One of my good friends introduced me to this place after practice one day and ever since then Samurai has definitely become my go to place for some delicious sushi in this area. They have various options to choose from depending on your liking for a reasonable price. My all time favorite is the Harley Davidson, Tempura Sushi Roll, and the Mortal Combat. The place is small and can get crowded in the evenings so prepare to wait a bit. read more

Samurai - Harley Davidson sushi roll - Japanese Near Me - Salinas, California

The best rolls in Salinas. I always order to go from them. Great place, friendly people. Delicious rolls, my favorites are Monterey and 49ers. Highly recommended! Thank you. read more

Sooo goood. It almost makes up for the price I know I know, Suhsi isn't cheap lol. Everything I've tried here has never disappointed

What the hell happened to the sushi rolls? They are small as heck now and cost more??? How do you make less of a serving and charge more? No longer worth the money as other places are serving bigger rolls, taste just as good and cost much less. I used to order 3 times a week here. Now its going to be twice a year or less! You guys are basically giving business away to your competitors. read more

We have tried all the other ones here in town and this is still by the the best place for sushi here in salinas

It's a good feeling to walk out of a restaurant felling like every single penny was well spent. I doesn't happen very often, but it did happen here!! Great Sushi guys!!! read more

Samurai - Great sushi!!! - Japanese Near Me - Salinas, California

This is not the biggest sushi restaurant but it certainly very delicious and the service is good I enjoy going there for lunch read more

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This is my favorite sushi spot, Great service, delicious food and wonderful people. My family and I always leave happy. read more

Samurai - Samurai pokey bowl - Japanese Near Me - Salinas, California

We come here a lot. We order the pink Godzilla roll, scorpion, and a bunch of other items. Food is great. The service is normally on point here. However tonight (4/3/15) it was terrible. We tried to get a servers attention multiple times for a glass of water, they looked at us and kept walking. Never asked us how the food was. I love this place. I always recommend it but tonight was not good. I don't know what happened tonight but it was very disappointing. read more

Samurai - Japanese Near Me - Salinas, California

Best sushi I've had in Salinas, definitely worth driving 30 minutes to come eat here. I had the Alejandro roll and my husband the Cielo, Mar y Tierra as well as the Lemon Burst (Eternal Sunshine in other places). All rolls were very fresh and tasty, not overwhelming at all. If you have a sweet tooth you must also try their Banana Tempura with Icecream. read more

Good food at good prices. I checked this out with a foreign co-worker of mine. He didn't like sushi and had never used chopsticks before. Maybe we should have picked a different place!? Lol. He found some items he liked and we both had the 2 item lunch specials for $9.95. Miso soup, salad, rice. I got the teriyaki salmon and the California rolls. All very good and a great price! The staff were friendly and I enjoyed it. read more

Samurai - Lunch special part 1.....Miso Soup! - Japanese Near Me - Salinas, California

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Never again . Ordered a brown rice California roll with sauce on the side , the rice was white and the sauce was on it, and the crab was a red strip of something ? I called and they said the brown rice is white ? That red string in the crab .. yuck read more

Time says it's closed at 2:30pm we pulled in at 1:50pm and the lady just threw up an X with her arms. One of my favorite places to eat and I was so sad because the shut the door on me 40 minutes before closing. read more

Went here for lunch and the place was quite busy. Needless to say we received our orders of chicken and salmon bento boxes immediately. The food was very good and our server was there to check on us. My husband said this is the place he wants to return to for Japanese food. read more

Had an amazing meal at Samurai Japanese Restaurant. First off- the green tea was amazing- loose leaf, strong, fragrant and delicious! They have a few special plates that are excellent and a great value. The fish was so fresh, clean and tasty. The rolls were good and not overly goopy- you can taste all the flavors. The miso soup was also excellent. I'm not in Salinas often, but when I come back, I'll be coming back here! read more

I live really close so this is our go to sushi spot. Its perfectly convenient to call them on my drive home from work and pick up for dinner. Always fresh and yummy. Great service and nice atmosphere! read more

you guys are fuckin sad, it's not that good. Well maybe because you guys are trapped in Salinas, trust me I know exactly how that's like. This place is ok, for the quality you get the price is too high. Can't complain about that though, it's Salinas the demand isn;t that high over there. Just make sure you move the hell outta there when you get to college, if youre a food lover you'll thank me. read more

I try my best not to give a negative review but this is my first and hopefully last. Service was horrible. Our waitress clearly spoke English but when we asked a question in regards to their menu she was rude, short and acted like she "didn't speak English". So strange... I let that go, I try my best to assume positive intent. After ordering, all of our food came out cold and the sushi rice was hard. Teriyaki sauce was so thick it looked like gravy, oh and that was cold too. Picture the texture and taste of cold thick gooey teriyaki gravy sauce. Gross. Here's the kicker, I got food poisoning from their grayish colored flat steak teriyaki dish. The steak looked grey and horrible, smelled and tasted bad too. I was vomiting and in so much pain all night into the following day, and this is why I'm writing this review. My friends love eating their COOKED sushi rolls so maybe that's what I should've ordered instead of the dinner mystery trio combo plate. Sorry but bad food that can make people sick should not be served. read more

WARNING: Yet another imitated Japanese restaurant. This is a Korean-owned Japanese place. Don't expect authentic Japanese food. They miss the details all over the place. The misspellings on the menu were my first clue, then I asked the waitress. The albacore tataki was tasteless (probably frozen too long) and there was no momijioroshi on it (another detail), the sauce for the tataki and the gyoza were the same and the waitress couldn't tell me what it was, just "sauce". The rice under the nigiri-sushi was too large, a common mistake when one wants the food to look bigger. Pricing was also not cheap! read more

If you know what good sushi looks and tastes like, this might not be the best place to go. Service was just okay, leaving me with one of those internal debates over whether I should tip 10% or nothing at all, since the only real service was our water and a stale hello. Me and a friend ordered three rolls, and received them promptly. The tuna was off pink and it didn't have quite the right taste; most likely frozen. The dishes looked okay but not particularly appetizing, but I did enjoy their Kings roll. The restaurant was pretty crowded and noisy. I'd probably hesitate strongly about returning here again. read more

Love coming here for sushi, they have great selections. Customer service is great, i did an order to go once and there was a misunderstanding with my order and they fixed it quickly. Will always comeback. Pink dragon roll is awesome, get it with fish eggs theyre good! read more

There just always in point with service I've tried other spot in salinas n I seem to always come bak here one of my favorite lil spots to eat read more

This place has really fresh sushi with fair prices. I can tell the main lady who runs the place has her favorite customers. A group of us who hardly go there didn't get as much customer service from her as she helped others (even when they weren't the table she was serving), and only checked on us once then dropped off the check. She should treat all her customers fair, but the food is good. read more

I'm sure their sushi is awesome, which I still have yet to try. But how many other japanese places can you say make the best Udon Soup?! This one does for sure!! Its quite different from all the other places I've tried. I am definitely coming back to try some of their unique rolls. Update: Yeah I came back another time and I was suprised by all the different rolls they had on their walls. I ordered this one roll called the "Mortal Kombat" roll? lol still really good! read more

This place was excellent! I thought that Ikebana was the best in Salinas... But I've now changed my mind! This place appears to be a hole in the wall... But is deelish! The hubby had the Dragonfly plate, which was a plate fully is sushi that was artfully shaped like, yes, u guessed it... A dragonfly!! But was only $14.95! I had 2 rolls @ $8.99 each... Much better value than Ikebana! Will be my only sushi stop in Salinas now!!! read more

All I can say, full restaurant 1 seat left at sushi bar, sat there talked to the chef, 10 mins later got my order, ate some delicious fish, went home, while the people around me were still waiting on their food! Thanks guys for another great night! read more

Well, I do hate to give any restaurant a bad review, but I was very disappointed with my meal at Samurai. I'm fine with it being a whole in the wall, fine with it being in Salinas, but not fine with dried out sushi :( I sat at the sushi bar and ordered from the chef. He was very kind and made a very nice presentation. I ordered the Saba (Mackerel) nigiri, 2 pieces for $4 and the a roll that I don't remember the name of. On the inside it was cucumber, avocado, and crab and on top had salmon, tuna, and yellowtail with a garnish of roe. The nigiri was fairly chewy and dry and the roll had too much cucumber and not enough sushi taste...I'm a sucker for roe so ofcourse I loved that part. So, sad to make such a report, but I think it has the possibility of being a great restaurant. read more

It feels just so home Made and fresh one of my favorite sushi places from Monterey down to Santa Cruz. Everything is reasonably priced and made to order and the staff is always friendly read more

Samurai - Mmm nothing like hot miso on a chilly day - Japanese Near Me - Salinas, California

Updating my review: it's been a most ten years since my first and since, I've learned what to expect from a sushi restaurant. The rolls here are fun, the prices are good, the quality is lacking. There's better sushi even in salinas! read more

Went here for dinner while overnight in Salinas for a track event the next day at Laguna Seca. There wasn't much on Yelp to choose from that was 4 stars & up in the area- & how else would I pick a restaurant with you, Yelp? This place has pretty good reviews and so away we went. We were greeted promptly and sat at a table, only to be told we had to move because they were trying to join that table with the one next to it for a large party. It was fine with the moving itself, except that I did not enjoy that the table we ended up with was in the corner and the furniture did not match the rest of the restaurant. They literally sat us at a glass patio table that was slanted, dirty, & indoors! It was also way low for the chairs so I kept knocking my knees on the table & had to hunch over to eat. Sigh. Beware- the Yelp menu that looks extensive and has many veggie options is NOT the menu in person, at least not any more. I was stuck ordering the plain udon, because they did not have the soba veggie noodle soup I saw online. The other udon options had meat. The plain udon really is a plain udon. It came with noodles, broth, and a pinch of seaweed on the top... I dumped the chili seasoning in it to add flavor since it had none. I also ordered the oshinko roll (pickled radish), with was also plain but decent. I enjoyed the large chunks of oshinko. I did enjoy the customer service from our waitress. Although she had many tables she was attentive to us & gave us free edamame as a courtesy for moving us. That is why this place gets the two stars. However, I find it overpriced for the taste and value of the food that you get. read more

the only place i get sushi at!!! I live in San Jose now, and i still haven't found a place that's better than Samurai. This is always a place i want to stop by when i visit home. Their prices for rolls are reasonable compared to ikebana down the street =P. My fav: Philly 2, Pink Lady, and Rainbow roll, love the different raw fish's on top... ooooH deep fried rolls are my favorite too lol. read more

Ok place. Sorta expensive. But it's to be expected for a sushi place. Honestly couldn't taste the difference between the sushi here or the sushi at Sakura's. Sushi here looked fancier and the setting was nicer. But that's about it. Save some money, go to Sakura's. Better variety anyways. read more

The food is amazing. Really fresh, really delicious, quick service. Just do not use the restroom at this place. I tend to be wary of restaurants where the restroom is accessible only by going through the kitchen. I walked back before we ordered to wash my hands and was whistled at by the chefs. So I walked out and asked the auahi chef if they had an oshibori to clean my hands with to no avail. Back through the kitchen to wash my hands. "Psspsspss" the second time. It is really sad that I felt more comfortable walking across the parking lot to use the restroom at the jack in the box. Too bad about the catcalling, because I would have gone back otherwise. read more

So I don't eat sushi. But I have to say I love this place for the teriyaki chicken. The soup and salad it comes with is fantastic. I have taken a friend there for lunch though who does like sushi and he gave it a thumbs up and was impressed also by the super fast service. It does seem to be closed at random times and they are so so about answering the phones. But overall, I love this place and plan to be back. read more

A nice small and simple sushi place. I ate here recently while staying at a hotel in Salinas and ended up quite satisfied with my meal. Once seated we were immediately asked to move to another smaller table (so that they could accommodate a large group), but were given edamame for the inconvenience. The table we sat at was a little odd, it was different from all the other tables in the restaurant and actually looked like patio furniture. Ah well. I got the Spicy California roll which was DELICIOUS! I loved it. I definitely wouldn't mind coming here again if I find myself passing through Salinas, CA again. read more

I have been here many times and i am impressed by their rolls. they have a plethora of new and interestingly named suhi concoctions. I went today and had the TNT roll (spicy tuna and cream cheese in a deep fried roll) the tuna was not that spicy though. And i also had a pink lady roll (tempura shrimp with raw salmon and tuna and avocado and cream cheese on top). There was bit too much cream cheese on it tho. I am a little cream cheesed out. Go here if you want fun and creative suhi rolls. read more

Samurai is a good place to come for lunch. I have been here a few times and felt it was enough to write up a review. The sushi isn't necessarily the best you've ever had but it gets the job done. I do think it is hard to find good sushi places in the area so for the price and location this place meets the needs. It is a collective of food and service with location that helped me give it 4 stars. The staff is very friendly and attentive. The interior has a very warm feeling to it. It has a local flavor which I really like. I think it is very much a local sushi joint and the restaurant enjoys catering to locals. It is not over decorated or appealing to tourists which ultimately makes for a cozy experience. They seem very experimental with their rolls which I have not necessarily tried yet but I will once I get some recommendations or build enough courage. =D read more

This is my favorite sushi joint in Salinas! It would rank five stars but for the challenging restroom, and the lovely, sweet, cute but slightly inattentive waitresses. That being said, use the bathroom before you go here, and be OK with jumping up to snag a waitress when needed because this is an awesome Japanese restaurant! When I go with the old man, we go right after work, and launch into the happy hour specials which are beer, sake, and hand rolls. Yummo! We usually get a sashimi special which is around $12, and a roll, and escape with a bill including tip and drinks around $25. When I go for lunch with the girls, we usually get misos, salads, and three rolls. Lunch is a little more expensive since you can't take advantage of the happy hour specials, but we can still leave with a bill around $50. The freshness of the fish is exquisite, and the people are friendly. A great restaurant! read more

I am a regular at Yama Sushi in Monterey, and had yet to find a place that is better. Being that I live in Salinas, I am so happy to have found Samurai Japanese Restaurant. We got there early, around 6pm, and all but two tables were packed. We sat right down and right away a line started forming at the door - this place is definitely not a secret. My daughter had edamame & miso soup... both were great. My husband had a bento box and he said it as the best teriyaki chicken and beef he has ever had. I was appreciative of the pictures of the sushi offerings in their menu (too many places have names of sushi and no picture or even ingredients listed, so you have no clue what you are getting.) However, at the last minute I noticed hand-written sushi rolls all over the walls... and they sounded amazing! I chose the "Alejandro" priced steeply at $15 but worth the money. It was truly made deliciously and the ingredients were very fresh. Best sushi in town, for sure. Fro dessert we had tempura bananas drizzled in chocolate (yum) and mochi which was a first for us... soooo delicious. I need to comment on a couple of things. 1) quality food 2) efficient, not overly friendly, but super fast service 3) the food comes out way faster than expected especially for how packed the place is. We will definitely be back. I only took one star off because when we needed things like extra napkins, spoons for our miso soup, dessert menu, we had to hunt down our waitress because she was too fast for us. Minor complaint! read more

This is good meals for family and friends. It's great meals I have had eve eaten at this location since 2017