Tenchi

The sushi bar seating does not seem to be the focus of the restaurant. The case where the fish is usually displayed was almost empty, and sitting there felt more like a counter at a diner, stainless steel with a few dishes stacked up.
I like what they did with the dynamite roll, a few bits of tuna on top of the rolls to eat without rice. The spicy rainbow was ok, nothing special. It was nice to get a bowl of miso with the rolls. Presentation was very plain.
As I got to the end of the rolls I realized the rice was really sticky and gritty, and I ended up with a plastic packaging string poking me in the mouth that came off one of the pieces of meat on top of the rainbow roll.
Then, because the sushi bar is right next to the front door, I got panhandled for change while I was eating. The restaurant staff was doing their best to make sure the lady didn’t stick around, it’s not really their fault, but still.
I felt like I was choking down the last roll. I’m thinking I won’t go to this place again.

Sushi Nachos. Deep fried wonton wrapper topped with spicy tuna, flying fish roe and scallions. Thought it sounded interesting from the menu so I figured I’d get it even though it’s not what you’d expect from a sushi restaurant. It was pretty good though, a bit on the greasy side of course but I do wish the chips were thicker since they kept breaking when I was trying to eat it. Didn’t hold the weight of the tuna too well. The tuna was decent, but I wish it was spicier.
Spicy Tuna Roll. Have no idea what the hell I was thinking that day to get two spicy tuna orders for myself. Must have been losing my mind that day since usually I like to try new things. But it was okay, since it was pretty good, just not spicy enough so I had to spike my soy sauce with two wasabi piles, both my own and my friend’s.
Overall, it was alright, but I’ve definitely had better, more legit sushi elsewhere.

Each time I eat here, their food are always good! But I can’t speak for all dish plates, only based on what I’ve ordered… which is the Bento Box meal at a very affordable price. Customer service are always great with friendly staff members, and they always greet you as you come and go.
I’ve only had great experiences here, no complaints!
UPDATE:
What??? I cannot believe it’s CLOSED!!! Aww, too bad. I would travel all the way to Oakland to eat here. :(

I finally found a delicious and reasonable sushi place. They have cool decorations inside. Sushi downstairs and more seating upstairs. They are really fast and have good service, they bring you water and coup immediately. Food is not the best I have ever had but it is still very good.
This is my new go to place for sushi near City Center. Their prices are quite reasonable. Compared to Kai’s I’d pick Tenchi. Better food, better service, and lower prices. Win.

If you want fresh sushi at a reasonable price and tasteful hip décor, Tenchi is the spot!
Food:
* Sushi and Sashimi — Are fresh and nice size.
*Noodle Soup — Had a lot of veggies which is a good thing, but the broth was too SALTY
Taro Fries — YUM YUM YUM, don’t think they are frozen like sweet potato fries that are being served in a lot of restaurants now.
Rolls — Ingredients are good and not rolled with too much rice.
Service:
When I went there our server wasn’t very experienced, but the owner of the this place had a lot great customer service skills.
Check this place out if you’re in the area :)

This a great place to quench your appetite for Japanese food in downtown Oakland for lunch. I am happy this restaurant is so close to my work. Under $ 10 for lunch and attentive staff.

Cute little sushi house close to the Federal Building in DT Oakland. The décor is very contemporary but has a kick of Asian fusion touch. The food is fairly good with its price considering where its located.
Bento Box for lunch is less than $ 7 bucks. You heard me right, LESS THAN $ 7 bucks. Which comes with 2 items you can select, along side with the soup/​salad and a fruit. Can’t beat that deal anywhere in DT Oakland. Their other selection of sushi is fairly good. The restaurant is own by Chinese and they seem to be very friendly people :)
Customer Service — Rating is an A even though their Chinese, they know how to treat their customers! I’ll definitely return!

deliciously fresh sushi + friendly staff + reasonable prices.
thanks Tenchi — i shall return!

One of my Fav spots, my go to sushi joint!
Its quiet, its clean. Got a real big TV upstairs so you can watch the GIANTS KICK TEXAS’S ASS. And they got «sushi nachos,» my fav thing on the menu! If you guys are looking for a quiet spot to have a nice intimate date, THE PERFECT SPOT! If you see me there at night, send me an order of nachos!

This has taken over the spot as my favorite sushi place, partly because it’s less than a mile from my house but also because of their TENCHI FRIES!!! Basically, it’s sweet potato (NOT yams; there’s a difference) and taro fries in tempera batter with a slightly spicy aioli. And they’re super good!
What I like best about their sushi, the ones not already topped with additional ingredients, come with extra filling on top of the sushi. I got the poki maki, which came with extra poki on top. My family’s Hawaiian, so having poki makes me more excited about this restaurant.
I’ve only been for dinner, and my gf and I had been the only patrons. I hope they have a lot more customers during lunch, for all the d-​town business people. I’d hate to see them close! This is truly a hidden gem in d-​town Oakland.

tenchi has seating at the sushi bar downstairs or subdue lighting upstaris.
flatscreen: tnt movies.
sampling: lunch bento box. oyster katsu, 6.95
–1 piece gyoza, typical frozen one, ok
–lettuce salad with great miso dressing.
–miso soup: average
–pseudo mini cali roll: tasteless
–scoop of rice, ok
–oyster katsu (6) fried, breaded oysers
*tasteless oysters, obviously previoulsy frozen
hamachi nigiri (3.95)
–very large generous slices, red fleshed hamachi.
–red? first time seen red.
–hamachi not so fresh, tastelsss.
temaki:
–nigrii mostly 3.95, chirashi (raw fish) is 17.95, go figure
–very friendly, fast service.
–food isn’t up to par., 2 stars, quantity, 4 stars.
–doubtful return, food value isn’t present.

A friend and I came in for an early lunch and beat the lunch rush!
Cute place. I like the trendy upstairs seating. Service was good and the food even better.
Our favorite were The Nachos!
There is a diverse menu of rolls to choose from and everything we ordered was good.

Came back for lunch today and ordered the chicken teriyaki bento. I hate to say this but their quality has slipped and I was rather disappointed. The teriyaki sauce was watery and the chicken was bland. Also, the salad had a lot of stale water in the tray underneath the lettuce. Overall, a rather monotnous meal, almost like a microwave dinner. They are no longer offering the 20% off grand opening discount, but prices are still pretty reasonable and service is still very good.

Good, and needed in DT Oakland, but ultimately dissapointing.
The food is decent, and the service each time I’ve gone has been fantastic. Two things take it down one star a piece, however;
1 — No Ramen. It would be so great if there was a quality ramen place somewhere in the east bay that’s not Berkeley or Fremont.
2 — The Soba was lukewarm and fishy tasting. Not my favorite.

Totally worth the price. The combination dinners are amazing plentiful and delicious, they come with tempura, salad and miso soup on top of two choices of a main course. Encountered some unfortunate bones on our sashimi platter. But they did have unique appetizers from poke salad to tuna nachos!

Came back here for lunch again with a different set of coworkers… The beef udon with tempura (Nabeyaki Udon) is LEGIT!!! If you’re a noodle junkie like me, then give this a try!

pretty good food for a pretty good price, but the 20% off discount ends 7÷15÷10 so I’m not so sure if I’ll like them as much afterward. My only major gripe about this place is the location. It’s near a bbq joint and a liquor store so there are a lot of ghetto folks loitering around. And since it’s street parking, it’s hard to avoid walking pass the ghetto crowd. My friends and I had to run to our car and lock the door at top speed cause a crackhead was hollering «hey sexy!»

If I were to have written this review after my first visit, I probably would have rated it at 2 or 3 stars. On that dreadful first visit, my bento box was missing a gyoza and my coworker’s bento box was missing salad dressing. In addition, the waitress dropped a piece of our shrimp tempura while bringing it to our table. The food wasn’t the best, but it was decent, and the price was cheap. The service was slooooow. Not the best place to go if you only have a 30 minute lunch break. But inevitably, we decided to try it again considering it was the only Japanese restaurant in the area.
Everything seemed to get better and better after the second visit. The service was getting faster per visit, the prices were still cheap, and the quality of food has stayed the same. Besides the bento box, I’ve also tried the rainbow row, the saba nigiri, seaweed salad, and sake nigiri. The raw fish was fresh enough, but I would stick to the bento box for a quick, cheap, and filling lunch. The cooked food can sometimes be overcooked, however.
(Disclaimer: My food expectations for lunch during work is lower than my regular food expectations.)

I’m very happy to have sushi as a lunch option steps away from my office. Yay! The fish is fresh and perhaps even cut a bit too large for my tastes. The bento box is a deal. The only thing is that at my old standard sushi in opera plaza, I could have an all sushi bento box: california and tuna sashimi, for example. Not so here. But it’s hard to overlook a $ 6.95 bento box plus the opening 20% discount that is in play until July 15.

Go now for Tenchi’s automatic 20% off grand opening discount good til July 15.
You’re welcome.
Tenchi is my favorite sushi spot near work. There are a couple good places near 17^th Street, but it’s too far a trek for my lunch break and I don’t like eating to-​go. If I’m not at work, I wouldn’t drive here to eat, so that’s why it’s only three stars.
Run by Chinese people, Tenchi offers a variety of affordable options. Our office favorite is the $ 6.95 bento that includes miso soup, salad, gyoza, California roll and choice of beef, chicken, salmon teriyaki or katsus. The rolls are also delicious and average $ 7.95 for fancier ones like Lion King and Caterpillar. My favorite is the Poki Maki, marinated red tuna with seaweed salad on top. Yum.
The beef sukiyaki ($ 7.95) is also delicious, with a nice broth and balance of noodles, cabbage and meat.
With 20% off til July, I am working my way through Tenchi’s menu. Next up are the udon dishes and nigiri.