Enjoyed this place very much. The menu was somewhat typical, but A HUGE selection of items were posted on the wall, most with English translations. These were the specials, the better sushi, the more authentic interpretations of things. This is where I got some fabulous items - semi-fatty tuna, monkfish liver, the fresh amaebi and the baby squid salad. The sake I ordered - pic posted - was the best I've had. Very nice. Be adventurous and try some of the true specialties that you can't get at 95% of the Japanese restaurants. If you're only going to eat tempura and California rolls, you might as well go to the mall or something. read more

Sushi Kei - Baby squid, seaweed, and cucumber salad. - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

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A complete scam compared to other sushi places. Almost $18 for eight pieces of paper thin salmon pieces with a 2inches span. You could literally eat the whole order in 1 bite, a bit shameless to do especially when we are in this pandemic situation. The sushi rolls looked like they were made by a 3years old. The noodle has soup that taste like sewage water. Please close down your business if you have no interest or passion or resource to keep it running. read more

If only I could give this place a no star! We ordered takeout from here recently and needed a magnifying glass to see the sashimi. The unagi and avocado sushi roll was not fresh. The pieces of sashimi were so small. See the uploaded pictures as proof. The worst part was that our order was about $115 total. Sadly, none of my pictures look like anything others have uploaded from this place. Could it be that they rip off customers who choose to order their food to go? Either way, we will not be back. read more

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Ordered a combo dinner with chicken karage and sashimi. It comes with salad, rice, and a slice of cantaloupe. A simple and delicious dinner. My rating is probably higher than it should be, but the food here was so much better compared to a Japanese dinner I had the night before elsewhere. I left satisfied. read more

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Love this little sushi spot! They are truly authentic - fresh fish updates are taped to the wall, sometimes only in Japanese! I love coming here! It's incredibly tiny, but don't be fooled. The fish is delicious. read more

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We came in on a Saturday night to experience the Omakase at Sushi Kei. The restaurant only had a few tables at that time (8pm), but we opted to sit at the counter since we could watch the Chef work. It was $35 for the Chef's "Omakase", Sushi Only. The full Omakase experience (including appetizer plates), would have cost $70. Note that they usually have a $25 minimum to sit at the bar. Start of the photo barrage for the Omakase Sushi Dinner: http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/sushi-kei-millbrae?select=F4bm9H7g-KKv7MG798EB-w#F4bm9H7g-KKv7MG798EB-w Only 2/3 of us opted for the Omakase, and the 3rd person ordered a Dragon Roll and Rainbow Roll. The rolls were just ok, and a little overpriced in my opinion. The avocado in the Rainbow Roll wasn't ripe yet, and it was almost crunchy. For the Omakase, Chef Ryo-San served us about 13 pieces of sushi (I clumped the Amaebi and fried heads as 1 dish) + the Negihama Roll + a small salad with Fried Eel? The fish seemed really fresh, and the nigiri was made really well with the perfect amount of rice that was pressed correctly, but the Chef didn't bother to tell us what each dish was! I think out of all the dishes he told us what 2 of them were. We had to try and guess (out loud) what each dish was, and the Chef didn't bother to correct us or chime in. My favorite nigiri he served as the O-Toro, Chu-Toro, Amaebi and Uni. The rest of the service was ok, but we did have to flag them down a couple of times, even to get the check at the end of the night. Overall, although the fish was fresh, it wasn't a very memorable dinner. Also, based on the service and the silent omakase dinner, I don't think I'll be back. read more

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A lesser known sushi bar in the peninsula, but the quality is definitely up there. For the price, it may not measure up to sushi sam's, but for a place close-by with no wait, Sushi Kei will get some quality fish to you. FOOD: Started with the ankimo which was pretty standard. A little but of fat in the liver, with a nice tangy sauce. A solid addition to any Japanese meal. Shared the tempura udon which was pretty decent as well. The batter on the tempura was fluffy and tasty, with good shrimp and veges. The noodles were decent, moderately bouncy and simple to work with the dashi. Soup was simple, but effective. I also shared the 20 piece sashimi, which overall was really really good. Each piece of fish was fresh, cut perfectly without the slightest hint of sinews. The salmon melted, and made its mark on my taste buds. Everything was good, but the salmon was my favorite. Everything served at room temp which I appreciate as it allows the fish to shine. Overall, good quality Japanese food that comes at a price. The fish here is excellent. Definitely coming back. read more

Sushi Kei - Ankimo (top right), 20 piece sashimi (top left), tempura udon (bottom) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

Fantastic sushi! Really great bargain when considering what this would cost in San Francisco. It might not look like much, but it is a friendly family run place and it is great!! read more

It's a small family own restaurant, quality of foods was average, I have a sashimi lunch & it's very small portion of fish compared to 5 near by other Japanese restaurants also it's feel like the fish is from packaging service type of fish ! read more

Stumbled upon this place as I'm charging my car. Been trying to find a place to get good authentic sushi without breaking the bank and this place was it. Japanese sushi chef and waitresses really makes the sushi experience authentic and genuine. Great value with the toros, uni, and ami ebi. read more

Rude waitress - we decided to leave because the waitress was giving us dirty looks when he had our boba drinks to the side of the table. She asked what we wanted to drink, and we always order just water at any restaurant we go to, but apparently she got upset assuming we didn't order drinks because of our boba drinks. So we left and took our money elsewhere. We're currently enjoying Thai food around the corner (with our boba drinks to the side of the table) with a wonderful waitress. Thanks for being rude and letting us find this delicious Thai restaurant! :D read more

Adequate for a fast lunch. Tempura soggy!! Got bento with salmon sashimi. The sashimi was good. Everything else was barely average. Service was quick I wouldn t run away from here, but I've no idea why I bookmarked it read more

We ordered Omakase sushi to go and that was real sushi! I should have taken a picture before finish it! Looked too good to wait!! We're moving to Millbrae and definitely come back! read more

First time at Sushi Kei. Highly recommend this local, neighborhood sushi restaurant! They have a few Omakase choices, all reasonable priced. We sat at the bar and enjoyed conversing with Ryo, our sushi chef! read more

House special roll: TOO MUCH CHOLESTE-ROLL - $18 made with monkfish liver, fatty tuna, salmon roe, sea urchin, snow crab, yellow tail, and avocado I like these items individually (except yellowtail which I'm neutral), but together?! Chief at the helm Ryo Kikuchi (little known fact, he worked alongside Ohsamu Sugiyama of Sushi Sam's fame way back in the day...at Isobune Burlingame when they were making their bones) explained that over 90% of his customers are Chinese these days, mostly Hong Kongers/Cantonese speakers in the area and that this is quite frequently ordered by them. Basically a california Rainbow like roll, with the high end ingredients placed on each piece separately. ($eriou$ly what the hell is wrong with you people? Or my people for that matter. To their credit, they've advanced well beyond salmon sashimi = Japanese food mentality, like in some parts of Hong Kong, and they know the other non Japanese run restaurants in the area are total BS....I wonder if they will try the new Champagne Shabu Champagne Sushi?) But if you are not too busy drowning yourself with multiple orders of "Ooooo knee" (uni) or "Taw Loh" (toro) - both pronounced with a Hong Kong Chinglish accent by many of that 90%, there are some things here that should not be missed: - when you walk in, look to your right. Plastered all over the wall are the daily specials from sashimi to special cooked side dishes. That's right, sometime in the last 4 years, Sushi Kei internally rebranded to also be izakaya friendly, and while the Hong Kongers are downing taw loh and ooo knee with their sake at the $25 min order counter space, the few remaining JP expats in the area are eating at the tables and enjoying the izakaya dishes. Don't miss various izakaya style dishes if available: - Gyu Suji Nikomi (stewed beef cuts w/tendons, although quite a bit of delicious fat, in miso, sugar, mirin etc). Bigger portion than Sam's, and cheaper although not quite as excellent. Still hits the spot. It needs some shichimi togarashi (7 flavored chili pepper powder) to make it complete which they provide for you. - a seasonal Hizu Sunomono (salmon head soft bone/cartilege marinated in vinegar with thinly sliced cucumbers that is quite simple and delicious, Ryo-san's tribute to his hometown prefecture of Hokkaido - dashimaki tamago (made to order egg omlette with lots of dashi flavor) or request the dashimaki unagi instead, with Kagoshima unagi stuffed inside (usually a premade batch is available). If you get "huh" looks...just say unagi tamago. - madai no konbu jime (kelp marinated sea bream) sashimi - iwashi (either from JP or Oregon) sashimi. But now is the season for Japanese pike mackeral (sanma), and when seared is fooking delicious - saba battera (Osaka style pressed sushi with mackeral on top) - this is on the menu as battera or battera sushi, almost $10, but is better value (and more filling) than the TOO MUCH CHOLESTE-ROLL. - shirako (cod milt/cod sperm sacs, or if you are into Anthony Bourdain, soft roes, or fish spooge). Disturbingly creamy. - styrofoam container near the entrance being pumped with oxygen...may contain interesting clam specimens (e.g. aoyagi or awabi/abalone) for sashimi. - if the house marinated ikura (soy sauce, mirin) is available, go hog wild. Can you imagine pairing this with uni and others in a posh kaisen don chirashi? But if you want nigiri that's perfectly fine too. The selection may not be as extensive or as awesome as some of the nicer SF places, but when the timing is right, it can really hit the spot. This place ain't your Michelin star "FISH FISH FISH!" or trendy kind of joint. It's a nice low key neighborhood place with a cool vibe that attract folks from multiple backgrounds to, even some older A$N golfer types with their young girlfriends/"personal secretaries". read more

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It was horrible try in my life. I wanted to have real japanese meal here, after my 10 years life in 10 years in Bay Area, Ca It wasn't japanese at all after our visit and will never suggest my friends. Their daily recommendations of today(07/26/18) ABALONE was too small and hard to swallow. I'll never get back here Thank you read more

Sushi Kei - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

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We were trying to find a solid Japanese restaurant for a double date a few weeks ago on a Monday night. The criteria: pretty good Yelp reviews and around the SSF to Millbrae area. We decided on Sushi Kei because of the reviews. I think perhaps you should come here if you are just doing omakase or rolls. I got the soba tempura noodle soup and shared a spicy tuna roll with the bf. He got the tempura udon noodle soup. Our noodle soups were oddly enough in the appetizer menu. The broth is just standard and didn't have much flavor all too much. They gave us a fishcake and just one tempura shrimp; not worth the almost $10 price tag. The spicy ahi tuna roll was pretty standard as well and a little pricier here too than other places I've seen. I honestly think that I've enjoyed my soba noodle soup more at Tokyo Express in the FiDi then here. Besides the sushi/fish their menu is pretty limited. I had a feeling that I should have just gone across the street to Zen Bistro for a better meal; and I would have made it to their 50% off happy hour). Service here is straightforward. There's not many options in Millbrae for Japanese, I'd say drive somewhere instead if you want more Japanese dining options if you don't plan on eating fishies. I feel kinda bad giving them a 2 but I can't see myself giving them a 3 if I gave Zen Bistro across the street a 3, and I liked the majority of my food there. read more

authentic...all these years and i've passed by sushi kei...but, never tried it until today..and it was quite the experience...ryo kikuchi (chef/owner) is so elegant in his art...perfection is the word....dab of water...one brief scoop of rice with his right hand..light grasp and already a perfect piece of rice....switch the rice over to the left..quick smear of wasabi with his finger on the sashimi...quick lay of the sashimi over rice....gentle pat....plated is the perfect bite-size sushi...excellent presentation....the speed, efficiency and consistency of ryo at work was entertaining just to watch.... it must be true...for sushi..smaller is better...small narrow restaurant...tables up front...sushi bar and bar seating towards the back....tables were packed with japanese speaking patrons... taste...magnificant...sushi was fresh and delicious as it appeared....teriyaki...it's cooked in the kitchen by workers....but..still delcious..it's not the typical americanized teriyaki..not overly sweet and salty...it's very light and mild...meat is grilled to perfection...tempura is battered lightly with a thin crust....$9.20 for the perfect teriyaki chicken, tempura, tuna sashimi, salad, miso soup and rice lunch.... read more

A place to make me give five star review takes more than fresh ingredient and good service, especially when it comes to sushi place. Getting tired of paying $500+ for two at those up and coming omakase place in sf, we dropped in this hidden gem after a long flight from east coast. They got mirugai, checked! Fresh toro that melts in the mouth and doesn't break a bank. Checked Else we ordered include uni, tobbiko, ama ebi, bunch grilled stuff including black cod in miso paste which was very very good, daikon salad, tamago with eel, and end with tonkatsu! Chef was nice and service was good. They have chef special that's only $18 per person with 8 pieces including toro, snow crab, monkfish etc etc. which I plan to order next time :) read more

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Supremely mediocre lunch experience all-around. 2-item Bento box (I got Chicken Teriyaki & Spicy Tuna Roll - $9.50) comes with miso, rice, and salad, all of average quality. The salad was quickly hand-torn iceberg with a small squirt of dressing. Rice was room temperature, though the miso soup was pretty good. The teapot we were given when we sat down had tea-scented hot water in it, but not what appeared to be actual tea. Our waitress never brought the waters requested (maybe she thought we meant the tea we already had), even with a manageable number of people in the restaurant. $10 credit card minimum (BEFORE tax and tip is clearly stated on tacky signs all around the place), with prices that seem more bent on achieving that goal than reflecting the quality of the dishes being served. All around meh experience. I'd go again if I absolutely had to, but won't be going out of my way to return here in the future. Zen right across the street is a much better bet if you're looking for Japanese food. read more

Best Japanese Izakaya in the Peninsula. What is an Izakaya? It is basically a Japanese pub. Beer, sake, wine with some sushi and other cooked dishes. Fact: Most of the time you go, the clientele is crazy drunk and speaking Japanese loudly. Fact: There are two English menus, one is for your standard "acceptable" American fare, the other being the traditional dishes served. You will need them to translate the English since most of them are just sound translations of the Japanese. Fact: You will like eating here for the food, the drink, the variety, and the ambience. read more

This place is like a Japanese version of a local favorite pub; Food made well in an authentic casual atmosphere . The service is attentive enough to keep your drink from being empty but unintrusive enough to let you lounge there as long as you want . Cold outside? Go for the salmon ocha-zuke, rice in a flavorful broth with grilled salmon on top. Want variety? Go for the dinner for two which includes tempura, sunomono, sushi, yakitori, and some other stuff all for under $40. Adventurous raw fish lover? Go for the sashimi moriawase which includes a few fish you don't usually get in a standard sashimi platter. With reasonable prices and fresh food, this place keeps me coming back again and again. read more

Headed into The City we decided to try some sushi , and with the help of my fellow yelpers found this little hole in the wall , unfortunately it's a place that is OK and no more than that , there's many places I'd drive 1-2-3 hours for a good meal this place is .... Well just ok it's really a 2 1/2 stars but I rounded up because of the caterpillar roll which was very good the rest was : Service - ok Ambiance - ok Bento box - bland Ca. Roll - ok Teriyaki chicken - ok Caterpillar roll - very good So , if you're very hungry and coincidentally find yourself here go in and order a caterpillar roll - I wouldn't recommend you make a special trip here . read more

New found fav place for sushi! I think I have visited pretty much 80% of all the Japanese restaurants from Millbrae to San Mateo. Then this came up, not sure how I had missed this place previously. Food - Super Deluxe Chirashi (3.5/5) - Dragon roll (5/5) - Soft Shell Crab (4/5) Service / Ambience Service was good and prompt. Ambience was basic, clean and comfortable. Plenty of street parking all around. Will be adding this place to my list of Japanese restaurants on rotations :) read more

Sushi Kei - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

Fun local sushi place with nice outdoor seating! Service was great and so was our sushi and sake!

I don't eat sushi, but the pork curry was delicious. I saw that they have the curry again, so I got it to go. I liked it enough to buy it a second time. My wife liked the curry, too. We eat out once a week and I plan to return again on Friday. read more

Sushi Kei - Pork curry - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

Absolutely delicious. I ordered the Santa Barbara uni, iwashi, kama Toro and a plum roll and Mackarel/ginger roll. I also work in sushi, in a competitor, actually. This was delicious, I cant deny the chef's talent. Will come again. And frequently. read more

I'm going to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of this place based on the first and probably only visit here. The place was nearing it's end of business for lunch at 1:30 and was not crowded at all. I like going to the smaller sushi houses because it says it's unpretentious and all about the food. It's a really homey place and run by a husband and wife duo for the most part. It had a very simple menu and just the right amount of teriyaki in their lunch bento boxes. I love the fact that they don't give American sized portions and nice cuts of sashimi. Their maki and hand rolls however leave much to be desired. Let's talk about their rice for a second. Rice should not be overcooked, smushy, and lacking vinegar. Their rolls were funky looking and were a sloppy mess and the spicy tuna didn't have enough Saraccha chili paste. How could you mess up on the most basic roll? Overall though, if you're here for a beginner's lunch it's okay. Their salmon is a little dry and their teriyakis are swimming in sauce but I'm going to assume that's how they sauce it up for Americanized people. read more

Sushi Kei - Bento Box - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

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I understand that during the COVID era it is probably more difficult to run a business, HOWEVER, providing us with black rotten lettuce in two of our dishes, the ika salad and our house salad is 1) Deliberate - Did the chef put together these items 5 days in advance without checking these before they went out? And would that have included the seafood in there (yuck)? or was the chef-hard-of- seeing when they put together the food? If they let this obvious point slide, what else is going behind that kitchen? 2) Greedy and bad work ethics- Obviously, they rather risk their customers' health to make a buck. Which, by the way, made up of about 30% of the salads. 3) Obviously, this establishment doesn't give rat's ass about their customers health or satisfaction. All other things we ordered also lacked care: -The onigiri looked and tasted like it was haphazardly thrown together with the rice just loosely put together, and a whole 1/3 of it was the plum filling. -The agedashi tofu was fried to the point that even the tofu was porous and spongy. -My tonkatsu pork was so overcooked that it was rubbery. I really hope we don't get sick tonight from any of the stuff we had. read more

Went Sushi Kei for lunch today but noticed their food quality and quantity had been going down hill compared to before. Definitely we over paid for the food we ordered. We ordered lunch Bento box with 2 items; yellow tails sashimi and beef teriyaki and Chicken Teriyaki Don. Both of our meals came with a bowl of miso soup was pretty good but there weren't any tofu cube. For the Bento Box additional to the 2 items, it also, came with mix tempura, salad, rice and slice of orange. The salad only came with 2 drops of salad dressing. Beef Teriyaki we requested medium raw but the beef was full cooked. And we only had 5 strips of beef. Yellow trail sashimi came with 4 pieces but the sizes were small. The sashimi looked like they divided 1 regular size sashimi into 2. The tempura were good. Chicken Teriyaki Don, I would not recommend anyone order it !! The size of bowl they served the Chicken Teriyaki Don, it was really misleading. The amount of rice I got in my Don. It was comparable with bowl of rice they served with the bento box. Which it was not much rice. After I had one small spoon of rice, it was bottom of the bowl already. That was how thin the layer of rice. Chickens were dry and they only put a small squirt of teriyaki sauce on top of the chicken. My chicken teriyaki doesn'y looked like a Chicken Teriyaki more like grill chicken. Sushi Kei has increased their price but reduced their position sizes and reduce their food quality at the same time. Increase price is normal but why got stingy with food position even the salad dressing and sauces!? Both our meals costed $9.50 per item, which I felt like I got rip-off. I don't think I would want to go back anymore. read more

Sushi Kei - Lunch Bento Box 2 items : yellow tail sashimi and beef teriyaki ( I ate the broccoli tempura before the picture is taken ) - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

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My favorite sashimi place! Legit fresh fish from Japan. Owners and workers are not very friendly, they're old school Japanese folks, it's a family business. A little gem in Millbrae. Kampachi, live uni, live scallops, amaebi, o-toro, kamatoro, seabream, crab, fresh oysters. It's just a little drive outside SF. read more

I didn't think that the sushi menu was varied, but I have to say that the sushi was very good. Now, here is my disclaimer: I was hungry, I didn't want to go far (UGH, I'VE TURNED INTO A SUBURBANITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), and I'm pregnant (which means I can only eat the cooked stuff for now). We ordered tempura rolls, dragon rolls and unagi rolls. My husband being quite the adventurer (NOT!), ordered a bento box for dinner. I enjoyed the flavors of all the rolls as did my tween stepdaughter (who can be picky) and my little preschooler (umm.. hello, he's 3!) We finished all our rolls and were satisfied with our dinner. Service was fast and friendly. Don't ask me the cost; I just gave the bill to the husband. read more

Great sushi. Japanese quality. My quintessential Japanese wife was so happy!!! We did not have high expectations of sushi in Millbrae. However the owner is doing this shop almost thrifty years!!! We are fortunate to have Sushi Kei in our new neighborhood!!! read more

There is a small family owned business feel to this restaurant. The owner isn't trying to turn high profits, he just wants to present quality fish. As a local, I see most ordering nigiri here. Top quality fish especially on Friday and Saturday nights! The sushi rice is so good! Slightly sweet with a little chewy bite to it and just a hint of vinegar. If you like sushi (not Americanized dressed up sushi that hides the flavor of the fish), get something from the "best 10" menu on the wall. My husband gets the Toro plate + deluxe nigiri. I order the chirashi deluxe bowl + Afoore (salmon skin, negi, cucumber) roll. Total is about $100. Note: sometimes they are closed because they are on vacation, so roll the dice when you go! read more

One of the best authentic Japanese restaurants I visited in US. Highly recommend to all the food enthusiasts.

This place was pretty expensive and portions were small but the quality of the food was amazing. I didn't get to take any picture of the food because it was either too plain to me or my friends already starting to eat them. read more

Great place for a nice meal with friends. Small place so make reservations. Had Sashimi prepared by the chef. Food was very fresh. Ask for this special. Price starts at $50 a person and waiter asked us "Do you want quality over quality?" We opted for quality and no regrets. It was more than the $50 a plate but it was worth it. We had cheeks and fat from blue-fin tuna's. Sea urchin that is so fresh, there is no fishy taste at all. Serve with real wasabi and according to the waiter - "You do not mix it with soy sauce like the powdered type." :-) Trust me on this, the best wasabi I ever had. Put a tad of it on top of the meat and eat it as it is. Wonderful! We had a assortment of other dishes from their special menu pinned to their mirrored wall. All good. Highly recommended. read more

Ahh how i love the sushi restaurant. This one is hard to review. We live in the Mill/Burlingame area and wanted to dine closer to HQ. We usually pass this place on our way to Safeway or TJ so thought we would give it a shot. Ordered the omakase and while the nigiri was decent and fresh, I really didn't feel wowed by this place at all. The ambiance left much to be desired. Tables were wobbly. Restaurant was a bit empty during Wed dinner rush. And one of the tackiest things a restaurant can do...hand write specials on 8x11 paper and tape them to the wall. And we're talking a quarter ream of paper! The paper was taped in the middle so the edges were flapping around. This should only be found on the best take out hole in the wall joints. Not in some sushi sit down. Workers were nice though. Sushi Kei....Check. Prob not coming back. read more

Best sushi in town. I love love the sushi here. Traditional sushi and dishes. No pretentious just real stuff.

I haven't tried many sushi places but this is up on my top places for sushi. I came on a Wednesday night and was seated right away. The place is very cute and cozy. I shared the sushi meal for two plus an order of uni nigiri. For the sushi meal, more than I expected came out. I thought it would just be our sushi and miso soup. But they also gave me sumo mono with sashimi, shrimp and vegetable tempura, and ice cream. The suno mono was good. It came with one piece of tako and salmon. Both sashimi pieces were delicious. Then came tempura, and it's what you expect from tempura. It was good as well. Then there was the sushi. I've never had sushi that good. I loved every single piece. The only downside was there was a tad bit more wasabi in the sushi than expected and I couldn't handle it. But it was still worth it! I was full by the time I finished the sushi and was ready to go home. But then they told me it came with ice cream. Couldn't pass on ice cream. I tried the sesame and red bean. The sesame was alright but the red bean was sooooo good. I was full but could eat more of their red bean ice cream. The service was great! The waitress was extremely nice and checked on me often. I would definitely come back to this place. read more

Sushi Kei - Suno mono - Sushi Bars Near Me - Millbrae, California

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