AYCE sushi in Downtown San Mateo! Came to Ultra Sushi on a Saturday evening and it was overall a decent experience. Though on the pricier side ($45.99 per person w/o tax + tip), the quality of fish is better than most AYCE sushi spots that I've visited in the Bay Area. My favorite things to order were their Sake (Salmon) Belly Nigiri, Fish Crush (fish on fried shiso topped with salmon), and Robata (skewers), but you can't go wrong with any of the sashimi or roll options! Service was a bit lacking but we did go on a busy Saturday evening. We had to call a waiter or waitress to give us the tablet to order each round, and we ended up making it to 5 rounds within the 90 minutes they give for the AYCE. They also have a rule for ordering where each person can only order one starred item per round - which I found a little strange at first. I did appreciate how the AYCE came with hot sake though! We didn't have a reservation and almost had to wait an hour, but a spot was open where we squished our party of 5 to a 4 person booth (I'd recommend making a resy). The overall decor of the place is nice, while the ambiance was pretty busy but relaxed. It's in a prime location on San Mateo downtown which was also a plus. I think I would definitely come back another time if I'm looking for an AYCE sushi place! read more

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I was not going to make this review but it has to be done. It was my first time here with my kids, big sushi fan. We decided to come here for dinner with my brother and best friend, who was just here for lunch a week before. Their experience was good because the pricing for lunch is $9 less for the same exact menu. They had the full menu, which included the UNI, SCALLOP and that's all we cared for to be honest. We got there during dinner hours and were seated right away, party of 6. The place was nice and modern inside and staff was friendly. System: The way it works is that 2 non-star item and 1 star item per person per round. No problem, or should I say there is a problem. They DID NOT have UNI and SCALLOP available to order. So I'd ask about the ame-ebi and there is an additional charge. Now, these are like the main star items and they're out! So now we are just having oysters and so call Wagyu nigiri. Oysters were not the freshest and the rice fish/beef ratio on the nigiri was OMG, SMH. Well, at least it comes with free soft drinks and sake. I would not recommend coming, especially for dinner at $60 per person after tips and tax. If you are going to come, come for lunch and call first see what they Don't have. Now, their sashimi is pretty fresh but that's about it. read more

The quality of the sushi here is above average, and definitely more than acceptable for an all you can eat spot. I was excited to see toro on the menu, but a bit disappointed by how stringy it was. The shrimp tempura was a bit limp. The gyoza was limp and flavorless. The kalbi though was surprisingly tender and flavorful. The AYCE also includes all you can drink sake and soda, but surprisingly hot tea costs an additional $5. Strange The service was good and the food all arrived very quickly. read more

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This place was big with lots of seating. You use a tablet to turn in your orders for all you can eat sushi. I've been to many places like this the food was decent but not the best. The spare ribs which is a STAR menu item is what really made the meal. Water is filtered!! And service was pretty fast. Easy to communicate with as well. This place was cool but quality of the food is definitely 2-3 stars. They give you small servings of whichever item you order and you can only have 1 star. Menu item with two non star items for every round. read more

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Ultra sushi review Okay First time here One star item has to be accompanied by two non starred items okay, I get that! So I got lots of nigiris and skewers! Ordering three items per person so if you had like three people max order is 9 at a time But caveat, you have to wait for the servers to come by and put password in before they put the order in and they take the tablet until majority of your orders are out on your table, that was a good control flow of your food and eating ratio I did not mind too much but I went for lunch Saturday and surprisingly it was not busy at all, so seating was a breeze. Let's get to it! Sushi quality for salmon hamachi tuna and rolls Salmon nigiri Cannot complain, pretty thick and large piece with rice probably 1/3-1/2 the fish, so definitely love that Salmon belly nigiri For some reason it came seared... did not indicate it was seared on the tablet they gave us Tuna belly was seared as well Hamachi belly was seared as well All belly nigiri was seared but it was all good Rolls, those things were full on rolls, like 8 pieces or so... so choose wisely! Next time I'm going to ask for all the toppings and sauce on the side of the dish instead of on top of the roll The fish quality I have no complaint, just confused about why all the belly nigiris were seared...? I personally would not go for the Gyoza or the raw oysters, but I don't like raw oysters so... take that with a lot of grain of salt Gyoza, maybe I would love it more seared and crispy but that's me, crunchiness is important Unagi nigiri was okay, no bones. So no complaints! The beef short ribs were good, thinly cut and seared and flavored nicely Skewers! Beef lamb and chicken gizzards! I like to use my chopsticks to hold the meat and twist the skewer stick to get the meat off to eat with some of the rice From the nigiri the chicken gizzard couldn't which is understandable Lamb was more salty than I preferred. I think it was the marinade in the meat, not the spices they add on top. Not gamey at all. I kinda like the lamb flavor so it was kinda disappointing but I would say cooked nicely and seasoned rather well, not too heavy nor light The beef I liked The tendon was included so you got the crunch from that! I think they put the same spices on top for all the skewers at least the Lamb beef and chicken gizzard The chicken gizzard Ooooh so crunch chewy which is good but you cannot take the gizzard out of the stick so careful with taking it out with your teeth it's stuck on the stick Fish crush or something like that I think it is Fried seaweed as a base and the on top is poke of some kind and on top of that is a seared slice of salmon which was interesting! I personally don't like seared fish if I can have it nigiri style or sashimi style but this was a fun experience to try Oysters. Not a fan, I don't eat raw oysters often so that's my biased I would say! Handroll Salmon avacado rice to fish ratio is amazing Not too much rice but thick ass fish! So I would say that's a win! Unagi avacado handroll It was okay! Hope you try it! Servers were great and came around to grab our tablet relatively well paced Ambiance is calming and earth toned read more

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When friends asked me if I wanted to go to AYCE sushi, I was a bit nervous, unsure what the quality would be like BUT I was pleasantly surprised! We came in on a Saturday, around 30 mins after opening. Was seated right away and given a run down of how to use the iPad. The restaurant was chic, minimal, casual, and clean. I enjoyed the variety and the quality of the food. The sashimi and nigiri tasted very fresh. Everything came out as it was ready so we had a nice flow of dishes throughout dinner. Once the restaurant got busier it was harder to flag down someone for refills. That and ordering from and iPad there wasn't a whole lot of opportunities for customer service but overall I really enjoyed the dinner. I will be back! read more

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First time trying this AYCE japanese place. It's $50+ tax & tips for dinner on a weekday. We came a little later in the day. You order max 21 items on the iPad they provide you. Overall, the food was okay. It wasn't anything too special. Typical AYCE sushi place. The good thing is the sushis aren't packed with too much rice. Service was okay, the servers felt like they're rushing maybe because it's almost closing time. Parking can be difficult in this area. read more

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Tried Ultra Sushi in San Mateo and it was honestly just okay. We did the AYCE and they give you an iPad for ordering, which sounds nice, but it ended up being kind of annoying. You can't actually order on it yourself. You have to hand it to the staff, wait for them to put the order in, and then wait for them to bring it back before you can order again. It would be way smoother if customers could just order directly. It was also hard to flag someone down when we wanted to order more, so everything felt slower than it needed to be. Hot sake is included with the AYCE, which was a nice idea, but it came out cold and tasted watered down. Food was fine overall. Not bad, but nothing really stood out either. If you're going mainly for AYCE and just want to fill up, it works, but expectations should be pretty low. Probably okay for a super casual meal, but the ordering setup and drinks could be better. read more

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Interesting to find shabu at a sushi place - even more surprising to find an AYCE sushi place lol Food was pretty good - A5 Wagyu had good marbling from the AYCE menu. Didn't get to try the sushi but they looked pretty fresh from other tables Broth is on the blander side, and service was meh. Had to wait a long time between orders, and my friend got burnt on the electric stove at the end because they put the receipt on the hot stove without checking (?) lol I think their hot pot stove might need replacing too - it was very loud with electricity sounds the entire time read more

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I honestly was worried based on the reviews I read prior to coming here. Or maybe I'm just not as particular on my sushi. We came in for lunch right at 11:30, so the very first customer. We did come in with our toddler, so glad we had room for the stroller. Kids under 3 eat for free. Lunch AYCE sushi is $35/person Dinner AYCE I believe is in the upper 40s We had great service, food was quick - there were 2 adults. I think we got to 5 rounds until we were too full to eat any more. It's 90 minutes. The ordering could be a bit tricky - essentially 3 orders per person per round. However, there are items with a star . You can only have 1 star per person per order and it must accompany 2 regular items. We were happy with our experience and I will return should we be in the neighborhood read more

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tldr: great price for amazing beef quality (hot pot AYCE). Tbh I really really wanted to gate keep this place because it was simply too good to be true and I didn't want to have to come back and wait hours for my next visits, but that's not what a food bro should be doing, hence I'm writing this review. We should all be familiar with Ultra and their longstanding All You Can Eat sushi/sashimi offerings so I won't be getting into the details here. We wanted to visit because I saw on XHS that they started having hot pot as well with A5 Japanese and M9 Australian wagyu. Being a skeptic, I decided to give it a try with my family. Needless to say, our minds were BLOWN when we saw the quality of the beef they brought out. I can confidently say they more than matched what restaurants in Japan would offer, and the intense marbling created a melt-in-your-mouth texture. For only around $36 (lunch and dinner) a person, this was by far one of the best value and qualify hot pot spots in the bay! read more

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Came here on a Tuesday night with some friends and it was super busy! Wait took about 20-30 minutes, there were around 4 parties ahead of us. Great place for groups, plenty of seating around. The AYCE food comes out quickly and they have a few fair guidelines for ordering. The takoyaki, sashimi platter, and fatty tuna were my faves! read more

Ultra Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

Love the AYCE menu. Nice atmosphere. Friendly staff. Fast service. Best with more than one person for increased variety

We took our dad here for his birthday knowing they offered AYCE and the pictures of the inside were beautiful with warm lighting. It was fairly empty when we arrived and we found seating immediately. We told them it was our first time there, but the instruction on ordering was a little confusing. Another server eventually came by to clarify how to order AYCE. We ordered for two rounds, which included 3 dishes per person, per round. For the four of us and our appetite, that was just right. We personally didn't order hot pot, but it was also an option as well, which is nice for next time! Our meal was very filling and we enjoyed it very much. Service was great, however the only thing we noticed was it felt a little awkward when different servers would randomly hover by our table waiting for us to finish a plate before removing it from our table. I understand making sure our table was free of clutter/enough space for our next dishes, but would've appreciated less hovering. Great service, nonetheless. read more

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We tried the all-you-can-eat dinner special, and unfortunately, it was very disappointing. The menu looked impressive with so many great choices, but once we started ordering, several of the items we actually wanted were suddenly unavailable, sold out, or they had "run out." It felt misleading to advertise such a large selection when many of the better options weren't available. For the price they charge for the all-you-can-eat special, I expected much better availability and an overall better experience read more

one of the better ayce sushi spot I've been to! local gem in San Mateo and an amazing deal for all you can eat. the sashimi was fresh, and the salmon belly was the star of the meal. the short rib teriyaki was sooo good, i'm usually not a teriyaki person since it can get too sweet, but this had incredible flavor and the meat was cooked perfectly and so tender. the lamb skewers were a little tough, so i'd skip on that. read more

Ultra Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

Have been here about 3-4 times now. The hamachi was less fresh than usually at our most recent visit. Still not a bad experience overall for the price, given they do sashimi for AYCE pricing. read more

Very good place! I love the AYCE sushi deal. It is very affordable and the fish tastes great!!! Will definitely come back

3/5 if I were to rate the food alone but ratings on yelp are a reflection of the dining experience so I gave it an extra star for its service and environment. $49 for AYCE sushi dinner and for an additional $12 or so, you can add AYCE shabu shabu to it as well. When the restaurant first opened, I thought sushi quality was too good to be true for its price. Over time and especially at my last visit, quality has definitely decreased to fit its price. Don't get me wrong, quality is still decent for AYCE and comparable to some sushi restaurants that aren't as popular but the quality and flavor aren't the most appetizing where you would want to eat 3+ rounds of it. That being said, it might be best to come in a larger group of 4+ so that you can order a large variety of food to try and share without having to cram the whole plate down between 2 people. They do offer a large variety of options on their menu including sushi pieces, plates, skewers, and other small eats. Overall, a fun experience for large groups and still better quality than most AYCE sushi restaurants in the area. read more

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AYCE for $45.99 dinner, includes sashimi! Fish is quite fresh and the service is fast. I've come a few times now and love coming here. Service is good, keep it up! read more

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Ultra Sushi is probably our favorite AYCE sushi in the Bay. Came here feeling pummeled after the SF Marathon and they took good care of me :-) price: ~$45/person for ayce sushi and hot sake, ~$60/person after 18% auto-gratuity and tax favorites: sashimi (huge cuts, everything tasted super fresh), but tempura was surprisingly picturesque and good The ordering system takes some getting used to. Each person at the table took their turn picking three items -- one starred and two non-starred. You can only pick max three of each item and each starred item has to be accompanied by two non-starred items. It sounds like a lot but you get used to the rhythm pretty quickly, and the tablet is programmed to warn you if you're missing items. Service was shockingly fast and attentive. I recommend going early for a chill time and even faster service because this place fills up closer to dinner time! read more

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The customer service was not that good. Pretty slow service on the delivery of food. The food was ok but would not come back here again.

Still one of my faves. Quality sushi, amazing value, wonderful service. Best bang for your buck! Ayce plus ayce for a price you cannot find anywhere cuz it includes sashimi and the quality is unmatched! I really don't know how they do it for this price and stay profitable. My only gripe is that they are always out of Uni. Always a great time when I come here! The place is spacious and clean, bathrooms are also clean read more

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If you are feeling like eating a ton of sushi then this is the place in san mateo. Fast service, long lines at dinner on weekends. Cool vibes. Free drinks. read more

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I'd rate this place a 3.5/5 Stars. Ultra Sushi is an OKAY Sushi A.Y.C.E. restaurant with many of foods to choose from. I think one notable thing that Ultra Sushi does (that a majority of other restaurants do not) is that you can order premium options such as Sea Urchin, Salmon Belly, or Sea Urchin multiple times during your visit whereas other restaurants only let you order those items just ONCE per person. They have many other food options that make the visit worth it like in my opinion, baked mussels and Galbi Short ribs. I felt as if the process to order more food can be a bit tedious. My party found ourselves ordering, waiting for the food, then being able to order more food pretty much once they saw that our current orders were finished, ONLY then could we order more then repeat the process of waiting, eating, then ordering again once we finished our food. My only other flaw in my opinion was the taste of their mackerel (saba). I really enjoy mackerel but I feel like their saba nigiri tasted really mushy/pasty compared to other restaurants I order it from. My group of friends and I went here to revisit it to see if anything noticeable changed but we came to the conclusion that not much changed. read more

Below average oily food You get a lot of food if you are quick eater, but the quality is just not even close to being good read more

I love all you can eat sushi. The reason this review doesn't have a 5 star is that they made ordering a bit too confusing. There's also a bit of false advertising here too, in my opinion. There are limits of how many pieces of what you can order each time you order. So you have to know what you need to order so you can order some pieces that you really want. All in all, loved the sashimi. I enjoyed it. It sooth the craving. They even have raw oyster on the menu. read more

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My friends love this place for their ayce! The uni was nice, smooth, and fresh! The second time when I went, the uni was sold out along with a few other things so that was very disappointing... Everything is ordered on the iPad, and each person can order 3 items each round and 1 of the 3 items can be a starred item. The server takes the iPad away after each round and sometimes it can be hard to flag the server down to order the next round. The price is not super worth if you don't eat a lot, but I will say that they're pretty good with their selection on the menu. If you have a large appetite and can get your moneys worth then it's pretty worth. It's nice to try different types of sushi rolls when you go with a group of friends. They also have meat skewers, which I enjoyed! read more

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My friend suggested this spot for dinner, so I was open to giving it a try. Came on a Wednesday, no wait. From the menu, you can order a la carte or do AYCE. You'll place your orders through an iPad (3 items per person at a time, but limited to only one star item per order). After each order, the worker takes the iPad and will hand it back when you're ready to order again. Fish crush was my favorite item! Good combo of flavor from each layer and the fried shiso adds a great crunch. We ordered nigiri and sashimi (bluefin tuna, sake salmon, hamachi, bluefin tuna toro). Tasted like the fish has been sitting out. Salmon carpaccio was decent. Spicy tuna hand roll was loaded with rice. Sushi rolls (salmon lover and rainbow) were okay. Edamame can use some salt on top, tasted bitter. Soft shell crab was crunchy but every bite tasted a bit burnt. Overall, a good variety on the menu. Spacious restaurant, good for small and big groups. Workers were attentive. Street parking and nearby lots available. My friend dined here multiple times before and said it's usually better. read more

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Came here for their AYCE experience! Each person can order 3 items at a time and only one of those items could be a starred menu item. I wished there wasn't the restriction for the starred dishes since most of the items I wanted to order were starred heh.. but I guess that makes sense since they're the popular or premium dishes. Service was pretty quick though which helped prevent us from being too full before we could put in another order. Food in general would be a 4/5. There weren't any stand-out items from my perspective but there was good variety of dishes. The restaurant had good vibes and seems to be a good spot to grab dinner with friends! read more

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So glad I bookmarked this place & even more glad we finally got to give Ultra Sushi a try!! With a long day in the city on New Year's Eve and my toddler craving for some sushi, I quickly scrolled through my bookmarks and stumbled across this gem. I threw out the idea of AYCE and everyone seemed to be on board. Looking for parking delayed our arrival. Either opt to park in the structure to simplify things or be okay with driving back and forth, up and down in attempts to find an open spot. Lucky for us, the restaurant wasn't remotely full which immediately got us seated. Our part of 3 decided to go with AYCE. At $46 per adult & $20 for children under the age of 10, this cost covers both soda & hot sake for those of age. You are essentially provided 90 mins to enjoy and each time you place an order, there is a cap off amount of 3 items per person. Starred items on the menu are considered "special" and each starred item ordered must come with 2 regular non-starred items. As always, excess food left behind will result in a charge. There are certain items clearly labeled that an additional charge will be added. The menu was pretty extensive. Ultra Sushi offers appetizers, "unique" items, nigiri, skewers, sushi rolls, hand rolls, & sashimi. Highlight items of the night: -Oysters On The Half Shell -Short Rib Teriyaki -Hotate Nigiri -Chicken Gizzard Skewers The negative: -The door was kept open during the entire visit and it was a very brisk, chilly night. I literally had to keep my 4 yo puffy jacket on during the meal. -There is a pretty long delay for items ordered. The miso soup that is not included in the AYCE menu seemed to be forgotten and we had to mention the missing item to 2 separate staff members. Items such as the Wakame salad took longer than required factoring in there is no cook time. -Not sure if the kitchen staff was overwhelmed by orders but we are pretty certain some ordered items never came out. Not a deal breaker but we were also too worried to quickly reorder in fear that DOUBLE the amount would come out. -While the menu looked enticing, a lot of the key popular items just so happen to be "sold out". New Year's Eve went without uni & tuna toro. Booooooo!!!! 3.5 stars overall but I bumped the rating up to 4. My guy would need some pep talking in order to return but I'd happily come back. Hopefully my next visit to Ultra Sushi will have uni on the menu. read more

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finally tried ultra sushi! i'm surprised this place only has 3.4 stars, but i thought it was really good! the nigiris were my favorite, very soft and they melt in your mouth. we went on a sunday, it wasn't busy at all, service was quick. maybe the downside was that we can only order 6 at a time, BUT that kinda worked out for us! i would come here again! read more

Ultra Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

Love love love!! And I think my sister and I did some damage. I didn't take a photo of it all but we ate 6 sushi rolls, 4 hand rolls, salad, edamame, mixed tempura and some hot sake! The ladies working were awesome, kept checking up on us. It was our first time going there so they were super helpful. All in all the place was neatly kept and clean. It wasn't as busy so we got seated immediately. And we loved the food. Will be coming back with my other sister. read more

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I gave this spot a try with my friends for an early dinner on a Wednesday evening. There wasn't a queue as we arrived 45 minutes after it had opened so we were seated immediately. I didn't appreciate the fact that they served pink ginger (IYKYK) and the service could have been more friendly. It was our first time there and my friends & I didn't understand how the iPad ordering system worked. We asked the pregnant server how to use it and she was really short with us and looked at my friend as if he had 3 heads. I digress. The restaurant also had a bunch of rules so it's not exactly AYCE. Each person can only order 3 items per round and only one of those 3 items can be a premium item ie uni, toro, soft shell crab, etc. and the other 2 items have to be non-premium items. Beverages don't count as an item. The sushi is decent for AYCE and the food arrives to the table fairly quickly. The rolls and nigiri are very rice heavy. All that aside, it's a fun place to dine with friends as it's downtown in San Mateo and walkable to many dessert shops for a post dinner treat. read more

Ultra Sushi - salmon nigiri, hamachi nigiri & uni nigiri - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

You can order up to 3 items per person per round. Many drinks are included. You can get up to 6 nigiris per person per round. Rounds are every time the server gives you an iPad. I went during a less busy time, but I can imagine getting an iPad can be difficult during busier times (they take it away after every order). Ambiance is good and they have shabu shabu ayce as an option if you don't want sushi. 4/5 cause they take the iPad. read more

Ultra Sushi - Nigiri - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

We came here as a big group (12 people) for dinner on a Sunday and got seated right away. The price for AYCE is $45.99 per person before taxes and tip. Ordering is done on an iPad and you can order one starred item with every two starred items, and each person can order three items at a time. Sashimi and nigiri were fresh but I wish the nigiri had a little less rice. The toro and sake salmon were consistently our favorites. We tried the 20 pc chef's choice sashimi but preferred ordering just the toro and sake salmon nigiri. I also enjoyed the carpaccios (hamachi and salmon). We were disappointed that they were sold out of uni for the night. It was one of the starred items that we were really looking forward to. Aside from sashimi and nigiri, they also had some skewers that we really enjoyed, especially for the kids. The short rib teriyaki was also very good. The service was fast and we did not have to wait long in between orders, even despite being a big group. It was easy to flag down our server when we were ready to order again. read more

Ultra Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Mateo, California

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All you can eat but only within their rules-- premium items marked with a star can only be accompanied as one order with up to two regular items (no stars). Orders sill come in sets of two it seems (1 order of nigiri is 2 pieces). They require you to place your order on an ipad and only return it to you at their whim. This means even if you waited for some time, if they don't see you, you may not be able to order until they return an ipad to your table. Not my favorite system. It is exacerbated by how busy they are. Went on a Saturday evening, where the restaurant was fully booked out. Service varied from being very quick at the start and then I literally had my hand waving in the air but the staff would rather clean multiple empty tables before looking up at current customers. Fish is decent quality and not overly ratioed with too much rice to fish. Relaxed group and date atmosphere! read more

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Very good sushi buffet. The expensive ones aren't limited but you have to order 3 at a time with 2 inexpensive ones, pretty weird rule but understandable. Like lamb bbqs, toro, etc. Mostly sashimi almost no sushi haha. The missing star is that I had too much sashimi that my stomach couldn't help but wanting some hot plates (bbqs didn't cut it), maybe soup that I didn't notice on the menu. read more

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Lunch at $35. Uni - always sold out / non existence Scallop - most of time out of stock Oysters - used to have mini pacific oysters, now medium size oysters. Fresh usually with ocassional bad ones, the worst part, they don't wash them or wash them properly. Every time I get diarrhea. Bad ones... Skewers- mini squid or chicken were quite good Soft carb- quite good but oily Mussels- good sometimes out of stock Sushi- average to good; at least they look decent and do not add a lot of rice to trick you. Ordering systems 2 no star items with 1 special star item. You can order 6 rounds or so with 90 minutes. Usually, that's enough time to eat All in all, good experience for lunch experience. read more

Came here to spoil myself for my birthday and I was not disappointed! Coming here, I know it's AYCE, so I wasn't expecting the highest quality, Michelin-rated sushi. However, it is definitely better than other AYCE spots I've been to. I recommend a few things: - Order fewer rolls, they'll fill you up because they're larger than normal - Choose the star items you'd like first and go from there, because if you want one towards the end, you're going to have to scarf down two more plates - Oysters, YES! Salmon, YES! Teppenyaki, YES! We also got our fill on unlimited hot sake (3 bottles worth) and were plenty full at the end. Would come back for sure! read more

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