My partner lives very close to Kirala so we come here whenever we are craving sushi. There's usually a wait for a table but we have been lucky and can usually get seats at the bar right upon arrival. The ambiance is lively and the sushi chefs at the counter are very personable. A lot of locals and regulars come by and sit at the counter. All the food here is good so you can't go wrong with ordering. A couple of my favorites that I always get: oysters (fried or grilled) and nigiri (hamachi, salmon, toro, scallop, amaebi aka sweet shrimp). My partner really enjoys the seaweed salad and whatever grilled fish special they have (it alternates depending on the week). Highly recommend coming to support your local neighborhood sushi spot that has delicious food, quick service and reasonable prices. :) read more

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Everything was delicious The Sashimi and Nigiri were very fresh and good size. The chefs behind the counter obviously know what they are doing. I would definitely come back. read more

Kirala is the Berkeley institution for high quality Japanese food in a spacious setting with two expansive bars, plenty of tables, gracious service, and amazing food. Specials change so you may always be in for a surprise or a treat on each visit. I recently dropped by at around 5:30 on a weeknight and easily beat the crowd without a reservation. I sat at the bar where I could watch the chefs and enjoyed a fantastic meal with a small bottle of premium sake. I'd recommend trying a variety of smaller dishes. Prices can add up but consider it a special treat. read more

Kirala never disappoints. Wonderful place but it's just always crowded. A sign that the food is delicious.

Solid food. Question: Are you supposed to get starter miso, a sushi appetizer, and the entrée all at the same time? And before all of this, have to remind your server of your drink order? To prevent my entrée from getting cold, I ate that first, subsequently leaving part of the app as it was cold by the time I reached it. Maybe just a bad day for the waiter. Thankfully for others he was waiting on, I didn't witness the same concerns. All in all, I still tipped "respectfully." While navigating through my undergrad as a former waiter, bartender and restaurant manager, it pains me not to tip big, as I know what those individuals go through and how much they get paid. But I left feeling as if they didn't expect me to tip anyway?‍ Idk. Good food, but can't say good service. read more

We are from southern Ca and whenever we come north, we must stop here Everything we have ordered over the years - perfectly delicious! read more

Kirala has new ownership and the quality is not the same The pristiine boneless back cod has transformed into a bony nonentity The new dish of scallops and shrimp tempura is bland. The California roll lacks strong contrasting flavors. This was always a five-star go-to for me. Sadly, the new owners are trying to get more for less read more

This place always hits! I love their unagi and their crab is so good. Especially in the California rolls. read more

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We got the deluxe shashimi plate and it was so yummy! Would recommend. The wait staff was very sweet and we had a great time! read more

Kirala - Great experience! - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

Many thanks for helping my family church ! The bento boxes were delivered on time and delicious! read more

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On Saturday night I joined the waitlist at 7:30 pm, party of 2, 10th in line. I was estimated around 35 minutes, I waited in my car nearby and by 8:20 I noticed I was still very high on the waitlist. By 8:50 I was REMOVED from the waitlist (restaurant closes at 9). You should be closing your waitlist if you are unable to accommodate for waiting customers. You should give a courtesy call to a customer before removing them to let them know that you are unable to accommodate them. Extremely rude and I don't see how a restaurant of this size is unable to adhere better to the estimated waiting period. read more

Great food, the spider crab is my favorite. Good vibes as well. A neighborhood classic.

Been going to Kirala for 40 yrs and living it every time. The best sushi restaurant in the EB.

I would agree with most of the reviewers that Kirala serves great sashimi - very fresh. For $34.25, a good variety of sashimi selections were served for their chirashi bowl, which included crab, geoduck, salmon, hamachi, sea bass, mushroom & etc. However, they forgot to bring my miso soup that came with the meal. I also enjoyed their rolls, especially the rainbow roll, but found it a tad pricey ($20.75). On the other hand, their cooked food was decent. The beef katsu was overcooked and underwhelming in taste ($17.50). The cucumber salad was bland and not marinated at all. Lastly, bring cash with you, otherwise, expect to pay 4% extra in administrative fee. read more

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Been going here for over a decade and they always have the highest quality. Amazing fish, incredible service, cute little sushi bar. I highly recommend fresh cuts of sashimi, the tempura, and the udon. Honestly, it's hard to go wrong when ordering here. Oh, and the pork gyoza is a must!! I'd give this place 100 stars, if possible read more

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I grew up in Berkeley a few blocks from Kirala, and had not been back in ages. My friend invited me to go last night and it was lovely. This place often has a waitlist for a table but if you're down to sit at the bar across from the grill and the sushi chefs you can get seated almost immediately. That's where we sat. It was warm and cozy because of the grill and it was fun watching all the orders be plated and made with such precision. While we were watching the grill we decided what we will order next time. Their grilled oysters looked so good and generously portioned. The grilled Taki looks so good too. As did their teriyaki salmon. What we ordered: -California Roll: Kirala is super well known for their California roll. They make hearty sized ones and the real crab is moist and delicious. -Shiitake Mushroom Roll: This roll was simple but tasty. Umami. -Agedashi Tofu: The tofu was supple but crispy. The broth was really delicious. -Miso Soup: the miso was really good. Generous tofu and green onions. -Spider roll: Not the best and prob wouldn't get again. I think it may have been over fried, tasted almost burnt. -Unagi Hand Roll: One of our faves, the unagi was perfect and the portion was generous. -Spicy Tuna Hand Roll: Our fave. This roll was incredible. Best spicy tuna we have had so far. read more

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Visited Kirala on a Friday night after not eating there for over 20 years (because it's too darn crowded). Got there at 5:08 (it opened at 5:30) and we were the first one in line. I think the first seating was filled up by 5:25. So, a good strategy is to arrive no later than 5:15 if you want to make the first seating. In short, the meal was excellent. Since we hadn't been back for quite a while, we tried to cover a lot of the menu. We started with Ohitashi (boiled spinach) was our least favorite dish of the night; the leaves were fine, but the stems were very tough. The seasoning was good, though. Next, we tried some robata items. The Negima (chicken thigh meat; $6.25) was very well-seasoned and fairly moist. The Short Ribs (with Yuzu Salt; $17.50) were a huge serving and we could only eat about 2/3 of it. The meat was tender and sliced pretty thin. I would not recommend ordering it without at least 3 or 4 people (too much for 1 or 2 people). We also had the Hamachi Kama (yellowtail collar; $25.25) which we enjoyed very much. It's a lot of fish, but it's a favorite of ours and we order it often at different Japanese restaurants. It could have been a little less cooked, but excellent nonetheless. We then tried 2 orders of the Chawan Mushi ($7.95 each). The egg custard was a little heavy, but it was very tasty and there were a lot of yummy ingredients. One order could be shared, but I think one order per person is better. Finally, we tried some sushi. We had a Rainbow Roll ($20.75) which was very good. The rice was just right, and there was a good balance of fresh fish with other ingredients. We also had an order of the O Toro nigiri ($18.00), which was excellent (if a little decadent). I think that, when we return, we will order more sushi and less grilled items. The grilled food was good, but the sushi was exceptional, and we were sorry we didn't order more (but we would order the hamachi kama again, if it were available). read more

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Amazing sushi and friendly staff behind the sushi bar. Note to bar folks: lighting is probably good for your preparation of sushi, but it's terrible for the guests. Too bright! Maybe there's a way to screen or provide different lighting for guests? Anyhow, I know it's a dilemma. read more

My boyfriend's mom was in town and was craving sushi. We did some research and found this place! Ambiance: It's a casual restaurant and looks nice inside. There's both bar seating and regular table seating. The place was almost full when we walked in. Service: The hostess was nice, she was able to seat us right away despite not having a reservation. I'm so glad because we got one of the last tables! Our waitress was sweet, saying that she can tell the chefs to make hand rolls for us, even though it's not listed on the menu. We ordered multiple rolls for the table: Rock 'n Roll, Rainbow roll, Caterpillar, Dragon, Spider, and Tuna hand rolls. I noticed myself reaching for the rock 'n roll, rainbow, and caterpillar rolls the most. They all have similar ingredients and the tastes started blending together after a while. We also tried the Steamed Egg Custard. Based off pictures online, I thought it would have a flan consistency. It's softer and has a little more watery texture, which I liked. We enjoyed the smoky flavor and the pieces of shrimp and mushroom inside. Overall a solid sushi spot! read more

Kirala - Rock 'n Roll, Rainbow Roll, Dragon Roll, Spider Roll, Caterpillar Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

The food is pretty good, but considering everything I would say this is a 3.5 star spot. Located on Shattuck quite far from the Berkeley campus, we arrived on a Sunday night and were surprised to find that there was no wait. Upon being seated, we were brought water and had some time to look over the menu. There are quite a few options, but the three of us ended up each deciding to order the sushi dinner and split the rock n roll. The sushi dinner came with 7 pieces of nigiri and a spicy tuna roll, but one of the nigiri was tamago (egg) and another was an arctic surf clam. The other 5 were actually pieces of nigiri. The tamago, salmon, and maguro were probably my favorite pieces out of the nigiri and I really really liked the spicy tuna roll. The sauce that they put on two of the pieces tasted a little strange, and I personally felt there was way too much wasabi on all of them -- I had to lift up the fish and take it off otherwise I would almost cry from the burn. I would get only the spicy tuna roll if I knew. They also gave us miso soup which was pretty good and had chunks of tofu and seaweed inside. I really liked the rock n roll though which had delicious unagi. For the price that we paid I probably would not come back, which is why I rounded down to 3 stars. The sushi dinner alone was $28 and they also charge a 4% fee for credit cards. Given that this is a formal sit down dining restaurant and honestly on the nicer end, I felt that this was quite unreasonable. I personally feel like you can find better options for similar items around here, at a much better price as well. Good to try, but probably just once. read more

Kirala - Rock'n Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

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They don't take reservations. Waited outside in the cold, there is nowhere to sit while waiting outside. We saw tables being cleared, and sitting empty, and still people weren't being seated. Might eat there someday, but on this particular night, we gave up after half an hour and went elsewhere. read more

After 30+ years of driving by and giving up cuz the line was around the buildin, we finally made it to Kirala!! Well known through the bay for the best sushi and we can now testify to this well deserved notoriety. The trick is to come at 5:30 PM for the first seating. We were lucky to find parking and the place was packed when we arrived at 5:45. We asked to sit at the bar so we didn't get the full-service but the bartender was nice and attentive. We shared 2 items from their special menu (ribeye katsu and Toro sashimi) and the sashimi dinner on the reg menu. The dinner came with rice and miso soup. The sashimi was fresh and melt-in-your-mouth BUTTER!! Every piece was top notch in quality and the toro was amazing!! (Worth the price) The ribeye was tender and juicy with a nice crunch. Plan, prepare, come, be amazed! Don't wait!! read more

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Some of the worst I mean, my sister & her hubby are born and raised in Berkeley, he being a chef at Chez Panisse and this is where they would come to have fresh sustainable seafood, years ago. For anyone to give this a good rating is ok? But it's aging and no longer impeccable. I had hand rolls. Tiny and bland. Sister had nigiri (looked yummy), long roll fell apart. Brother had Mongolian beef-it was bland and the (slaw?) that came with it was watery. I wish I could be more positive, sorry Maybe this could be an opportunity to accept some criticism for the better? I was disappointed for my sisters sake I'm from the area as well originally and my current hometown of reno has a happening food scene and our sushi joints far away succeed KIRALA. Not trying to be negative! Just stating the comparisons. If Kirala wants to compete they will need to upgrade their menu and prices. My sister was disappointed that I wasn't pleased because she remembers it from yesteryear. Sorry folks; the food was ordinary, expensive and they shooed us out once happy hour was over. Parking is a problem too. read more

We've loved Kirala for years. We went last night and I was a little grossed-out by the (new?) table menus. I don't know how long they've had the new ones, but they were green paper covered in folding plastic, like you might get at any side-of-the-road diner. The menus aren't beautiful or special anymore. That change might be cost effective for them, but it's not the reason we go to Kirala. read more

Decided to go eat here solo on a weekday night and quickly got a bar seat. There were other solo diners enjoying their meal. There was a longer wait for groups with two or more. The service was excellent! The staff was so kind to me. I ordered a chirashi dinner and an asparagus beef. The fish was excellently fresh and delicious. The asparagus beef was good & wasn't greasy I wish it had a more smokey smell to it. read more

Kirala - Chirashi Dinner - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

Kirala has become a major fixture in Berkeley's culinary world. They have survived for decades because of their excellent friendly service, reliably delicious food and variety of ambience. The that's all I've got to say about that! read more

I used to love this place but for some reason after covid its not the same. The quality is still almost there but the portion sizes are much smaller. The gyoza are tiny and the seaweed salad now comes in a small bowl with barely any cucumbers. The fish is very thinly sliced, I don't think I will be going back as my experience is not what it used to be. I just read on another review the ownership has changed, maybe that's what its is. Hopefully, its just them working out the kinks and getting it back to what it used to be. But so far I am not impressed, I used to love this place with all my heart and soul. read more

Delicious food. Wonderful service. Cozy environment. A great evening out. We were celebrating our son's birthday. The meal and experience were exactly what he hoped for. read more

Kirala continues to be a favorite. The casual, friendly atmosphere and the very fresh fish is comforting. Friday 11.8.24 arrived about 7pm and the wait was short enough that we could wait at the bar inside and not in a line outside. It was lovely to see friends there dining at a table, so got to chat with them before waiting for our sushi bar seats. Once we went to the back bar to wait, it was probably only 10-15 minutes. We sat in the middle of the sushi bar, directly in front of the specials board and I noticed how sparse it was. It used to be packed with options but not so any more. Then, while ordering, I asked for ankimo, which is something I consistently ordered here for years and years. In fact I think Kirala was the first place I ever had it. Sadly, they don't offer it any more - at all. So we ordered some basic nigiri and it was all very good - especially the unagi...Kirala is the ONLY place where I know it will be warm when it's served. I appreciate that immensely. Okay...so no ankimo....let me go ahead and order their tempura ice cream for dessert. Nope. They also no longer do that. I saw green tea and vanilla ice cream (large glass containers full) be delivered to a table so they carry those...they just don't tempura it any more. Harumph lol. I'll always come back to Kirala, but I'm sad about the missing menu items. read more

Fresh sushi and large variety on the menu! We ordered the dragon and rainbow roll and it was delicious! I love the amount of roe they added on top of each roll. We also got their special sweet potato pie was served chilled... still very delicious but I just prefer my pies warm! Can be very busy and difficult to find parking so get here before conventional dinner time to avoid the wait! read more

Kirala - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Exquisite sushi. Every time. Also excellent grill--try the salmon collars. Noisy, and sometimes a little smoky from the grill, but so delicious! read more

The food and service was good., other things not very impressive. But we were waiting for long times. read more

Requires vaccination card. No reservations, first come first served. I have been here a handful of times. The interior got quite the face lift. Where there was once boards with specials on the wall over the sushi counter, there is no more. Their fish is ALWAYS the freshest. I want to savor every bite. You cannot go wrong with what you order. Everything is wonderful. What I do recommend that you order is the Chicken Skewers. We get it every time. I also suggest for how fresh the fish is, that you get sashimi or charashi, where the freshness of the fish is really highlighted. read more

Kirala - Chirashi Dinner - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

Have enjoyed many great meals here before. Wait time only 15 min but a delay to take our order and then 45 min for appetizer to arrive and 2 min later one entee arrived before we could enjoy app and entree not hot enough then 5 min later second entree. They are just too busy read more

There's so many restaurants to choose from so it's hard to decide. I read that there's always a long line to eat here, but we arrived at 8:30pm so there was no wait at all. The sushi here is very fresh. The uni was delicious and had no smell. The Korean BBQ beef was so good. Perfectly seasoned, but the same can't be said for the teriyaki beef. It looked amazing on the sizzling plate but it was tasteless and the meat was chewy. I didn't knock off a star simply because the other food was delicious. The service was good and the restaurant was clean. I would definitely come back even if there was a wait. For Thinsulin followers, there's plenty of green light options to choose from. read more

Kirala - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Food is amazing. Consistent high quality fresh fish and robata is so good. The bar is our favorite place to eat.

My friends and I wanted to get some sushi in Berkeley so we decided to check out this restaurant we found on Yelp. Upon arrival, we were seated very quickly and were helped out efficiently which was greatly appreciated. The food here is relatively pricey, but I think that's standard for most Berkeley sushi restaurants I've tried. If you like simpler rolls like nigiri or maki, give this place a shot! -- - Rainbow Roll ($20) // Topped with an assortment of fresh fish and avocado, this roll was a favorite. The rice to filling to fish ratio was spot on, though I think it was a tad bit expensive for the quantity of food we got. - Caterpillar Roll ($18) // A solid roll with avocado and unagi. Again, very great ratio of ingredients and everything seemed to be very fresh! read more

Kirala - Caterpillar Roll Rainbow Roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

This is my favorite sushi restaurant in the Bay Area. Always quality sushi ... there is often a line, but it's for good reason. I recommend it! read more

It was my first time here! The ambiance was nice. I thought the menu was confusing, but everything I tried tasted very good. The negima robata was very juicy. Service was great. I'll have to come back to try some of the other items on the menu. read more

Kirala - Negima and Asparagus Bacon Robata - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

My partner and I live down the street from Kirala and we always smell the barbecue/yakitori coming from their kitchen! We just had to finally walk over and try it out. They don't offer reservations so expect a little bit of a wait at the door when you first get there. It moves very quickly since more people can be seated than one might initially think! When you get in, you're greeted with friendly service. It looks to be a purely family-run business and there's definitely a lot of care that is put into making your dining experience great. The food was delicious! The menu has so many good options (not too many to the point that it's confusing though!) and they offer unique specials that you can't find on the website. My partner got the steak katsu (this was a special) while I got the sushi dinner, which came with miso soup. They were so good! My partner loved the katsu and I enjoyed the freshness of the fish and the sweet taste of the tamago. Needless to say, we'll be returning :) read more

Kirala - Steak Katsu - Sushi Bars Near Me - Berkeley, California

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