Perfect location, easy parking. Quick service! Great food.Tuna Take Don! Great combo with the seaweed salad. I'd definitely go back here!
Vincent G.
Still Amazing!! The choices are still fresh and the service was great.More food stuff @vin.foodjournal
seaweed cat
Fantastic food and great service! New go to spot for zaru soba!
Soo Jee K.
We went to Kaori yesterday Saturday pass lunch time. The restaurant was very clean (and the restroom!). The restaurant is spacious, high cealing, and child friendly. Food was good! Much better than we expected. There was only one server and he was attentive to all of the tables and he was very professional and kind! We also ordered Tempura Mori (not in picture), the shrimp was perfect but the veggies' batter was not good as the shrimp one. It could be perfect if they make the veggies' batter same as the shrimp Sushi and roll were good We will go back to try more items in the menu.
Xio Reb L.
Decided to try a new sushi place and heard good things about this place. I ended up ordering the California crunch roll and it's good. I think next time I'd say no to the pool of flakes I got on top of my sushi. It almost seemed like they were hiding a treasure behind the insane amount of flakes lol.
Marine D.
Nice convenient lunch located in San Mateo and Great service.Food and portions were good
Vincent Gano
First time visit, and won’t be the last. The nigiri and fish quality is spectacular and I got to try all their salmon varieties which makes me very happy!More food stuff @vin.foodjournal
Leaf Chan
Came here pretty close to opening and it was quiet and pretty empty. Food thought is really good. Got only sushi and have no complaints. I did get the plum wine and I really like it. I don't like tasting alcohol so this is some nice juice! Service though is the best, they came by often making sure we were doing well.
Kimiko D.
Mixed feelings - the restaurant is spacious and our waiter was very nice; the menu has a huge selection (with pic's). Japanese restaurants don't usually charge for green tea, so that was a little disappointing that Kaori does. The "Shrimp Tempura Udon" was good - loved the crispy, light tempura batter ($14.50). Tried the "Orange Blossom" sushi roll ($16.50) - wasn't very firm so it tended to fall apart unless you ate the whole piece (which was pretty large)'; "Salmon Skin Hand-roll" didn't have very much salmon skin, but a pretty large carrot in it which took all the attention. I just was not "wowed" as others but I would return (when my go-to Japanese restaurant is closed, as it was today) - I think I'll stick with individual Nigiri sushi instead of rolls.
Briana L.
First time here and would have never known this was here if it wasn't recommended by a family friend. I'm so use to venturing in downtown San Mateo however there are other small restaurants on this block as well. Our group of four came right before lunch closing. Only one or two other tables were in the restaurant so no wait. We ordered four rolls and a sashimi combo which was the perfect amount for our group. The quality of the sushi and sashimi were decent. As a bonus, we checked in on Yelp for the free appetizer and asked the waitress to surprise us because we couldn't decide from the three options of appetizers. Instead, she was super sweet and gave us an order of takoyaki for free which wasnt an option initially! Friendly staff even around lunch closing time. They didn't rush us out at all. Worth a try if you're in the area!
Sushi ? is excellent Service was off today, otherwise would be 5 stars.
VB L.
Can you say "Sushi Happy Hour"? I can and will tell you to head on in here between 4:30 and 5:30 to get 15% off of all sushi!! Wooooohooooo! And you can take another 5% off when you pay cash. Say what? Best of all, the sushi is dynamite. The fish is fresh, with huge portions and luscious sauces. Sigh... Just talking about it makes we want to jump in the car and head right over for a Dragon Roll. Now, I'm a big fan of having a salad before my sushi and their salad, though simple, was a crispy, fresh delight with a lovely miso dressing. Add to the lettuce a slice of tomato and two wedges of orange and you have a fresh start to your sushi dinner. Let's move on to those yummy rolls. I'm not a fan of fake krab, and will avoid it like COVID, so I order any rolls that don't have fake krab. My go-to roll is Spicy Dragon Roll with its sweet and yummy tempura shrimp, rolled tightly in a comfortable rice blanket and decorated with avocado and eel. Add some hot and seriously caloric sauce, and you've got a winner of a roll. The menu offers much more than sushi with house specials, boxes and pretty much anything to please anyone. Follow your heart and stomach to find something that pleases you and it shouldn't be too hard because everything is good. But make sure to take advantage of the Happy Hour. 20% off is nothing to sneeze at. (Pardon the COVID pun!)
Tiffany H.
We came here on a late weekend afternoon and were able to find problem and nab a table without any issues. With a toddler and an infant in tow, I was floored by how accommodating the restaurant was and how they really made it so easy for us to have a "quick" and delicious lunch.My son is fairly picky in that he loves fresh, high-quality food (he refuses to eat non-organic vegetables and fruits!). He absolutely loved the salmon & avocado sushi here and also gobbled down some of our leftover grilled (or broiled?) hamachi kama. We also tried the sashimi salad, which was extremely tasty and had generous chunks of fresh fish and the right amount of dressing to pair with the salad greens. The Volcano was also a hit, with its pieces of spicy tuna, avocado, salmon, crab salad, tempura flakes, and special sauce. This very well may be my favorite non-omakase Japanese restaurant in the Bay Area (I haven't tried their omakase yet so stay tuned!). Price is reasonable, atmosphere is laid back and family friendly, and service is attentive and helpful.
robin johnson
Oh man this place is great the lady that serves you she's so sweet and kind that guy that's making this stuff everything is fresh if you're like me you like fresh sushi baked or not go here I found this place by accident but I'm glad I found it really really good five stars if you get more I would give it more I always get the base scallops the roll and a teriyaki salmon and The Lion King excellent
Mitchell Smith
Walked in just before 8p (restaurant closes at 8:30p). No one was in the FOH. Sushi chef tells a woman in front of us to hold on a moment. He goes to the back and a young man comes out and the woman explains that she is by herself and that we (me and one other person) were separate from her. He tells all three of us, oh well we close at 8:30p so this will be last call. She let him take her to a table. We turned around and left and went to Sapporo Rock and Roll down the street where all of the food—especially the sushi—is excellent and the people are warm and friendly. …I guess I feel like if you want to stop serving at 8p, maybe you should close at 8p.I worked FOH, BOH, and management in restaurants for over 8 years. I get it that people want to go home, but I’ve also worked restaurants through the ‘08 recession and know now that prepared food is a luxury and learned to be grateful for all the business that came our way when it came, even if it was at the end of the night. We work in the hospital now and sometimes we can’t get to a restaurant until 8 or 8:30. It’s very annoying that so many restaurants here close before 9p and intolerable to be hurried before we even have a table. If you are open, we are going to try to come.
Perfect location, easy parking. Quick service! Great food.Tuna Take Don! Great combo with the seaweed salad. I'd definitely go back here!
Still Amazing!! The choices are still fresh and the service was great.More food stuff @vin.foodjournal
Fantastic food and great service! New go to spot for zaru soba!
We went to Kaori yesterday Saturday pass lunch time. The restaurant was very clean (and the restroom!). The restaurant is spacious, high cealing, and child friendly. Food was good! Much better than we expected. There was only one server and he was attentive to all of the tables and he was very professional and kind! We also ordered Tempura Mori (not in picture), the shrimp was perfect but the veggies' batter was not good as the shrimp one. It could be perfect if they make the veggies' batter same as the shrimp Sushi and roll were good We will go back to try more items in the menu.
Decided to try a new sushi place and heard good things about this place. I ended up ordering the California crunch roll and it's good. I think next time I'd say no to the pool of flakes I got on top of my sushi. It almost seemed like they were hiding a treasure behind the insane amount of flakes lol.
Nice convenient lunch located in San Mateo and Great service.Food and portions were good
First time visit, and won’t be the last. The nigiri and fish quality is spectacular and I got to try all their salmon varieties which makes me very happy!More food stuff @vin.foodjournal
Came here pretty close to opening and it was quiet and pretty empty. Food thought is really good. Got only sushi and have no complaints. I did get the plum wine and I really like it. I don't like tasting alcohol so this is some nice juice! Service though is the best, they came by often making sure we were doing well.
Mixed feelings - the restaurant is spacious and our waiter was very nice; the menu has a huge selection (with pic's). Japanese restaurants don't usually charge for green tea, so that was a little disappointing that Kaori does. The "Shrimp Tempura Udon" was good - loved the crispy, light tempura batter ($14.50). Tried the "Orange Blossom" sushi roll ($16.50) - wasn't very firm so it tended to fall apart unless you ate the whole piece (which was pretty large)'; "Salmon Skin Hand-roll" didn't have very much salmon skin, but a pretty large carrot in it which took all the attention. I just was not "wowed" as others but I would return (when my go-to Japanese restaurant is closed, as it was today) - I think I'll stick with individual Nigiri sushi instead of rolls.
First time here and would have never known this was here if it wasn't recommended by a family friend. I'm so use to venturing in downtown San Mateo however there are other small restaurants on this block as well. Our group of four came right before lunch closing. Only one or two other tables were in the restaurant so no wait. We ordered four rolls and a sashimi combo which was the perfect amount for our group. The quality of the sushi and sashimi were decent. As a bonus, we checked in on Yelp for the free appetizer and asked the waitress to surprise us because we couldn't decide from the three options of appetizers. Instead, she was super sweet and gave us an order of takoyaki for free which wasnt an option initially! Friendly staff even around lunch closing time. They didn't rush us out at all. Worth a try if you're in the area!
Restaurantji Recommends
Sushi ? is excellent Service was off today, otherwise would be 5 stars.
Can you say "Sushi Happy Hour"? I can and will tell you to head on in here between 4:30 and 5:30 to get 15% off of all sushi!! Wooooohooooo! And you can take another 5% off when you pay cash. Say what? Best of all, the sushi is dynamite. The fish is fresh, with huge portions and luscious sauces. Sigh... Just talking about it makes we want to jump in the car and head right over for a Dragon Roll. Now, I'm a big fan of having a salad before my sushi and their salad, though simple, was a crispy, fresh delight with a lovely miso dressing. Add to the lettuce a slice of tomato and two wedges of orange and you have a fresh start to your sushi dinner. Let's move on to those yummy rolls. I'm not a fan of fake krab, and will avoid it like COVID, so I order any rolls that don't have fake krab. My go-to roll is Spicy Dragon Roll with its sweet and yummy tempura shrimp, rolled tightly in a comfortable rice blanket and decorated with avocado and eel. Add some hot and seriously caloric sauce, and you've got a winner of a roll. The menu offers much more than sushi with house specials, boxes and pretty much anything to please anyone. Follow your heart and stomach to find something that pleases you and it shouldn't be too hard because everything is good. But make sure to take advantage of the Happy Hour. 20% off is nothing to sneeze at. (Pardon the COVID pun!)
We came here on a late weekend afternoon and were able to find problem and nab a table without any issues. With a toddler and an infant in tow, I was floored by how accommodating the restaurant was and how they really made it so easy for us to have a "quick" and delicious lunch.My son is fairly picky in that he loves fresh, high-quality food (he refuses to eat non-organic vegetables and fruits!). He absolutely loved the salmon & avocado sushi here and also gobbled down some of our leftover grilled (or broiled?) hamachi kama. We also tried the sashimi salad, which was extremely tasty and had generous chunks of fresh fish and the right amount of dressing to pair with the salad greens. The Volcano was also a hit, with its pieces of spicy tuna, avocado, salmon, crab salad, tempura flakes, and special sauce. This very well may be my favorite non-omakase Japanese restaurant in the Bay Area (I haven't tried their omakase yet so stay tuned!). Price is reasonable, atmosphere is laid back and family friendly, and service is attentive and helpful.
Oh man this place is great the lady that serves you she's so sweet and kind that guy that's making this stuff everything is fresh if you're like me you like fresh sushi baked or not go here I found this place by accident but I'm glad I found it really really good five stars if you get more I would give it more I always get the base scallops the roll and a teriyaki salmon and The Lion King excellent
Walked in just before 8p (restaurant closes at 8:30p). No one was in the FOH. Sushi chef tells a woman in front of us to hold on a moment. He goes to the back and a young man comes out and the woman explains that she is by herself and that we (me and one other person) were separate from her. He tells all three of us, oh well we close at 8:30p so this will be last call. She let him take her to a table. We turned around and left and went to Sapporo Rock and Roll down the street where all of the food—especially the sushi—is excellent and the people are warm and friendly. …I guess I feel like if you want to stop serving at 8p, maybe you should close at 8p.I worked FOH, BOH, and management in restaurants for over 8 years. I get it that people want to go home, but I’ve also worked restaurants through the ‘08 recession and know now that prepared food is a luxury and learned to be grateful for all the business that came our way when it came, even if it was at the end of the night. We work in the hospital now and sometimes we can’t get to a restaurant until 8 or 8:30. It’s very annoying that so many restaurants here close before 9p and intolerable to be hurried before we even have a table. If you are open, we are going to try to come.