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Barracuda Japanese Restaurant
Categories: Restaurants Japanese Restaurants Sushi Bars Restaurants Asian Fusion Japanese, Sushi Bars, Asian Fusion [Edit]
127 H Serramonte CtrDaly City, CA 94015
(650) 757-6833
- Hours:
Mon-Thu, Sun 11 am - 10 pm
Fri-Sat 11 am - 11 pm
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good For:
- Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Noise Level:
- Average
- Ambience:
- Casual
- Has TV:
- Yes
- Caters:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Zachary S. said: "Whenever I'm in San Mateo and seeking to fulfill my sushi craving I head straight over to Joy. Is it the best sushi in San Mateo? No. But it's reasonably priced, very filling, tasty, and pretty fresh. One of the menus they serve here…" read more »
385 reviews for Barracuda Japanese Restaurant
Review Highlights
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"This place offers awesome happy hour deals." In 80 reviews -
"Definitely try the Spicy Tuna Hand Roll." In 28 reviews -
"the green tea ice cream, though, more than made up for..." In 2 reviews
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385 reviews in English
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Review from Mabel B.
Came to Barracuda multiple times with my boyfriend to satiate his cravings for sushi.
The sushi here isn't bad, but it isn't good. Not sure why we keep coming back, perhaps because its quick and easy to get a table and get our rolls.
Sometimes I get a bento, sometimes ramen if it's cold, sometimes a roll or two if I want. They have a variety of items to choose from (look at the specials board). I always want to order the Kobe beef sliders but I always forget. Someone tell me how they are!
Servers are alright and pretty patient. I especially like how there are the buttons at the corners of the table to ring for your server. TEEHEE -
Review from Bradley H.
San Jose, CA
The Happy Hour here is pretty sweet, with $2 beers and $3-$4 appetizers including some sushi rolls, chicken karaage, oysters, skewers, handrolls, and more.
The service here isn't great, but it's good enough.
The normal menu itself is overpriced and unfortunately, the high demands on the pocketbook don't match the quality of food they serve.
This place feels like it's supposed to be a hip fusion-type sushi bar, but it sort of falls flat with a half hearted ambience that just doesn't seem to work regardless of how much i would like it to.
1.9 stars for the happy hour, 0.1 stars for everything else = 2 stars.
Happy Eating! -
Review from Christelle Joy B.
San Jose, CA
Not that I have crazy high expectations when it comes to sushi, but everything was mediocre about Barracuda. The service isn't terrible, but it wasn't good either. I came here with four of my family members for a late lunch, and a lot of our orders were forgotten, so we'd have to remind our server a few times when there were only a handful of other parties in the whole restaurant. I really don't think there's a valid excuse for that when it seemed like they were overstaffed to begin with.
The sushi wasn't all that great. I don't remember what all the rolls' names were, but nothing tasted really good either, and my Lion King roll came out just as we were about to leave, and was basically burnt.
...I don't think I'll be coming back. -
Review from Rondi J.
Daly City, CA
This place is right by my work and I love going there for their lunch specials. I am a sushi lover and I feel like I get fresh sushi every time I eat here. Can not go wrong eating here anytime of the day.
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Review from Christine P.
Daly City, CA
Used to come here on and off for the lunch deals. Went recently for a late night dinner... What happened? The freshness wasn't there. Granted, it was later in the evening but the salmon wasn't very fresh.
The bathroom was gross too. If people can see icky brown stuff under the rim, that's bad. I wasn't even trying to look either. It was dark in the restaurant but if I could see the dirty carpet and tile - who knows what the kitchen is like?
I'm pretty disappointed! I'd almost rather battle parking in the city over convienence!1 Previous Review: Show all »
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1/24/2010
i was pleasantly surprised! lunch specials are a DEAL and i think they serve them until about 3 or 4… Read more »
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1/24/2010
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Review from Chante W.
San Francisco, CA
Came here w/my home girl. The alcoholic beverages we had were so good and strong. The sushi was on point. One down fall we had diarrhea the same night or the next day. Kayne West shrug.
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Review from Kenneth T.
Pacifica, CA
You know when you watch one of those restaurant rescue shows and you see the place cutting corners and turning off clients? I got that feeling here.
Too bad, too, as I used to like this place.
I returned there for the 4th or 5th time and have to say the place has really gone downhill.
When we arrived a waiter had to call the greeter to greet us. That's never a good sign, but I shrugged it off.
Outside, there was an A-Frame advertising happy hour sushi from $3.00 when we get our menus, there's nothing that started at $3.00. Closest was $3.50. We asked the waitress about it. She said the pricing was new and the board hadn't been updated. Still, they placed it outside. How long does it take to erase chalk and price it correctly? 50 cents? Meh who cares? I don't like being baited with false advertising, though.
On the happy hour menu they've got a few rolls. We ordered a couple rolls. The california rolls were not very good. The rice was hard and cold as if they came out of the refrigerator and the rolls had a day-old taste to them.
Off the happy hour menu we ordered the lobster roll. It came with that fake Krab stuff. I asked the waitress if there was any lobster in it, since it was a lobster roll. She responded that the sauce was made of langastinos (google that! they're not really lobsters). More bait and switch? I don't know. Maybe they use real lobsters. Can't tell (and that's the problem) as the rolls themselves are the fake krab stuff. Does it make a difference? It wasn't very good no matter how you slice it.
On the plus side, the chicken karaage was tasty and the waitress was friendly and polite. Not enough to counter the food, though.
As we left, the words came out that I really hate saying "we're not going back there again"1 Previous Review: Show all »
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12/10/2008
Beautiful sushi that could taste just a little bit better.
We've eaten here twice and it seems to… Read more »
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12/10/2008
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Review from robbie l.
San Francisco, CA
If you want poor quality sushi that may or may not make you deathly ill or to be served by inexperienced untrained no common sense skinny Asian high school girls this place is for you!!!!
Someone please contact the health inspector!!! Waitresses that work here should only help the deaf blind and mute. -
Review from Seung Hyun Y.
Everett, WA
SUSHI IN SERRAMONTE?! WHAT?! WHAT?! Although when I walked in, it looked more like a place you would take a date to. The whole intimate lighting and small tables told me so.
Not too bad. The presentation of my food was appetizing. I just had to take a photo to show it to you all! By the way, Barracuda also has Sriracha and Gochujang condiments if you ask them graciously.
I had a mixed spicy raw fish salad with rice. Mixed it all together before realizing the spicy sauce was just Korean Gochujang. What is this?! Ah well..
SERVICE:
Attentive, Cute waitresses for all those single bachelors out there (You know its just eye candy!) -
Review from Tina N.
OKAY sushi. Would only come here out of convenience.
Nothing great for the prices and the rolls & cuts of fish are really small. I really don't feel like I'm getting my money's worth here. However, I do enjoy the music here and service has been good, nothing bad to say about that. I've just had better sushi for the same if not cheaper price. -
Review from Erica L.
Either they changed how they make their rolls or I've just been having better sushi compared to here.
Ordered crazy roll, spicy hamachi roll, and the 49er roll..
RICE was really bad! Not sure how to describe it, it was a mush basically. Sushi rice you are supposed to be able to bite into each grain.
Flavors were not there. When I was eating the crazy roll, it couldnt even tell what fish, even when i took pieces out separately.
49er roll was okay, I didn't taste the salmon as much as other rolls i've had.
Wasabi was weak. I had to put a ton in order to get it to my liking and normally I'd put a little dab.1 Previous Review: Show all »
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10/1/2010
Yummy Rolls
A bit pricey for sushi. They used to have a Mon/Tues night 20% off, but not anymore… Read more »
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10/1/2010
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Review from Priscilla W.
San Francisco, CA
I've eaten here once for dinner and once during happy hour. The food is decent, and there is a lot of variety. The sushi is doused with so much sauce, and it's overpriced; sushi is only worth it during HH. The dinner combo entrees are around $17, but I've seen better deals as low as $13 elsewhere. However, Barracuda definitely beats Serramonte mall food.
They have a tasty green tea ice cream though! It's not so sweet that the very subtle bitterness of green tea is overpowered. Also, staff is friendly and quick, as there's a service bell on the edge of each table. -
Review from Kevyne R.
Happy Hour at its finest!
It was 5pm and the ladies want something to eat. We were supposed to go to EBar next door but we saw the signage for HH so we decided to check out the place. The lady at the reception was really nice and gave us a nice corner table by the window.
We had the Shrimp and Veggie Tempura, Ceviche Mini Tacos (minced onions, tomatoes, celery, Avocado in it) Chicken Kara-age, Spicy Tuna Roll, California maki, and Salmon Skin hand. Two orders for each kind please. I know, me and my friends eat like dudes!!! Aint going to describe how each and every food taste like but ALL of them are lip smacking good. None of them cost more than $5.00 per order. The happy hour appetizers price ranges from $3-$5. Pair it with $2.00 Sake or Beer or a $3.00 well cocktails and it's definitely a great time!
Karen, our waitress is awesome! She took care of us really good and even made sure to come to our table to ask if we want to order more before HH ends.
Total damage $17 a piece among us 4 ladies. Not bad eh?Comment from Nam K. of Barracuda Japanese Restaurant 2/29/2012
Happy hour is great here... thank you for your great… More » -
Review from Diane L.
The rolls are pricey and it's not even that good here....Trust me, I've eaten at SOOO many sushi places....go check out my other reviews if u wanna try a good sushi spot!
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Review from Leah A.
San Francisco, CA
My friends and I go here because it's convenient. The food is good and they have a good selection of sushi and rolls, but it's kind of on the pricey side. I've come here pretty often during their weekend bottomless mimosa hours and it's worth it and they usually are able to accommodate a large party, however, the service is a bit lacking. Several times, the waitress has gotten orders wrong or we had to ask several times for things to be brought to us. Also, when you have bottomless mimosas, I feel like they take their sweet time to refill us. Sorry, but you need to be on top of it or else we won't give you a good tip lady! And the more you refill our glasses, chances are, we'll probably order more food hahaha. It's a good spot because it's close to our house, but there's definitely better sushi spots in the area that are priced better.
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Review from Juan C.
Daly City, CA
Service is bad. Not Fresh. Dirty. They even served my son a MOLDY dessert! Will not return!
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Review from L A H.
Pacifica, CA
2.5
Do you like slow service and overpriced sushi?
Well, congratulations this is the place for you.
I've had better sushi for lower prices. Don't get me wrong their sushi is yummy, but muy expensivo.
The service is sooooooooooooo sllooooooooooooow.
I must have hit the service bell electronic device thingy on the table 10 times and our waitress still didn't show up. EVENTUALLY, she made her way to our table.
Keep in mind sushi lovers, this has happened every time I've been in here. Thank the lord sushi is already served cold.
The last time I was here I ordered a frou frou drink and by the time I was on my third frou frou drink my food came.
And don't get me started on what it takes for them to bring you your bill. Not like you'll want to see the total anyways.Listed in: Nay
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Review from Rachel R.
Hayward, CA
We've been here a lot and had a good experience every time. I order something different every time and I have never been disappointed with the food. Customer service is good - friendly, no errors & speed is as expected. The place looks clean; I like the decor. Not a five stars because they can be pricey.
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Review from Serena M.
San Francisco, CA
The food here is just okay. It's definitely not worth the price, but I've been going there the past couple of times because my family wanted sushi and it's convenient (to go after shopping). The waitresses here are NOT attentive at all! You walk in and have to wait a good minute or two to get some kind of acknowledgement. I mean c'mon...I think greeting your customers should have been taught in "customer service 101." And then once you get seated, the waitresses go to the counter or the back to put away plates or whatever they were doing. I mean, don't you think taking orders and taking care of your customers are more important than putting away bowls and plates? They do have a bell at each table, but why do I have to keep ringing the bell instead of having good customer service, where the wait staff should be checking up on how i'm doing and if I need anything else? Even though my family and I didn't stay long, we had to ring the bell for: someone to take our order, more tea, more wasabi and the check! Oh..and for them to come back to take my credit card!! Overall, service was horrible and the food wasn't even worth it. I would have gave them two stars because the food is decent, but they really need to get better servers or at least give them more training.
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Review from Rodel R.
Not so bad, in fact, I quite enjoyed lunch here. Could be the fact that I was a tourist and haven't been exposed to all of the wonderful eateries in the Bay Area :-)
Anyways, I am inclined to agree that sushi is overpriced. Our service however was great! Maybe this was because the two close friends I showed up with come here often. I came here on a double date, and I was quite impressed with the lunch specials. I got a whole lot of food in a Bento Box for under $10. The Chicken Katsu and Chicken Teriyaki tasted great too! The girls ordered the bottomless Mimosas for $7.
I will definitely be coming back for more lunch specials, and hopefully a bottomless Mimosa and a designated driver :-) -
Review from monica s.
San Francisco, CA
i come to this place every week and i just love their sushi! they also have a good selection of beer which is a plus for me!
i have their preferred customer card since i go there so much so each time i eat here, they give me points and after accruing enough, you get a free sushi! yay!
parking is hard since it's located in a mall but other than that, this place is one of my fave sushi spots. -
Review from Nancy C.
Extremely slow service but friendly once you get their attention. I felt like they forgot about me at times. The server took away my Coke for a refill...and forgot about it. I needed to bug her to bring it back. The food was okay.
Power of Love roll: deep fried eel, shrimp, mango, cream cheese topped w/tobiko, mango, and unagi sauce. Not my favorite. The combination of flavors didn't work for me. The cream cheese wasn't prominent enough and the mango sauce was way too much. The sweetness of the mango sauce dominated the roll.
Inferno Scallop roll: spicy tuna, cucumber, and jalapeño covered w/seared scallop and tobiko. This came out ice cold. I like the combination of flavors but it could've used a little less sauce. It was a little too salty for me. There was also a strange bitter taste I couldn't identify.
I like the convenience of the location and there was no wait on a Friday night. The ambiance is dark and trendy. I could barely read my menu. If I had a choice, I would go to Barracuda in the Castro. The service there is just as slow but the sushi rolls seem to be made better and the food comes out warm. The only advantage this location has is that parking is plentiful, which isn't the case in the Castro location. -
Review from Grace L.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this place for their sushi. I've been going here for years and I swear by their sushi for their freshness and their many different fancy rolls. Their fish tastes soo fresh! Mhmm yum. And they have large fancy rolls. Over the years, I've noticed the size of the rolls has slightly gone down, maybe with different sushi chefs. But it's still bigger than most places. The prices of the rolls are pricey, but for what you get it's pretty comparable.
The rolls that I would recommend getting (it all depends on your personal taste of course) would be the Spicy Lion Roll, Red Dragon Roll, Barracuda Roll, Rainbow Roll and 49er Roll. The Geisha Roll and Flame Rolls are good too but are hit-or-miss at times.
However, I HATE HATE HATE this place for their service (except for Desiree, she's probably the only awesome server here, maybe one other girl which I don't know her name). Usually the younger servers (probably only 2 total) are sweet and attentive. Most of the other ones (the japanese looking ones) are SUCKY, they walk past you and never look up. You seriously have to flag them down just for a water refill (here's a tip... give customers bigger water glasses so you don't have to refill that often, since you don't).
You can almost always get a table here without waiting long, unlike Elephant Bar. But I have noticed the few times I've come on a Friday night that it does start to get a little busy (maybe the word is out on their awesome sushi) and you may have to wait a bit for a table.
Did I mention I love their sushi? But I hate their prices (only because I want to order so much more but can't without breaking the bank) and service. -
Review from Delbert A.
Daly City, CA
The food is OK - not great but not horrible - but is way overpriced.
Goodness gracious - the service is so slow! -
Review from v b.
San Francisco, CA
I only eat here for lunch. I think the dinner price is too expensive.
I like their bento boxes, big servings and good deal when you go for lunch. I like their calamari.
I also like their salmon lover roll and the other rolls ive tried were also good (i just cant remember the names) -
Review from ANNIE S.
San Francisco, CA
I came here for happy hour and left with my mission accomplished. The food was great, the drinks were generous and the people were nice. They did take a little long for sushi rolls, which is why I knocked off a star. How long does it take to make some sushi rolls? Unfortunately we were going to be picked up in less than two hours and didn't have an extra 30 minutes to wait for sushi! Maybe someone called in sick that day. Overall the place is awesome, and the food was really good.
Comment from Nam K. of Barracuda Japanese Restaurant 2/28/2012
Sorry about the slow service - we are always making sure… More » -
Review from Jaime C.
Daly City, CA
My friend treated my girlfriend and I to this place since Elephant Bar had a 45 min wait time. Before going on you should know that my girlfriend had just came back from visiting her mom in Japan during x-mas break. First of all they seemed to have an issue deciding who was the waiter for my table and they took a little bit too long to come and take our order. We didn't order any sushi so we can't really talk about the sushi. My girlfriend ordered yakiniku and she was far from being impressed with it. I ordered the Seafood Tempura Platter but for almost $20 it was nothing great. My girlfriend told me she had better precooked grocery food in Japan than the food at this place. I don't think I would ever come back here.
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Review from Christina D.
San Bruno, CA
Creative rolls but really expensive for what you get. They also are really slow on to go orders. You will show up for your pick up on time but still have to wait quite awhile.
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Review from Toni T.
Pacifica, CA
The sushi is not cheap, but it is fresh and creative, thus worth every penny. My faves are Geisha roll, 49er Roll, Barracuda roll. They make a perfect martini and have great appetizers as well. It's my favorite sushi place in the Bay Area.
Comment from Nam K. of Barracuda Japanese Restaurant 2/29/2012
Thank you for you great comments - we only use the BEST… More » -
Review from Wally W.
Santa Rosa, CA
More like 1.5 stars, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.
Came in on a fairly busy Sunday night, apparently everybody else thought to have sushi. They were either clearly under-staffed or didn't care about service. Lots of families with screaming kids.
It took almost 15 minutes to get a waitress to take our order. At about minute 10, somebody came by to just drop off water, but not take any drink orders. We were going to leave if the 15-minute mark rolled around and nobody had even talked to us.
We ended up ordering the 911 roll and the plate of sashimi. The 911 roll was okay, it said it had "super spicy sauce," but on a scale of 1 to 100 (not spicy to spicy), this sauce was barely 1. It tasted like Sriracha. The sashimi was very fishy, didn't even finish because some of the pieces were more than 1.5cm thick.
Overall, it wasn't that great of an experience. Thinking that we should have gone to Elephant Bar instead. -
Review from Joe K.
San Francisco, CA
Such a pity... This place can have a 4.5 stars easily, if they'd start taking better care of the location and of the people there.
When you enter the place, it feels well designed by a talented artist.
But being a photographer I can see the little things and at Barracuda it bothers me.
Its not clean enough. I mean you can't say its dirtly but for some reason it feels it should be cleaner. After all, its a fairly new place and looks beautiful and stylish.
A piece of a toilet paper on the floor right by the entrance. Its wet and looks it been there for a while.
Table was't dirty but I could see it wasn't cleaned too well.
Restroom is not tidy. Water smudges everywhere... Seems noone cleans it more then once a day.
Service was okay but slow. And it was pretty light hour. May be 20% full.
Waitress forgot a meal. I had to remind her...
Sushi was good. No complains here.
So again, its a pity they can't make this place glow. Seems like noone cares. -
Review from Inigo M.
San Francisco, CA
Good quality lunch special teriyaki box.
Pleasant service. -
Review from Y r.
Daly City, CA
Im new to Sushi and still trying to taste all the different rolls but so far so good. I go there with the wife the place is cool for a being at the mall.
Not so crowded and staff has always been good. -
Review from Megan O.
San Bruno, CA
After our normal go-to sushi spot closed down, we decided to give this place a shot. The restaurant is clean, the staff is friendly, and the sushi is amazing!! However, the menu can be a bit overwhelming, and be prepared for slow service. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. As for 4 stars, I had to take away for such slow service.
Comment from Nam K. of Barracuda Japanese Restaurant 2/28/2012
I would like to apologize for our slow service at times. We… More » -
Review from Rita Y.
San Francisco, CA
I thought the food was OK. Our friend really likes it & comes often w/his family but I'm not a fan yet.
Our waitress was really nice, really sweet. I wanted to adopt her!
Hubby tried the tempura dinner which was OK. Our meals came with miso soup. I ordered the seaweed salad which came as a mound of green but was distraught to find hidden underneath a clump of shredded daikon. I felt ripped off. Most restaurants will give you a whole pile of seaweed, not fillers.
My platter of sushi (variety) was OK. The nigiri fish didn't have that moistened sheen that you'd find with fresh fish. It had that "I've been sitting out in the air for awhile" look. Could've used a spritz of Evian water like when you're sitting poolside at an upscale hotel & they come by with a big bottle of Evian and ask if you want to be sprayed. It tasted OK 'tho.
The California roll was too sweet. I don't understand why restaurants make Calif. rolls with sugar in it.
The techno music was rather loud. Bathroom was a single room of decent size. A little girl was waiting outside and she charged in while I was trying to exit. Hubby told me he saw her standing outside the door doing the urgency dance. Like what I want to do when I take a big bite of wasabi.Listed in: In the mood for Japanese…, Sushi, Please
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Review from Mimi P.
San Francisco, CA
Lots of different rolls and pretty fresh, cocktails was definitely a plus.
I think we ordered about 10 different rolls for 5 people. It may sounds like a lot or it may not, but as a girl, I can tell you this, I was NOT full but I do like the flavors and the varieties. -
Review from Michael L.
San Francisco, CA
Few things make me happier than Sushi and Happy Hour. Except maybe when Steve Jobs is standing next to a projector and about to make an announcement or Michael Buffer says "Let's get ready to Rumble"!
So I came to Barracuda around 5 o'clock. I saw the happy hour menu. It had a lot of choices. So I went with the California Roll, Rock & Roll which was eel, and the Alaska Roll (Salmon). Everything was decent. My favorite was the Eel. But what made my experience was the friendly chefs, Jackie and Billy, and my waitress.
I've probably had better sushi. But I can't say that I've had a better experience than I did at Barracuda with the friendly staff. -
Review from Christina S.
Daly City, CA
This review applies to happy hour only.
Happy hour is from 4-6pm.
Food:
We got the california roll, spicy tuna roll, and the roll with eel and avocado. The rolls were mediocre at best. I bit on a bone while eating the spicy tuna roll.
Service:
The girl attending us was nice and friendly. The rolls came out slowly considering there really weren't many other patrons in the restaurant, but nothing that was under the wait staff's control. Come on kitchen! You are basically rolling rice around 3 items...it shouldn't take that long.
Price:
For the 3 happy hour rolls plus one beer, total came out to be ~$14 with tax.
It's an okay place for happy hour, but I think Elephant Bar's happy hour menu is better.
Will I be back for happy hour? Probably not. -
Review from Jo C.
San Francisco, CA
Came here on a Friday evening with my MOHs. The place was pretty empty. We ordered:
Gomaae-spinach w/sesame dressing- tasted better than it looked
Gyoza-pot stickers- meh
Chicken Kara-Age-fried chicken bites-meh
Assorted sashimi- very fresh
Himachi Kama- yellowtail neck-my favorite dish at any Japanese restaurant
Spider roll- Gross!!! It had a weird taste and was different from other spider rolls at other Japanese restaurants.
Our server was MIA the whole time. My GF had to flag someone down to get service.
They also have happy hour here 4pm-6pm and the last hour of business every day. -
Review from Mare R.
San Francisco, CA
Went here with my daughter on a Saturday night. Walked in and the place was pretty empty. Had second thoughts but was too lazy to drive anywhere else to eat, plus there isn't alot to choose from as far as restaurants in Serramonte.
Ordered the tempura roll and shoyu ramen. Wasn't too happy with the ramen - very bland.
I probably would go back but with my friends - they have happy hour everyday (I believe including Saturday and Sunday) until 7 pm, $5 drink specials and $3 sake bombs on Thursdays.
