Kamado Sushi - Berkeley

Love this place so much. They are always good and affordable and the chef is so fun and knowledgeable.

Meh. The flavors were a bit odd. Just not good enough for the prices paid.

This is a small cozy restaurant that is ideal for smaller parties. My husband and I dropped in for dinner and it did not disappoint. Fish was fresh and my favorite was the fresh seaweed salad. Rolls and sushi were meticulously prepared.

Quick Summary: Unique neta choices to try There is a screen at the entrance that shows the fish options of that day or seasonWe visited here on a summer evening for sushi. We discovered this restaurant by viewing yelp and walking by the restaurant. I was interested in the uploaded yelp photos and how the menu screen listed the seasonal sushi and fish options. We arrived a few minutes after opening. The interior is wide and cozy inside, with a cool bar table side near the entrance. We were seated in one of the tables on the right hand side. At this location, it was difficult to view what fish was on the large tv screen, so we designated one person to take a photo of it. From the menu we ordered the vegetable tempura and the unaju. From the tv screen, instead of the omakase style, we picked the ones we were interested in trying, which were the tuna, ayu and the aji. The staff kindly informed us that they were able to create the nigiri set for the amount of people at the table, contrary to the general 2 piece per neta; very thoughtful gesture.The side dishes arrived first: the miso and the salad. The miso soup bowl size is larger than the typical ones, so happy news for me. It filled me up quite nicely and ready for the main dish. In between waiting, the nigiri set arrived in a beautiful presentation. They fried the ayu's bone, and this was so delicious! I loved the fatty flavor of the fish in the ayu's meat and the bones. The bones were soft and easy to eat, so I highly recommend eating it and not leaving it alone.Reactions to the ayu varies by person, so be mindful. I love fish, so this tasted great, but for my relative, who is not a fish fan, they mentioned it was quite fishy.I got the unaju box, which is a rice bowl with eel placed on top. This one was unfortunately not a good eating experience. The cause was the rice on the bottom. The eel was soft, tender, and mostly free of the thin bones. However, the rice was packed too tightly, that I needed to use chopsticks like a fork and knife to cut split the rice pieces into smaller pieces. It also required a lot of chewing because the rice was packed in so tightly. In all, the sushi was a splendid experience because so far, this is the only place I know, where we can choose fish that is fresh and unique to the seasons, without requesting an omakase.

Go-to favorite sushi in the Bay area. Fresh from Japan every day, no other compares. The fresh salmon in particular is the best I have had outside of Japan.