Oyako Donburi
Aji Ichi Japanese

Aji Ichi Japanese

695 San Mateo Ave, 94066, San Bruno, United States

Asian • Sushi • Seafood • Japanese


"Numerous tables and a few seats at the sushi bar greets guests to this restaurant. We had a guest who was visiting from Japan and he wanted to take us to a Sushi Dinner. He also wanted to sit at the bar, which is L-shaped. It could probably accommodate two people on the short leg and maybe four on the long leg. We were three so we took over the long leg. In order to avoid getting overly detailed, I will say that in general, the sashimi and nigiri that we ordered was okay. This was not our first experience to a Sushi-ya and we've also sat at the bar numerous times. Besides being able to watch your dinner being prepared, you can often converse with the chef's while they work. Our chefs were in constant motion, even when there were no orders coming in, but conversation was minimal, and they didn't speak Japanese so that eliminated any chance of conversation between our guest and staff. I even had our server send a beer to the chefs to see if that would create more noise, but no. The rice used in the sushi seemed to have two problems. One was that it was not a short-grained rice. Closer to medium or long grain. This changes the mouthfeel as the texture is different. The second issue is that the seasoning blend was too vinegary. That will also affect the texture. Short grain rice is also a little stickier so the rice holds together better. The fish had good flavor and that kept the meal on point. While this was not the best Japanese food that I've had, I would return as a guest of someone else if this is where they wanted to go."

Musashi Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar

Musashi Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar

72785 Highway 111CA 922603343, Palm Desert, United States

Fish • Soup • Sushi • Salad


"This is the real deal the only top notch sushi in the Palm Springs area. I stumbled in by happenstance on a Wednesday night without a reservation and since I was dining alone I snagged the only individual seat at the bar. It's popular with locals and the way I noticed it was driving by at 5:00 there was a line of older people waiting to get in right when they opened the doors. Good sign. Service was a bit dictatorial probably because it was so busy and they had to keep things moving but the host (maybe wife and owner) was nice even though she was firm. She just had a ton of patrons to manage. I saw 5 10 parties get turned away since no resy for the short time I waited for my spot to clear. Sushi bar it took a while to eat since they were so busy. Chefs had their hands full. Also full menu is not available at the sushi bar. On to the sushi excellent fish. Right up there with best I've had at some of the high end sushi restaurants on either coast all in an unassuming old school atmosphere. Nothing fancy but yellowtail, tuna, aji, ikura, uni, mackerel, sweet shrimp were all wonderful. The uni was very special. I also loved my negihama roll. Oh expect to pay handsomely for what you get. Take out pork tonkatsu was good also especially after crisping it up in a toaster oven. Had a delicious hot mustard along with the sweet sauce. Don't go here if you're looking for a Philly cheese roll. There's another restaurant somewhere else for that kind of sushi. Go here for great nigiri and the old standbys."