There is a lot of upside to Kakui Sushi with the only downside being the cost of the nigiri sushi. Yeah I know, inflation, cost of living, minimum wage, taxes and it is Montclair. BUT 5 nigiri for $29 on the lunch menu, well that's more than I am willing to spend. So we ordered the salmon and tofu, and the tempura rice bowl ($19) for lunch. So the salmon and tofu bowl was outstanding 5/5. I would eat this every day. Really nice Japanese fusion cuisine. The tempura bowl was also well executed. 4/5 The service was good although a little slow to get our meals. 4/5 The venue has a swanky modern look and feel with a dog friendly table in front. Metered street parking only. read more

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I happen to find Kakui Sushi by Accident!!! It's a Very Classy place !!!! Service is Excellent!! I strolled in and Sat at the Sushi Bar!! This is Where I met Yingyi the Owner!! I found him quite interesting and very Cool!!! I also met Ole the Manager and Master Sushi Chef ‍!!!! Ole is a Practicing Sushi Chef with 25 Years of Experience!! Yingyi treated me to a Blue Fin Tuna Cucumber Salad !! It was Delicious and Yummy!!! I Ordered the Omakase Sashimi Special!!! Ole expertly Prepared my Omakase Sashimi Special in Minutes!!! The Presentation was Amazing And Epic!!! Ole was very Hospitable !!! Kakui Sushi would be a Great Date spot or Special Occasion Dinner Spot!!! For All These Reasons This Is A Baller On A Budget Approved Establishment!!! I keep my Pimp Hand Strong!!! read more

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First timer here and I had such a great experience at this sushi restaurant! The modern aesthetic made the whole place feel fresh and inviting, and the staff were incredibly attentive and knowledgeable. They made us feel taken care of from the minute we walked in. Started with gyoza, brussel sprouts, miso dashi fries, grilled shishito peppers, and chicken karaage, and every dish came out flavorful and so well-prepared. I also ordered the omakase special, which was the highlight of my meal. Each piece was beautifully crafted and tasted great, truly a chef's showcase. Overall, everything tasted great and the entire dining experience was wonderful. Highly recommend! read more

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This is a tier 2 sushi destination restaurant in an out-of-the-way neighborhood. Excellent fish, but simpler menu because the locals can be unpredictable, so the shop can't really show off (yet?). Tier 1 fish is your standards. With tier 2, you're bored with the standards and getting into white fish like shiro-maguro, kanpachi, and tai. Seriously, put those three together (in that order) as your mid-finisher and they'll easily give you a sublime rush beyond what you've ever expected from a toro finisher. Even better, these guys have two tiers of toro and uni for finishers, so obviously go for the Japanese o-toro and uni over the traditional options, because it's a rare opportunity to taste such sublime fish. Think about it, when was the last time you had uni as your finisher? You're welcome. I was shocked that their Saturdays aren't packed right now. The locals tend to split the nights or pile up on Fridays. Such an opportunity if you love fish. It's a small shop with great folks. This kind of convenience won't last: these kinds of shops always get swamped once people figure them out. Oh and... the chocolate desserts: destination stuff. read more

Came here recently and was honestly really impressed. The sushi was fresh, flavorful, and nicely presented. Especially the Warriors roll, which was super refreshing with the fresh salmon and citrus on top. You can tell they pay attention to quality and detail. The service was friendly and the vibe and music was chill, making it a good spot whether you're going out with friends or just wanting to grabbing a casual meal. Definitely a solid sushi spot in Oakland! I'd come back! read more

Kakui Sushi - Warrior's roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

This review is super overdue, so my apologies to the restaurant in case they have changed the recipes or offerings since. I tried the vegetable tempura roll and veggiepillar as takeout. I'm not a fan of avocado and there's a lot of it on the veggiepillar, so if you like avocado, you might find this to be a plus. However, I did like the veggie tempura roll since it is crispy and savory; I tend to like crunchiness or at least a variety of textures on my sushi and not just squishy or slippery textures, which can sometimes happen based on the ingredients used for vegetarian sushi. I would still recommend going for a place that specializes in vegetarian sushi if you're a vegetarian or vegan, such as Tane Vegan or Shizen, but this was still decent. read more

Kakui Sushi - Veggiepillar and vegetable tempura roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

Chicken katsu lunch was very good, and the Alicia roll was service 10/10, nice spot to visit and in a cool location read more

Kakui Sushi - Alicia roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

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The sushi at this restaurant is incredible, comparable to the sushi I tried in Japan! I was so excited for the nigiri lunch that I forgot to take a photos, but the assortment was so good. I also tried the 49 Roll and Alicia Roll. They were both delicious, my favorite being the Alicia roll. I have not tried a roll this good, it was probably due to the slight char from the blowtorch they used right before serving it. I would highly recommend this place to anyone that likes quality sushi. The quality sushi that can compare to the sushi I had in Japan. read more

Kakui Sushi - 49er Roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

Best Japanese food I've had! I ate the Salmon Teriyaki Bento bowl and every part of the dish was immaculate. To my surprise the kale was my favorite part even though it was competing with salmon. I also had the nigiri lunch along with a 49er Roll and the Alicia Roll. The fish was so fresh, its texture was delightful, and the aftertaste was perfect. To wrap it up, it was simply divine. read more

Kakui Sushi - 49er Roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

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The service was great, our waitress was really friendly & attentive. The food was just okay, I got the seaweed salad & a tempura roll, which was $14. To me that's pricey for what I consider a simple roll. read more

Kakui Sushi - Tempura Roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

Do not order pick up or delivery from this place. They will refuse to help when an order is 35 mins late. I called to ask about a delayed order, the restaurant blamed the delivery service and told me "we just make the food" When speaking with the delivery person, they were asked by the restaurant to wait for two orders and delayed everyone, while taking no responsibility. They were rude, unhelpful and took no accountability. read more

Of all the nearby sushi restaurants, Kakui is the best one for a fancier meal or date night. It's clean, intimate, and modern (the warm lighting looked great on us, but my food photos do look a bit filtered!). While their menu is light on the nigiri and rolls, they make up for it with creative small plates and appetizers. Our waiter, Kenny, was prompt, friendly, and gave us great recommendations for sake and food. When there was a problem customer stirring things up at the counter (!!!!), he de-escalated masterfully and went back to being an absolute professional. All of the food was spectacular, the sake was smooth and balanced, and the standout appetizer for me was the Brussels sprouts with karashi vinaigrette. I look forward to coming here often to try more interesting rolls, typical nigiri, and seasonal small plates. read more

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What they're doing with the food here is the really special... The flavors it's so fresh... Highly recommend five stars

Stopped in for lunch at noon on a Tuesday. I was surprised I was the only one in the restaurant. I sat at the sushi bar. Kenny my waiter was very friendly. He brought the menus and a large bottle of iced water. He told me to take my time and let him know when I was ready to order. They had both their regular menu and a lunch special menu. I chose the Warrior Roll which Kenny stated that was his favorite. I watched the Chef carefully make my roll and torch the Salmon. The roll was large and very tasty. I would recommend this roll. Menu pricing was a little high on the entrees and bento boxes compared to other high quality sushi establishments. Pricing on the rolls were comparable to other establishments.. read more

Kakui Sushi - Chef torching my Salmon on my Warrior Role - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

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Such a good experience tonight! The atmosphere was amazing, everything came out super fast, and the quality of the food was so good. Everyone was incredibly friendly, which made it even better. And the Alicia roll... hands down my favorite on the menu! Already can't wait to come back read more

Wow what a gem in Montclair! A lovely ambiance if you choose inside or outdoors. Setting is very nice and modern as well as welcoming. Server was also super sweet and helpful! The server basically suggested everything for us and they were all amazing. My favorite was the gindara black cod -- so light but flavorful! And the wild mushrooms everywhere was delicious. We came on a Saturday at early lunch time and there weren't many people, so that was also very nice. But I imagine it will pack up in the evenings. Parking is tricky around here but doable. I'd love to come back again. read more

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One of my favorite go to sushi spot. Been going for years and was a loyal take out customer due to COVID. Just wish the prices didn't as high. Great atmosphere and food always fresh read more

Pics on yelp were quite deceiving. - Crunchy Toro was probably the best out of all items that I ordered. Though $35 for 2 of these hand sized crunchy toros is still overpriced - Lion King wasn't fully baked like other Sushi places, which made this taste like another regular roll. - California roll was for my daughter, it was fluffy and decent. - Pan fried udon was a disappointment. It was overly sweet and the fish pieces were very dry. - Rack of Lamb was medium rare, no flavor, garnished with salads and potatoes. Unfortunately, will not return... read more

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Great atmosphere, food and service. Appreciate that they have outdoor seating and a comprehensive menu!

Fresh fish, but the menu is very Americanized. Good place to come for a California roll. No sushi bar, just table service.

this place is good, the rolls are good and the service is good. the price is a bit expensive compared to places around it but good for a nicer dinner out. read more

Kakui Sushi - Oakland PD roll and Spicy Tuna Roll - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

The food was delicious and the service was great. The hosts were very sweet and sat us right away and the ambiance was great. Very aesthetic restrooms and decor in the restaurant. read more

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First time dining at Kakui and it did not disappoint! I made a same day Friday night reservation by calling when they opened earlier in the day. We arrived a little early but were seated right away. The restaurant is small but intimate and modern. We took some time with the menu and ordered some sake, a miso soup and shishitos to start. Kakui runs on a nimble staff. I think there were only 2 servers but given the small number of tables and a sushi bar we felt well attended to service wise. We ordered sushi next which arrived quickly. I have eaten a lot of sushi in my life and I was really impressed with the quality of the fish. The toro ngiri, salmon and hamachi sashimi really stood out. We will definitely be back! read more

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Wonderful service, ambiance and food! We were greeted so warmly by the hostess/server and immediately seated. We asked for suggestions on what to order and she let us know when she thought the food would be sufficient (my pet peeve is when they try to oversell you, so it's always extra points when they tell you not to order any more!) Everything we ordered was fresh and delicious. Plus the space is beautifully decorated and has an upscale but not pretension feel to it. I will definitely be back! read more

Food - I literally eat here twice a week minimum. Hands down the best sushi I've had in Oakland. Great prices! Ambiance is amazing - dimly lit, not loud and very intimate. I always sit at the bar where I get to see all the sushi getting prepped, chat with the chef etc.. I love this place!! You should definitely try it out Service - great - everyone is friendly! fast to take your order and they're always checking on you. read more

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If you are looking for the best Japanese food in the Bay Area, Kakui is the place for you. Don't forget to order the CRUNCHY TORO appetizer before your entrees. My husband and I have been coming to Kakui for a long time now. We are always so impressed with the variety of delicious, traditional plates that they have to offer. Our favorites include the warm mushroom salad (not pictured because we wouldn't wait to start eating!), the spider roll Sake & Toro nigiri salad (not pictured because we wouldn't wait to start eating!) The environment here is always positive, the service is fantastic, but the best part will always be enjoying the food that we know is made with love. Support small businesses! read more

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It's a nice interior and great service. The sushi roll options are limited. I prefer rolls without much sauce or tempura and it was hard to find something I wanted. We also tried ordering champagne which was on the menu but the server said we could only buy it by the bottle because they would otherwise need to waste the rest, which was a weird explanation to get at a restaurant (granted I'm sure it's not a common order with sushi but it was my birthday and by the glass was on the menu). It's expensive with a limited menu but more modern than most other options in town, which I liked. Look at the menu before you go and if you see something you like, you likely won't be disappointed read more

It's a wonderful restaurant, with great service, and very interesting dishes, which are super delicious. Also a very comfortable place to eat. read more

If you are in the area to check out Chabot Space Center, when you come back down from space and want to reintegrate back to earth... Come to Kakui. With solid ground to stand on and food served from the element that makes earth "earth" and gives life to all things (I'm talking about water), how can you not enjoy. So become native to earth again and sip on the water... Especially here at Kakui Sushi. read more

Kakui Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

We tried Kakui again recently, and it was a great overall experience. We popped in during the week and while there were several tables and sushi bar spots filled, it wasn't overly crowded and we were seated right away. We had a delicious bottle of sake; our server guided us perfectly among the options to find what we liked. We had the Lion King and Warriors roll and various orders of sashimi. Fish quality was top-notch and the flavors and sauces on the rolls were nuanced and memorable. Definitely recommend putting Kakui on your list!! read more

the food is very good and the server keny was very nice and good portions I would recommend it

Just went there with my 7 year old for lunch. Sat at the bar, the chef showed my kid how to make a perfect sushi roll. Staff was super friendly. Food was great, deserves higher ratings, for sure. Prices aren't low, but I thought it was worth it for a daddy & kid outing. My kid's review: "Food was super kid friendly - if you like sushi - and so was the staff. I really liked the soft shell crab appetizers. They had one of my favorite drinks and the waiter even offered to help open it! The place looked very fancy. I definitely want to come back." read more

Nice place or not, $30 for a small plate of fatty chicken and a mediocre salad is unacceptable. Way too inflated.

They have all your standard rolls as well as some creative hometown rolls that are a great mix of flavors (Warriors roll, Oakland PD roll)! Tried a couple of Nigiri pieces and found the fish very fresh. They setup 5 tables outside and along with neighboring restaurants, they've created a happy outdoor dining area that's a bright spot during COVID times. The waitress is fast and really friendly. read more

Kakui Sushi - Japanese Near Me - Oakland, California

This is one of my favorite places for sushi. Nice, quiet, friendly service with great food. Rolls are made with fresh crab meat. Yum! Headed there now to celebrate my son's birthday. This is our place to celebrate milestones. read more

Kakui Sushi is located in the charming Montclair district of Oakland, CA. The restaurant is very classy and intimate. It's a great place to come for a date night. We had a party of 10 and ordered a variety of things. We had the Oakland PD roll, Oakland As roll, spicy tuna roll, fried California roll, braised ribs, agedashi tofu, shrimp tempura, gyoza, and miso soup. The sushi rolls were just okay. (It's hard because we're from Hawaii and we have really good poke and sushi places.) I would definitely recommend the agedashi tofu and tempura though. I also didn't expect our sushi dinner to be an hour and a half. The appetizers came out piece by piece, then there was about 35-40 mins when we were just waiting for our sushi rolls. In fact, our food took so long that our server brought out some Brussels sprouts on the house. Kakui is not a good place for dessert as they only have sorbet on their menu. Metered street parking only Mon-Sat. read more

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Service is not great for those of us sitting in the restaurant for dinner. The initial seating starts with obsequious service but falls short after. The cooking & sushi staffs are too busy preparing GrubHub takeout dinners for our orders to arrive in a timely manner. The waitstaff loses interest in attending to us after our orders taken. They don't notice that some of our party's orders have not arrived. This has happened a few times and convinced us not to frequent the restaurant. read more

8/24/21 Have you ever been skiing and just randomly decided to go to the local sushi place in town? Or perhaps visiting relatives far far far away from home in a village more known for BBQ than anything else... or... more like only really have BBQ but some strangely you were able to find a rundown Japanese restaurant in a low-end strip mall?......... er um, meets hipster styling and prices? Yeah, this is that. People seem nice, but man they all kinds of confused here. I don't think they really have a server. It's just one dude running around cleaning tables, and randomly delivering plates when you remind him he took your order a 1/2hr ago. ...you can beg him for water too--looks like he does that between (literal--like as in I saw him...) runs / sprints across the room to grab stuff. 1. Handroll Special: Toro $15 "1/2 sheet nori": I had to remind the sushi chef on this one. A 1/2hr later he hasn't made it. Anyway, yeah, this is crappy "toro". So crappy they chopped it up. Looking at the meat it looks poor quality, with little interstitial fat, and little grey marbling. Overall, it tastes okay, but is it what is advertised? Not so sure. Definitely not a $15 hand roll. 2/10 2. Assorted Sashimi Chef's Choice Ten Pieces $35: I actually asked for chef's choice SUSHI, but anyway when I got this I checked and there was no sushi choice. I guess it's an honest mistake so I went harp on that. BUT, what I will say is that this chef is some BORING chef. There is absolutely nothing special in his choice except for the inclusion of some fish with skin. I like skin, but raw skin is NOT good. It's chewy and hard to eat. It totally should have been torched to give it at least a little crispness, and to make more edible. Overall at least most pieces tasted fresh. 2/10 3. Mixed Tempura $15 "shrimp and vegetables, tentsuyu dipping sauce": Pretty terrible tempura. Not crisp, a bit soggy, even when hot and fresh. Also, everything was unseasoned and ULTRA BLAND. Like REALLY bland. 1/10 4. Seafood Yaki Udon $20 "pan-fried udon noodles, seasonal seafood and vegetables, house sauce": What can I say? Udon noodles in heavy teriyaki sauce? With great "seafood" (read: dry-as-f-fish) variety... as long as you weren't expecting anything other than diced up fish. Yeah, if a 5-year old made this for me, I'd hug him/her and say great job! If a seasoned self-proclaimed Japanese chef made this.................. 1/10 Don't. 1/5 #oakland #japanesefood #japanesecuisine #sushi #sashimi read more

Pretty good food. Terrible customer service. ~$80 for 2 lunch bentos and a carafe of sake! my jaw dropped. It was from a $40 carafe of Nigori sake . . . not that there's anything wrong with that, but if it's 3-4x what most restaurants charge, then disclose it up front when someone says "give us some Nigori" and say "hey, all we have is this super premium Nigori and it's $xx. you cool with that?" We were not shown the sake list so don't just spring it on the bill and afterwards say "Everyone orders it and no one has an issue. sorry. k-thx-bye" That said, the sashimi (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kakui-sushi-oakland?select=WSL1ET-sj4epBD4R7F9fSw&userid=DsHsuhUvyyW_75zFcJxkKw) was pretty fresh tasting, but the salmon rolls (https://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/kakui-sushi-oakland?select=xQQ05wWtqSG_25vjwcB44w&userid=DsHsuhUvyyW_75zFcJxkKw) were obviously using fish past their prime and very fishy tasting, which is a-typical for fresh salmon sushi or sashimi. read more

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My family and I really enjoy this neighborhood restaurant. Food is solid, delicious, and sushi and sashimi are fresh -- if you want to splurge, you won't be disappointed by the specials flown in from Japan. For those who complain about service, it is a small restaurant and, like everywhere else that isn't 2 or 3 star Michelin-rated during this sh*tshow, never-ending pandemic, try to give restaurants and their employees some grace. We've never had a bad experience as we find the staff, chef and owner to be friendly and solicitous. Depending on when you go to eat, it may be super busy, but try to relax (order an extra glass of wine or sake if need be), and enjoy a leisurely meal. Tip of the day: if you are kind to them, they will be kind to you (similar to many other establishments and service-oriented industries). read more