Top Japanese Restaurant in El Cerrito
Nori Roll
10178 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
Nori Roll,Tonight I made an Uber Eats order for my hungry wife whos nursing our 6 month old baby at 5:44. The estimated delivery was 7:07. At 8:30, the order still hadnt arrived and there was no update of any sort. They didnt give clarity whether the order was forgotten on the restaurants end, your end, but I hope that you will switch services from Uber Eats for the following reason:After calling customer service to check the order, we were told the order was cancelled and despite my wife and I hungrily waiting for three hours, customer services advice was to reorder through Uber Eats and sorry for the inconvenience. After speaking with the supervisor, we were told that we could receive a refund of the delivery fee on our reorder, but to receive that refund of a few dollar delivery fee, we would have to call customer service back. The lack of value of the customer experience was frankly shocking and the inability to offer more than a few dollars for the low quality experience, waste of our time, and barrier to even accessing a few dollar delivery fee refund was insulting.
Katana-Ya
10544 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
This Japanese restaurant has been running in El cerrito for years and is one of those establishments that all locals know about and go to. The restaurant is located within a small shopping center and is next to a popular Japanese grocery store. The food at Katana-ya is good and flavorful. They have a variety of Japanese dishes from noodles, rice, sushi, and sashimi. The menu is extensive and has actually been reduced down to a more manageable selection. This time we came here with the family for a Friday night dinner to celebrate the start of the weekend and to take the kids out since we didnt go out anywhere for summer break. We started with a chicken Karaage which had a nice crunchy outside and a soft tender inside with lots of flavor coating. There was a plum sauce to accompany the dish as well and it gave the chicken a nice tangy taste to cut the fried taste a bit. All of our entrees came with a salad and Miso soup. The salad was delicious and fresh with a really nice mayonnaise based dressing. The Miso soup was flavorful but a bit salty for my taste. For my main dish I ordered a Katsu-Jyu which is a deep fried pork cutlet over rice with a dashi sauce and egg over rice. It came with a potato croquette and a little dish of pickled vegetables. The Katsu-jyu was good and savory. The pork cutlery was tender and went well with the egg and rice. The marinated carrots that had the dashi sauce was a bit salty. We also had beef sukiyaki which looked like it had vegetables, glass noodles, beef and some other ingredients all cooked in a flavorful soupy sauce. My son had the beef udon which came in a nice cast iron pot. I didnt try it but he said it was really good. My daughter who has an expensive taste ordered the sushi and sashimi dinner set. Im guessing it was pretty good because she ate the whole thing.Overall the food was good. The service was excellent and the wait staff were very attentive. The atmosphere was really nice, calm with a touch of cozy warmth and relaxing instrumental music piping from the speakers. I would recommend this place for a nice quiet japanese meal.
Sushi Sho
10749 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
Sushi Sho was always my favorite place for sushi when they were located on upper Solano Avenue. I have not visited their new location, which opened after a long pause in between., as I have moved away from the Bay Area. Aki-san is a master sushi chef, albeit a bit eccentric, and will not settle for anything less than the best quality and dining experience. As he is the only chef preparing food at the counter (with his wife helping out with other chores), Aki-san would rather turn away customers than have them waiting too long. This is why you may see empty spots and yet be turned away. But believe me, you will not find better, fresher fish more expertly prepared sushi and sashimi than with Aki-san. Two dishes that stand out, beside all the others, are the Usuzukuri sashimi and the Chawan mushi, a custard with bits of fish and a ginko nut, and probably the best one Ive ever had. Lastly, if you ask nicely, you can probably get tamaki (hand roll) sushi, even though it isnt on the menu. Sushi-sho is about enjoying the intimate experience (and the food, of course). You will not find another place like this anywhere.
Yoshio Sushi
10889 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
Very nice Japanese sushi restaurant with a cozy warm atmosphere. The restaurant is not very big and only holds a few tables but the waiting didnt take too long. We went on a Saturday night at about 8:30 closer to 9pm and it wasnt that busy. We waited perhaps 15 minutes before we got a table for a party of five. The menu had all your standards plus some others so its never going to be boring, as you can always come back and order something different. We ordered the signature Yoshio roll, The El Cerrito roll, a Natto Maki roll, kaarage chicken, dinner combo set with california rolls and sahimi, and beef udon soup. The rolls were good and very fresh. I liked that the rice was not hard and had that fresh taste and seasoning. I loved the chicken kaarage. It was super crunchy and soft with tons of flavor. I highly recommend getting this. The beef Udon was good too but I only took a small sampling of a vegetable since my son doesnt like to eat it. The prices on the food were pretty fair and much better than buying our usual small trays of sushi from yaoya-san, which arent as fresh and are much smaller in size and quantity.One of the great things about this restaurant is that they open until midnight, so you can get a great bite to eat in the middle of the night. We did experience one negative which was the easier forgot my order as I watched everyone getting theirs and almost finishing I asked the what if my order was coming soon and he went to check and said it wasnt put in the check.... but the good thing is that within 5 minutes he brought me my roll that he asked the sushi chef to expedite for me.Overall, we will be coming back again to eat here. So far, this is one of our favorite spots for sushi.9/30/23 update. Went here at 9pm for late night Saturday dinner. Only waited a few minutes while the staff cleaned a table for us. The waiter was very nice and attentive. We ordered our usual chicken Kaarage, teriyaki beef udon, dinner set, Yoshio signature roll, sukiyaki, and s California rolls. Good was good and going. Happy to keep coming back here.12/16/23Came here to have dinner at our favorite local sushi place. This place is great as always. Tonight, we waited less than 10 minutes to get a seat. Service was fast and the dishes were coming in fast as well. Food was tasty and fresh .2/23/24 update: End of Presidents holiday week treat for the kids and a day of hard yard work. Ordered a White Tiger sushi roll and the rest of the family ordered the same stuff as before. The White Tiger took was really good and came in a bit warm since the tuna was grilled. The rice was fresh and the shrimp tempura in the middle was crunchy and delicious. The whole thing was delicious with the sauce they put on.One thing to add as a precaution. When we received our bill, we noticed that they automatically added a 15% service charge to the bill. If we didnt notice it, we would have paid another 15% on top, not knowing that it was already added. They should put up notices telling people of the optional charge. This automatic charge put a sour taste in my mouth...
Tokyo Feng Ramen & Sushi
10546 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
It's not really big but very cozy here. The food is very fresh and delicious.The staff is very friendly. Most importantly, the price is very reasonable. It's fantastic. I strongly recommend you to go!!!❤️?
Top other services in El Cerrito:
Yaoya-San
10566 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
My favorite place to go for Japanese grocery (especially hot pot ingredients and eggs), bentos, onigiri, rolls/makimono, side dishes, various sweet and savory buns, breads, desserts, etc… and household items. I've been shopping here for about 15 years and am always amazed at the selection. Now that they took over the adjacent store space that used to be a Japanese dollar store, the shopping experience is even better with the wider aisles and modernized displays for refrigerated and frozen goods. The staff is friendly and helpful. Many are at least bilingual. I also love that most of the people at the register know how to pack the items efficiently into your bags taking weight distribution and whether an item is refrigerated/frozen or not into consideration (like they do in Japan). Lastly Moser Square where Yaoyasan is located has plenty of parking too.
Bnh M Ba L Vietnamese Sandwich Deli
10174 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
If youre not Vietnamese read this review, because if you are Vietnamese in any way you already know this place is great... Friendly and fast folks working in this small store filled with Vietnamese / Asian snacks, drinks and the main focus is on tasty sandwiches! You know its good food and a great deal because its usually busy but the line moves very quickly. My favorite sandwich is the bacon, which is like a warm char siu /red around the edge of the meat, thick Sliced pork with the fat on it. Ive also had their BBQ char siu pork(red finely shredded pork) sandwich and their BBQ chicken sandwich, which is finely shredded chicken mixed with mild chicken like spices (dark yellow color). Those were both tasty but might not be what you think of as BBQ pork or BBQ chicken because they are so finely shredded. You can ask for the sandwich roll not to be toasted, which if youre eating it in your car I recommend because the crumbs will go everywhere if its toasted. Toasted or not its still a good and full sandwich with plenty of vegetables with the big bonus of having the sandwiches sliced green peppers not being too hot/spicy, unlike most Vietnamese sandwich stores. I havent tried the other sandwiches but the #2 seems very popular and as soon as I try others, I will list them here.A quick note about one of the other pre-made ready to go foods available besides the sandwiches, its their delicious raw young papaya (sliced thin strips) salad, because it is fresh and traditionally made, a very small percentage of humans might be a little bit allergic to the small quantity of natural latex like ingredients that can naturally occur in it. If you feel a tingling in your throat or breathing is affected stop eating it, even though it tastes So delicious.Lastly, I recommend everyone try a sandwich here. There are other food choices in this peppermint tree plaza strip mall but I think this is the best value for your dollar and it tastes delicious!!!
Jay Vee Liquors
10560 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
New owners recently have broadened their inventory to include great cookies and snacks. More like a small family convenience store. Open late . Modern appearance. Very clean. Great selection of beers. New freezers that keep ice cream frozen hard! Two brothers seem to be almost always there. Friendly, helpful. In a small shopping center with nearby restaurants and Japanese grocery. Well lighted area. No problem going late at night.
Daiso
7000 El Cerrito Plaza, El Cerrito, CA 94530, United States
This is a nice Daiso store but not as big as the one in Japantown, San Francisco.The store on Market Street in SF is convenient but you have to navigate around the homeless to get into the main door. The selection is also limited.The Daiso in El Cerrito is in a good location near the BART station.Periodically I will go in there to see if they have any new knick-knacks for the home.I was in need of a strainer and I found a sizeable one for $1.50. It is stainless steel and just the right size to fit in a kitchen drawer.The real reason I go to Daiso is to pick up the plastic DVD holders. I have many discs that Ive lost sleeves for and these holders fill the void.Not many stores carry the holders anymore but theyre still in demand for DVD collectors like me.Im from the old school, so I know a bargain or two when I see one.