Popped into this place for our last meal before leaving AZ and it did not disappoint! We were the…read morefirst people in. When we walked in it had a very fishy smell, so it kind of made us second guess our choice. But we went for it anyhow. The greeter/server was very pleasant and sat us. It was very clean inside with ample space between seat. We browsed through the menu and started with our usual edamame and pot stickers. The edamame was salted well throughout where a lot of places just put the salt on top only. We ordered a couple varieties of sake which were both good. Out of all of the things we ordered the karange skewer was just a little more oily than were use to, but still good. The spicy salmon roll had really great flavor and the lollipop roll was probably one of the better versions that we have had. The musubi was giant to say the least, it was good, but offered a bit too much rice. Overall the food and service was great and we were very happy that we ended up here!

On a Sunday evening, after checking out the Desert Botanical Garden, I was looking for some food in…read morethe area. I came across Zu Izakaya and it's great reviews as one of the options. I love Japanese food so my decision was made. I drove over and parked in their complimentary lot. Ambiance (3.5/5): I've been to Japan and there are plenty of izakayas there. Think of them as small bars which often serve solid food. Zu fits that bit. It's a relatively small restaurant, probably seats about 30 people. and it's pretty no frills for a Japanese spot. I was seated at a booth in the corner of the restaurant. They have free WiFi which is always a good touch. Service (3/5): Service was friendly, though a bit inconsistent. My waitress wasn't as attentive as I would have liked. The type of service where you have to flag them down to get what you want and to close out. Drinks (4/5): Zu has a nice menu of Japanese and Korean beverages, including sake, soju, Japanese beer, and more. With that being said, I just had an iced green tea. Food (4/5): I got a nice variety. I went with the Japanese sausage off of the grill menu, the OBI mayo roll off of the sushi menu, and the cheese corn off of the appetizer menu. Let's start with the sausage. It's a small item, two small sausages, but absolutely delicious. The sausage was bursting with flavor and basted in a sweet sauce. Minus the portion size, perfection. The cheese corn also hit the spot, but the execution was off. The corn is served on a hot platter, and unfortunately some of the corn on the edges was badly burnt. The type of situation where they should start over. Which they didn't. Lastly, the OBI mayo roll is essentially a California roll with marinated warm shrimp on top in a mayo sauce. I didn't love the hot and cold combo (shrimp and sushi), but outside of the temperature, it was a delicious roll. All in all, a very food meal. My only gripe with Japanese food is that it can get expensive quick. Given that Zu is in Tempe, I was hoping that prices would be a little cheaper. With that being said, they do have a solid happy hour (and reverse happy hour) with both food and drink specials. Next time I stop by, I'd like to check out some of their Korean options. I focused on the Japanese stuff this time (which makes the majority of the menu). Next time around, the bulgogi is calling my name!

Roughly one mile from my office is this anime themed ramen location that I wish I knew about three…read moreyears ago when I started working at the office! Naturally, I'd find when I'm now remote. I stopped by the office then wanted a low key dinner with a coworker to catch up. Fellow Yelpers recommended this location, and I had in my bookmarks of places to try. Shout out to those Yelpers as we both loved it! What we ordered: - Edamame えだまめ - VEGAN SOY 醤油ラーメン - SPICY 鶏白湯スパイシー - Dr Pepperドクターペッパー - Diet Coke ダイエットコーラ Upon entering, we were immediately greeted and it was very easy to maneuver the tablet to place our order. The staff were friendly and promptly brought drinks and the appetizer of edamame. I found myself scanning the room periodically to check out all the anime, and especially the beautiful light fixture with origami. Very cute location, and excellent ramen! If you are in the area, check out this location!

The food was fantastic! The service was amazing!! And it looked amazing inside! There was vegan…read moreoptions inside and it tasted so good! Absolutely must go spot!! Will be coming back soon

Horrible disgusting nasty dont eat here. Everything is tasteless and has ZERO FLAVOR! The sushi is…read moreBLAND .. the beef terriyaki is a steak that taste old and in a wet sauce.. not thin strips like a normal teriyaki.. The bang bang shrimp is shrimp tempura with a bland spicy mayo on top NASTY NASTy FXCKIN NASTY! I walked out left everything on the table $75 dollars for some bs!! CLOSE THIS PLACE DOWN ! Nasty asf Every bite pissed me off the food tasted like it came from someone's depression and they served it to me

This is my absolute favorite sushi place!!! everything is delicious and fresh!! tonight I got some…read moretakeout for a lovely dinner out on the patio!! thank you so much!! You can order a head on their website and it is sitting there waiting for you when you arrive ;) there's also an option to dine. The Agendashi tofu and avocado rolls make great vegetarian options.

Love this place! Nice outdoor area (weather permitting). Varied menu, good prices for happy hour…read more Fresh good, great taste, nice service

We had been craving ramen for days--it kept popping up on our social media feeds over and over…read moreagain--so we finally gave in and decided to try this spot. They offer a nice variety of Japanese dishes, but we were definitely here for the ramen. I ordered the spicy miso ramen, and it came out just right--perfectly spicy with fish cake, green onions, and all the toppings. It was delicious and hit the spot. The tonkotsu ramen had a nice creaminess to it, but it could've used a bit more depth of flavor. One thing I really liked is that you can order side appetizers along with your entrée, almost like building your own bento-style meal. We went with the deep-fried gyoza and gyudon. The gyudon was a standout--definitely five stars. The gyoza, however, was just okay for me. Breakdown:    *   Spicy miso ramen:    *   Tonkotsu ramen:    *   Gyudon:    *   Gyoza: Service was friendly, the restaurant was clean, and overall it definitely satisfied our ramen craving.

I may not be able to eat sushi anywhere else after this!…read more I came for the Restaurant Week lunch deal and am so glad I finally made it here. Everything from service to ambiance to food was excellent. And I love that they brought lunch service back to this location! Friday, Saturday, Sunday only and still make a reservation! It was busy! I wanted something fun to drink but non-alcoholic, so the bartender stopped by to help me decide. I got the Miso Sour and it was so good! This had a nice balance of flavors. I started with the Hamachi Crudo which has grapefruit ponzu, lemon mayo, Serrano pepper, and thin cucumber slices. This was so good! Refreshing with just the right amount of spice. Next I enjoyed chopped salad and miso. The salad was very fresh and had a variety of goodies including edamame, purple cabbage, and avocado. The miso is so good!! It was delicate and yet so flavorful. I chose the Yuzu tuna roll option which has spicy tuna and avocado inside, with big eye tuna on top, garnished with micro cilantro, red onion, and yuzu. This was so good! I also thought their ginger stood out - I would bet they make this in house. I can see why this always has such great reviews!

I'm writing this review more as feedback for the owner because I'd hate to see a restaurant with so…read moremuch potential decline in quality and service. My boyfriend and I came to Shimogamo for Mother's Day and ordered the five-course meal. Unfortunately, the experience was extremely disappointing compared to our previous visit. The biggest issue was the service. Our waitress, an older woman, came across as dismissive and unnecessarily rude throughout the evening. When we were seated, she offered complimentary rosé. I accepted a glass, but my boyfriend does not drink alcohol, so he politely asked if he could order a mocktail instead. Before he could even finish, she abruptly responded, "No, you can wait to place an order for that," as if he was trying to substitute the complimentary drink, which he was not. He was simply trying to order a beverage. Later, when the braised beef course was served, my boyfriend politely asked if he could have a spoon or fork. The waitress loudly repeated "A SPOON?" in a mocking tone in front of nearby guests, which made the interaction uncomfortable and embarrassing. As for the food, the five-course menu was average at best and far below what we expected from Shimogamo. The salmon tartare and sushi course were both excellent and showed the quality we remembered from our first visit. However, the remaining courses fell flat. The fried branzino was dry and seemed poorly prepared, despite the promising flavors of capers and cream sauce. The braised short rib felt completely out of place on the menu and lacked refinement it was dry, heavy, and more reminiscent of a chain steakhouse meal than an upscale dining experience. The entire dinner also felt rushed, with little attention to pacing or hospitality. What makes this especially disappointing is that we dined here back in November on a double date and had an incredible experience. We spent over $600 that evening, and the service and food were exceptional. Our waitress at that time was knowledgeable, attentive, and genuinely enthusiastic about the menu. She guided us through recommendations, and every dish impressed us. That's why this visit was so surprising. Shimogamo clearly has the ability to provide an outstanding dining experience, which makes the decline in both service and execution even more concerning. I sincerely hope management takes this feedback seriously because this restaurant was once one of our favorites.

Great spot. I believe this was my first time having soba, and I couldn't get enough. This was a…read morecold dish, and came with a chicken yakitori skewer, veggie and shrimp tempura, and chicken gyoza. The noodles were great texture, the broth was super flavorful, and the sides were quite nice. I've been thinking about this meal every day since. It is a small spot, almost looks closed from the outside. There was just one server who appears to be the owner, and he was very nice and attentive. He checked in to make sure we knew how to eat the noodles properly and gently let us know when the kitchen and restaurant were closing. The croquettes were very nice, and I normally am not a huge fan of takoyaki but the octopus texture in these was nice and soft. There was not too much octopus in them though, so if that's important to you... :( Would definitely come back and probably order the exact same thing...

This is a gem! When we first pulled up, was not sure if this place was opened. They had tinted…read morewindows and could barely see in. But when we went in, we were greeted right away by the server. He sat us down (choose your own seats). It's simple decor. But inviting. Very clean. I ordered the Tenzaru soba. It is buckwheat noodles served cold with a dipping sauce and a generous amount of shrimp and veggie tempura. The tempura was vey hot and crispy coating. They also gave us 2 gyoza and a breaded chicken on a skewer with a drizzle of Teri sauce. I enjoyed all of it. Hubby had Tempura udon. The tempura was served on the side so as not to get soggy in the udon. The broth had a good umami flavor. Noodles are thick and just right. We also ordered shrimp tempura roll, it comes with Japanese mayo on top, which we told them to not add it. Tempura was hot. It was rolled with slivers of fresh cucumber. We enjoyed and ordered another roll. All and all the flavors are authentic Japanese cooking. By the time we were done. The place did fill up. I was glad to see that. Lots of parking as it is surrounded office buildings and a pickle/fitness center.

Great sushi! And fast service! My boyfriend and I love going here and it's so close to our home.read more

I enjoy going to this place occasionally, and will definitely be back. I vacillated on how to rate…read morethem, but ultimately landed on three stars. Let's get into it. What they do well: cheap and fast. When I was there for lunch, it was AYCE for $19.99. You really can't beat that. The service is solid, though not stellar. The selection is pretty good, too! The restaurant is also well maintained. It's always clean and the decor is exactly what you'd expect for Japanese cuisine. Opportunity: the sushi has been falling apart all three times I've been there. It reminds me a little of what it might be like if i made it at home myself and didn't get the sushi rice right. That doesn't adversely affect the flavors, but it's annoying that I can never seem to dip it into the soy sauce and get it into my mouth without losing half the roll. Their service model also makes it so items from the fryer or other appetizers sometimes come out after the sushi rolls. There's no effort to synchronize the back kitchen staff and the sushi bar. This isn't necessarily an issue for me. I'm happy when there's food in front of me. But I could see others feeling like it's a disjointed approach and experience. Like I said, I'll be back. But if you're going to this place, make sure you're managing your expectations.

sushi was amazing!! service was great. environment was fantastic. will come back againread more

The food was beyond exceptional! It was a good sign to see people lined up before it opened…read more Luckily we got there ahead of time and got on the list... otherwise we would have been waiting a while! The ambiance is laid back and very chill. Nice set up... only wish they had more tables. Service was great especially with it being packed all at once! Will definitely be back!!

Been here a few times and they've made a few changes I don't love. First off, they have replaced…read morecucumbers for lettuce. Just an odd change since the cost is low on both. Traditional sushi does not have lettuce...bad sushi places and grocery stores use lettuce. Second, the head chef seems to have let an apprentice take on the omakase. This completely changes the experience. I don't like the cheese on sushi and having it served by a backup guy just doesn't do it. Used to love this place but questioning their direction. Great news, they have replaced the lettuce with cucumber! Maybe chef got some negative feedback.

Came for a weekday dinner and the place was empty. Nice having the ordering tablet on the table,…read morejust like in Japan, though the descriptions were generic and unhelpful (all said the fish were high in protein and nutritious for rebuilding muscle). We asked about the fish of the day and special fish which happened to be the same, mackerel, the day we went. Interestingly, the servers had no idea about the fish aspects of the menu and everything was deferred to the sushi chefs. Ordered a few temaki (hand rolls) - yellowtail and spicy tuna- and they were tasty! All the nigiri we ordered were fresh without fishiness, and had generous portions for the price. Nice to have fresh wasabi which had a nice kick and sweetness. Thoroughly enjoyed these nigiri: seared black cod, ocean trout, hamachi/yellowtail, unagi. Yuzu & rainbow rolls had super appetizing sauces. Ordered the uni from Japan which was supposed to be sweeter than creamier but this one was very distasteful for me, had a strong scent like saliva, and I was unable to tolerate it.