So so so good, everything that comes out of the kitchen is a masterpiece. Miso mushrooms, pork…read morebelly, the ramen, the rockfish. So sad it's gone--truly was my favorite place in Eugene. I also loved the bourbon and ginger drink.

There are no reservations at this restaurant, so it's first come first serve. Street parking was…read moreeasy to find, and we arrived around 7. The place was packed, but thankfully we were seated quite quickly with a 5-10 minute wait. The interior is cozy and welcoming. It's dimly lit with mood lighting on the tables. It felt lively since the tables were packed. We started by ordering the sake and shoyu flights and some fries with wasabi mayo while we explored the rest of their menu. We received the flights quickly. Both flights had 3 flavors and were tasty and fun to try. Each flight comes with a menu describing the flavor profile and how the drinks were made. The flavors of each flight were distinct and matched their descriptions. The fries with wasabi mayo were pretty basic fries. They were well seasoned, had a nice crunch, and the mayo had a subtle wasabi flavor without it being spicy. For our next round we ordered the salmon misoyaki, butternut squash, tofu kushiyaki, and steak kushiyaki. Unfortunately, our server forgot to bring our butternut squash, but we ended up being full with the rest of the food we ordered and just took it off our order. The salmon misoyaki was delicious - perfectly cooked, tender, and well seasoned. The mustard greens on the side added a nice sourness. The tofu kushiyaki was tender and flavorful. The steak kushiyaki was well-seasoned, but more well done than I preferred and a little tough. Next, we ordered the spinach goma ae and umeboshi unigiri. The spinach goma ae was such a pleasant surprise! It's a chilled spinach dish with a tamari/black sesame sauce that was refreshing mid-meal. Really good umami flavor! The umeboshi onigiri had the expected sharp salty/sour flavor that balanced well with the ratio of rice. Ended up dipping the umeboshi onigiri in the goma ae sauce to get every last drop. For dessert we ordered the basque cheesecake and créme brûlée. The cheesecake was just okay. The menu said there was sake and black sesame flavors, but apart from some black sesame dust on the plate we couldn't taste the sake/sesame. The texture was thick and not super smooth. It was a pretty heavy dessert and not very sweet. The créme brûlée was yummy. The custard was smooth and the crunchy caramelized sugar on top was a nice contrast in texture and flavor. The service itself was slow. We were waiting around 15 minutes between orders. Given, it was a busy night. However, we felt a bit forgotten as our server did forget to bring one of our dishes, we had to ask for our dessert menus twice, and we were accidentally served two basque cheesecakes instead of our order of cheesecake and créme brûlée. The staff were friendly, and quickly brought out the correct desserts at the end. I'd recommend ordering more dishes at once so you can enjoy more food in between orders. Would definitely come back again to try the rest of their menu. We wanted to try the Japanese sweet potato but they had sold out that night. The oysters, sashimi, and udon also looked quite good!

How can you not order something on the menu called Monkey Brain? Visions of Indiana Jones and the…read moreTemple of Doom ran through my head. Many sushi places have their own versions of Monkey Brain. Makoto's interpretation was a generous amount of spicy tuna and snappy seaweed salad wrapped in slices of a perfectly ripe avocado, striped with sweet eel sauce and spicy sriracha mayo with a dollop of tobiko on top, all set on a bed of crunchy tenkasu. What's not to like? The only thing the Monkey Brain was missing for me was a squeeze of lemon, a bit of ponzu,, or something acidic. Also, I realize this is an appetizer and not supposed to be my meal, but it was my meal, and could have also used some hot steamed rice, which I borrowed from my SO's rice bowl. Ahh, just what this dish needed. Mental note...order a side of rice with my Monkey Brain next time. My saba nigiri sushi, as per usual, was marinated in vinegar and garnished with green onion. Solid. The SO's chicken teriyaki was on a bed of veggies in a cast iron fajita type skillet. She enjoyed it saying it was "pretty good" and "not overly sauced"

We had a party of 6 that ate here a few days ago before attending a concert. The service was…read morehorriblely slow!! We each got our meals at a different time! We were done with our meal when one of our party just got his! Unacceptable. The food was good to just ok. One of the items we ordered was the "salmon belly". We got 2 pieces; mostly fish fat and bone. Very disappointed. However, the bacon wrapped asparagus was very good. When we got the bill, a gratuity was already added. Because we all got our food at different times, we felt not to tip since the 20% gratuity was pre added to our bill. Not sure if we will ever visit again. Too many other Japanese restaurants in the area to try.

Came for dinner at 5p on a Friday without reservation and were seated right away downstairs at the…read morechef's bar area. The environment is lively, mostly because Taro is personable and we were able to see him create beautiful sushi dishes live while hearing him engage with the customers seated around him. It was actually really fun listening to his stories, and seeing how he is passionate about the food he makes. He was excited about the uni and was talking about how the fish he orders is from Spain and how he really wanted to order another great cut of fish. The food was delicious, even down to the house sodas they have. We ordered the summer margarita with fresh berries, lime soda, cold beet appetizer, veggie donburi, chef's choice spicy trio hand rolls, chocolate mochi blackberry cake - and at the end Taro gave us 2 nigiri on the house. The house lime soda - usually soda is nothing to blink an eye at, but the lime flavor was fresh and just the right amount of sweetness. We were surprised by how good it was. The summer margarita was a delight, the alcohol and fresh summer flavors balanced perfectly so that neither overpowered the other. The beet appetizer was fun to try. Beets can sometimes be too earthy/muddy in flavor, but the nutty dressing paired with the salty, crunchy puffed chip paired well with the soft bites of beet. The veggie donburi bowl was much bigger than expected, and everything on it was good. The tempura tofu was well executed - silken tofu encased in a thin/crispy layer that tasted light and not greasy. The overall flavor of the bowl is akin to teriyaki, but less sweet and more of a deep umami and more smoky flavor. The handrolls had a good amount of fish to rice/topping ratio. The wasabi actually has some real wasabi in it, and the pickled ginger and soy sauce made every bite flavorful. Very filling. The fish were all fresh and tasted great. My partner who almost never eats meat couldn't resist and ate a piece of nigiri and loved it. The mochi chocolate cake was very unique and definitely worth trying. I find most chocolate cake too sweet with a generic cocoa powder flavor and too heavy. The texture of the cake is not too dense, but has a nice mochi bite to it while tasting a deep cacao flavor without it feeling too heavy. The sweet/richness is just right paired with bites of fresh blackberries. Honestly, may be the best dessert I've eaten so far this year. The interior is well decorated and pays homage to Akira the anime. The hostess who greeted us seemed stressed and it definitely showed on her face the whole night. But, our server was kind and attentive. Despite the handrolls taking ~20 mins to show up, the food was delicious and worth the wait. There is so much more to try on the menu. Will gladly come back and support Taro and crew!

Taro was on it last night…read more He was jumping around smiling, laughing with customers and connecting with friends. We sat at the sushi bar for omakase - chef's choice. Each dish was fantastic. Each little plate was constructed by him with its own touches. He put real care into everything that went out. And it kept coming out and then something else delicious and something else. We had to finally tell them when we were done. Then they gave us some ribs to take home. It was also delicious. Cost is $150 pp. If you can, do

The space inside this little downtown restaurant is so cute and cozy. We came at a lunchtime…read moremid-week, so service was quick. The food here was lovely! I enjoyed the miso soup that came with the bento lunch, but the gyoza were my favorite bit. So crunchy and delicious, especially with the sauce. The other elements of the lunch bento were quite delicious as well, and I'd be delighted to try more of their menu when I return.

It's been a few years since my last review and that was based on my take out experience. This time…read moreit's for my dine on experience. Definitely better than expected, we walked in and it didn't seem like any tables were available, but there was seating near the back. Service was quick, after placing our order, the food was brought pretty fast. We ordered sushi, katsu curry, poke bowl & gyudon. Everything was delicious, I enjoyed the flavor of my gyudon and the katsu curry was tasty too. My only complaint was the poke bowl--it seemed deceptively big, but the bowl was mostly filler, with rice and greens and some tuna poke on top. Nonetheless our meal was filling, but I'm not sure if I would order the poke bowl again. Overall, our dining experience was good--I wouldn't hesitate to return.

The hostess/waitress was incredibly friendly and kind. It was very calm and peaceful there, only a…read morefew tables. The food was SOOOO good. It had a lot of flavor and I could actually taste the seaweed in the sushi, which never happened before for me. Highly recommend. Very good business, they deserve every cent they make.

Excellent rainbow roll and "real" California roll - we ordered too much and it was all wonderful!read more

See my Review of now 9 yrs ago -- as ALL is the same…read moreactually better if that is possible. ALL sashimi is MARKET FRESH & generously served !! Great also are the servers who help you the customer thrive DESPITE the challenging layout of the food preparation up-stairs and the bar steeply downstairs ... I recommend all sashimi + the Spider Roll ( w/o sauce) AND the Colosseum Roll !!

Sushi Pure is a mid sushi restaurant…read more I like the space - it's darker with Christmas lights, a disco ball and a lights projector. The food is, uh, pretty good. We ordered the special crisp lobster roll. It was big with a pretty good flavor that did not taste like lobster. Our negiri orders had a good taste too, but they came on balls of rice about half the normal size. It was weird. The rice was also kind of compact, not with individual grains to it. Service was quick and friendly So all in all, this is an okay I guess place to get sushi. It was off on a couple of points. Nothing spectacular

Absolutely horrible experience…read more Waited 30 minutes for a sandwich, and before I could even eat it, some guy walking by bumped into me and knocked my entire meal onto the ground. I said, "Dude, WTF?" and he just walked away and left. I brought my food back to the truck and explained what happened. I was told to just throw it away, so I did. Then I stood there for another 5 minutes before anyone even asked if I needed another one. When they finally did, I was told that if I wanted another sandwich, I would have to pay for it. I understand that the guy who knocked my food over wasn't an employee, but the way this place handled the situation was honestly ridiculous. I waited 30 minutes for food that I never even got to eat, and instead of showing even a little courtesy or trying to make the situation right, they basically told me I could buy another one. No apology, no offer to help, no attempt to make things right. Just terrible customer service. Definitely won't be coming back.

I tried the new location at Friendly Garden. Food was ready fast…read more Both dishes I tried were disappointing. The eggplant skewers tasted quite bad, and eggplant is my favorite vegetable, so it's rare for me to say that. The eggplants were undercooked, rubbery, apparently grilled without any oil. If you don't use oil on eggplants it turns into leather. There was a weird tasting salty sauce on top that I found unpleasant-- I don't know what was in there. It didn't taste like miso. Marinated tofu yakisoba had a tasty sauce on it, and a nice amount of veggies, but the tofu was not really marinated. It tasted like plain cubes that had been grilled, with no flavor permeating the tofu. The eggplant is not worth ordering again. The yakisoba was not bad, but just so-so. I'm not sure whether to try more dishes in future...

The service and food were amazing! My daughter and I had a day without her 3 year old, my grandson…read more As much as he would love this place, and we will love to bring him, it was nice to have adult time--very relaxing! We will definitely be back!

This place always seemed busy whenever I passed by. I finally decided to check it out and was…read morepleasantly surprised at what a nice and fun restaurant this is. I chose the restaurant, not the teppanyaki today. It's only because I had my grandchild with me. Next time when I'm child free, I'll check the teppanyaki out. My hostess seated us at a booth, which was nice because we had a stroller with us. I got my fruity drank and checked out the menu. i decided on the teriyaki salmon bento and a shrimp mini taco. My daughter opted for spicy salmon mini taco, tuna roll and the Tropical Haiko roll. The mini tacos were amazing. Highly recommend! So is the fruity drink, and the tempura; both their shrimp and the veggies. Their frying game is strong. The teriyaki sauce in my opinion, on the salmon was very bland, as if it was diluted. The Tropical Haiko roll was not my favorite either, too much sauce. Over all, this place was good. The service was amazing. They are kid and pet friendly. We met this dog that was sitting behind us, under the table until he heard our baby cry. lol

Good food & great location with several food cart options, full bar in a family friendly…read moreenvironment.

This is one of the new trucks added to the patio at PLAY and I think it's a great addition. Happy…read moreto see that there were a few vegetarian options, I went with the tofu katsu. I usually am a bit hesitant when ordering rice or noodle bowls with tofu as the tofu is sometimes treated as an afterthought, cut into squares and just thrown into the dish with no seasoning or consideration. NOT the case here. The tofu was bread and fried and SO FUN to eat. And I need to talk about that egg sauce! After consuming all of that yummy tofu the good dish vibes continued with the rice being drenched in it. The katsu also comes with a side salad. The salad was simple yet crisp and fresh. That creamy sesame dressing was also delightful. I went extra and combined the salad in the bowl with the egg sauce soaked rice and it was a brilliant idea if I say so myself. They also have a vegan option on the menu called the mabo dofu and I am really excited to try that when I return.

Finally got over to their new brick-and-mortar location. We had a really nice meal and got to try a…read morefew new things. Overall, I would say that almost everything was really fantastic and we will definitely be back. We ordered three things to share. We got the shoyu ramen (added wakame), the mixed tempura, and the karaage chicken plate. The ramen came out first. The noodles were good, the egg is always a favorite, and we like the bamboo shoots. The broth was way too salty, though, which was the only thing that wasn't up to our standard for the evening and a bit disappointing since we were looking forward to the ramen. The tempura was really fun. We got the mixed plate and liked the variety of veggies that came with it. It also had two rather large shrimp so we were able to cut them and share. It came with two sauces: the traditional tentsuyu sauce and a spicy Mayo. Both were good. While waiting for the karaage, they came out to tell us that they accidentally started making a chicken katsu and gave it to us on the house while we waited for the dish we ordered. What a treat to be able to try another dish and it was delicious as well. It came with the traditional ketchup-based katsu sauce and teriyaki sauce. The chicken was very tender! We got the karaage plate last. It came with rice dusted with furikake, half a ajiamago egg, and a side of mac salad. The mac salad was pretty good overall. They added finely chopped green peppers to it, which aren't always my favorite, but it was still good. The karaage was also tender and came with teriyaki and spicy mayo. The interesting thing about this location is that they share the space with a bar. So there are two sets of staff and two tabs to pay at the end. Everyone was very attentive and helpful so it all worked out smoothly. We were able to get a beer from the bartender that came over to our table and took our order after we ordered our food. Seems like a setup that can work for them and hopefully they can help each other's businesses thrive.

Former ramenya chef here:…read more Ojisan may be the best ramen in Eugene. If you like firm noodles like me, they get it right. However, the ramen is TOO expensive! A bowl of ramen should NEVER be more than $10. Yes, I get it it's in Downtown and Eugene is hostile towards all businesses big & small so costs are high and violent drug addicts prowl the streets but still. Lower the price of a BOWL OF SHOYO from near $20. This Post Covid inflation needs to end. 4/5 for best Ramen in Eugene. 0/5 for the outrageous price point.