| Unassuming building by itself on 4th st. offering up cheap, tasty rolls. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 11/10/2004
Rating: 9.5
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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.
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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. |
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 739
Reviewed: 11/10/2004
Rating: 9.5
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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.
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Reviewer: Phuc
Total Reviews: 13
Reviewed: 8/12/2005
Rating: 8.5
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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. |
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Reviewer: pyunnyhana
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 1/31/2006
Rating: 9
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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.
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 7/30/2006
Rating: 8
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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 on a Sunday at 6pm and we are the first customers for dinner. As soon as we sit, I take the sushi order list and begin marking suggestions from Jason. I marked down the Shrimp Tempura Roll, Maguro Nigiri, Hamachi Nigiri, and spider roll. My friend looked over my order and commented, “That is $25 dollar worth of sushi. Are we only eating sushi or are we getting a bento box as well?” With some convincing, I dropped the spider roll and she added on an order of Philadelphia roll. We each ordered a two-item bento box dinner. She ordered the beef teriyaki with tempura bento ($10.95 + $1 for beef) and I ordered the spicy chicken teriyaki with tempura ($10.95).
Upon seating, our waitress brings us a small tea cup size of pickled cucumbers with seaweed. Normally I would try one and typically avoid the rest but the pickled cucumbers here tasted refreshing and fresh.
Nigiri: Both orders of nigiri were fresh and very large, laid on top of a small ball of rice. The Maguro and Hamachi were both delicate and each melted in my mouth with ease. The only down side, I am not a big wasabi fan and they dabbed the rice with wasabi to stick the rice to the nigiri. Having read Jasons review, I was hoping they would keep it that way but I guess they must have read his review. (9/10)
Shrimp Tempura roll: four pieces of excellence. Crispy tempura texture with hint of sweetness from the shredded imitation crab meat. Sushi Coast has the art of making tempura perfected. Their tempura comes out crispy with a small dab of oil distributed to their veggie pieces. (9.5/10)
Philadelphia roll: I have no complaints here. These are your perfected Philadelphia rolls, served in an order of six. They tasted fresh and easy to pop each one whole into your mouth. (9/10)
Tempura: As mentioned earlier, Sushi Coast has perfected the art of Tempura frying. Crispy golden batter surrounds the veggies and two large shrimps. The shrimp tempuras remained crispy throughout the whole meal. The veggie tempuras were for most part crispy, expect for those that had some oil drenched in such as the sweet potatoes. (9/10)
Rice, salad, and soup were standard items. Soup had small cubes of tofu that were cold; they probably just popped it into the hot soup. Salad was mediocre topped with watery creamy dressing.
The chicken and beef teriyaki are their weakest dishes. At 10.95 to 11.95 for a bento box, I would expect the quality of the chicken and beef to be at least on par. The chicken was skinless and overcooked. I do not mind the chicken skinless but the skin would have prevented overcooking the top layer of the chicken. The spicy chicken teriyaki was not spicy nor was it your typical chicken teriyaki. The entrée did not have that thick sauce over the chicken; instead, it tasted a bit like homemade chicken with a light thin glaze. In the end, her dog enjoyed the left over chicken. (6/10)
The beef was a bit better as I tried a slice of beef from my friends plate. There were only a few slices of beef. The consistency of the beef was about medium well. My friend suspected they pre cooked the beef and chicken to shorten preparation time as the beef did not taste like it was grilled made to order and the chicken looked like it was cooked twice having the top layer being overdone. (7/10)
Service was decent. We could tell the waitress was trying hard and working as quickly as possible. She was pleasant and friendly throughout our meal. Our waters refilled when needed. Towards the end, another family of four arrived. Service is a bit slow considering there were a table of four and a table of two at the restaurant. I can see how slow service might be during busy hours. (7.5/10)
During our meal I over heard the sushi chef and the waitress speak. I am impressed with the quality of the sushi despite the sushi chef not being Japanese. If you want sushi, this is defiantly the place to come to.
Pluses: Accepts credit cards, quality sushi, great rolls, friendly environment.
Minuses: Could be crowded when busy, service could be slower during peek hours, mediocre chicken teriyaki.
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Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 148
Reviewed: 2/22/2007
Rating: 8
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Yes I Sushi Coast is in an obscure location, yes I passed it 3 times looking for it, and yes w/o jatbar I would of never gone here, but we decided to dine here for lunch today.
Maybe I walked in with higher expectations, but service was lacking, it was cold, and the food came out in odd intervals.
I ordered the lunch special: beef curry udon and 3 piece nigeri set (tuna, salmon, and tomago)
The udon was perfect for the cold day, a little on the spicy side and very fragrent. The noodles were just right, not too soft but had body and texture. The broth delicious as well and not overwhelming. The curry was pungent, and chunks of beef strewn about. However I think I like the usual udons better. For what it was it was really good.
Tuna - This was a huge cut of fish, but it wasn't the freshest thing out of the ocean. Noticiably thawed out and 'dry' looking. However it tasted better then it looked.
Salmon - Fresh & Glistening, also a very large cut. Nothing off about this one.
Tomago - I actually was tempted to order a side of this as the table next to us had a set and they looked good. (I rarely order tomago) So I was glad it was included in the set. A little on the over cooked side but still sweet and had a nice firm texture to it. I wanted another.
All things considered, I'd say it's a 7.5 but it gets points for the obscure location and portion sizes.
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Reviewer: jsatre
Total Reviews: 75
Reviewed: 2/22/2007
Rating: 8
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Im at a new great company in San Jose and I wanted to check out a new restaurant in the area. Wchane said he was in the mood for Japanese and that sounded swell…. Sushi Coasts high rating from J&T intrigued me so thats the place I picked.
Its in an odd, obscure location, on 5th street near elderly facilities and auto parts places. That made parking decent even at 12:30 pm. I walk in and the place was fairly packed but a few table remained open and WC and I were pointed to one.
Place is standard nice, simplistic Japanese style. Wood chairs and tables, lanterns hanging from the ceiling. Even J&Ts review in the entrance.
Now for the food; we waited a few minutes for menus. We never received water. There were 2 waitresses running around at mach 2. I immediately thought of Jasons review and comment about needing to hire additional staff. Shoot, maybe a 3rd waitress is needed.
I ordered the bento with chicken teriyaki and Tonkatsu (pork cutlet). Price seemed reasonable for 2 entrees $7.95. WC ordered the Curry Udon bowl and a trio sushi special. We both ordered tea. My miso soup and our tea were delivered shortly after, giving us something to sip on while we waited. Miso was a bit below average. Broth was weaker than I like, and very little seaweed or tofu. I finished it as I was hungry. We also both received 2 small ramekins of marinated cucumber in a rice wine vinegar and sugar marinade. Tasty, crisp and refreshing.
Food came out staggered. WC got his Udon and sushi well before my bento came out. But we dug in once everything arrived.
Salad: Nice crisp iceberg with strings of carrot and purples cabbage, but the dressing was a little weak in flavor and watery. Maybe the lettuce didnt get dried off? I ate about half.
Teriyaki chicken: a nice portion size, more than I had expected for a lunch. Very little fat, no skin, great teriyaki sauce. Moist, served med-hot but no tell tale grill marks.
Tontaksu: Crisp, juicy and flavorful. Not oily and served at the right temp. It was a smaller cutlet, but delicious. Served with mustard, lemon wedge and the usual katsu sauce. I ate every piece.
Rice: no complaints – just right.
Orange wedge: I drank too much green tea so I didnt enjoy my orange wedge, but it looked bright, moist and smelled sweet.
If not for the odd location, I could see myself going to Sushi Coast regularly. Prices were just right and the portion more than filled me up. Service was still a bit spotty though, and thats where they can improve. Overall, a good stop for the non-sushi fan. With better service they'd be an 8.5 in my book.
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Reviewer: Stevetacular
Total Reviews: 25
Reviewed: 8/21/2006
Rating: 8
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Sushi Coast is a rare gem that serves great sushi even though it doesn't have a boat. The first time I went there the hostess (waitress as well) greeted my friends and told us to pick any seat we wanted. Looking at this place you wouldn't dare think they could make even sub-par sushi here because it's pretty shabby here. However, let me tell you I was proven WRONG. The first time I went here I got the Godzilla Roll, Spider Roll, and Spicy Tuna.
I literally could not believe they could sell the Godzilla Roll for this cheap. It's 8 pieces of good sized sushi. The outside was crisp, and the inside was delightful. One thing I would suggest is that they should lay off that creamy sauce they drizzled it with. After digging into my Godzilla Roll, I felt gypped that I got only four pieces for about the same price as my Godzilla Roll. How do I describe the Spider Roll? It was your run of the mill Spider Roll, not mindblowing or anything. The spicy tuna was also not stellar, but hey I paid only ~$14 for a great new roll.
I made some sort of mistake on my second outing though. I ordered a combination dinner consisting of spicy chicken teriyaki and sashimi. After I ordered I realized what I really wanted was going to another table: The Rainbow Roll. The Miso soup was again, not stellar, but decent. The salad, oh god what is this?! I mean I don't expect an amazing salad, but I expect something better than packaged salad with some sort of awful dressing. I didn't mind the greens, but...the dressing my god! For the main course I was given a LOT of chicken and a bowl of rice with 5 pieces of sashimi (2 salmon, 3 tuna). The chicken was okay, I bit into a few fatty pieces and it had a very small kick to it. But boy the sashimi...that was GREAT. These were little pieces of sashimi you would find at a lesser restaurant these were big. And the salmon sashimi was so fatty and buttery that each piece was like Heaven.
So remember, if you're going to go here I urge you to get sushi over everything else. The next time I go here I will definitely get sushi only, this place is inconspiciuous, and if I have it my way it will stay that way just so only a few people know about it.
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