Akasaka Sushi

Been here couple times for the $ 20.95 All you can Eat dinner. They have rolls and nigiri made to order, but TAKES FOREVERR!!! so be ready to finish reading a novel while waiting… anyways, I go there for their nigiri cuz you’re pretty much getting money’s worth it if you can stuff yourself with that. They squeeze in some extra rice in there, so be aware of that too!
their tactic: serve slow and overload with rice to make you fuller!
my tactic: hide extra rice in empty coke cans and bring a container: x SHHH!

Came here two Saturday nights in a row. If you want peace and quiet… do not come here. This place is loud both times I went with a bunch of Cal students screaming and just taking up space. I guess if you go to a restaurant near UC Berkeley it is what you get. The all you can eat is a ok deal. The service is slow so expect to wait and they do try to keep you from ordering too much by keeping it slow. They forgot some of our items both times or gave it to the wrong table. So, expect to be there a long time (unfortunately, more waiting than eating) and expect noise.
Seems like these Cal students come more for the beer than the food. Wish they would raise the price on drinks to keep these students from ruining the experience.

I love the Crunchy California here as well as the cute sushi chef who likes to entertain…
I tried the crunchy california roll at Akasaka the first time I went, and haven’t been able to get anything else! I just like it that much… the spicy tuna on top is the perfect addition to the sweet crab/​avocado and salty tempura.
Upsides: lots of seating, cheap beer, friendly staff
Downsides: service can be slow, the parking lot can be tricky

I thought the food was excellent. I had the Giant Roll and the Sunshine Roll and both were extremely tasty.
I also love the atmosphere. It was well lit and I think low-​ish ceilings, wooden tables and wooden benches are cozy so that adds to the enjoyment. A huge huge plus for having a parking lot in Berkeley!
They seemed a little strict on the rules on the $ 20-​all-​you-​can-​eat menu. In bold letters «NO SHARING» and «you MUST» do this and «you CANNOT» do that. It didn’t seem that welcoming, but that was just the menu, so not a huge deal.
And my pet peeve that seems to be the norm at Asian restaurants — when I order a Diet Coke, they give me a can with a glass of ice, and refills aren’t free. Seems stingy to me.
I would definitely come here again! :)

Came here for the second time a few weeks ago to celebrate a birthday and we all tried the sushi buffet. They have pretty good sushi for all-​you-​can-​eat. $ 21 for dinner. Theres a good variety: specialty rolls, nigiri, tempura and they actually make it as you order it, but I wouldn’t say its fresh. The rolls are large though. Theres a lot of California rolls in the specialty rolls, and they’re really… soggy? can’t describe it. but not great. They have the CA rolls pre-​made. But they do have lots of selection and the fish isn’t bad. Nigiri is pretty good — Unagi is really good. I’d give the food, given it was all-​you-​can-​eat for $ 21 and the selection, 3.4−3.5 stars?
However, service is pretty slow, only 2 or 3 waitresses. And they tend to stop serving you as you get further into dinner. You have to ask for your waitress, but they do come around and remember to refill your water. So 3 stars.
But a good place for groups and for if you’re hungry. Its pretty good sushi for a sushi buffet and you’ll be sure to stuff yourself!

Overall, the quality of the sushi is just ok, nowhere near as good as my usual sushi restaurants, but still way better than what you can find at Todai and other seafood buffets. But I gotta say, $ 21 for all-​you-​can-​eat made to order sushi is just a really great deal! Not to mention $ 7 pitchers of Sapporo.
We went here with a large group celebrating a birthday and we all stuffed ourselves silly with sushi and beer. They were really good about dealing with our large party, and the orders came in at a good pace. I could only eat so much, but a couple of the guys in our table sure got their money’s worth.
I would go here again for cheap eats, highly recommended for those who want large quantities of sushi on a budget.

One of two places in Berkeley to go for sushi buffet. $ 21 for dinner and easy parking.
The portions are BIG, although this is a buffet…
The food is fair to good and doesn’t taste bad. The service could be a bit faster, but they usually only have 2 waitresses and tons of tables to service.
If you’re craving high-​quality sushi buffet, go to Miyozen Sushi & Roll in Emeryville… It’s $ 20 for lunch and $ 30 for dinner, but I guarantee you’ll thank me ;D

We frequent this place often. The sushi is mediocre– fresh fish but too much rice!
We end up having to hide it in the soy sauce dish and under the leftover soy bean wrappings– sad but true.
Realistically a 3 star sushi joint. I would give it ³¹⁄₂ stars but I can’t so I give it the fourth star for the service and the $ 1 beer. And even though we always order from the AYCE menu, and miso soups isn’t on the menu they always give it to us for free!
:)) on the bright side they have their own parking lot.
–Overall, not the best quality sushi with a little too much rice but good service and good beer.

Bento box in a restored IHOP with cheesy pop blaring. Nice service/​good prices (for generous portion lunch bentos), and the food was pretty tasty. I’ll go back, but I’m not obsessed.

For some reason this particular location has been hampered by constant restaurant turnovers since my days attending the middle school across the street. The current flavor on the block is Japanese cuisine, and I was invited to have lunch here with a friend whom I haven’t seen in a long time. The exterior is cute and well maintained from its days as a pancake house. There is a patio to the side next to its spacious parking lot to complement a dark wooden interior arranged to bring a sense of privacy and calm to the environment. Looking oddly out of place was a large flat screen TV showing baseball highlights while in the back the sushi chefs were noticeably handcrafting each sushi roll and nigiri to heighten everyone’s anticipation.
For $ 18+change, you can opt for the all you can eat that includes a diverse variety of sushi rolls, nigiris, and teriyakis. The service can be very attentive to make sure that you don’t mistake them as a buffet. Getting a sense that they may not have the freshest and finest sushi, I opted for the salmon, tempura, and sashimi bento ($ 11.50), and it turned out decent as everything tasted okay as expected. I thought the broiled salmon could use a dab of salt and lemon to give flavor, the maguro slices could be fresher while the tempura could be crispier. My visit was similar to the one at Yamato, where portions were very generous with good prices to go with a nice ambiance that is conducive to prolonged conversations. My side of salad, complimentary miso with noodles, and small cup of edamame were nice fillers to round out the meal.
My lunch companion and I both had a nice time catching up. Once in a long while I would be in the mood for AYCE sushi so I can see myself coming back to try out their sushi rolls. Overall, this place is slightly better than Yamato due to the AYCE option, but the results were strikingly similar:
1.) Quality and freshness: 2 stars, the color of the tuna wasn’t too good but everything else was decent.
2.) Creativity and presentation: 3 stars, large, diverse menu and the place was very clean with each dish nicely presented.
3.) Quantity and substance: 3 stars, large quantities but the taste did not have much depth and substance.
4.) Accessibility and affordability: 4 stars, decent prices for the portions received.
5.) Service and ambiance: 4 stars, service was attentive and the ambiance met the purpose of my meeting.
They also offer free parking which is a nice bonus for those who work nearby but needed to commute to save time. To sum it up, 3 stars for the overall experience.

Irrashaimase!!! Each and everytime i’ve been here, the wait staff and sushi chefs have never failed to greet me or any other customer.
I love their décor, it’s very Japanese. I love that they give edamame as an appetizer and my favorite rolls are the Crunch CA and the Dynamite Roll. I find their ingredients very fresh. As soon as I can build up a bigger appetite, I plan to try their all-​you-​can-​eat menu.
My only criticism is prices. I wish they were a bit cheaper especially as a restaurant located where broke college students live.

Had the AYCE sushi here. They make you order from a special menu with a limited selection (read: cheaper stuff). It also takes a LONG time to get your food usually (an understandable but still annoying strategy), so you have to be smart about when to order your food in order to avoid downtimes of just sitting around.
The food quality is meh. At least for the AYCE items, maybe the regular items are better. Its probably not fair, comparing to individually ordered items at other restaurants, this place has some pretty inferior stuff. Don’t get me wrong, the food is still OK (better than the abomination that is Tako Sushi). I wouldn’t go as far as calling this GOOD though. No way.
As I mentioned earlier the service is sloooooooow. At least they are attentive to other needs, like water/​tea/​other dishes other than AYCE. And they have specials on beer (pints and pitchers). Yay. This place ranges from a 2 to a 3, with closer to a 2 for most experiences. Eh.

I had AYCE sushi twice last week (once in Davis and once in Berkeley)…
I was not planning to eat all I can eat. In fact, I wanted to try something else like a bento, but I was too tempted by the sushi. I wanted more than 2 rolls, which was reason enough to just get the all you can eat deal. This time, I was smart enough to order lots of nigiri. Also had the tempura. It was one of each, but I wish they had more zucchini and less broccoli.
Also, we finally got the brush off from the waitress when we tried to order more. However, they are overly attentative when you try to get anything for yourself. We reached over to grab our own napkins and chopsticks, but just as we were about to make the grab, a waitress stopped us, made us sit back down, and got them for us. It was all awkward feeling because the waitresses seemed so motherly, but at least we got free tea!

To celebrate the end of classes (and finals not yet beginning), we went to Akasaka for all you can eat sushi lunch. We ended up sitting in the restaurant for about 2 hours eating, doing crosswords, chatting and taking lunchtime slow. That meant we did a round of sushi, took a break, and then proceeded to eat more.
I don’t know how many rolls and how much nigiri we ended up eating, but we all got our money’s worth. The best ones are the crazy horse, the fine tree and the jackpot. They’re all pretty good, though the maguro didn’t seem to be the freshest fish. Oh well…
Service is kind of rough since the waitress was a bit pushy, but that’s something I can deal with on a lazy summer day.
They have quite a bit to choose from and there are $ 1 beers, but it was an enjoyable lunch. Something we have to do again in the future. Make sure to take some time to let your food settle midway though and then go in for a second round.

As mentioned by my brethren, this is an all-​you-​can-​eat-​sushi place for $ 20. One of the last remaining ones in the bay area, therefore it should be respected. However, I don’t think «quality» is the focus.
My dad is an all-​you-​can-​eat fanatic. He has a system for maximizing cost-​benefit at such places. In fact, he got a degree in econometrics in order to further maximize the value he receives when eating at these waistband-​increasing places. Essentially, the system goes like this — focus on low carb, high protein, high value items first. That means mostly fish, limit the rice and make sure the fish you order is endangered and expensive.
That being said, my dad thoroughly enjoys this place. Me, not so much. I don’t hate it, but the quality is mediocre and I never really enjoy the food. Following my dad’s system (father knows best) I never get super-​stuffed, and I focus mainly on nigiri, but the fish has a mushy, bland taste.
Overall, worth a stop if you’re an AYCE lover, but otherwise, I’d look for an affordable, quality pay-​by-​the-​roll kinda place.

I used to come here quite often because it was down the street from my apartment. It’s conveniently located away from the Telegraph madness and i never have trouble finding parking.
I agree with Vanessa. and think that this sushi place is more about «quantity than quality». They have an all you can eat special at lunch and dinner ($ 16 and $ 20, unless the prices have gone up even still — it used to be $ 15 and $ 19 — but hey, it’s tough times right?). There’s a pretty good variety of sushi that is available on the special all you can eat menu — and you can even get nigiri — — which isn’t available at Zabu Zabu when you get the all you can eat. The rolls here are decent — nothing to rave about.
I’ve also ordered bento boxes from here — their chicken teriyaki is pretty yummy (no skin!). I’ve also tried the Yaki Udon here — meh, nothing to write home about.
A definite downer to this place is the service. It’s often spotty and irregular and it takes forever and a day to get something you’ve requested (tea refill, extra napkins, etc.). The servers can sometimes be rude and «suggest» that you wait to order more things (aka cut you off after you’ve ordered like 3 rolls).
Akasaka has one of the cheaper all you can eat deals around so i’ll probably be back — despite the spotty service.

I really like this place as a mid end Japanese restaurant. Everything I have eaten here was good quality and the prices are very reasonable.
I have had regular lunch combos when really on a budget but i like the all you can eat sushi here better than any other in town. It’s very good quality for all you can eat, no giant chunks of rice with small thin fish here.
Also they have 1 Sapporo’s or $ 7 for a pitcher, mix that with all you can eat and you have a party going on.
I only wish I lived closer so I could eat here more often.

The special educator in me LOVES their menu. This is the clearest, most fat-​American friendly piece of Japanese-​themed literature ever handed to me by a quietly disapproving ambiguously Asian woman. Pictures and listings of all ingredients in an organized, uncluttered array. Why do so many Japanese restaurants not cater to our need for bullet-​point like presentation? I want visuals and as few words describing as much detail as possible!
Of course, they get carried away with some of their rolls. With all those tempura crumbles and misplaced cheese, that $ 8 roll is going to go a long way. They need to lay off the sauce a little*. Too many slatherings either ruins good fish or disguises bad.
Sauce aside**, my Fuji roll was most pleasing. Many of their rolls (the Fuji included) have 5 different kinds of fish! Which defies nature and makes me a little sad inside, even as I gobble with delight.
The service seemed a little stern, like I was going to get chided for putting my elbows on the table. They seemed miffed to have us there, it being 20 minutes to closing. But damn if we didn’t order, receive, and devour food in 20 minutes.
I am not a Cal student. It was fine to be the only person in the building on a Wednesday near closing who wasn’t a Cal student, because there was only one other couple in the restaurant, but I wager Saturdays get hot, heavy, and irritating in here with the stinking, nubile flesh of brain-​fried undergrads. This is a place I will definitely visit some other uneventful Wednesday evening.
*which reminds me, the booze options are plentiful here.
**which is to say, despite the sauce in which my roll was drowning, not to be confused with what would have been a prudent decision, ie to order the sauce ON the side.

The head waitress here is very, very, micromanaging and motherly. It’s not a behavior that leads to good management of like 10 tables at once on a really busy Saturday night. She forgot to deliver our order to the counter on more than one occasion, and she would always come with tea and not have enough for the 10 people at our table. Yet she came and insisted on arranging all our cups around to make room for the food, and then you know, we wanted to hang on to some menus right? So we stick them on the bench that we’re sitting on but then she’s like NOOOO! Put them behind you!
I mean, it was a really super busy night. I can’t take it all out on this lady. She did the best she could, and she felt bad about not being able to get to us and gave us several rounds of free beer and sake. The delay between orders and actual food was good for letting us get our money’s worth for the all you can eat, we could digest for like half an hour before the food came!
We had a friend who was only here for like ~1hr or so and she wanted to get some food and then bounce. 45 minutes later we were wondering where her two rolls were. after a lot of harassing we got a to go box for the food and she dashed off. Again, busy, crazy night.
Perhaps if they had more waitstaff they could have done a lot better with the service. –1 star
And then, to the sushi rolls. It’s typical American sushi, you do not come here for fancypants sushi. All sorts of rolls with mayonnaise and sweet sauce and deep fried stuff. They use Sriracha on some of their rolls and I disagree with that. the tastes don’t match up. Their nigiri are generously sized, but they are of poor build quality. The shari often disintegrated for me while trying to dip the fish side into the shoyu. The fish is pretty fresh though. –1 star for a couple of really sweet, kinda gross rolls. But it *is* quite a bit better than tako sushi. I’d give 3.5 if I could.
Don’t get the all you can eat unless you can take the heat. I’m pretty sure I ate $ 40-​$ 50 worth of sushi.

HORRIBLE SERVICE
I went with my family of five to celebrate my little brother’s birthday.
We arrived around 7:15. There were not that many people there. They took our order around 7:30 (getting us water took forever too).
We received the first part of our order (my dad got the all you can eat sushi) at 8:07pm. I received my order at 8:30pm.
It was ridiculous to say the least.
The miso soup tasted like the instant soup stuff and super salty.
In the end, my mom ended up cancelling her salad order (because it was so so so slow) and my dad also ended up not waiting for the rest of his order (theoretically the all you can eat sushi for $ 18.95 is a good deal. just not if you have to wait 2 hours for it) and we all hit up Yogurt Park instead.
The rolls were okay — although I can’t say it was the freshest or nicest portions; the prices were maybe a little cheaper than Sushi House.
There were two waitresses the whole time, they didn’t refill water. As it got later, the restaurant filled up more.
There definitely was no communication and we just sat in a corner and waited for a long time for food that was decent… but definitely not worth it.
basically, the REASON i opened up a Unilocal account was so i could warn the whole wide world about this abominably serviced arena. –_​_​_​–