| Japanese restaurant and sushi boat located next to Costco |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 2/12/2004
Rating: 9
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You have to try the Besssss roll....its soooo good. It has crab, shrimp, and white tuna. Interesting sensation in your mouth... they place the warm tempura shrimp up against cold tuna....aahhhhhh.
The sushi boat has a wide selection which usually gets us in trouble because we gourge ourselves. Arikato does a descent job in the presentation of sushi but the rolls could be held a little tighter. Last time we went, had a couple of rolls fall apart on us. For you Wasabe lovers, be sure to ask for the real stuff behind the counter.
Arikato can be very expensive if your appetite is large. Our lunches run anywhere from $18-28!!! Dont let the high prices scare you, their food is excellent...we're just food lovers who like to practice gluttony.
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RETURN VISIT for Jason! 3/2/2006 - 6.5 Rating: Talk about the sinking of the Titanic. Arikato, one of our favorite places for sushi rolls totally bombed. I normally dont like sitting at the sushi boats anymore but Arikato was usually the exception. They make the rolls pretty fresh so it didnt bother me to pick right off the boat.
I started off with california roll and a nigiri hamachi. The rolls looked larger than normal but hamachi had a nice white fat striping. My 1st bite into the CA roll had me wondering what happened to the rice. It was an overwhelming taste of sugar and vinegar. It was awful. The hamachi was good but rice kinda ruined the whole thing.
Knowing I would always rely on the bess roll and traffic roll, I ordered both. I was expecting something like picture #7 and got something entirely different. After eating 1-2 of the them, both terry and I noticed something was missing. The sushi chef forgot the crab and sesame seeds. Even the tempura shrimp was kinda cold and tuna was just ok. Hoping the traffic roll would fair better, it was also missing the crab. At $9.95 each, both rolls were a huge disappointment.
I would have returned the rolls but at this point, I was so bummed with my entire meal not to mention it would have taken eternity to get replacements. They were incredibly busy and so on. I asked for the check, waited 10 minutes, walked to counter, asked for the check, cashier left without saying anything to me, came back and gave me the 3 separate checks to hand back to my friends. Now, I know its not a big deal for me to carry bill holders back and distribute them, but she gave them to me like I was expected to do her job? I just paid $32 for a lousy meal and I had to wait to pay for this crap?
I am depressed and after cafefully thinking about the score, I think Im being extremely generous with a 6.5 I dont know if I will return. I feel kinda betrayed at this point. Arikato gave horrible service and awful sushi to one of their biggest fans. |
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 2/9/2004
Rating: 9.5
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Oh.
My.
God.
If you like Sushi, you MUST go here. Sushi is FRESH (especially beginning of the week), comes to you on the BOAT, and is moderately PRICED. Excellent experience all around. I usually get the California Rolls and Bessssss roll. Be prepared to spend a bit of $ though as its all so good. The Bessssss (8 pieces) is $10.95 for example.
There is plenty of room at the Sushi Boat during lunch hours. Or there are tables, and a newly completed Patio with even more tables.
One word of warning. If you like Wasabi be sure to ask for the good stuff behind the counter. The Wasabi they bring to your table is not that hot at all.
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RETURN VISIT for Terry! 9/23/2004 - 9.5 Rating: Jason and I returned to Arikato, mostly to shoot it down. We figured there's no way, after 213 restaurants, Arikato was still in the top 10. I was raring to go. Nothing like a good competetion for Jatbar top 10. Let it not be said that Jatbar doesn't stand behind their Top10 ratings. We put these places to the test, and KEEP putting them to the test. We are all about quality here, folks.
Well we sat down at the sushi bar and immediately were asked what type of sushi we wanted. I went with the Kani and the California Roll. I also ordered a Bessssss Roll. The Bessssss should be legendary here. Its their best roll in my opinion. Its 10 bucks for 8 pieces. But its 8 pieces of heaven. The chef calls to the back for them to make the shrimp tempura - FRESH. Hmm, ok, I'm thinking maybe Arikato drops to an 8.5 from my previously high-rating 9.5.
The Kani and California roll are quick to arrive. The Kani has some orange eggs on top. I can't fault them for that as I quickly push those things off. I hate that stuff. I devour the roll. The wrapper snaps in my mouth, the mayo is sweet and flavorful, the crab is wonderous. Its an amazing roll. I order another.
The california roll has the same type of quality in the crab and mayo. They put 2 sticks of avocado in there instead of 1. Hmm, OK, half a strike on the double avocado, but overall, its an amazing roll.
OK, Arikato is scoring a 9. Then the Bessssss arrives. OMG its absolutely amazing. Its hard to describe and to be honest I don't know exactly what is all in it. Jason may speak to this. All I know is that its heavenly. It melts in your mouth, and leaves you wanting more. I think I could kill myself overdosing on this roll. Aside from the california roll at Miyakes, this is the best form of sushi in existence. * I am in utter heaven and the rest of the day could be a total writeoff and I'll know that I have done something good with my day because I've had a Bessssss roll at Arikato. Its that good. Period.
OK Arikato is a 9.5. I could not score them a 10 because Miyakes has damn good sushi rolls AND costs less so there has to be a differentiation there. But its CLOSE. I'm talking 9.75 if Jatbar allowed it.
* My review is based on their rolls. If you're looking for a place that has the slabs of dead fish meat on top of white rice then my review can't be taken with 100% confidence. I am a big sushi roll eater, and my reviews reflect this. |
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RETURN VISIT for Terry! 3/2/2006 - 6.5 Rating: Wow, what a major disappointment. Something must have changed here in the past 6 months or so. We sat at the sushi boat and I had a few orders of California Rolls (my standard) and ordered a Bessssss roll. The california rolls were decent enough, and large - but the rice tasted a bit off. A bit funny. It would be good enough if it was cheaper than the $2.25. But now there is fierce sushi competition on Jatbar, so this just will not stand.
The Bessssss arrived and it looks completely different now. Where is the crab? And what is all this gooey fish inside. It was so gross I couldn't finish it. It tasted completely off and not very appetizing at all. For $10, it was my largest waste of sushi ever. I ended up spending about $26 all told and left unhappy and ripped off.
I doubt I will return again. |
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Reviewer: Julie
Total Reviews: 46
Reviewed: 7/28/2004
Rating: 8
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I’ve eaten at Arikato two times. Once, I sat at a table and it was the best sushi I had experienced in recent memory. The other time, I sat at the boats and it was just okay. So, I’m going to average the two scores and give it an 8.
On my first visit, I had an Arikato Box with chicken teriyaki and California roll. It may make me a wuss, but no sushi meal is complete in my mind without a California roll. I also took Jason and Terry’s advice and got a Bessss roll. It was the best thing I had ever tasted! The tempura was warm and crunchy and the tuna was cool and fresh. The sesame seeds and seaweed crunchy things on top gave it that special something that catapulted it to number 1 on my Top 5 All Time Best Sushi Rolls list. My friends and I even ended up ordering a second Besss roll so everyone was able to get their fill. The restaurant was clean, wait staff friendly, and they were quick to refill water, which is very important to me. The roll cost $10.95, so multiple orders plus the rest of the sushi made my lunch around $25 – a little steep for me, but well worth it.
On my second visit, the man at the sushi bar made the Besssss roll differently. He put the tuna on top instead of inside the roll and that changed the whole texture and taste sensation of the roll. It was still good, but didn’t live up to my memory. The other problem that day was the selection on the boats was pretty non-existent. The same 3 or 4 plates kept circling, holding contents that I can only guess had been there since the previous week. So, I pretty much avoided taking things off the boat unless I saw them made. The average-ness of my meal made the high price not as worth it.
I’ll have to go back again soon and have a tie braking visit to really make up my mind about this restaurant. However, at worst, it was still decent sushi. So if you someday come out of Costco famished and craving raw fish head over and check it out.
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Reviewer: Eddie
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 8/5/2004
Rating: 8
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First of all, I would like to say, I had a lot of Japanese food both here and in Japan and other Asia countries so I might be a bit strict with my rating. Arikato comes strongly recommended by Jason and Terry. The first time I went there with them and the Bess roll was impressive. I have since tried other different rolls they offered on the menu, I have to say they are decent if not as impressive. On the other hand, the sushi on the boat was not that special. And for the price, I think they do OK.
The other day I took my family there for Sunday dinner, the main chief was not there and there were not as many sushi on the boat and they were not as fresh either. To me, thats wrong. If you cant serve the best thing you can offer, shouldnt be offering at all. When it comes to sushi, freshness is the key, aint it? I guess you do need to pick a right time to go to this place, hence 8 in my book. |
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Reviewer: Michael
Total Reviews: 40
Reviewed: 8/6/2004
Rating: 8.5
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Arikato is a great sushi joint just off the 101 in Mountain View. Its a nice place to grab a quick bite from the sushi boat. The people there are very friendly and the service is good. I ordered the Spider Roll, Shrimp Tempura hand roll, and a Maguro. All of this filled me up and of course I washed it down with a small Sapporo. All this with tip came to $18.50, a little steep for lunch. The fish was fresh but Id like to see bigger pieces of crab next time I go. I tried asking for hotter Wasabi but all they had was the mild stuff. So I didnt get to enjoy my sushi the way I usually do. I will come back again and try the Bess roll that Terry and Jason mention above. Gotta give this place an 8.5
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Reviewer: tanya
Total Reviews: 14
Reviewed: 4/18/2005
Rating: 7
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I work right by here and thought I'd give it a try. I was actually quite surprised when I stepped in the door but the place had some nice colors going! The atmosphere was kinda dark for what I'm used to but still inviting. Comment on the music they were playing, kinda loud happy hardcore and trance? Before I get to the food, I'll need to comment on the service there. I think it was quick and pretty friendly but I came in by myself after doing an errand before lunch and this one waitress was practically a hawk over my shoulder. I was reading some magazines and writing notes (some cryptic ones on the restaurant!) and she at one point even came right up over my shoulder to look at what I was reading!!! my goodness, I definitely did not like her so close all the time. I also couldn't take pictures because the place was kind of empty for 12:30 and it was just me and another couple on the other side of the bar, the sushi chef and hawk-eye on my right. I didn't like the fact that when I ordered anything the sushi chef hollered across the room to the lady at the register so she could write it down (esp because I wanted to try a few things, so I was ordering a lot), that was weird.
I will agree with one of the reviewers about the boat, they were empty except for 3 plates that probably have been rotating since they opened for lunch. What a disappointment! I go to sushi boats to try small orders of the fares they can offer. That way I don't have to order $8 dollar plates of strange roll combinations I might not like. I might as well have sat at the tables, maybe hawk-eye wouldn't have bothered me as much. I couldn't taste the wasabi at this place, maybe it was just a drier split pea paste? I asked for more wasabi from the chef and it taste the same, like nothing. It got to the point where I had green paste and a few drops of soy sauce to move it a bit, finally gave up and just made do. (I only took one thing off the boats, it was like a California roll with salmon and avocado on top. It was ok tasting, not terrible, but the salmon didn't taste sweet and the marriage of taste for that roll didn't impress me, I suppose I would have preferred some wasabi with my salmon, but alas I had to eat it only with green soy sauce.)
When I sat down I ordered the agedashi tofu, something I had recently at another sushi restaurant (to be reviewed later) that was fantastic, for something hot to start off my meal. Agedashi tofu is just basically soft tofu deep fried real quick with a very delicate thin layer of I think potato or tapioca flour, and you eat it with a soy sauce similar to what you have with tempura. The tofu came out nice, but it was just slightly warm - should be hot- and the flavor of tofu was ok. Yes, believe it or not, tofu has a flavor! I'll go back to the other place for their agedashi tofu instead. During my tofu tasting I ordered a unagi handroll. This I liked, only one thing they put in it that made it different. The seaweed was nice and crisp and the unagi was soft and melt in your mouth. But the winning ingredient was among the cucumber julienne, some green mango julienne. It was green and a little tangy, but slightly sweet. Made my mouth happy, because what it did I think was balanced out the sweet fattiness of the unagi with a refreshing tart.
While eating, I was still perusing the menu because I have to admit, it was a pretty menu; they did well with the pictures, good eye appeal. I saw two other rolls I wouldn't mind trying since I was there, I asked the sushi chef if they do half orders for the rolls, and he said yes. So I ordered the Palo Alto roll and the Silicon Valley roll. Shoulda known, it came out as full rolls anyway. (my lunch was 33 bux with tip!!! oh well, I guess it's ok, I had a crappy weekend). The Palo Alto roll was a roll with unagi, avocado, bacon and green mango. Yep, I thought the green mango was fantastic in the unagi hand roll so I wanted to give it another try. This roll was ok, I'm not sure why the mango didn't stick out as much in this roll. It was basically an unagi roll with bacon and avocado. So 'eh nothing exciting. I thought that the Silicon Valley roll was more interesting to look at, it had oyster(deep fried), crab, avocado, cucumber, lettuce and tobiko on the outside. I think this roll was good, except it was too big and they sliced it too thin, I couldn't get all of it into my mouth, and it all practically fell apart on me (I think at this point hawk-eye was hovering about, she probably would have wiped up my mouth if I gave her enough space to my face). I never had oyster in my rolls before so it offered a bit different flavor, wonder if it would have tasted lighter if they used a tempura batter instead. Overall the roll was pleasant, and it was a good thing the rolls I ordered didn't really require any soy sauce as they come with the unagi-teriyaki like sauce thing, because I think I would have gotten even more irritated that my wasabi didn't taste like anything. I took half of both rolls to-go since I couldn't finish it, maybe it would taste better later?
I think I overall I wasn't too impressed with the food here, it was decent, but the boat setup made my lunch real expensive, now I have to go hungry the rest of the week :p I would perhaps go back if they start putting stuff on those boats for me to try instead of having to order stuff. Sorry this was so long, I just was so inspired to not do any work today at work :)
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 11/29/2005
Rating: 8
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Im dedicating this review to “The Sicilian Pirate.” Apparently this person is a huge Jatbar.com fan but didnt know “agents” besides Jason and Terry walked the underworld of Jatbar.
I owed my friend a dinner for missing his Birthday since he was sick several weeks back and I didnt get my flu shot yet. For my own selfishness I said Id make it up to him and buy him a nice dinner at Arikato, even though I knew he didnt eat anything raw.
We arrive around 6:45pm and the place is practically dead. There were only three tables taken at the time. When I had previously stopped by for lunch a month ago I saw some sign that this place was under new management or some new renovation and they had new hours. We were seated right away and given menus. The menus here are gorgeous as it shows all the pictures of the various kinds of sushi and special rolls they had, even a close up shot of each of their sushi.
I went with an order of the Bessss Roll (as it seems to come highly recommended by Jatbar) and an order of the shrimp tempura roll. My friend ordered the beef sabu sabu (the Japanese version of the Chinese hot pot) and I ordered a 3 item combination dinner. As soon as we ordered we received our drinks and I got my bowl of miso soup. Nothing special there as it taste pretty standard. Due to the lack of patrons within the restaurant, our food came like 10 minutes later. I mean first we were served our rolls and then 3 min after that we got our main course. It just felt so fast as everything came at once.
The Bessss Roll was served room temperature. I was expecting the sensation of hot shrimp tempura and cold tuna within my mouth but that experience was non existent. You would figure they would make the shrimp tempura fresh and chill the tuna as dinner items in Japanese restaurants tend to cost more their lunch counterparts. The Bessss Roll, even though it was served at room temperature was still good. The feeling of soft, melt in your mouth tuna and crunchy shrimp tempera with soft rice had a nice feel and flavor to it all. I cant vouch that this is the best roll Ive ever had as I still feel the best rolls came from Sushi House (plug: come on Jatbar, go try it), but the special roll is good and would order again if I ever came here. The rolls were cut into the perfect bite size, not too small as if it was not worth the price but not so big that it required more than one bite. (8.5/10)
Since my friend doesnt eat anything raw I got the chance to sample a piece of his Shrimp Tempura roll. This roll was forgetful. The ingredients consisted of shrimp tempura, avocado, cucumber and rice. This roll had zero taste; it was just tasted bland without any soy sauce. Even with a little soy sauce it still tasted bland. Youd think the tempura would have some flavor or seasoning added to it. The only good part was the dried seaweed wrap, where it was not stale. (5/10).
My friends Beef Sabu Sabu didnt look like it was anything special. His pot of assorted veggies, tofu and beef soup was served with a bowl of rice. I asked how it tasted and he said it was “not bad, but not the best Ive had.” My bento box was huge, plenty of teriyaki chicken, a lettuce salad with a nice dressing that Ive never had before. The dressing tasted a bit like Japanese style thousand island. I also ordered shrimp tempura and California rolls as my items of choice. The tempura was lightly battered and came with two medium sized shrimps, and some veggie tempura. There were 6 or 8 pieces of California rolls (I forget) but I had to take it to go as there was too much food.
The Teriyaki chicken was standard. I didnt think the tempura was crispy enough, the batter made it taste a bit soggy. Ive had the deep fried with the smaller tempura flakes and the battered deep fried tempura. I find the ones with the tempura flakes tend to hold their crisp better. The California rolls were very large and several pieces as well.
The server also brought us 3 pieces of teriyaki fish, not sure what kind of fish it was but it was pinkish and had a lot of fat around the meat and had a lot of bones. There was hardly any meat as I was picking off the bones majority of the time. The fish was fatty and had a nice moist taste to it, plus it was on the house so you cant beat that.
We didnt have a need for drink refills but the servers seemed very attentive as they stopped by several times to check up on us. When the bill came I noticed they applied a 15% DISCOUNT (minus $6.10) off our bill. I think they must have some new management or renovation going on. Our total bill came out to be 37.40 pre tip. I was expecting it to be a lot more based on the menu price on Jatbar.
Looking at my receipt and looking at the prices from the menu on Jatbar I notice there has been a change in price. The shrimp tempura roll on Jatbar shows $3.75 and my receipt shows $5.25, although ours had 6 pieces. The Bessss Roll shows $9.95 and the menu on Jatbar shows 10.95. I think over all prices have gone down.
I would come back but this would not be my first choice of Japanese restaurants. The discount helped tonight but normally the bill is on the high side. Normally I would give this a 7.5 but with the free tasty dish and extra discount Ill rate this a 8.
Pluses: Takes Visa, MC, Amex. Excellent service, plenty of parking, fast service during dinner, wide variety of selections.
Minuses: Pricey without the discount. Inconsistent hand rolls (might be more consistent during lunch when its busy?).
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Reviewer: Lainie
Total Reviews: 41
Reviewed: 3/3/2006
Rating: 7
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I have to agree with Jason and Terry's most recent reviews of this place. The sushi and food in general used to really rock. These days however, the service has taken a complete nosedive and it has been the really disappointing. It has taken them FOREVER to take my order here in the last 2 times I went, and when our food finally arrived it took another 5 minutes to flag someone down just to get a pair of chopsticks! And it took practically 20 minutes for them to give us the check! The bento specials are still a great deal and the food is good, but the sushi rolls have suffered. I'll return because it's convenient for me the next time I have a serious Japanese food craving, but I won't be expecting much anymore.
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Reviewer: Brandon
Total Reviews: 16
Reviewed: 3/5/2006
Rating: 8.5
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I was called in to accompany JaT on the latest top secret mission to Arikato, and since Terry went un-veg for this visit I had a unique experience of this expedition.
While JaT battled bad fish, I had cucumber, avocado, and tamago (egg) rolls. I ordered these from the menu as nothing on the boats looked positively vegetarian. It's hard to make stand-out vegetarian sushi, but it's hard to make bad vegetarian sushi, too. This wasn't amazing, but it was good enough. It tasted fresh (crunchy cucumber, tasty avocado) and I liked the slight sweetness to the rice.
The service was painfully slow. Granted, I didn't exactly stuff myself that day, but my bill (when it finally came) for 14 pieces of sushi (sushi, mind you) came to a whopping $6.33. I'm hoping the service will be better at less-busy times. This place's value just earned it a trial spot on my lunch options list.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 5/30/2007
Rating: 7
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On my first visit to Arikato I ordered the chicken teriyaki and it was awesome. It was perfectly cooked with delicious sauce and they gave me a good quantity of food with nice sides. The service was good too, and they quickly gave me both tea and water, keeping both refilled. Total was $9 incl. tip, about average. This was probably the best chicken teriyaki I've had in a while.
On subsequent visits I tried the sushi with mixed results. In one meal, friends and I shared several rolls and they were all pretty good, but nothing outstanding. On the next visit trip I ordered a variety of Nigiri sushi. All of it was decent except the maguro. The first piece just tasted wrong. The second piece was similar but the texture was pretty nasty, like it had been refrozen and rethawed several times. I ended up spitting the entire piece into my napkin...bleh. This was the first time I have ever felt compelled to do this with any kind of sushi. Not a good sign. I decided then that I would not seek this place out again for its sushi.
I was in the area recently, and I decided to give this place one more chance. I ordered the 2 item box lunch with chicken teriyaki and CA roll. Service was good, like on my previous visits, but my food was a little disappointing. The teriyaki was a small portion, was pretty average, and they gave me a very skimpy portion of rice. C'mon guys, rice is the cheapest part of the meal! The CA roll pieces were pretty small and just OK. But worst of all, the salad they gave me looked slightly old and wilted, and it had no seasoning, oil or dressing of any kind. Totally unappetizing. Even the slice of orange looked sub-par, with a jagged cut/bite? on one end and a few spilled sesame seeds on the corner. I had to examine it closely before eating it.
After my first visit, I was thinking Arikato would be my new go-to spot for Teriyaki, but now that plan is gone. It's not a horrible spot, but it is definitely below average in my book.
Though others have noted the bad/rude service, I have never had a problem here. Maybe just my luck of the draw?
Pros: Good service (for me), good parking, nice interior, big menu
Cons: Food quality is uneven and inconsistent; fish quality questionable |
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