Sushi Sam’s is a popular Japanese restaurant in downtown San Mateo. We have considered them and Hotaru as the 2 best Japanese restaurants in this area.

Decor, Vibe - Small cramped space with generic Japanese restaurant decor. Many people waiting, tables full of families, couples, and small groups.

Menu Pictures

Picks:

Chicken Teriyaki Dinner ($11.50) with salad, Miso Soup, and Rice. Massive quantities of chicken. Sauce was on the sweet side, but chicken was cooked fine. Pretty standard bland salad.

California Roll ($2) 3 pieces. They used real crab in mayo instead of fake crab. Pretty rare at this price. You could easily taste the difference.

Ebi ($3.50) 2 regular sized pieces that had fresh shrimp, a little wasabi, and ok rice.

Chawan Mushi ($5.50) Their version of this hot egg custard has shrimp, mushrooms, and spinach. A lot more ingredients and buttery smooth.

Teba Shioyaki (Chicken Wings) ($5.25) were freshly fried. Crispy, yet not battered.

Wagyusuji ($5.95) or beef stew was delicious.  Excellent broth and stewed meat.  Be sure to eat it with rice.  Lots of fat though.

Black Sugar Panna Cotta ($6, Omakase +$2) with persimmon puree, Fuyu persimmon was very good.  Smooth, fruity, not too sweet.

OK:

Omakase ($33) came with lots of different cuts of fish and a piece of octopus. The slices were large and fresh but were not well done.  No delicacy and it resulted in too large pieces and poor cuts causing tendons.  It came with desert at least.

Chicken Udon ($9.50) was a huge bowl with lots of chicken, green onions, and a small fish cake. Noodles were pretty thin and chewy. Broth was ok. Hotaru does a better job.

Zaru Soba ($8.25) was cold soba noodles with sauce.  Average basic noodle dish. Not a lot to it.

Sauteed Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms ($6.50) was tasty but super tiny. I could eat it in 3 bites.

Chicken Yakitori ($4.75) was average.  Chicken was not especially tender and sauce was mediocre.

Pans:
None

Service was above average with lots of servers passing by. Food came out pretty quick. Prices are reasonable for a restaurant like this. Sushi Sam’s and Hotaru remain top choices in this area. Sushi Sam’s does have a more varied menu with Omakase (Trust the chef) available.

For high end Omakase you are better off at a place specializing in this like Sakae Sushi or Sushi Ran.

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Gombei has 3 locations for this Japanese restaurant, Menlo Park, San Jose, and Santa Clara. They primarily serve Japanese teriyaki style dinners, Udon noodles, Tofu Hotpots, and Donburi rice bowls.  They don’t have a sushi menu. The sashmi they serve is part of combination plates. We tried the Menlo Park location for lunch. They have specials listed on a wall dry erase board. These are usually the best deals and best food.

Decore, Vibe - A slight step up from generic Japanese restaurant decor.  Lots of workers during lunch break were eating at the time.

Menu Pictures:

Daily Specials

Picks:

Chicken Teriyaki ($8) is down right huge and priced reasonably.  It includes a big simple salad, rice, and
small cup of decent miso soup. The quality was above average, sauce not too sweet, but the chicken was slightly burned.

Broiled Yuzu-Orag Hamachi Yellowtail and Nimono Special ($9.75) came with a decent size piece of fish and a big bowl of hot vegetable stew. The fish was a tad chard but good.

OK:

None

Pans:

None

The service is not very good, you have to grab servers for refills, the bill, etc.  The prices are reasonable so this place is of good value, especially for dinner. Family friendly. Higher quality Japanese food and more variety can be had in Hotaru in San Mateo.

Also at:
3533 Homestead Road,
Santa Clara, 95051

(408) 260-0880

193 Jackson Street,
San Jose, 95112
(408) 279-4311

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Since 2004, Koo has been serving up Japanese food in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset district. It is a small 42 seat place neighborhood place.

The chef worked at Sushi Ran, and partnered to opened Ace Wasabi’s and Tokyo GoGo. As they put it: “47-year-old Kiyoshi celebrates the best of old-world Japanese cuisine, featuring excellent cuts of fresh fish expertly prepared and beautifully presented, and treads where no sushi chef has gone before–breaking every old-school sushi rule with new-world menu items that could be categorized as downright blasphemous.”  The place is near the top of the Zagat’s guide, so we had to give it a try.

Decor, Vibe - This is not an overly fancy place. Pretty low key. No million dollar fancy decor. It is a small step up from a typical neighborhood sushi place decor wise. Lots of families, groups, and couples enjoying food.

Koo Menu Pictures

Catch of the day

Sushi Menu

Regular Menu

Drink Menu

Dessert Menu

Picks:

A Spoonful of Happiness ($10) Spoonful of Uni, Quail Egg, Tobiko, Ponzu & Ankimo wrapped with whitefish, Truffle-Oil & a shot of chilled Sake was 2 nice sized soup spoons of delight. Both items were fresh and flavorful. This is not as small as you think it might be. The Sake made for a nice palate cleanser to chase the flavors down.

Sashimi Combo ($20) 12pcs of Four different fish of the day ( Chef’s Choice). We actually got 3 extra pieces of salmon, which is the case with other top notch places. The fish was fresh even though it was Sunday. Salmon, Maguro, Hamachi, and Halibut were the choices today. Very good.

Hamachi Kama ($13) Broiled Hamachi Kama with Ponzu and graded Daikon Radish is the classic filet mignon part of the fish that many overlook. The sauce was a little too sour but the fish cooked just right and tasty. The skin was crispy and delicious. Pretty big piece too.

Beef Tataki ($12) Chilled sliced shoulder tender loin with apple ginger soy was a seared beef dish with heavy soy flavor. Tasted pretty good and had a good amount of beef too.

Mochi Ice Cream ($4) Strawberry & Mango with home made cookies was delicious. Wish there were more, but at $4 you could order another one.

Kuro-Goma Mousse ($4) Black Sesame Mousee had a sweet honey glaze on top. This is more of an Asian dessert that some might not like, but we liked its low key subtle flavor.

Small Wakame Salad, Miso soup, Rice ($6 w/any plate order) had above average quality side dishes. Definitely worth getting.

OK:

Bamboo Tower ($13) Crystal Sesame-Ponzu, Mizuna Green with Fresh White Fish, Scallop and Shrimp ( for 2 or more ) consists of Japanese greens fused with raw seafood and a very light dressing. A weird combination for us even though quality of all ingredients was top notch.

Chicken Teriyaki ($10) Chutney-Teriyaki glazed thighs of Chicken had a sauce that was too sweet. Quality of the chicken was good as was quantity. No burnt chicken rookies here.

Pans:
None

They have a classic sushi menu, but we decided to go for items that the waiter recommended. No reason not to explore! Service was pretty good, with no worries about empty tea or water glasses. Servers were running around this tiny place. Prices are reasonable for the quality of product they produce.  The fusion aspect of the food keeps things interesting. Having the classic sushi menu around is helpful for those who do not want to explore. We would only rate top notch places like Sushi Ran and Nobu higher than this spot. Koo outdoes most other Japanese restaurants.

This is a small place, so reservations are essential. Their wine list is tiny, so bring your own wine.  Corkage is only $12.  Great place to visit after hitting Golden Gate Park. Parking along Lincon way is the best bet.

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