Treated a friend for his 31st birthday here. We really enjoyed the yakitori here, and got: -Chicken hearts -Squid -Shrimp -Scallop Along with all the delicious skewers, we also enjoyed: -Sashimi happy hour special -Yuzu lemon with green tea -Soba noodles with fish cake -Sake for my friend We came on a weekday night, and were instantly seated when we walked in. It's a cute spot that's comparable to what one would find in Japan with a clean, woodsy aesthetic. read more

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Just a head's up ... per their website, their final dinner service will be on Saturday, November 15, 2025. Some of the items on their dinner menu like the wappa meshi sets are not in their lunch menu (they serve ramen at lunch time). Head over for dinner while there is still time! read more

This bowl is so packed with sashimi deliciousness! I easily counted over 20 pieces! Every piece carried its own flavor and didn't taste bland at all. This spot looks small but they expand into the next space as well. They have a good happy hour menu. I walked in 30 minutes before closing and they were more than happy to seat me and never rushed me to get out. One of my fave go to spots when I'm in Berkeley craving sushi. They also provide all the to go sushi packages at Tokyo fish market. Go check them out over there too read more

Musashi - Chirashi don - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Wappa Meshi sets... order one and you're set. Whole menu is great, but come for the Wappa. Because it's a lost art and not many places do it. If you know a place, or places, that serve some great wappa meshi, holla. I'm gonna wanna see what's up. Place has a homey vibe. I dig it. I'd visit regularly if I didn't live so far away. read more

Musashi - Chawan Mushi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I wanted to try this Sushi place. This is right off Shattuck on Dwight (parking is neighborhood parking). The rolls are substantial and the chicken karage are big pieces! We also tried the Sake, it was good if you like Sake (on happy hour menu). If you want to try a new Sushi place, this place is a no frills kind of place with great customer service. The place filled up quick right after they opened. We would be back for date night! read more

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Came on a weeknight around opening and it was EMPTY. But within 30 minutes it completely filled up. Ordered spicy tuna roll, dragon roll and sashimi platter (hamachi and salmon) and a katsu don. I'd skip the sashimi and instead opt for another roll. katsu don was good, but nothing to write home about- as such, will probably skip and try a new dish next time! read more

Consistent, nice people, and great quality sushi. It's authentic sushi without the over marketed hype. Our go to place. read more

Musashi - Sushi Combo - variety and quality are great. The Chirashi bowls solid too. - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

Sometimes you just have to seize the moment, and it was just one of those moments when Jamie W. and I were strolling on Dwight Way. Jamie was actually the one who spontaneously pointed to the place and said we should have a light dinner here. Never been before, but we could tell it was a casual spot, pretty family friendly. We managed to nab a good size table. Before we ordered, the server gave us a complimentary plate of their homemade potato salad (photo). Nice start. We couldn't help but notice quite a few yakitori choices in the Robata Grill section of the menu. We ordered several sticks. The first was the $3.50 Kawa (Chicken Skins), which was crispy-tasty and not too chewy (photo: https://yelp.to/LrKdTRk2Fk). The second was the more substantial $5.50 Kama Negi, which alternated pieces of tender duck and grilled leeks (photo: https://yelp.to/71FHin34fj). Delish. The third yakitori was the $3.50 Hatsu (Chicken Hearts), a personal favorite because I like poultry innards (photo: https://yelp.to/8UlQxK7TNZ). The last was the $5.25 Teba, a couple of meaty Chicken Wings that required two sticks (photo: https://yelp.to/mA8XeoMBd6). Yakitori was clearly what they did best as they reminded me of the sticks we ate in Japan. Yep, that good. The $10 Kara-age Appetizer was good but not quite at the same level (photo: https://yelp.to/_bR49uaylD). Crunchy though the chicken was a bit chewy. We were surprised our priciest item, the $21 Rainbow Roll was the most disappointing (photo: https://yelp.to/U91ODg-Lv0). Not bad but kinda sloppy and not as fresh as we were hoping. Stick to the sticks. FOOD - 4 stars...the yakitori is the get here, hands down AMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...casual place like you'd see on Midnight Diner SERVICE - 4 stars...friendly and timely TOTAL - 4 stars...satisfying izakaya especially if you like robata RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's my collection of places I've patronized and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u read more

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This Japanese restaurant serves a good variety of sushi and Japanese dishes. I went with friends and they all recommended ordering the chirashi bowl. The chalkboard menu caught my eye and I ordered the hamachi kama (yellowtail collar) which was also a great choice. The waitstaff were all very attentive and kind. I could tell that they knew when was a good time to take or order after appetizers and offer more sake. I really enjoyed this place and would come back! read more

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Old style Japanese restaurant. A lot of choices and food is tasty and authentic. Ambience is out of date. Service is pretty good but we feel the prices are not cheap. However they have happy hour until 5pm and you must take advantage of it. read more

If I am in this area again I will return Good local sushi shop with decent sashimi and some nice grilled items. Tempura is American standard ( meaning too battered for me but if you generally like the tempura one gets in the USA then it's that ) read more

Not really a sushi restaurant, but a Japanese restaurant. Great "wine" -- sake -- list. Tried a few. The Shiro Kirishima was my favorite last night, though that "honor" could have gone to another. Just an excellent glass of wine, served at the perfect temperature (slightly chilled, but not cold). Service was appropriate. We were there for almost three hours, and never felt rushed. The meal started with some pickled items that opened my palate. Up first was the "mini" chirashi bowl. It was loaded with a wide variety of fish and seafood (including a whole prawn and some octopus). For $21, methinks you might wanna check it out. Two grilled skewers, one rib-eye and one duck+leeks (kamo negi). I rarely eat duck (as I would be eating alone; like poor, neglected lamb, so few of my companions join me in exploring menus as they refuse to deviate from the beef-chicken-prawn trichotomy) but dang this was a great way to enjoy duck. The leeks added color, texture, and tons of flavor. The veritable coup de grâce was the salmon collar or "samonkara." Grilled, succulent salmon, full of flavor - the real finger-lickin' good (as if I lick my fingers, ever, cos that's what the napkin's for, diners). The price? Four people, plenty of food, flowing booze, and great laughs: $200, before tip. Just a great time and night. Check it out. - workingman's gourmand read more

Musashi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

GREAT Japanese food near downtown Berkeley. Service was kind and efficient. Parking was easy with no wait on a Tuesday evening. Ambiance was nothing special but the food was authentic and fresh with reasonable prices given the fish quality. Tempura was excellent. Like the make of any great Japanese restaurant, grated daikon came with tempura, and shiso leaf came with sashimi. Will be coming back! read more

Musashi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Absolutely everything here was fantastic! We tried mackerel dinner, agedashi tofu, small plates of grilled sweet potato and eggplant, gyoza, meatballs, sashimi, and the uni special from Japan. Service is friend, the food is fairly quick, the decor is cozy and authentic. They even have happy hour specials! read more

Musashi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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One of the best sushi i ever had. Really worth the price and the service is phenomenal, hope a lot of people gonna try this restaurant read more

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Randomly found this place via Yelp. Someone had mentioned about hiyashi chuka so I was eager to get some delicious cold noodles. While I was unable to locate this cold noodle dish, they did have excellent happy hour running from 4-7pm. From their happy menu we got to try their agedashi tofu (this impressed my husband despite not having much interest in tofu normally), California roll, salmon roll, and sashimi plate. All very scrumptious and their sashimi insanely fresh. Also got a couple skewer items and chawanmushi - I'm a sucker for egg dishes! The latter was decadent and filled with spinach, fish cake slices, mushroom, and shrimp. Since we didn't have resos, we got seated at the sushi bar, which wasn't bad at all since I've always liked watching sushi chefs perfecting their craft. Parking easily to be found on Shattuck! Definitely will go back. Service very attentive despite them being busy. read more

Portions were crazy good, and everything was overall above average taste! Do wish the unagi don had less rice and more toppings -- the proportions were pretty off. Server kindly explained different dishes and sake, and food came out relatively quickly! There weren't too many ppl on a weekday night, and restaurant is fairly spacious and clean despite its age read more

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Catering one of my last meetings of the year, I knew I wanted to go big! Having catered from other local Asian businesses, I wanted to find one that specialized in Japanese cuisine. Musashi is a place I frequent often not just because of their amazing dinner special (5-7 PM), but also since I've tried a lot of dishes I can't find elsewhere. While they're sadly only open for dinner and closed on Sunday & Monday, they were happy to assist me with my catering order. I went in-person and talked with one of their staff to find items that would please a wide variety of tastes and dietary needs. I ended up choosing their yakisoba, tofu salad, chicken karaage, ginger pork, shrimp tempura, and variety of sushi. Happy to say this was a success among my guests with the chicken karaage being a huge crowd pleaser! I haven't seen other pictures of their party trays before so if you're interested in sizing, this will give you an idea of how much food you'd get. Musashi is a small hole in the wall restaurant on a residential street with limited seating and can get quite busy, so get in earlier or make a reservation if needed. Also a huge fan of their unagi wappa and side dishes they give out before each meal read more

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One of my favorites restaurants in Berkeley! Worthy of a visit even after graduating. For how much salmon we got, the price was more than reasonable. The salmon was pretty fresh, and the service was quick. Very homey place. read more

Musashi - Chirashi Salmon & Ikura bowls - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Enjoyed the great assortment of food we ordered here, the service was solid and we liked it enough to want to come back. Their agadashi tofu, tempura, and chicken karagi was excellent. read more

If the Poke dinner hadn't been so, so salty & the service had been faster and more attentive, i would have given 5 stars. The agedashi tofu & grilled scallops were awesome. The ramen was really tasty. But the Poke was just so salty that we only ate half & even then only after rinsing the tuna off a bit. Maybe the chef had an off night or the tuna sat in the soy mixture too long. read more

I walked by Musashi many times on my way to Downtown Berkeley and wanted to give this spot a try. The resturant is tucked away and hidden. However, the ambiance of the restaurant is very welcoming and cozy. My friend and I ordered their Salmon & Ikura Donburi and their Soboro Wappa. The salmon sashimi was fresh and melted in your mouth. The ikura added an extra textural component and more umami to the dish. However, the salmon to rice ratio was a little disappointing, as there is a lot of rice on the bottom of the bowl. The Soboro Wappa was very interesting and is something everyone should try. It is a dish that has flavored rice and a variety of protein. The Soboro had egg, salmon, and ground beef. The variety of proteins made each bite interesting throughout the meal. Musashi is a very cute sushi spot in Berkeley and I would recommend giving it a try! read more

Musashi - Salmon and Ikura Donburi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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This was my first time here! I went with my boyfriend's mom and his 2 sisters to celebrate International Women's Day. We ordered a bunch of stuff. Seafood skewer sampler, beef wappa, tuna poke with rice, tempura, udon and more. My favorite is there chawanmushi aka steamed egg. It is soooo delicate and is like eating a soft soft pillow. It comes with some mushrooms, shrimp and nauruto. My second favorite is their grilled squid. It is so fresh and taste so good with the mayo, lemon and soy sauce dip. About $155 for everything read more

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Great food, unpretentious. Good home cooking style - inexpensive. Would be more popular but a little off fhe main drag. Very nice wait staff. Japanese Cal students know to eat here. Ambience is low key, pleasant. read more

This was the sushi experience I needed to make up for the bad one I had somewhere else (not here!) about a month ago. We walked in and were seated right away. They brought water and pickled cucumber and tea almost immediately. We had the grilled sweet potato and eggplant, both were good and reminded me I should make that stuff at home (it's expensive to eat out, for what it is). The chirashi was fantastic, though. All the fish were very fresh, and it was a big enough portion that we were able to split that, added an extra cup of miso, and ordered 1 roll. We tried the special spicy tuna roll, which sounded good with unagi, avocado, and spicy hamachi, IIRC, but it was just ok. The ambiance in the front room is very authentic Japanese izakaya. Service was a little slow, so next time I'd go there earlier so we could enjoy ourselves without feeling like we had to run out the door to make it to see Brad Mehldau at Zellerbach (which was an awesome show, btw). read more

We did a sushi platter from Musashi and it was very filling! We got the Nigiri Sushi combo in Large 25/45 pcs. (4-5 persons) size and it very much fed 4 people with some to spare. It was our first time doing a sushi platter and it had a great variety. The only note is that the fish to rice ratio is not great - lots of rice to eat fish bite (but that is to be expected I suppose for a sushi platter perhaps)? We also had tempura appetizer and that was a yum variety. If I want a sushi platter again, I would come here because it was acceptable (but also because I'm not sure there are a lot of party tray places) read more

Favorite japanese restaurant at Berkeley! Has a lot of options in their menu. We ordered salmon don and saba shio yaki dinner; and everything was so good! It was very nosy, but because of the people around, but the service was good in general. read more

Musashi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Our last minute decision turned into our favorite meal of the month! My housemates and I hadn't even realized that Musashi was only three blocks from our house so as soon as we saw that we booked it to the restaurant hoping there wasn't a line. Thankfully we were seated immediately. Ive been to quite a few Japanese restaurants in the bay area but none of them, except this spot, have ever brought us side dishes before we ordered our food! It was simple boiled sweet potatoes but it was a great way to settle our stomachs before we took a look at the menu. The menu had a great variety of things but we didn't want anything too big, so both of us ordered one mini set each. I had the Salmon and Ikura Don and my housemate had the Tuna Poke Don. Each set came with miso soup and traditional pickled items. The best part about the mini sets is that they're only $19 each! I've had food from Musashi before, but only their premade rolls and nigiri that they sell at Yaoya-San in El Cerrito. Even those rolls are pretty good quality despite sitting in a fridge all day! But wow, we were super pleased when we tasted how smooth and buttery the salmon was. The tuna in the poke was also nice and firm, and not water-logged. I appreciate that Musashi takes pride in the quality and presentation of their food. Definitely a new go to spot since they're so close by! read more

Musashi - Tekka Don - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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The best chirashi. I'd have included a photo, but who has the time when there are luscious slices of sashimi and tamagoyaki artfully balanced atop a bowl of perfectly cooked rice? The karaage and tempura are excellent. As is the tonkatsu broth accompanying their ramen or udon. When Musashi offers beef tongue or clams as a special, be sure to get at least one order. read more

Whenever I am there, since covid - dinner only, I always ask Jin, the owner and chief sushi maker, to select for me. So many amazing fish from Japan to try! Never disappoints, always delicious. I really hope many others who love sushi will try his many special options. This time I had amazing mackerel - nothing like stateside mackerel, scallops from Japan and 3 more remarkable and deliciously unusual fish. Go there if you can! Marilyn read more

I haven't given a one star review in years but the service here was abysmal. I was embarrassed to have brought my friends here because it took over 30 minutes to get a menu which we had to ask for because no server acknowledged our table after we sat down. In fact, we had to ask for everything including water refills, the regular menu, the drinks menu, and the check and it took at least 30 minutes to get any of the above, one at a time, so we were sitting in there for 2+ hours. This timing is not exaggerated because my friend literally started a timer to see how long we'd wait for service due to how ridiculous the situation was. We were confused at first because we sat down and didn't see a server for the next 30 minutes and didn't have a menu either. Read that again: we didn't get a menu for 30 minutes! We only did after we flagged a server down to ask for one! I genuinely don't understand how they could provide such bad service. Sometimes the servers would not hear us and they certainly never looked our way to see our hands waving, and we would have to wait another 10 minutes for a server to walk in the general vicinity to shout "excuse me!" another exhausting time. I don't understand how other reviewers didn't seem to have this problem - was it because of where my party sat? If so, why even sit parties at that table if you can't see them or be bothered to check on them at all? It's such a shame because I am a fan of the food but this was by far the worst service of my life. This was not a one-off experience either. Other times I have dined here I have experienced similar wait times but at least servers could see me waving my hand in the air for their attention. We couldn't even get the check. We said "excuse me" and waved our hands multiple times in front of multiple servers and got ignored or were unseen. One member of my party got up from their seat to approach a server for the check and we never got it. Nobody came to check on us after we sat down and we were at that table for over 2 hours. In order to leave the restaurant we had to guess the bill and leave a wad of cash on the table to cover it. They didn't notice when we left which is unsurprising. read more

We ordered the osechi and sushi platters for New Year's pick up and we were so happy with everything! Everything tasted delicious and sushi was fresh! This year, my husband and I couldn't go back to celebrate with family so having an osechi box really meant a lot for us to celebrate with good luck Japanese foods! The platters were gorgeously presented and very simple to order. I sent an email and got a response and confirmation right away! They gave me an order number that I presented when I arrived to pick up my order. read more

Musashi - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

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We came on a Friday around 5:30 for the Happy Hour and we were seated quickly, the rest of the dining room filled up not long after we arrived. The chicken karaage, which my boyfriend and I order at every restaurant that has it, was juicy and delicious, earning a high ranking on our Karaage Tier List. This was our first time trying takoyaki, and unfortunately I believe they were undercooked and they tasted of raw flour but the octopus inside was tender. I ordered the poke mini-set, which tasted fresh, spicy, and perfectly seasoned. The mister ordered the special spicy tuna roll, which was a little underwhelming because it only came with 6 pieces and the only spice was a bit of sriracha dotted on each piece but good nonetheless. Service was good given how busy it was, we plan on returning to try out some skewers and for their happy hour deals! read more

Musashi - Tuna poke - Japanese Near Me - Berkeley, California

I've been to Musashi a few times because it legitimately is one of my favorite spots in Berkeley. It's a quaint little spot that's easy to miss, and it's very quiet as well. You can usually find items that may not be on the printed menus on the chalkboard that's on the other side of the restaurant blocked off by a wall. Although their sushi and sashimi are pretty good, the cooked dishes, like tempura, wappa, and chawan mushi are where they really shine. I especially like that they have weekly specials they change up. I saw on their website that they had a chirashi bowl with cubed up salmon, tuna, maguro, roe, shrimp, and spicy mayo for $12, so of course I came because what a steal for a chirashi bowl! I also loved the wappa I've gotten in the past, which came with pickles and a cup of warming chawan mushi. Service is pretty great as well! Servers check up on you regularly, refill your water, pick up your chopsticks wrappers, and etc. A server even told me I could sit on another side of our table because she noticed I was a bit cramped against a wall. Overall, Musashi remains a favorite of mine! :) read more

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Overall is very good. I always come here with my friends. The salmon is nice but sometime need to wait for a while during busy time. Overall is awesome! read more

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Whenever I visit the San Francisco Bay Area and I am in the mood for Japanese cuisine, I can always depend on Tsutomu and Hildie to recommend the best and this time they did not disappoint and neither did Musashi. For starters, we had the Hamachi sashimi which was very fresh and most delectable which paired very well with the hot sake. My main course was the Salmon Teriyaki with the usual rice, miso soup, salad and tsukemono. I am not a dessert person but I couldn't resist the green tea ice cream. This was most definitely the right place to have my lite evening snack. Without a doubt, I will be back when I'm in the Bay Area again. read more

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First let's start with this is a more traditional Japanese restaurant. If you are looking for lots of rolls and only sashimi/nigiri this may not be the place for you. Now you can get those things don't get me wrong (more selected variety but always fresh and what's in season) but to me the highlight of the menu is everything else. The happy hour is also lovely with a decent selection. The sake menu is extensive and their speciality menu changes fairly regularly. The service depending on the day can be slower especially when they are busy. However, that being said I have never complained and they are always appreciative. This type of food is meant to be enjoyed slowly. People are in to much of a hurry I feel especially these days. I appreciate them and the service they provide. Ambiance wise it's like a traditional Japanese restaurant. The location could be a little better but yet again it is family owned, been here a very long time, and the prices wouldn't be what they are if it was in any other location. I do wish it was a little warmer in the area where the sushi bar only because it has been so cold lately. I'm sure it would make other areas way too hot. Overall, I am very appreciative this restaurant is the way it is. I have always been happy and satisfied with the variety of food. It is so much more reasonable than more than half the other restaurants around with great quality. I have tried others, I pay more, quality isn't really better for the price, and service is generally worse by far. It makes it hard to venture to others after so many failures and knowing that this place will always serve quality! I hope this place is around for many many more years. read more

As a big fan of Japanese cuisine, I can say that Musashi satisfied my Japanese food cravings on Sunday. The restaurant is on a quiet street in Berkeley and there were a lot of street parking spaces available, especially considering I came on a Sunday night. Inside, there are a lot of seating options (sushi bar seating and tables) so there was no queue for my party of 4. The workers were all very friendly and helpful with navigating the menu for some of the items I wasn't super familiar with. I liked how they give you a small complimentary dish (similar to a korean banchan dish) to start off the meal. Some highlights of the meal: takoyaki- delicious chunks of octopus within the warm savory pancake batter, this was so yummy chawanmushi- custardy goodness with chunks of crab, shrimp, mushroom and spinach, this seafood concoction was super comforting and delicious chirashi bowls- the fish was super fresh and I loved the variety! I would recommend the chirashi mini set as opposed to the regular sized bowl because it was super filling for the price of only $19! side notes: -they gave strawberry KitKats with the check which I thought was super cute -the staff are very attentive -the soy sauce is the japanese soy sauce that comes in a pipet-type bottle that allows you to drop ample amounts of soy sauce on top of your sushi without having to dip your fish into a dish I highly recommend Musashi for a more affordable and no-frills sushi dinner. I truly felt like I was in Japan and I want to explore more of their extensive menu! read more

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Great value for the money and overall very good sushi. Service is good and prices are also good. A great place for a nice casual sushi dinner with friends. Everything I tried was prepared well, fresh and tasty! I intend to come back here often! read more

It was a very local restaurant in Berkeley, the interior feels very cozy like any izakaya in Japan. Was here with a friend Thursday night, they were really busy. Quite surprising because it was a very quiet neighborhood. Two of us ordered quite a bit of food. During 5-7 pm is happy hour and they have a few beers and appetizers with discount. There are today's special on the blackboard and we ordered a few things there, interesting food that aren't on the menu usually (see captions on pictures). Love the flavorful and surprising taste. Then ordered the soft shell crab and amaebi on the regular menu. Have to say the Dassai sake is really good. read more

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