Since most Michelin star Japanese restaurants are omakase style and don't accommodate vegetarians or vegans, I waited many months in the pandemic for Gintei to reopen (Michelin Plate but the prices are lower - more like Michelin Bib Gourmand). Predictably, the a la carte vegetarian options are limited, however, they're very good. I started off with a delicious seaweedy (aosa nori, which is technically algae) and algaey variation of miso soup for three bucks, then pickled radish sushi (oshinko maki) for five bucks, and finally agedashi tofu for eight bucks. Way too much food for the price. The genmaicha green tea is complimentary. The food was beautifully plated in beautiful plates. In Japan, everything is art...and art is everything. read more

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Solid sushi spot in the Peninsula. Parking may be a challenge since there's no designated parking lot and only street parking available. Lots of restaurants off this street so I can't imagine how difficult it would be on the weekends. We had a reservation for a weekday night so we had no issues getting our table. The restaurant was almost full when we were there, which is surprising given it was a Wednesday night. They have a variety of options from omakase to rolls to hot foods. I had two rolls: Bruno and I ate the bone. Both had spicy tiny tuna and came with about 6 pieces each. The rest of us has the sashimi deluxe and the omakase, hamachi kama, ikura, tempura, mackarel (etc. The quality of the fish was much superior than a standard sushi restaurant, hence the above than avg pricing. Our foods came out in a decent time, ~20 minutes and everything had pretty presentation. The rolls were good. The ikura were a little sweet and not too salty, but they tasted fresh. The workers were kind and attentive. After we finished the mackarel, they deep fried the bones which were tasty! They were kind enough to let us bring cupcakes and eat them after the meal. Great hospitality and quality fish. The bill did come out to over $500 across us 6 so expect to pay extra for quality fish. read more

Came here with a friend for dinner on a Tuesday night. We had called and made reservations earlier in the day since we weren't sure how crowded it gets *coughAmamicough* but I don't think it was necessary. The restaurant never completely filled up while we were there. I ordered miso soup ($3) and the Camino roll ($12), which is a Gintei specialty roll with tuna, salmon, hamachi, and avocado and topped with seaweed salad. I was really excited for this roll, as I hadn't had sushi in a while and this roll has everything I like in it, but I was disappointed to see that it had some kind of hot sauce on it which wasn't listed out on the menu. I don't like hot sauces, so after taking a bite, I had to send it back to the kitchen and ask for them to remake the roll. I really don't like to do this, and wish the restaurant had properly listed out all the components of the roll on the menu so I would have known to ask for the roll without the sauce. They are more well known for their omakase, I believe. They offer a regular 10 piece omakase for $45 and a deluxe for $60. My friend ordered the $45 omakase and really enjoyed it. We asked our server what the difference was between the $45 and $60 sets as my friend was debating which one to get, and she didn't know. I was surprised by this as it seems like something a server working here would know, as this restaurant is well known for its omakase. They have a small lot which was full when I got there, so I parked along the street a block away. read more

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Has been on my list to try for a while. Ordered the regular omakase. While the quality of the fish was good, I found myself craving omakase from Amami, which provides bigger slabs of fish for a more affordable price. read more

Gintei - Regular omakase - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

3.5 stars. Great decor, presentation, and service, however, highly do not recommend coming here on an empty stomach. Came here last night for dinner around 30 mins before closing. We were greeted immediately, as we were one of the last few tables there. Being a non-raw fish eater, I ordered the CA roll, dragon roll, and combo seafood tempura. My s/o ordered the deluxe omakase set. The deluxe omakase set came with miso soup, a shrimp appetizer, fried prawn head, and 10 pieces of sushi. An extra $15 or so for the miso soup and teeny tiny appetizer was definitely not worth it. The rolls I ordered were presented on a warmed plate. The CA roll was made with real crab, which was a nice touch. Everything here is fresh. However, I noticed that either the rice or fillings were super seasoned/salty, which made me extremely thirsty throughout the meal. Lastly, the tempura. The batter was perfect, however, the portion size was not. It came with 2 shrimp, small scallops, pieces of calamari (or what I assumed was calamari), and fried oyster mushroom. Again, portions were extremely small. Overall, great atmosphere, but for $100 before tip, I'd expect to leave at least somewhat full/satisfied. read more

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This place is an absolute 10/10. The food was a 10, the service was a 10, ambiance a 10. Came here last minute on a Sunday night, busy but wasn't packed. Ordered the Omakase and was very well priced about $110. Great go-to sushi spot for great quality fish. Tucked away in a small lot. Will be coming back. read more

Not sure how long I've had this place bookmarked, but I needed a last minute reservation and decided to finally try it out. The food was all really solid. The fried foods weren't overly greasy, the sushi was well made, and the service was really good! I drink a lot of tea and not once was my cup empty. They frequently check in on you to make sure all your needs are met, which I think is pretty rare these days. Started with the chicken karaage which was all white meat, but very moist and perfectly friend, though some may argue it could be crispier. Next the foie with daikon. I'm a huge foie fan and though it wasn't amazing, it was well made. Harumi wagyu steak was aite. Probably my least favorite dish, because it wasn't particularly memorable. We opted for the following rolls: rainbow #1, spider, Camino (which is a fried roll, but the batter only lightly coats the seaweed unlike other places that over fry and you end up with cooked fish inside), and the rock and roll. All of them very good and well balanced. For dessert we got the Panna Cotta trio, though if you have a group of 3+, I'd recommend the omakase dessert which is a sampler of ALL of the desserts. That said, I really enjoyed the Panna Cotta. Overall, the whole experience earns this place a solid 4 stars. However, though everything was enjoyable, nothing in particular stood out, which is why I couldn't quite bring myself to give the extra star. Definitely a good place to try out for a date, catch up, or casual dinner. read more

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Yum!!! It's hard to find a good omakase experience in the Peninsula, and Gintei is the perfect, elevated gem in In San Bruno. The ambiance inside is super pleasant, and it feels both intimate and inviting. Our server was Reiko and she was very nice and attentive, coming to refill our cups with hot tea (a must!) and checking in on us throughout. We ordered two of the the deluxe omakases, rolls, extra nigiri, desserts, and everything was seriously fantastic. The soft shell crab in the spider roll was so juicy and meaty. All the fish in the omakase was super fresh and beautifully plated. Beyond the obvious fish quality, you can tell they know what they're doing in the sushi rice. The matcha affogato for dessert was a surprising highlight too. The balance of rich concentrated matcha and vanilla bean ice cream made for such a balanced, and not overly sweet dessert. Definitely a more refined option than the surrounding Japanese restaurants in the area, and a truly enjoyable dining experience overall. Alfi the owner is super down to earth and welcoming, and we will definitely be coming back! read more

Gintei - Omakase - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

Can be expensive but well prepared food! They source lots of their fish from Japan, it was a holiday so some items were unavailable. Service was awesome. Salmon kama was my favorite. We went for individual nigiris and got salmon, barracuda, kampachi (or hamachi? I don't quite remember) and akami. Pieces came seasoned and were all delicious! The bill came to be about $200 total for a table of 3 but it was worth it for the wide selection of fresh fish available. They had the most most underwhelming exterior in town but the interior and dining experience was fantastic. read more

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Gintei is my favorite Bay Area Japanese restaurant outside San Francisco. Bold statement, I know. However, I really enjoy their straight-forward omakase and excellent service. I've dined at Gintei a dozen times and also enjoyed their takeout during the pandemic. Both experiences are great. I normally get nervous eating takeout sushi, especially nigiri/sashimi, but Gintei uses high quality ingredients that their food tastes almost as good eating it at home. I'm a big fan of their nigiri, especially anything with scallops, snapper and barracuda. Their omakase leans more towards the traditional side - minimal ingredients that makes each bite shine. You won't find - although I love them - truffle, foie gras, etc on any of their nigiri. Other menu items I enjoy is their chicken karaage (I'm a sucker for karaage) and fried shrimp heads. Gintei has an impressive sake selection with a focused assortment of beers. The owner Cole is awesome and so is his staff. I always feel right at home dining in or just picking up food. read more

Continuing on with my Omakase obsession..... While the service here was nothing short of amazing, our dinner wasn't bad, but it also wasn't memorable. The Omakase came with a hot appetizer which was really tasty. That night I believe it was fried salmon or salmon belly with cucumber. The Omakase was a little pricier than other places I've been to and one thing that really stuck out to me was that the rice was too cold and a little hard. Definitely not enjoyable. The fish was fresh though! read more

Gintei - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

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We had a indoor dining . Overall the food was good and had an amazing atmosphere inside . We ordered Vegetable Tempura(good) , Edamame(very good),Agedashi Tofu(the best) ,Green Tea(the best),Avocado Maki (good),Kappa Maki (good). read more

Top notch fresh sushi. Everything tasted great. Prices are a bit steep, but fish was presented well and tasted good. Ambiance was nice also. Drinks were aplenty. read more

Gintei - Menu - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

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Never expected such excellence. Fish is flown in daily from Japan. The best sake I have ever had. Extremely professional staff. I am addicted. read more

Pass by this restaurant on several occasions, use to be a filipino restaurant prior I think it was Tribu and the was another called CALI also filipino food, this place I believe has been opened for about 2 years I think. I am not gonna lie it was good, everything we sampled was good, from the 3 rolls to the karage and the waygu steak offered. Let me break down everything we sampled and how it all faired. Rolls Dragon Roll - standard goodness of unagi, avacaodos, tempura and rice, no fail on this dish, crisp vegetables sliced, taste and consistency of the roll was delicious it did not fall apart when picking it up and dousing it with soy sauce. If you like unagi, I recommend this roll I ate the bone- spicy tuna & soft shell crab with tobiko albacore, tuna topped with tobiko and spicy sauce, the spicy tuna meshed well with the all the other ingredients, definite must try Bruno - spicy tuna & scallion topped with scallops and tobiko, not as good as the other two but still a must try Hot dishes Wagyu steak- sliced and seasoned, medium rare, also a must try, just let the meat melt in your mouth Chicken Karage - deep fried, piping hot, deliciousness with side of mayo and some seasoning, I refer karage to as japanese nuggets, and yes I would order this again dessert - we ordered the combo which came with slice of chocolate cake - sadly to dense and cakey white cake with strawberry in the middle - soft, airy, moist, must try the machta creme brulee - definite must try, delicious on every scoop the last one was sort of a custard with sweet lemon topping, also a must try on a whole this places options that we tried were all very good, I would definitely come back for more food **** price $$$ 2 hot plates, 3 rolls = $100+ service ***** ambiance ***** modern, sleek, fancy, definitely date spot, parking is difficult for this restaurant read more

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San Bruno is known for... *shrugs* H( * ) ( * )ters and car dealerships? San Bruno is not exactly a destination city but I do find myself there for Target and Century Theaters because I hate dealing with traffic and parking in the city. The food scene is as sad as bucktownville with your typical chain restaurants and terrible, pseudo Japanese restaurants with gross health code violations that make my butt cheeks cringe. Would you like a side of Hershey squirts with that? Enter Gintei, a high-end sushi restaurant that opened a week ago in the former Tribu Grill space. Gintei serves Ginza-style Japanese cuisine by Japanese chefs. Yes, Japanese chefs! The menu is varied to appease purist sushi lovers, as well as, the dragon roll lovers. There's also a selection of cold and hot izakaya dishes. For the quality, everything was very, very reasonably priced. We usually spend $80-$120 pp for omakase. Gintei's omakase is a steal: 10-piece nigiri for $28 or 20-piece nigiri for $50. Liquor license is still pending. No BYOB. A P P E T I Z E R S *Ankimo: Monkfish Liver ($7): http://bit.ly/13wbml2 *Assorted Seafood Tempura: Shrimp, Scallop, Mushroom & Shiso Pepper ($13): http://bit.ly/1wBHP5l *Gyutan (Beef Tongue) Stew ($10): http://bit.ly/1sQhv1W I thought the apps were just ok. No one can beat Ino's ankimo. The tempura needed to be fried at a higher temperature as it was quite oily and the bottom exterior was soggy from absorbing too much oil. The gyutan needed to be braised longer and the sauce oddly reminded me of Filipino kare kare sans the peanut butter. I don't doubt they will improve on their apps once they iron out their opening kinks. O M A K A S E (20 piece - $50) (1) White Salmon, King Salmon, Soy Marinated Tuna, Hamachi & Tombo from Hawaii: http://bit.ly/1sQhHyb (2) Aji, Baby Hamachi, Esake (?), Tai & Ikura: http://bit.ly/1zoPyWg (3) Trout Roe w/ Spain truffles, Hotate, Ika, Saba & Kamasu: http://bit.ly/1HpKal9 (4) Lobster Tomalley, King Crab, Mirugai, Baby Lobster & Langoustine w/ Avocado Maki: http://bit.ly/1CuWdwD The best way to judge if a sushi restaurant is legit (or not) is by their nigiri so we went all out with their 20-piece nigiri omakase. The fish selection was a bit limited since they're so new and testing the waters but what was available was pristinely fresh. There was no need for soy or wasabi as the sushi chefs will brush and garnish the neta (fish and seafood) with various sauces and accouterments. My favs were the deliciously buttery sakes, interestingly decadent lobster tomalley (liver innards), and meaty saba. If you're a truffle fan, the trout roe with spain truffles will arouse your senses with an aromatic and luxurious earthiness. I was super bummed that they sold out of uni so none was included in our omakase. *Evil eye at the table who ordered the entire night's supply*. Great neta aside, the shari (sushi rice) was a letdown. The shari tasted like unseasoned, long grain rice. It didn't have a carblicious stickiness to it. Can't have a great sammie without awesome bread right? Again, since they're very new, I'm confident they will improve on this. All you hipster ice cream fans can rejoice because they serve Humphry Slocombe's ice cream! We ordered the White Miso and Matcha Doodle ($4 each): http://bit.ly/1GOYu8d and they were a deliciously sweet ending to our dinner. If you like savory sweets, definitely order the white miso ice cream! Service was fantastic. Our waitress (wifey of sushi chef?) was super sweet and gracious. We sat at the sushi bar in front of Masa-san who's quite amiable when you start chatting with him. He has two other companies and does this on the side which is very impressive. Food service was timely; it took about 90 minutes for the omakase. It's hard to believe this use to be the divey, Tribu Grill where I use to leave smelling like fried bangus...for days. The transformation was like something out of HGTV Restaurant Makeover and the ambiance is the same caliber as other high-end sushi restaurants in SF like Akiko, Maruya, Wako, Kusakabe, etc. Minimalist, bright, and pristinely clean, Gintei has about 10 tables, 2 communal tables, and 9 seats at the sushi bar. There's only two parking spaces in front (one handicapped). Gintei is a such a welcome change to San Bruno and I can't wait to return when they've ironed out their grand opening kinks. And, hopefully this is an indicator of great things to come... Like a decent bar with a name that doesn't get misconstrued with yanno.... a =O =====8. read more

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I've been to Michelin star restaurants, and restaurants that have cost me upwards of $500 per person and still haven't received the kind of stellar service I received here. Several waitresses were like Superwoman when it came to clearing plates, and filling up the green tea. Before you could blink, BAM, everything was done. Amazing service. Came here with my coworker and we felt welcomed and not at all rushed. We felt like we were in a quaint, cozy Japanese restaurant that really cared about each customer. The food was fresh, and reasonably priced for the quality. I got the $80 omakase that came with sashimi, a small steak, hot starter, some nigiri, and dessert. Of course I'm a big eater so I tacked on an additional roll and the truffle steak appetizer from the regular menu. Each dish was paced well, tasted amazing, and was presented with simple flare and decorations. I was highly impressed by this place, and it just goes to prove that you can't judge a restaurant from it's outside simple and small appearance. read more

Gintei - Best service ever - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

Was traveling for work and wanted to try some omakase close to my hotel without going into the city. If I was to rate the omakase alone, this would be 3-stars. I had the deluxe omakase for $65 and it started with miso soup and then a special appetizer. Afterwards, I was presented with a plate of 10 nigiri. While the fish was fresh and the service was good, I didn't see/experience much of the chef in the pieces as I have at other places - perhaps this is par for the $65 price. I was nowhere near full with this, so ordered a few more items. These additional a la carte items are what brought this rating to a 4. The truffle and trout roe was delicious. The flavors meshed so well it made my mouth happy. I also tried the Uni on special, river creek salmon, and a medium Toro and was happy with all. While the Omakase gave a nice selection, my palate was more pleased with the other solo items I ordered. I'd consider returning for another try. read more

Gintei - L to R: Truffle and Trout Roe, Special Uni, River Creek? salmon, medium belly Toro - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

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Over the years Gintei has become one of my go-to sushi places in the peninsula. They have a good variety of fish options and the service is pretty attentive. read more

Gintei - @hungrhungryheejin Menu 6/15/18 - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

Came here on a whim because Amami had a 2 hour wait. We just got back from a girls trip to Los Cabos and was craving sushi, so we found our way to Gintei down El Camino Real. High prices for extremely mediocre sushi and sashimi. Shared a bunch of rolls, and most were basic and lacking flavor. Some rolls only came with 5 pieces? Strange. The only thing that was good was the sashimi omakase, but for $50, the fishes only came with 2 pieces, which made it hard to share in big groups. 18% gratuity included in the bill for our 7 person dinner. Not impressed with the food or slow service. Won't be returning. Go to Amami instead and make a reservation to avoid the long wait times. read more

Gintei - Sashimi omakase ($50) - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

My friends and i wanted to get some Sushi after shopping at costco, so i decided to give this place a call and check if they had any open tables. I was lucky to have grabbed a table last min. on such short notice. Parking here can be hard, just grab any space you see and just work the few steps, don't try for the parking in the front. We were greeted immediately and were given a table pretty quick. The waitress took our orders for our drinks as we examed the menu. Agedashi Tofu- The portion was pretty big and this didnt' disappoint Chicken Karaage- This was fried perfect. It wasn't too greasy and it was still golden brown Lamb Chops- there were two lamb chops in this order. The chops were very tender and it dodn't have that lamb smell that lamb usually has Gintei Maki- Fried soft shelled crab with snow crab, veggies wrapped in a konbu wrap. This sushi was reall y unique the wrap had a flavor i couldn't now describe and made this dish into a good combo Spicy Tuna- This was really spicy, it's good for adults, but might be too spicy for kids Daniel Roll- Soft shelled crab with tuna, salmon, unagi and avocado. For those unagi and salmon, avocado lovers, i highly recommend this dish. This was my favorite dish of the night and the portions were reasonably big. We didn't have room for dessert but the cheesecake looked tempting. Overall, i'll probably come back here but for the Omakase read more

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The quality is the sashimi is quite fresh and very good. That's all you asked for at sushi restaurant. We had the Omakase. I'm not crazy about the Adagashi tofu. It's not bad but prefer crisplier. The chicken karage was done well. Liked the battered very light. read more

I went here yesterday; booked with OpenTable. Took a client and my daughter (5 years old) here for lunch and it was quiet and easy to talk. We ordered the Humble Guy roll (tuna, Hamachi, roe, avocado) Spicy Tuna Roll Tempura Shrimp Roll Salmon Sashimi Bowl and Two Miso Soups Total was $54 (including tax). Not too bad - but the rolls are a small 6 pieces FYI. The quality was better than average but not mind-blowing. The presentation was beautiful, and the staff was very gracious. I'd definitely return. read more

Gintei - Humble Guy Roll :) - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

First time here. Perfect restaurant to come with your precious one or have a business lunch and dinner. First and foremost, all of dishes are great at the stand points of taste and quality. All of points are the same or better than luxuary sushi restaurant in Tokyo. Price are reasonable comparing to other Sushi restaurants in SFO and sushi restaurants in Tokyo taking quality and staff service into consideration. If you would like to have the same quality in Tokyo, price would be more expensive. Staffs were so professional with a lot of knowledge and hospitality. No frustration and comfortable. I will be back soon! read more

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Dinner review $65 Sushi Deluxe / 10 piece premium fish sushi with special appetizer and miso soup Sub-par quality for the price. I thought by sitting at the itamae and order the omakase sushi deluxe will offer a better and more unique experience but Gintei proved me wrong. Worst yet because the chef also prepared the a la carte orders for the table customers in front of us, it was hard not to compare the quality and the cut between what we had and the a la carte nigiri. One of the nigiri that completely threw me off was the hotate nigiri. The menu said the hotate (scallop) was from Japan Tsukiji Market but it didn't tasted fresh nor had any subtle sweetness like I had many times before from other sushi-ya. Also, the hotate was served half and not whole. From the look of the a la carte hotate nigiri that one of the table customers order, they looked much better than my premium omakase set. Bottom line, do everything opposite of what you learned about sitting at the bar and order omakase at Gintei. Sit at the table and order a la carte instead. You probably will get better quality nigiri than paying a premium price for the omakase. read more

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Gintei is slightly tucked away on El Camino, but do not let its inconspicuous storefront fool you!! This is a beautiful restaurant with beautifully plated and delicately prepared food. I came here for dinner last night, and everything was absolutely wonderful!! My friends and I tried the omakase deluxe, kurobuta kakuni (pork belly), gintei maki, one order of uni, and ice cream dessert. - The omakase was so good and so fresh. Every fish melted in my mouth, and the sushi rice was perfectly tangy to complement the fish. - The pork belly was flavorful, juicy, and so so tender!! - The gintei maki was a really special roll. It was wrapped in vegetable konbu (tbh I don't really know what that is), but it was yummy and exquisite... a nice variation from the usual seaweed wrap!!! - The uni was so silky and creamy and fresh!!! So so so good. - We tried the Vietnamese coffee, matcha, and black sesame ice creams. I have no idea where they get their ice cream, but it was seriously SO good. The Vietnamese coffee one tasted like caramelized toffee goodness. The matcha one tasted like the silky, rich Royce matcha chocolate. The black sesame had the black sesame seeds in it, so it was super fragrant. Overall, a delicious and exquisite experience :D!!! read more

I have been to this place more than five times since the owner that I knew opened. For my very first visit was great. We had wonderful appetizers and omakase sushi. Everything was not too expensive for the quality. However I heard that one of the owner's friend who was sitting next to me told the owner that the miso soup was awful which I agreed with her opinion. I didn't get why the miso soup was bad when real Japanese chefs were in the restaurant... Three years later I came back with my colleagues twice in the last one month. Omakase sushi was not good...we were not lucky coming on that day?! All Sushi neta seemed to be not fresh and didn't taste good. Also Miso soup is awful and has not been improved at all so I was shocked. Appetizers were great though. We were thinking of taking our people coming from Japan to this place in the next month, but we changed our minds.. Sorry to be honest and say that..., but Sushi Sam in San Mateo is much better. read more

I have been to Gintei a few times. The food is typically very good. The sushi and sashimi is very fresh and I love the omakase, although it is probably on the pricier side for what you get. Amami Sushi Bistro across the has comparable quality omakase for half the price, at $40 vs $80. For pure quality of sushi, I definitely prefer Sushi Kei, which is nearby. Gintei has a good selection of rolls as well. The portion sizes are small, so be prepared to leave without feeling fully satiated. The service at the restaurant has always been the part I liked the least. The wait staff is inattentive and at times, rude. As a foodie, I typically look past that, but the last time I went to Gintei will be my last. The service has declined drastically since before the pandemic. My extended family of 11 came to visit from New York and Philadelphia. It was a very special occasion because we went to Gintei to celebrate my younger sister's engagement (they got engaged on this trip at Yosemite!) as well as the birth of my 3 month old baby girl. We felt very rushed the entire time and we had 3 different servers wait on us, which caused a lot of confusion and mix ups on their part. The staff wasn't able to answer basic questions like what fish was in certain rolls. They brought out the wrong dishes 1/3 of the time! Some of those mistakes had health implications because of food allergies and the fact that my wife is breastfeeding and cannot eat certain fish, like tuna and hamachi because of high mercury. They did not keep track of the orders, and either gave the wrong dish to the wrong person or had to constantly ask, which was very distracting when we were trying to celebrate and take care of 2 toddlers and a baby. For example, it got so bad and embarrassing: the server gave the wrong dish to my brother in-law and realized it after he started eating, took it from him, and tried to give the eaten food to my parents! I was very upset and embarrassed to recommend Gintei to my family, who told me several times how disappointed they were with the dinner. (Part of me also hates how my family members from New York are using this dinner as an example for why New York has better food! :P) read more

Fantastic Japanese restaurant, recommended by a friend who said this place is operated by non-Japanese, skeptical but as soon as I sat down, its 100% in-Japan feel. We did omakase, all negiri were dressed, delicious ! The sake the waitress recommended was very good too ! It's definitely a place we will go back again & again 5/12 Another fantastic meal. This time the negiri were not dressed like last time, strange ! Beef tongue was tasty, great texture. Ankimo was nice but not rich enough on flavour. read more

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We love the premium sushi! Clean, cool but a little pricey. The service is nice too!!

Shame on them! I'm not sure how good their food is, but with the rudeness from their receptionist, nothing is gonna be yummy. We made a reservation for tonight, unfortunately we were not able to make on time which we didn't predicted to happen. I tried to cancel online at first but failed, then I was nice to call in afterwards. It was a shock that the receptionist(a man) very rudely said I should've call earlier, I was ruining their business. But we didn't mean to cancel, it was on our plan until we really couldn't make it, but still earlier than our reservation time. I called in again and tried to explain because he made me very upset on the first call, very disappointedly he repeated again and hanged up my call. We've never had such experience, but as a restaurant, this is really bad service to any potential customers. read more

Every piece of sushi is masterfully handcrafted. I was not disappointed with the chef's picks. This is the place for authentic sushi lovers. read more

On a whim, we came here on a Friday night arriving a little past 6 pm as our intent was to dine at Amani down the street but the 45 minute wait led us to call Gintei and fortunately, they had seating at the 9 seat sushi bar. From the outside, the place is very unassuming and the parking is minimal with only 2 stalls of which one is earmarked for disabilities. Both stalls faced the restaurant. Depending on the time, one should be able to park on El Camino Real or around the block where there is residential parking. The outside entrance can best be described as minimalist as one passes through the white Japanese style drapes at the door. Once inside, we were warmly greeted by an all Japanese staff and were seated at the sushi bar where we soon discovered that the young sushi gen manning the bar was the owner. Since this was our first time, my wife and I were trying to soak in the dining room and get a grounding on what the menu had to offer. I loved the static butcher paper roll mounted on one of the walls where they list the specials for that day. We soon discovered that the owner purchases the majority of his fish from two major fish markets in Japan of which one is the famous Tsukiji Market which is the biggest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. I was surprised as prior to ordering, I was able to look at the quality of fish and ascertained that perhaps he was purchasing from Kanaloa Seafood out of Santa Barbara or Royal Hawaiian in SSF. We ordered the 10 piece Omakase sushi which came with miso soup (no detection of MSG), live Uni for $25, a spicy scallop roll, a shrimp tempura roll and the Henry Slocumbe Green Tea ice cream with corn flakes. We wanted to try the live uni and prior to ordering the Chef described that our choice might be slightly sweet or on the other extreme slightly bitter. Unfortunately, ours was slightly bitter but we gently gave it a slight dip in some soy sauce and it was okay. This was no fault of the Chef as he had informed us of what the taste might be. Service was 5 star and overall I give Gintei 4+ solid stars out of 5. Definitely a winner in my book. read more

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Came here for a lunch event at work. It was easy to make a reservation, there was 8 of us and we showed up at noon. There's no parking available, but plenty of street parking on either side. The restaurant is fairly small, with a sushi bar, but very relaxed and on the quieter side. While the prices were a bit on the higher side, the quality of the fish and outstanding service made up for it. We were all pretty hungry and surprised at how fast everything came out. A few things I got to try were the Humble Guy Roll ($17), Sashimi Omakase ($50), Deluxe Chirashi Bowl ($35), Black Sesame Ice Cream ($10), and the Matcha Green Tea Affogato (~$14). I'd stay away from the rolls and the Omakase. They are a bit expensive, and not the biggest bang for your buck. Appetizers are a bit hit or miss. The items on the lunch special are probably the best deals. The Deluxe Chirashi pretty much has every fish worth getting on the menu/Omakase, and is much cheaper than some of the other sushi options. There is also a regular Chirashi option and they are both on the lunch special menu. The desserts are outstanding as well. Will definitely be back to try some of the daily fish specials. -B read more

Gintei - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

Bones in 3 pieces of nigiri. Chewy wagyu. Let them know and no adjustments were made. Not worth the money at all. Table ordered 4 omakase. Literally never have had bones in nigiri before. $650 for bony omakase. read more

Excellent service! Those ladies are wonderful! So the gentlemen... the most delicious food I have eaten in a while! First class sake and beers! This is our restaurant moving forward! read more

Gintei - Bar - Japanese Near Me - San Bruno, California

I chose this place for my birthday dinner upon the recommendation of a coworker who is definitely well verse in the best restaurants around the bay area. Service: I made a reservation in order to avoid the Friday night queue and they were fairly empty around 6:30. But maybe it's because the empty tables were for reservations. The waitress had a good cadence to her service as she waited just the right amount of time for us to look at the menu before taking our orders. She also came to our table the right amount of times where we can enjoy our dinner privately but also get service when we wanted. Sushi Omakase - I got the $45 one (I'm not a sushi aficionado so my description will be in layman terms). I thought it was good quality but honestly since I don't know my fish very well, they all tasted the same to me. The slices were thick and fresh with the right fish to rice ratio. When the waiter was describing the type of fish on my plate, I legit only understood: blue fin tuna, salmon, and hamachi. Camino Roll - They had quite a lot of fish in each roll which I liked. It's refreshing to eat sushi that's not just full of rice. Onikoroshi Genbei sake - We really didn't know what we were choosing but we liked Kyoto when we visited Japan so we chose this one. I liked it. But the 120 ml was good for probably 3 shots instead of 4. Panna cotta flight - This was the winner! I got the mango, caramel, and blueberry and at the end of each flight, I was making those rude scrapping noise trying to get every single panna cotta left into mah bellyyy. Overall - I usually leave sushi places feeling like I got jipped because I'm never full. Not this time! I was as satiated as a well-fed neopet. A few of my friends also DM'ed me when they saw my IG story of all the food here so the food looks good and taste good! read more

Where do I even begin? Came her with my friend and we ordered so much food. We started with the pork belly appetizer (tender), the omakase (very fresh, it came with ten pieces so we shared one order), oyster shooters (cause why not), and various orders of rolls and nigiris. We made a reservation just to be safe, because you never know and we wanted to make sure we had a table when we got there. It was one of those dinners where we didn't mind to splurge, we just wanted to eat good food and enjoy good company, this is the place. read more

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Felt like I was back in Tokyo. Closest I have gotten to an authentic Japanese experience outside of Japan- food & drink, vibe, and service. The omakase was sublime. read more

Food was good and fresh. Alcohol selections/prices could be better. Prices are higher than other restaurants for the same liquor. When asked for recommendations they offered sake that was over $100/bottle. Seems ridiculously high for such a joint. Parking is an issue. read more