something. Weird. The toro tuna was cut paper thin, I'm not sure how it tasted bc I couldn't get enough of it to tell. The one piece that was semi-good was the torched salmon belly, but it was a little over-torched compared to other places. I'd rather drive a little farther and get good fish than stay in my neighborhood for this. Maybe if you come here for the rolls and tempura, you can enjoy it, but don't expect good quality Sashimi or nigiri from them. read more

A coworker took me to lunch today. He said that this is an authentic Japanese restaurant. Since he has spent a great deal of time in Japan for work, I thought he would be a good judge. Sure enough, it seemed like the real deal. The menu is in both English and Japanese. There is a seating area that is reserved for sitting on the floor. The chirashi was presented in a way that I have not seen before. Instead of the fish being stacked on each other, there was a single layer of fish and a separate container with just fish. What did I learn today? Miso soup and green tea included with the lunch. read more

I came here looking for good sushi, since it's one of the only sushi restaurants around this area. I was completely and utterly disgusted and disappointed. The sushi nigiri was so dull, my dog's barf is considered fresher sushi than what I was served. Next, my udon. The udon was over cooked it was like a wet sponge soaked in flavorless. I also ordered a soba, which is an insult to both Japanese food and diarrhea. When you think of soba you think of delicious, cold noodles but this soba was none of that. It was drenched in lukewarm soup and the soba was over cooked. Overall an unpleasant meal, and I'll do you a favor and tell you not to come here. read more

Seto was one of the restaurant I used to take my Japanese coworker but last night the rude service with presence of my elderly parent really did it. Likely they will lose my business for rest of their presence. read more

Had a bad experience tonight at Seto. The lady boss was rude and condescending. I felt humiliated. I will write more after I have cooled down. Just don't want others to have the same experience as me. read more

Decided to try this restaurant with a couple of retired friends that I have monthly lunches with, and I think we had varying experiences. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm a vegetarian with an egg allergy, so my review will be from that perspective. There aren't a lot of vegetarian roll options, especially if you have an egg allergy, but I knew that going in from the menu and the reviews made it seem like it was still worthwhile. I was glad the waitress already knew that the miso soup had dashi (fish broth) as a base, but she did seem kind of taken aback when I asked her if she could find out if the ice cream at the end of the meal had egg in it (it does). She also seemed confused when I said I was vegetarian and asked about whether I eat fish or not, but that I can understand--pescetarians often self-describe as vegetarian to make it easier on themselves, only to make it harder on non-fish vegetarians later on down the road :/ I got the umekyu (plum & cucumber) roll, kappa (cucumber) roll, and asked if they could do an avocado roll. They obliged, and while it was nothing to write home about, it was okay. They are generous with the ume paste, which is nice compared to when there's just a hint of it, but it bordered on maybe just a little too much on a couple of the pieces. The kicker on the ho-hum vegetarian options front came with the bill--apparently an avocado roll is a California roll, they just don't put any of the other ingredients in and charge you the same. Sigh. My friends got a bento set (teriyaki salmon & California roll) and a seto chirashi. The bento is pretty much what you expect, and the chirashi comes in a little tiered bento box with the top tier of stuff on a bed of shredded daikon and the bottom tier on a bed of rice, which was a fun presentation. I think the friend with the chirashi probably enjoyed the meal the most, and I probably the least, so your mileage may vary, but if you are vegetarian, I would not recommend this place. Overall, probably an okay sushi joint if you're not vegetarian, but I have most certainly experienced better elsewhere. Also, the place gets very loud during lunch, so it was hard to hold a conversation. I probably will not be back. read more

Nice place, food is good. Service is VERY un-accommondating. I am not eating rice so i asked for the chirashi bowl to be over salad instead of rice - NO. I asked for the spicy tuna roll to not have rice - NO. To hard for them to make. Really? Leaving something off is too difficult? Sadly i will drive further to go to a place that will allow simple changes. read more

This is a so-so Japanese restaurant. The restaurant decor outside is old and the inside is simple. The prices are extremely expensive for a dinner Bento box $19.99 for two items. The salmon teriyaki and California roll combo is not enough for a full grown man. 6 small Cali rolls and a palm size salmon teriyaki. The waiter is very nice and we can split the bill 3 ways. My mom ordered sashimi combination for $22. She thought that it was yummy but kind of pricey. My dad ordered an udon for $10 and there were vegetables and a fried shrimp tempura. I would not come back until the decorations outside improve and the small parking lot is updated with good pavement and good white parking lines. read more

Seto Restaurant - Bento box with salmon teriyaki and California rolls Somewhat made me feel full. - Japanese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

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The decor is more Classical Japanese. There are many items for $10 and under. Their sashimi is quite fresh and they also serve skewers. We tried their deluxe set and it came with a good variety of food for $40 for 2 , including soup, salad, and green tea ice cream. Generous portion size with the oshinko preserved vegetables. Friendly staff and this place has been here for 4 years! Glad we found a local Japanese place we can support and take our friends and family to. read more

My family and I have been coming to Seto for as long as I can remember. We know the owners and the sushi chefs who are all always nice and accommodating. Every meal comes with miso soup and green tea ice cream. The fish and everything we've tried is great. This is our go-to spot in Sunnyvale. read more

Anyone who doesn't think this is the best sushi place in Sunnyvale (maybe even the whole peninsula) is crazy. Every time I've been here me and my friends have have been treated like family. The food is delicious up and down the entire menu. It's reasonably priced too. The waitress always makes a point to have a personal connection with us and ask us about our lives. The sushi chef will often ask us what we like and make custom rolls. 100 stars if I could. After visiting Japan twice I can assure you the fish is fresh and high quality. Bring your whole family here with all your friends and I promise you won't be disappointed. read more

Japanese food for white people. That is the best description I can come up with after several visits here. The food is decent, and the interior is full of blonde wood, rice paper screens, and Japanese art. The prices are high, and waitresses wear kimonos. Everything that white people (like me) expect from a nice, traditional Japanese restaurant. And just to support my statement further, here's a description of the patrons on my last visit: White patrons = 43 Japanese patrons = 0. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. But when it comes to some types of food, I guess I expect to see more cultural representatives. Here's some more stuff white people like: (#58 is appropriate) http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/full-list-of-stuff-white-people-like/ == Things I like about Seto == - A-la-carte sushi is top notch - Service is friendly - Décor and atmosphere is pleasant == Things I dislike about Seto == - Prices are some of the highest in the area - Always very crowded at lunch - The sushi that comes in bento lunches is pre-made, tiny, and sub-par. On one of my visits, the avocado in my CA roll was beginning to turn brown. Bleh. - Power business types are as thick as thieves. Just check all the expensive cars in the parking lot. Now I know at least one reason why the food is overpriced. read more

Phenomenal food, very chill vibe, and among the best hosts in the area. The fish quality is very great and their katsu curry is to die for. Been coming here pre-COVID for lunch, and even post-COVID not being in office, I still head over for good sushi and great service. read more

This place has been around for such a long time. One of the waitresses that I remember as a kid still works here . This is one of the very few Japanese restos in the area that is actually run by Japanese people. So you know their food is authentic. Their waitresses even wear kimonos and speak Japanese. Soo cute! Their menu has a wide selection of entrees, bentos, and to share (if you ever get the dinner for 2 or 3, expect a lot of food!). Food is always delish, my fave being the fresh sashimi and crunchy tempura. Customer service is great because they treat you like fam. Sometimes they do lag on giving the check, but there's waitstaff everywhere to easily wave down. The place is nice for dates, small groups, and big groups with their private rooms. read more

Seto Restaurant - Chicken teriyaki and sashimi bento dinner - Japanese Near Me - Sunnyvale, California

I lived down the block for 5 years and always thought this place had been abandoned. It's always dark early in the evening and it doesn't look like many people are there, but I guess it's huge for lunchtime. I finally got to eat at the abandoned restaurant! The food was good, but on the small side. For a $14 bento box I'd like to see tonkatsu spilling off my plate! I completely finished the 3-item meal (which is not usual for me -- typically I have a small portion for leftovers) and was still a teensy bit hungry. The tempura and salmon teriyaki were as they should have been, and the tonkatsu was perfect. TIP: This place is pretty poppin' on weekend evenings. I'm not usually driving over there at that hour. No wonder! read more

It's so close that we finally decided to drop a visit. It turns out super nice for a Friday dinner out. We had bento box dinner and sushi. The service was quick and great. When we got here it was not busy but when we were leaving, it's packed. read more

Came here for lunch with an ex-colleague and was thoroughly disappointed in the quality of the fish served here. I ordered nigiri sushi because I don't like rice-loaded rolls, and went with hamachi, ama ebi, and scallops.... I sent the hamachi back because it tasted horrible (not fresh) and the sweet shrimp were mushy. They brought me maguro in place of the hamachi, but charged me anyways. Oh well... Service was equally bad as they seemed disorganized and unable to handle the lunch time rush. read more

So bad. My company ordered here from Waiter and they came an hour late! I am not sure if it's the restaurant not being able to fully cook the dishes in time; but even when the food came - it was still bad. I got the 3 entree bento lunch box with 1. Chicken Katsu 2. Chicken Teriyaki 3. Tempura The katsu had 3 pieces in the dish... 3 freaking pieces. The teriyaki tasted gross and had no flavor to it. The tempura was okay The food arrived an hour late and thus making my bento box soggy and really cold. It added onto the lack of flavor and style to the dish. If this was still warm, then the food would had been a little better. Definitely never ordering from here or even going here in the future read more

Great food. My go to place for Japanese food. Been going to Seto for years. Best in Sunnyvale.

Good food, so-so prices, excellent service. For lunch, the 3-item bento ($13.99) and 2-item bento ($10.99) are solid choices. Comes with miso soup*, rice, salad, beans, and fruit (honeydew). You can choose any items (the selection includes shrimp-and-vegetable tempura, tonkatsu, chicken katsu, salmon teriyaki, beef teriyaki, California roll, tuna sashimi, grilled salmon, and more... 11 items in all). This is a step up from Miyake, which offers only a handful of pre-set combinations. *: The soup is hot like what. Totally burned my mouth trying to drink the soup immediately. Naturally, you can get hot tea and iced water (served with a slice of lemon). I think tea is provided at no extra charge? I'm not sure. Seto is kind of in the middle of a residential area... but it's a nice neighborhood. Decent place to take a walk after an early lunch, if you don't mind braving the less-than-indigenous junglesque foliage. (No really, do people not trim their plants? They're all sprawled across the sidewalk like something out of Indiana Jones. The original ones, not the one with the Transformers kid.) Service is outstanding, almost to the point that you feel rushed... though that is certainly not the intention. The waitstaff is very attentive, quick, and friendly. Ready to order? Done. Need more wasabi? No problem. All finished? Consider your dishes collected. I've only been to a handful of Japanese restaurants, but of those, Seto has the best service by a country mile. Prices are certainly steeper than Miyake and the like, but in this case you get what you pay for. The food is better, and the service is worlds better. read more

Ordered the lunch special. Pretty terrible, if you ask me. The chirashi bowl came with smoked! salmon, spicy tuna, and hard, inedible mackerel. Perhaps, if I had ordered off the menu, the quality of the fish would be better. But then why offer bad fish to your clients as a "lunch special"? This place left a terrible after taste in my mouth - and it'll be the last time. read more

Mediocre lunch today. Ordered a sushi lunch, a crazy roll, hamachi temaki, and tempura udon. The tempura udon - noodles were a good consistency, broth was just right, but I got two tempura shrimp with it and nothing else. No veggies? Seems like they could give you a bit more for $11. The sushi items - for my wife and daughter - that didn't come out until about 10-15 minutes later, after I'd already finished the udon. I'm not sure why it took so long - we were there toward the end of the lunch rush, the place was clearing out already, so they shouldn't have been that busy. It's not the Seto that I remember from years ago. read more

My five star review is for their Udon. I am an Udon snob and I love love love love their Udon!! I got their Nabeyaki Udon (Thick Japanese noodle soup with shrimp tempura, egg, chicken and mushroom served in a cast iron bowl) $13.00. It was FANTASTIC!! The broth was yummy and everything was just as it should be - no package mixes here like some places. I will go back over and over just for the Udon!! Also have had the rolls here. They are also good but they are a little pricey. Fresh and wonderful though so I recommend it as long as you know what you're getting into. This is not a cheap all you can eat place so I don't bring my young adult son... read more

"Irrashaimase!" (Welcome!) is the familiar friendly Japanese greeting I usually get when I enter Japanese restaurants. Here was no different. At first,the emphasis on authenticity and the "homey" feeling of a Japanese ryokan (inn) is one of the most noticeable things. Two slightly older than usual ladies are dressed in traditional Japanese kimono,and greatly add to the feeling of actually being in Japan. One of the ladies politely guides us to the table, promptly serving green tea upon my father's request. The menu has a wide array of traditional Japanese flavors, ranging from various cuts of sashimi to noodle soups. I was unfortunately unable to find "natto", or fermented soybeans, my favorite. (or probably was too hungry to bother) I decided on the Chiraishi, a two tier sushi box consisting of sashimi, mushrooms, a piece of shrimp, and sushi rice. Overall, the meal was very satisfying. The sushi's texture and taste far surpasses the jelly-like composition of buffet sashimi, and had a slight tartness to it that I do not believe was helped by vinegar or that sort. There were two kimono-clad waitresses in my most current visit, one, actually, a Korean woman (discovered by trying to speak Japanese to her) and the other I believe a full-blood Japanese woman. Both women have hospitable personalities, and seem to treat each customer equally, however, the Korean woman seems to be a little too confident in her ability and usually speaks in a hushed tone. If you want something a little more in your trip to a sushi joint, this is the place to go. The authentic Japanese low table and sliding door room is a nice touch, and the kimono were pleasing to look at. Tasty food and a nice old "Arigatou Gozaimasu!" on the way out sealed the deal. I would definitely recommend this to a fan of good Japanese food and hospitality. read more