| Unassuming building by itself on 4th st. offering up cheap, tasty rolls. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 998
Reviewed: 11/10/2004
Rating: 9.5
My photo gallery
|
Sushi Coast has made a top spot in my sushi list and stomach. Thanks to Catherine for submitting this excellent sushi restaurant. There is no way we would have ever found this place! Its not near any other restaurants, no flashy signs, situated in a neighborhood or small business park? I guess you can call it a hidden gem for out of towners like Terry and I. We got lost trying to find this place, mostly our fault, we dont know San Jose yet.
The waitresses were quite busy during lunch. There were people constantly coming through the front door....definitely a good sign. Although they were running around, they still had time to deliver our water, tea, and menus in a timely manner. Thank gawd for good service because we were hungry.
They brought the tea and it was noticebly a lot different than tea that we are used to drinking. Quite good indeed, I had to remove the tea lid, what do you know, tea leaves (see picture #5). We also got miso which was ok, nothing spectacular. Now for the sushi....
Godzilla Roll - Recommended by Catherine, this Maki roll is awesome. Deep fried spicy tuna. Slightly warm from the oil with light tempura flakes surrounding this lovely roll. 8pc for $5!!! NO way...this would usually cost $8-9 in any other place.
CA Roll - good stuff, heavy on the mayo and a bit sweet for my liking. Doesnt matter though, I would eat it again anydat. it was only $3.50.
Negi Hama Maki - your basic Hamachi with green onions. The roll was sloppy and nearly fell apart. Presentation was lacking but the flavor made up for it. Definitely order this again
Shrimp Tempura Roll - woooowwweee...weve got a winner! This will definitely be a favorite for sushi eaters not willing to eat raw fish. The shrimps were cooked to perfection and the rolls were stuffed with crab mix. I wanted so bad to order another one. They were only $4.95 for 4pcs...I want a dozen next time..well...ok, maybe 8 of them.
Maguro Nigiri - I knew just from looking at this it was going to be good. It was a excellent cut with little rice. I took my first bite and it melted in my mouth. It broke apart and required little chewing. Temperature was slightly chilled and rice was shiny. It was perfect 10 in my book.
I know I might be a little off my rocker to give this place a 9.5 without trying their sashimi but with fresh fish, creative maki rolls, and excellent prices, this place is simply heavenly. Terry and I are making a return visit next week just to make sure this wasnt a fluke.
|
| |
| |
RETURN VISIT for Jason! 7/27/2006 - 9 Rating: It's been a long time since we've made our return visit and like the fact they've added our jatbar review to their wall :) Terry and I got a smile out of that. Cutting straight to lunch
maguro nigiri - large piece with small pad of rice. Bright red color, texture appeared a little different. No fishy taste, pretty good but not 9 quality.
hamachi nigiri - good gawd, you should have seen this pieces they serve. They were HUGE pieces and contained a little of the blood line. I was a little worried at first but when Terry's friend said it was fatty, I went full steam ahead. SUPER GOOD!!! It melted right in my mouth and the cut made it easy to chew. I'd give this a 9.25.
ca rolls - more of an appetizer, good stuff
godzilla roll - this has got to be one of their strongest rolls, if you ever visit sushi coast, you have to order this.
shrimp tempura roll - no complaints here, very good
spider roll - good stuff and the price is just right
Nato Maki - this is one of the weirdest tasting items I've tried on a japanese menu. If you aren't familiar with Nato, it's fermented soybeans that's probably been aging in a dark corner of a cave. Imagine these little brown beans with this white gooey webby material on it. The smell...well...let's just say it tastes worse than it smells. And the funniest part is the reaction of people's faces when they eat it for the 1st time and the webby material all over their mouth. I know I'm not doing justice to the description, you'll just have to try it.
I consider Sushi Coast more of a maki/roll type of place. It's not your traditional Sushi house where you sit at the counter browsing the whiteboard. I noticed the quality of the rolls were a notch down. A lot of the maki rolls were falling apart and even some of the nigiri pieces were missing the wasabi dabs underneath the fish. Sushi is an artform and shouldn't be rushed, part of enjoyment of eating sushi is taking time to admire the beautiful cuts of fish or stylish rolls.
Service was hovering around average but the waitress is overwhelmed. There was 1 waitress serving and she was RUNNING the entire time. I felt uncomfortable watching our waitress running back and forth to the kitchen. She forgot to fill our teas and slow to fill our waters. They need to hire at least 1-2 more people to ensure the process runs smoothly. I'd give her a 9.9 for the effort but a 7 for the execution.
I still love Sushi Coast but I think they need to slow things down a bit and hire more people during lunch. |
| |
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 730
Reviewed: 11/10/2004
Rating: 9.5
My photo gallery
|
This is what Jatbar is about. We got a wishlist request for Sushi Coast so decided to check it out. Holy smokes. This place gives Arikato a run for its money! The sushi rolls are FANTASTIC. I ordered the California Roll, the Shrimp Tempura Roll, and the requested Godzilla Roll. The California Roll was fairly decent. Good amount of sweetness, mayo, crab. I would order this again, but it turned out to be the weakest thing I had here!
The godzilla roll was warm, fresh, and a bit of grease. Jason said it best when he compared it to Fish n Chips. It was extremely flavorful and satisfying.
The Shrimp Tempura roll, however, was heaven. I was so very close to ordering another Shrimp Tempura roll but Sushi Coast was starting to fill up and the wait looked like it would be too long. I held back, for now. I will return.
Sushi Coast does not have a sushi boat, but thats the only thing holding it back from a 10. The sushi rolls were fresh and among the tastiest. The service was quick. The sushi is cheap (check out the menu link above). And to be honest, I am not 100% sure that a sushi boat would be the way to go for Sushi Boat. The warmth and freshness of their rolls would suffer if they sat on a boat for a few minutes before arriving in front of you.
Do yourself a favor and give Sushi Coast a try. With their affordable pricing, you really have nothing to lose.
|
| |
|
|
Reviewer: Phuc
Total Reviews: 13
Reviewed: 8/12/2005
Rating: 8.5
My photo gallery |
This is my first review on JaTbar (just joined yesterday) so it'll be a quick one.
I have been living at my apartment which is walking distance from Sushi Coast for about four years. I remember going to Sushi Coast when it first opened about two or three years ago and didn't really like the place.
That would probably explain why I haven't gone there again until today. I probably wouldn't have came back either, if it wasn't for JaTbar rating it so high.
I went on a Friday night around 6:30 and the place was filled with a good amount of people, more than half the seats in the restaurant was taken. The thing was, I only saw one person working the floor and one person in the kitchen. We got seated pretty quick, taking our order took a little bit longer.
We started off with a bottle of hot sake, and then ordered the Dragon Roll, the Shrimp Tempura Roll, two pieces of Hamachi, a bowl of rice, egg and seafood porridge, and a bowl of the Curry Beef Soba.
The Shrimp Tempura Roll came out first and when I saw it, I knew that this wasn't the same place it was a few years ago. It was confirmed when I took the first bite. The roll was rich creamy-like, while the tempura added a crunchy texture to it. Very good. An added bonus is that the covered the top of it with tobiko, which I like.
The Dragon Roll, twice the size and twice the price was good. Pretty much the same as the other roll, but with eel and not as much crunchy texture. The avocado wasn't as fresh as it could be either. I liked the Shrimp Tempura better.
The third plate that came out was the Curry Beef Soba. The soba noodles were in a broth with japanese curry all over it. You gotta mix it together so the curry could be evenly distributed in the broth. I don't know why it couldn't be done before hand. I did notice while mixing it that there were four little tiny pieces of beef floating around and a bunch of carrots. They should have named it Curry Carrot Soba.
The next dish that came was the porridge. It's just porridge, eggs, shrimp, chicken, and mushrooms in a clay bowl. Kind of plain, but I liked it. Something that would be perfect on a cold day when you're sick.
The last plate was the Hamachi. Came out a little bit late. Smelled fresh, but a little hint of fishiness. Tasted it and it tasted fresh, but not as flavorful as other places I've been to. It was a good sized portion though. Can't complain about that.
Total bill: $50.00
(Tax and tip included)
The place is pretty cheap, good value, but they need to hired a few more people to work there, or maybe it was just an unexpected busy night, who knows? It did improve a lot since I came here last, and now that I know that, I probably would come here more often for a quick bite since it is just around the corner. |
| |
Reviewer: pyunnyhana
Total Reviews: 45
Reviewed: 1/31/2006
Rating: 9
My photo gallery |
I'm willing to do almost anything for good food, especially with the recommendation here and of course, cheap prices. So what did my friend and I do? Wait two hours at the Sushi Coast packing lot. Obviously I didn't read the opening and closing schedules ahead of time. I wasn't familiar with the area, and it was a 15 minute drive home, to which I refuse to waste gas on. I must also mention that Sushi Coast can be out of the way and hard to find! Its camouflaged with all the other gray and dreary warehouse buildings.
My friend and I were basically the first customers for dinner since we went inside EXACTLY at 4:30pm. The nice thing about being first is that the food comes out fresh and warm. It was an extremely pleasant, quiet dinner. Our dinner composed of:
My Bento Box Dinner (2 choices of sides) 10.95. Included a small pickled cucumber appetizer, bowl of rice (perfect sticky consistency) salad with a toasty white dressing, and your usual miso soup (the tofu was ACTUAL tofu! A plus!) With my dinner, I chose the spicy teriyaki chicken (spiciness was a little mild than what I expected. The portion was huge) and gyoza (outside was perfectly fried. I think they gave me 6 pieces. More than enough)
My friend also ordered a bento box dinner. It had everything above, but he chose the beef teriyaki (you had to add $1 extra for this. I was surprised it wasnt overcooked. Had some pink in the middle) and tempura (Pumpkin, onion, carrot, zucchini, eggplant, sweet potato, and 2 shrimps! Usually places would give you only ONE shrimp)
We both shared the Godzilla roll (8pc for 4.95). I just couldnt believe how affordable it was and it came out hot and crisp! It was huge! Inside was tuna, and it was topped off with I think teriyaki sauce, some kind of mayo, fish eggs and scallions. We also ordered the Rock N Roll (6 pc for 3.95) which came out fresh and warm. The rice fell apart as I dipped in the soy, and the eel just melted in my mouth. I didnt even have to chew on the roll.
The bill came out to be $34.42, and it was well worth the wait we did in their parking lot (We were full beyond compare). My friend was ecstatic that I took him here. The entire drive home on 101south (traffic was a horror), all I heard from him was, “I love you, Im so happy, youre my best friend EVER!”
I would definitely come back here and try the rest of their sushi selections. Its a great place to go if youve been intimidated by the high prices of sushi in other restaurants.
|
| |
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 171
Reviewed: 7/30/2006
Rating: 8
My photo gallery |
Come to Sushi Coast for the sushi skip the bento box specials.
All the while driving with my friend for dinner to Sushi Coast I kept thinking the restaurant was in Japan town. Sushi Coast is nowhere near Japan town, the restaurant is located within an industrial area, across the street from Radisson Hotel and a trucking company. If you were not looking for it or know about the place, you could easily drive right on by without knowing there was a Japanese restaurant within that location.
There are only two parking spots up front with plenty of street parking and parking in the back. My friend and I arrive | | |
