Kaori Sushi And Sake Bar

Walked in just before 8p (restaurant closes at 8:30p). No one was in the FOH. Sushi chef tells a woman in front of us to hold on a moment. He goes to the back and a young man comes out and the woman explains that she is by herself and that we (me and one other person) were separate from her. He tells all three of us, oh well we close at 8:30p so this will be last call. She let him take her to a table. We turned around and left and went to Sapporo Rock and Roll down the street where all of the food—especially the sushi—is excellent and the people are warm and friendly. …I guess I feel like if you want to stop serving at 8p, maybe you should close at 8p. I worked FOH, BOH, and management in restaurants for over 8 years. I get it that people want to go home, but I’ve also worked restaurants through the ‘08 recession and know now that prepared food is a luxury and learned to be grateful for all the business that came our way when it came, even if it was at the end of the night. We work in the hospital now and sometimes we can’t get to a restaurant until 8 or 8:30. It’s very annoying that so many restaurants here close before 9p and intolerable to be hurried before we even have a table. If you are open, we are going to try to come.

Great quality jo-nigiri (9 piece sushi) and chirashi has unagi (eel), spicy tuna, scallop, tuna, salmon and hamachi (yellowtail). Grilled ika (squid) was really nice too. Mixed tempura was meh. Service was prompt and very friendly. Reasonable prices, good value all considered. This is now my Japanese go-to restaurant in San Mateo - better than anything near downtown 3rd & B St.

Arrived on a weekday around noon for lunch. There was no wait. The music was a bit loud but they accommodated which was great. We ordered the lunch sets. Appetizers came with a small bowl of salad and a thin orange wedge with miso soup. I Ordered the Saba with mixed tempura set. To my surprise the sets come with more side salad! 🥬 There is a generous portion of salad with the same dressing. Consists of romaine lettuce, shredded carrots and a small slice of turnip and tomato. The grilled Saba (Mackerel) portion was well grilled. I only ate half but I tend to hv a small appetite. Comes with a side dipping sauce with ground daikon. The grilled Saba was already well seasoned so I recommend enjoying it as is with drizzled lemon juice. It has a strong oily fishy taste so if you’re not used to eating this type of fish you might want to skip it. However it’s worth trying if never have they do it pretty well here Mix tempura includes half a mushroom, 1 eggplant, 2 slices of pumpkin, 1 mini broccoli 🥦 and 1 shrimp. The batter was good fried well and not too oily. It also comes with a tempura dipping sauce. I must say the rice portion was super little. Literally like 3 bites. Which is great if you’re on a low carb diet. Service was attentive considering lunch times there were probably 3 wait staff running around. We got our teas refilled and they came by our table asking if everything was ok. Would come back again. Food, ambience, service and for the price around the area was all good. TIPS Pay with CASH💵. You get an extra 5%OFF your bill!