Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 3/22/2006
Rating: 8.5
My photo gallery
I am completely stuffed and it only cost me $8.50. I thoroughly enjoyed the bento boxes at Kazoo. They come in these cool looking wooden plate holders and filled to the rim with food. Check out the Special Lunch Box section, there's 14 different choices ranging in prices from $7.95 - 8.50. I ordered the letter H combination; Tonkatsu, Sashimi, Gyoza, and California Roll, Soup, and bowl of rice.
One of the posters on jatboard had mentioned the curry tonkatsu was very authentic but unfortunately, the Tonkatsu I ordered was the normal one. Oh well, cant win them all.
Tonkatsu - deep fried and breaded pork. Nice portion size, take a look at picture #12. Good stuff.
Saashimi - small pieces of maguro and albacore. great quality fish, I was surprised I liked the albacore as much as I did.
Gyoza - oil, hot, some soy vinegar, 3 pieces filled with meat and veggies. Picture #10.
California Roll - good mixture of mayo and crab, fresh avocado, decent stuff. Im not much of a CA roll person anymore but still enjoyed it.
Ths review should only count for the bento box as I didnt get to try much of the sushi rolls. I thought the prices were extremely cheap but Terry would disagree since the portion size was half the size. I did try the Baja Roll and that was exploding with crab and some spicy mixture.
Service was fast and overall lunch was good on my pockets. I cant believe I walked out only paying $26 for 2 people. Normally when Terry and I eat japanese food, we spend $26 each :) I loved Kazoo and only have fond memories of my bento box.
Jason thought we should head to Kazoo and it was supposed to be a decent Japanese restaurant in San Jose's Japantown. I am always up, especially today - since Jason was buying. I was prepared for a feast of unprecedented proportions. The reviews on the Jatboard made me excited to give it a try as well.
We get there and there is a decent crowd at about noon on this Wednesday. We are quickly shown a seat. Service was pretty good in general. The menu had a lot of stuff, but I already knew beforehand what I wanted to try. The jatboard recommended items were the Paradise Roll and the Spicy San Diego roll. I also decided to get my standard California Roll order. I figured that would do me.
Prices looked decent, at about $3.50 - $4.50 per order of rolls. Prices were about half of most places, but the menu noted that they were 3-4 pieces per roll instead of 7-8 of other places. So I guess that offsets the lower prices.
I also ordered a miso soup, which arrived first. It was average miso. Nothing terribly exciting or different. It fulfilled my need.
My plate of sushi arrived surprisingly quickly. Definitely made me happy. Then I saw the plate of sushi. VERY small. 'We're gonna need a bigger lunch.'
Jason went crazy with the pictures. I had to wait as he took pictures of my sushi from every possible angle multiple times. Once my lunch was returned to me, I dug into the California Rolls first. I was given 6. The pieces were smaller than average, but the flavor was perhaps a tick above the standard california rolls. It wasn't swimming in mayo too much so didn't really get me fired up. It was just OK overall.
The San Diego Roll was above average. It is the one with the avocados on top and the sauce similar to La Victoria's special sauce spread on top. It had fish and tempura shrimp inside. Overall it was pleasing, but again not big enough to please me completely.
The Paradise roll was another recommendation and it is highlighted by the mango inside the roll and the fish outside the roll. Overall a little too much fish for me. I was happy that this roll was smaller. It just wasn't my cup of tea. Tasted fresh tho.
I was still hungry after this, so went for an order of the $4.50 Baja Roll. This one arrived and was my favorite of the meal. It was the size I was expecting (hoping) of the other rolls. It was a bit spicy, but not too bad. It had spicy mayo mixed in with the immitation crab. It wasn't the same as the La Vic sauce that was on my San Diego roll, but was still quite tasty. I would definitely order this again with my San Diego Roll.
Overall, I found the prices to be good. The service was lightning quick, which is also important. But it just didn't click completely with me. Portions were a little small. I think Kazoo would be a great place if you want to sample a bunch of different rolls and not spend a bunch of money, or get too full doing so. I would picture this as a great place for an afterwork party atmosphere. Hang out with a bunch of friends or coworkers and sample a bunch of different rolls on the cheap and split the bill. Throw in some Asahi and you got a Jatbar night on the town.
A friend and I arrived at Kazoo exactly at noon and it was certainly busy. The greeters were nice, welcoming and REAL. What I mean by real is that they say the actual 'Irrashaimase! (welcome)' (well duh, it's Japantown) instead of the howling 'uhseeeeeeeehh!' other restaurants do (because they don't know the actual word).
My friend ordered the beef teriyaki and tempura lunch and I had the bento box C (teriyaki chicken, tonkatsu, gyoza, and ca roll). The waitress gave us a little appetizer which wasn't so appetizing. It was like a bland kim chi. Not good. The miso soup came out and the bowls were smaller than the usuals I've had. I didn't mind since I didn't come to drink a big bowl of miso. I liked the miso soup. Not too salty, not too watery.
We had a little wait for our orders to come (understandable. It was lunch hour). Probably 15 minutes. I was incredibly hungry and dug right into the bento when it arrived.
CA Roll: Average. 7/10
Gyoza: it was fried and crisp on the outside, but soft and flavorful on the inside. It's honestly good, but I found it a little salty. That's just a personal preference though. My salty taste buds are more sensitive than others. 7.5/10
Tonkatsu: It was hot and crispy, and not too greasy. 8/10
Teriyaki chicken: THIS was the winner here. This made my lunch memorable. It seems that they grilled the meat so that it had a slight charcoaled taste. I don't know why, but it made the chicken taste refreshing. Some of the edges were crispy which gave it texture. 9/10
Kazoo would've been a 7.5 had it not been for the chicken. The lunch deals are great and the portions will fill you up, however, I haven't found anything that makes Kazoo stand out from any other Japanese restaurant. The place is definitely worth a try if you want a nice bento under 8 or 9 dollars.
The Jackson St. location is not as good as the Winchester/Hamilton location.
The Winchester location has more people during lunch and dinner hours, the sushi selection is always creative and the sushi chefs aim to please. I am rarely disappointed with their selection and creations. A quick, simple sushi bar dinner runs me under $20 everytime before drinks and dessert.
“Ate at the sushi bar and was surprised to see sushi under a plastic cover (a plus) Sashimi melted in your mouth, but the real winner was greentea cheesecake Perfect balance of cheese/sweetness. Chicken karaage batter was like KFC. Not fond of it.”
3/18/2007 2:04:52 AM
cjarmstrong7 ate...
What dish did you eat?
“What did you think? We come to Kazoo about once or twice a week and it is very reasonably priced. For me and my husband, it usually costs less than $25 and they have very unique sushi rolls (Hanabi is our favorite) What can I say? We love Kazoo!”
