Sushi Maruyama, San Mateo

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Sushi Maruyama 279 Baldwin Ave San Mateo, CA 94401 (650) 315-2945 Sushi Maruyama Website

Why did we dine here? – Sushi Maruyama is the latest Japanese spot to give this corner a go. They are not related to the last place. The last 2 came and went over the years. This Japanese restaurant joins a ton of others on virtually every block of downtown San Mateo. The town is now home to some top spots including Wakuriya, Sushi Sam, and Sushi Yoshizumi.

This spot focus on sashimi and sushi along with other Japanese small dishes.

Sushi Maruyama touts: Short grain rice mix with traditional red vinegar from Japan for our sushi. Seasonal fish from Tsukiji & Kyushu,along with sekigahara tamari soy to create our house made soy sauce.

Insider Tip – This is a small restaurant, so reservations are a must.

Cuisine – Japanese
Location – Downtown San Mateo
Opened – May 2017

Service – Sushi Maruyama had reasonably good service for such a small restaurant. The servers helped us select the right dish and were fairly efficient.
Verdict – Sushi Maruyama is a stylish restaurant with a nice small cozy vibe. The omakase is priced right and of high quality. We recommend anybody who is into this type of cuisine to give it a try.

As with any Japanese spot, you can easily spend a ton of money getting “full”. Order carefully and do not over eat, this is not super size place.

Sushi Maruyama Signature Dishes – Omakase, Sashimi, Miso Cod.

Sushi Maruyama’s Menu During dinner includes a great value $49 Omakase plus a fairly good list sushi menu and sashimi dishes along with nice list of cold small dishes.

Website Sushi Maruyama Menu

Sushi Maruyama Food Picks:

Sous vide cooked duck ($12) consisted of thinly sliced pieces of tender duck with the rendered fat still in tact. The dipping sauce was a strong balsamic. A nice appetizer – side dish.

Today’s chef choice of nigiri 10pcs, and Tamago 1pc ($49) All nigiris are carefully seasoned by chef. This is the must get here. On this day it included: Salmon, Amaebi, Fatty Tuna, Mackerel, Uni, Tako, Snapper, Yellow Tail. All very fresh, cut perfectly, but not liberal in size. Great value and slightly better quality than Sushi Sam’s Omakase.

beef tataki with homemade soy sauce ($16) was a nice thin cut seared beef dish in a vinegary sauce. Delicate and tangy. Expensive for the quantity you get.

black cod marinated by Saikyo miso ($16) was a good sized portion of well done, flaky, sweet, moist cod. A good way to fill up, compared to the other dishes.

Toro ($7) was fatty and really good. Not cheap for this tiny bite.

Tako ($3.50) was super thin and very tender. Wow.

Uni ($9) was from Hokkaido. Not big but smooth and possessing a unique flavor profile.

red miso soup with fresh seaweed ($3.80) hit the spot with bold miso flavor.

red miso soup with cherry stone clam ($4) had 2 large clams in addition to the soup. A cheap upgrade from the regular one.

Side order of Sushi Rice ($3.80) is not normally served but we really need it for the black cod. It is vinegared and actually worked well with the side dishes.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
None

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
None

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