We love this place!!!! Great food, excellent customer service, so far one of our favorite places. read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

A great place if you're looking for a more authentic sushi experience. I noticed on the website that the owner/chef is Japanese and that sold me. The photos pretty much say it all...let the ingredients to the talking and just accent the flavors. read more

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Sometimes reviewers love sushi restaurants (and other kinds) because of the portion size and sauces. I love them when the rice is well made - individual kernels are shiny and beautiful, not mushy, and the flavoring supports the rest, not overly sweet or seasoned - and the rolls are refined in their ingredients and presentation as well as delicious. Shiro Kuma fits that description. Our group of 5 had a spider roll, Yasuo's special (chef's choice), Kuma vegan and a couple others. We were all very happy especially with the special which was well worth the $20 which included bluefin tuna on it. Service was excellent even though it was a busy night and our sake cups were a beautiful pink glass that were wonderful to drink from. (Though they may only have a few of those.) I see some people complain about the level of communication with the staff. This seems to be a more culturally Japanese restaurant than others in San Rafael and English is not their first language so it can be harder to get more detailed info or more social. So come to appreciate the space to enjoy your meal read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Yasuo's special this evening. Delicious! - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

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What a total rip off. Cucumber salad with a teeny tiny dab of snow crab. Every roll small. Hardly any fish. Tiniest chicken wings ever and only five. Expensive and I'm still hungry. Super disappointing. I gave it one star cause zero wasn't an option. I will never order from here again. read more

Honestly terrible. Don't waste your money. This Sushi is flavorless. Even the gyoza was bad.

I just ate there with a friend and we were quite dissappointed. First of all, the place is fairly barren and was super cold inside. We were clear with the very polite server that we wanted to order more items after our first round. Well he never came to check on us. We were going to get another bottle of sake and a couple other rolls but he came over well after we were finished. The Yu-Me Hamachi is pretty meh and certainly not enough citrus sauce on it. The one roll that we had was decent but underwhelming. The asparagus was also pretty dry. The unagi lacked the traditional deep smokey flavor that I am used to. The fish is certaoinly fresh but just a bit underwhelming in presentation and complexity of flavors. We so wanted to love this place as clearly many others do but honestly at these prices there are much better places around. I will not be back. read more

We absolutely LOVE this place! Their fish is very high quality and always fresh. How the chef makes the roles is pure art. And everyone we've interacted with at the restaurant is always kind and polite. We've tried many local sushi restaurants but this one is by far the best. We always order pick up because we prefer to eat at home, hence the pictures of their delicious sushi on our plates. Yummmmm!!! read more

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This is one of the first places that I went to when moving to San Rafael. Both times I been here we ended up ordering trust me 1 and 2. We did also end up ordering the season fried chicken. The fried chicken was just okay, for $15 I wish there could've been 2-3 more pieces. And the sauce was kind of bland. There was a lot of crunch which I really liked. The only reason there's not more stars is that the first time we were here, we were blown out the water with the fish quality on everything. The second time, all the fish seemed a little dry and didn't have the fresh taste. Still good but wasn't as good as the first time. Servers are always super nice and it's a really Lowkey spot that has a welcoming atmosphere. read more

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It's a pleasure to visit this place Feels good Enjoying this moment This place it's amazing Always good service read more

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The best place for sushi any day of the week. The fish is on par with the higher price range sushi places in Marin and the creativity of the dishes here are A+ Try the specials, I have not been disappointed. read more

My second time at this place , even tho is a small place it feels very comfortable. Customer Service it's great , makes you feel special . Food what can I say , I'm back haha, Very well presented food, nice music on the back that you can hear and relax you but at the same time let's you talk and enjoy food . Second very good experience coming here ! read more

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I went to Japan a little under a year ago, and I can honestly say that Shiro Kuma Sushi has been the best Japanese restaurant I've had back home since my vacay! I went with some friends on a weeknight, and the place is fairly small, so you might have a wait. On to the food! After taking forever to decide, I went with the Chirashi Don, a dish with assorted sashimi over rice. Omg, it was so good! The fish was so fresh and so tasty! I'm not even kidding when I say that it's probably one of the closest dishes I've had to the quality in Japan! For a side, I had a good bowl of miso soup, and a bottle of Kirin to wash everything down! The service was great as well! I'm about 45 min to an hour from San Rafael, but I'll definitely keep this place in mid if I'm in the area. I'd come back for sure! read more

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The food was good we got 4 rolls and a spinach dashi app. It was pretty typical prices for sushi. The fish was fresh and they had unique rolls. It had a clean bathroom. The service was good but there was only one waitress but she did a great job managing the entire space by herself. read more

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I was visiting my friend who recently moved from SF to the area, and we stopped by around the time the restaurant opened for dinner last week. I had the Dragon Roll, Tamago sushi, and Kama Crunchy roll. The food portions were on the smaller size, Tamago was made fresh in-house, sauces were done just right (not too much sauce), and the overall food quality was decent for Marin County. Food was a bit overpriced. Our table was right by the sushi bar, but when I asked both sushi chefs about the food, as well as the waitress, no one could tell me about the food quality, what it tasted like, or any recommendations at all. Typically, the sushi bar area was to engage with the chef(s) in the US and in and in Japan. This isn't the type of restaurant to do so. The restaurant also had clear partitions between each table, which might be covid precautions, but if that is the case, additional precautions in the restaurant should be taken. It felt like holiday lights that someone forget to take down vs it to be intentional to still have the partitions there. The restaurant felt cramped with the partitions. I ended up grabbing pasta down the street, about an hour or two later (we went to watch the soccer game down the street.) read more

Once a favorite of ours, we went back tonight after moving from the area 4 years ago. What a disappointment. What we experienced was so far below the level of what this restaurant used to serve. The rolls were sloppily made with tasteless sushi rice, sauceless gomae spinach, and stringy tuna sashimi. The Kuma Low Carb roll was made so badly with cumber so thick it kept falling apart. And, no more sushi bar. Please bring your standard back up! read more

Highly recommend. Shiro Kuma has the best customer service I have experienced in Marin County, and I do not say that lightly. As soon as we walked in the door, we were greeted. As soon as we sat down, we were brought menus, and our drink order was taken. Within a reasonable period time, someone came to take our initial order. My husband dropped a napkin, and a server showed up out of nowhere with a replacement, (without us even having to ask). The staff struck a reasonable balance between giving us time to enjoy our date night and checking in to see if we needed additional. Anyway, we started with kuma oyster shooters, and they were so surprisingly good! I have never had anything like that! Then, we got the the toro sashimi, which melted in my mouth. Toro is my favorite. To drink, we had hot tea and a beer, and I love the cast iron teapot in which they served me. Anyway, we also enjoyed the hamachi ceviche, which was so delicious and smooth and came with these lotus(?) chips that added great texture. Then, we got rolls! The dynamite roll was not what we usually get when we order a dynamite roll, so we have more hamachi. It was good! The lion king was also really solid. I love the torched salmon on top. The kuma low carb roll was a great add, too. Something is just so refreshing about sushi wrapped in cucumber, and the also came with salmon roe and a couple types of fish. Would order again. For dessert, we had the matcha gelato, which was super interesting and had great flavor and texture. Great food. Great place for a fancy date night! Love it! read more

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This place has a mod Japanese and urban CA blend of feels that really plays well with the menu. I have been there a few times and am always very happy with the artfulness of the cuisine and the friendly service. If you want all-you-can-eat sushi this place is not for you. If you are looking for an authentic experience with beautiful flavors and culinary innovation, check it out. read more

Loved the food and the scene is fun. Creative presentation, and delicious sushi rolls. Great service too!

Bought some dinner off of DoorDash in a pinch - and I'm glad I did! Definitely a great way to try. I ordered the 49er roll and the crepe cake. I was pleasantly surprised by the roll, fish was fresh and soft, rice was the perfect consistency. And that CREPE CAKE SLICE! So super yummy. Would come here just for that again. I'd definitely be excited to come to this restaurant in person and try other rolls that they have to offer. If i was hungrier i would've ordered smaller dishes to try as well. Service was quick through door dash, would imagine it'd be even quicker in person. Though based on previous reviews, it seems like this place is a hidden home-y gem, which is rare in Marin but I'm glad to have found. read more

It must have been an off night for them - I got a six-piece selection to go and three of the fish were inedible: smelled off, mushy texture and falling apart. I threw it away. read more

Gave them a shot again tonight -- not much has changed and if anything it's somehow slid backwards. 2x tuna hand roll 2x salmon hand roll 1x dynamite hand roll 2 tobiko nigiri 1 foie gras nigiri. Yikes where to begin? Got delivery because the service is always horrendous. Dynamite hand roll was not what was listed and instead was filled with a mystery fish and some sort of mayo. The tobiko wasn't plump, but instead on the dry side missing it's pop - a sign of it being a bit old, the tuna was so light it might as well had been hamachi and was clearly low quality. And that wasn't even foie gras, it was a piece of duck fat they drowned, DROWNED, in a sauce and hoped someone wouldn't notice. Yikes, yikes, yikes. read more

Sushi is my favorite food, so I love to try new sushi spots and discover new flavors. We ordered the Azteca and Dynamite rolls, and I really enjoyed the unique flavor combination and bright colors of the Dynamite roll. It was the first time I've tasted chipotle sauce on a roll and it was surprisingly very tasty! I will say the rolls were smaller than the average sushi restaurant, which was disappointing. The variety of options was limited, which can be problematic for customers that prefer certain types of seafood in their sushi. Overall it was an average dining experience, however, I did enjoy the flavors of the Dynamite roll. read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Dynamite roll - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

We recognized Shiro Kuma Sushi after coming out of Kuma Market one day, and put it on our list to try. Last night we finally got to try it, so we placed a pick up order for 6pm, the anticipation eating away at us as time passed. We picked it up promptly at 6pm, and was very happy with the outcome. We ordered chicken tonkatsu, and the breading was very light, flaky, and still crunchy. I thought I was odd that they chop it up so much, but maybe it was to fit it all in the bento. The croquette was delicious, especially with the sauce, but the one thing lacking was the karaage chicken, it tasted a lot like the ready made karaage chicken, that's why there's a star off here. read more

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We've eaten here twice now and will return. Delightful small spot on West End 4th street. Super fresh and creative sushi, best in San Rafael. Excellent tempura, attentive charming staff. Definitely recommend. read more

The food was delicious. I was there by myself and was hungry. I got a small lunch sashimi (yellowtail), a spicy scallop hand roll, yum. And another roll I can't remember the name of. All delicious, fresh and generous cuts of fish but not too big. Really lovely atmosphere. Will definitely return with more people so I can try more things! read more

Okay, it's pricey, even for Marin but it's tasty, fresh and they're works of art! Since the various SIPs and other health orders, I've grabbed to go orders several times and I'll look forward to they day I can actually dine inside but I know my bill will be huge! There's so many things I wanna try! It's super easy to order on line and they follow health protocols- on my most recent visit, they've installed a temperature reader...I'm not sure it was functioning though. When Marin was allowing outdoor dining, you dined in a "bubble" outside. I'm not sure how often the shelters were cleaned but all appeared to be. On this most recent ordered I ordered purple yam Tempura, the low carb roll, hog jowl and salmon sashimi read more

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Wonderful tonkatsu and sashimi. Excellent all the way around. Would highly recommend.

I don't know if its because I just came back from Japan/Korea 2 days ago but the food was underwhelming and way overpriced. We were on our way back to SF via Santa Rosa and stopped by this place for dinner. The staff consisted of 1 Mexican and 3 Thai or Viet people. Nothing Japanese about that. The fish wasn't fresh, probably been there for a week. I had the runs less than 15 minutes after that I had to make a pit stop. read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Sushi bento trust me No.1 - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

From out of town, I chose this place randomly from Yelp review, hopingI'dfind some placeworthy of celebratingmy sweetheart's birthday, i got lucky. This place is a hidden gem! The service is great, the food selection is superb including uni and fois gras. All fresh and delicious and prices are reasonable. I'd drive from Concord, just to eat here, even at the current exorbitant gas prices! read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

Really enjoyed our meal here! We moved to Marin from South Bay, and I'm so glad that we've finally found our go-to sushi place. The sushi rice was seasoned nicely, cooked well, and the fish was fresh and sliced correctly. The rolls were made into perfect bite size, with well balanced flavor, and not overly sauced. The service was courteous. We will be back :) read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Yummy Moriwasa Nigiri. The toppings were refreshing and did not overpower the fish- added great flavor to the sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

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Amazing staff. Owners came out to talk to us. Some of the freshest sushi I have ever had. Will definitely come back.

Eaten here I think 3 times, and it just keeps getting better: More menu options, more specials, more delicious. Small and unassuming from the outside, but the kitchen is mighty. Significant little details in flavors pack a punch to the food, much more than typical sushi and sashimi. One of our favs now- definitely back soon! read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Sashimi tasting (12pcs) - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

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Good no nonsense japanese food. Towards the end of 4th street, plain looking in the restaurant. But Fresh ingredients and authentic flavors.love their sushi rolls, hamachi Kama, tempura, wake salad, karaage..and surprisingly does not break the bank. A staple. read more

We ordered lunch takeout from here through Yelp about a year back, and when I arrived they were closed. When I returned to inquire, they never refunded the $, or even remotely apologized. I decided this week to give them another chance in order to support a family-owned business. We ordered takeout on Valentines day. They were busy. I waited. And waited. 50 MINUTES of being bustled back and forth by servers later, I got the takeout. No apology. Not even a glass of water offered. The food itself was meh - spicy tuna was a TINY container for 5-6 rice crackers. Rolls were ok - not great. I don't like writing reviews like this, but I pay attention to Yelp reviews, and it felt important to let others know. read more

Absolutely fresh , I mostly don't taste fishes out of my routine, but here I tasted for the first time sea bass fish which was grilled served with soybeans , broccolis and ginger sauce. The price compare to quality is great. The salmon which order as a second dish , had great taste. At the end I decided to taste their sashimi. Sashimi here is kinda pricey , 5 piece tuna came out 20$, but fresh and juicy. read more

Shiro Kuma Sushi - Sushi Bars Near Me - San Rafael, California

Great neighborhood sushi spot... it's new so you can usually still get a table Japanese family run Nice inside dining and some casual seating outside read more

Fresh delicious sushi. The oysters were great too! Highly recommend. Service was good. I will come here again. read more

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As I was eating my takeout I was formulating my review. I wanted to start by saying "Where do I start?", there are so many possibilities. This is by far the worst Japanese food I've ever had. I've been here twice for lunch and the service was so bad I thought I'd try takeout. I called in my order and was told it would be ready in 30 minutes. I got there in 29 minutes and waited 15 minutes for my food. I asked if they had sake to go and was told yes and was pointed in the direction of the glass door refrigerator where there was a plethora of half bottles. I inquired if they had larger bottles and she said yes and went digging in a fridge and pulled out one bottle. I asked to see it and after looking at the label I asked how much it cost. She said "I don't know, I think it's $60." I asked "Can you find out how much it costs?". She texted her boss and told me it was $50. I decided to give it a try. She asked if I wanted a bag for the sake and I said no. It sat on the table for 15 minutes while I waited for my order to be completed. She didn't offer to keep it cold for me. I was asked if I wanted soy sauce and chopsticks which I declined. Look at the pictures. When I got home I put all the food on the counter. The overcooked Hamachi Kama was on the bottom of the bag, followed by two sushi rolls, then the chewy and over salted chicken karaage (fried chicken), salad, and then the Chirashi Toku Jyo. If you didn't figure it out: hot dish, on top of cold dish, on top of hot dish, on top of cold dish. WTF? Let's start with the "premium" Chirashi Toku Jyo (look at the picture) $49 The word chirashi means "scattered" (散らし), so chirashi sushi literally means 'scattered sushi'. It is a traditional style of sushi said to have inspired the modern-day sashimi bowl. The most distinctive feature of chirashi sushi is its presentation. This dish came in little paper cups and was extremely hard to eat. I ended up eating it with my fingertips. There was no ginger or wasabi with the dish. One selection of fish was stringy and hard to eat. Judging by this dish alone I feel the restaurant does not use premium fish. The Karaage chicken, which I order when I see it on a menu, usually comes with some kind of aioli to dip it in, which their version did not It was warm, chewy, salty and the best dish of the night. The Ararae roll and the dragon roll were on par with grocery store sushi. I already stated the very small Hamachi Kama was over cooked (dry). Third time is not a charm. read more

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We dropped in for an early dinner before the theatre. Even though we didn't have a reservation, they made space. Service was friendly and the food excellent. Honestly, if there weren't TVs on several walls, I'd give them 5 stars. Let's call it 4.5 stars. Maybe next time we'll do takeout and enjoy their sushi and miso at home, or in the park. However it shakes out, we'll be back. read more

Best sushi in town. Have been going since they opened years ago and never been disappointed. Fresh, flavorful, unique rolls. Service is attentive and considerate. Ambiance is calm, clean. Azteca roll is crisp and unique- fresh hibachi flavor with picked carrot and asparagus, with thin sliced fresh jalapeño and fish egg will forever be something I crave Okinawa, Habachi Asparagus, Kuma Over The Rainbow.. can't go wrong. I've brought guests from all over here and everyone loved it. Give them a try, you won't be disappointed. read more

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