| Surprising selection of fish from this modest restaurant |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 992
Reviewed: 12/1/2004
Rating: 8.5
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Thanks to Nicki for suggesting this sushi gem. Located off Castro and Dana, its next door to Cafe Yulong. The outside of the restaurant is fairly plain leaving you with low expectations. Be sure to pay attention to the paper signs on your way in, I made the mistake of noticing the specials on my way out.
I would have gotten all sushi today but wanted to try something a little new today. I got a bento box, teriyaki chicken and sashimi. I also ordered a hamachi toro.
Teriyak Chicken - good size portions, dark meat grilled over open flames, sauce isnt sweet or smothered all over the meat to overpower the natural grilled flavor. I like it a lot.
Sashimi - comprised of 2 fishes, sake and maguro. Im usually scared when I eat salmon due to its fishiness. Lucky for me, todays salmon was excellent...oh so good, melted, smooth texture, and temperature being slighly chilled. The maguro on the other hand was a bit harder to eat. Way too cold but fish broke apart easily and color was a gradient of red to dark red.
Wasabi - on the hot side, very potent.
Hamachi Toro - PERFECT 10, if felt like I had put a tab of butter in my mouth. This is on a par with the fish at Sakae Sushi in Burlingame. $5 is a deal for high quality fish from Japan. Rice was in proportion to the fish and very shiney. Color of the yellowtail was white with streaks of fat lining the meat...ohhh yeah...gotta love the melting effect.
Im easily making a return visit for their fish. On my next visit, I have to try their Blue Fin Toro or Lobster salad with spicy avocado. Their rolls are so-so but the real winner is the nigiri and sashimi. They have a decent selection of fish not found in a lot of other sushi restaurants in the area. If you want to try delicious fish, try Sushi Tomi for a quick lunch.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 723
Reviewed: 12/1/2004
Rating: 8.5
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Sushi Tomi was a nice find. Its a little off the main strip in Mountain View, so we never saw it before. We entered the modest looking place and sat down. I quickly ordered Miso, California Rolls, Kani roll, and Shrimp Tempura roll. It was a bit pricey for what you are getting but let me tell you the quality here is pretty darn high. The wasabi here is VERY hot. Great stuff.
The Miso was miso so I won't go into it.
The California Rolls were made with real crab I think! There was a minimum to no mayo in them. They were highly flavorful but a little less rich than, say, Miyakes or the like.
The Kani rolls were with REAL crab pieces, not crab salad. Not immitation. WOW. Thats all I can say. Way to go.
The shrimp tempura was good, but not as good as say, Sushi Coast, as the shrimp pieces were a bit tiny, there was a lot of rice in the roll, and some lettuce which seemed strange.
Overall, though, I was pleased with my meal, though it cost me a hefty sum.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 70
Reviewed: 9/30/2005
Rating: 8.5
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Let me just start by saying Sushi Tomi is a class joint. Its clean, friendly, and the food is very good quality. That said, its no bargain restaurant, though few Japanese restaurants are. Lunch here, including tip, will run between $10 and $20 per person, more if youre really hungry or add beer or saki.
I discovered Sushi Tomi a few months ago, and I recently had lunch here for the third time. The first time I had a chicken teriyaki bento lunch. I remember it being delicious, but didnt take notes. I think I paid about $10 including tip. The second time I had Unagi Don, a mouth-watering BBQ eel in succulent sauce over rice. Wow. A good deal for $13 (incl. tip).
On my most recent trip I tried their basic sushi combo platter for $15 (incl. tip). Twelve (or was it 13?) pieces, half of them nigiri (yellowtail, salmon, tuna, scallop, shrimp, mackerel), the other half comprising a small, basic tuna roll). The fish was delicious, very fresh and the presentation was nice; the nigiri pieces were of average size. My combo also included miso soup and small bowl of edamame (steamed & salted soy beans). A pot of fresh green tea was placed on the table and our cups regularly topped off.
Nits: I like wasabi, but the chef added a little too much to the sushi for my taste. Next time Ill put less in my soy sauce. Also, its not clear why they gave me tuna in two different forms (roll and nigiri). The roll was boring, as rolls go. Next time Ill pony up a few dollars more for the “special” sushi combo.
The indoor setting of the restaurant is minimalist Japanese, white with wood trim, not overburdened with decorations. It has a nice feel to it, though I couldnt say why. Its bright and cozy at the same time.
All in all, this is the best sushi place Ive been to in downtown Mountain View so far. I would take visitors to lunch here in a heartbeat, though probably before noon. After that and theres usually a wait for tables.
My final rating is 8.5 after subtracting points for price. |
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 165
Reviewed: 12/30/2005
Rating: 8
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Lunch at work offered the same limited selections as it did on Tue and Wed. My co worker and I decided to go out for lunch. I suggested Sushi Tomi and he approved, stating that he was just there recently with some friends and thought the place had some good sushi.
Sushi Tomi is very unassuming as if you dont walk down to see the sign or have heard about this place its very difficult to glance down the street to even realize this is a Japanese restaurant. From the outside it seems like some store as the sign is quiet small. Its on the same side as Café Yulong but a block down the street heading away from Castro.
We arrive around noon and the place is full. We were offered seating on the counter; otherwise we had a short wait ahead of us. We were brought our menus and tea right away. There are not many selections for the lunch menu and I didnt notice any specialty rolls on the sushi menu. My friend just wanted something light so we both deiced on bento boxes. He ordered the Salmon Teriyaki with Sashimi and I went with the Tomi Bento, which consisted of Chicken Teriyaki, three pieces of Maguro, fried mackerel, tempura, and rice.
Both bento orders came with soup, but its very standard miso soup with tofu pieces. There is a lot of man power that goes into this small restaurant. There are three Japanese Sushi chefs behind the counter. There are two waitresses running around in the front and several workers in the kitchen in the back. They definitely serve their food fresh here and make it when its ordered.
Our food arrives and my friends bento box is obviously bigger as his portions are bigger where as mine have more selections but less portions of each item. His bento box included three slices of sake and maguro each, and a small piece of salmon. Mine only had three pieces of maguro, a small piece of the mackerel, and small portion of the chicken teriyaki, and a decent portion of tempura with one being a shrimp tempura.
I had one slice of chicken that didnt have any teriyaki sauce on it and it tasted grilled yet was on the dry side, but with the teriyaki sauce it was much more manageable. The tempura was crispy and held together nicely even after drenching it in the tempura sauce. The best part about the meal was the maguro. It was just cold enough yet melted in my mouth and tasted fresh.
The service was decent as my friend asked for more tea as a waitress passed and in the process I got my tea topped off as well. Meal came out to 21.00 for two people after tips. I want to come back and try their Sashimi only mix as it seems to be the best choice there. While sitting on the counter I noticed a lot of orders were Sashimi and Hamachi orders.
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Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 141
Reviewed: 3/13/2008
Rating: 9
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We're blessed with so many solid Japanese restaurants (not just sushi) in this area that Sushi Tomi has escaped my radar many a time. A friend who's been a loyal patron (by which I mean he has not strayed to another Japanese restaurant for over a decade), told me that we were having dinner here. Upon entering Sushi Tomi had that 'feeling' that told me that I was in for a memorable meal.
Tak, I believe greeted us as soon as we walked through its threshold and we promptly took our seats at the bar. A bottle of yoshibu beer and a small cup of edamame arrived. I let my pal order and we ended up with a selection of chef's selection of sashimi, grilled mackerel, and an order of california rolls which is usually foreign to me.
The California Rolls arrived first, and although it's near sacrilege to combine california roll and good japanese food in the same sentence...I will be the first to admit I heart a good California Roll. Especially one with real crab, and theirs certainly met my specs. It's good, but don't go just for these...as there are many other treasures I spied on that menu.
Chef's Sashimi Selection - I couldn't tell you everything on our platter, but a wide variety of fish including your normal salmon, yellow tail to the more extravagant blue fin toro was placed expertly and presented with grated wasabi and a heavier shoyu. 3 cuts of each fish, and each bite was extraordinary. Although it is rumored they receive their fish on wed/thurs they sell out enough to have fresh stock in daily and this was solid fish. Loved everything on this plate, especially the buttery fragile toro.
Grilled Mackerel - I'm also not normally a fan of mackerel as I find it incredibly oily and sometimes overpowering. I was told I had to try theirs, and who was I to protest? I am glad that I did, as this was a fantastic piece of fish. slightly charred but flaky, tender, and dry rather then oily.
Quite amazed really how this place off Castro St. has escaped me for so long. Looking forward to a return visit. Maybe tonight...
9/10
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