Sozai Corner

This page is NOT for the restaurant upstairs as many of the other reviewers seem to believe. That restaurant is called Oidon. It’s a great restaurant, but it’s not this one.
I have no idea why the pre-​prepared food section of a supermarket gets its own Unilocal page (now I’m tempted to see if the deli counter in the Safeway has one too), but we were wandering back and forth through this little supermarket and Oidon for about 10 minutes trying to find this great «Sozai Corner» restaurant that the reviewers kept raving about.
That said, once one of the employees actually told us that it was just the corner of the supermarket and not actually a restaurant instead of saying «it’s over in that direction» we discovered that their food is quite good.

Favorite Japanese restaurant for my wife and I. Small dinning area (25 patrons or less). Great sushi dinners or ala cart. Friendly staff. Inexpensive. Highly recommended.

Awesome, just figured out you can order catering through their website now!

Just finishing a solo lunch in this adorable sunny place and couldn’t be happier. I walked in and was greeted by a very sweet lady who immediately brought me tea and edamame. I ordered the tuna nigiri and shoyu ramen. Both were delicious! The sushi seemed very fresh and the ramen broth was deliciously complex an tasty.
As others have mentioned, the spot is a little hidden. When you enter, turn left and go upstairs through the door.

Yukari (Christine) is awesome! I worked with her to put together a lunch menu for my daughter’s first communion just last month. She replied quickly to my inquiries, answered all my questions, helped me out on the amount of food to order for 20 people, and delivered everything to my house the day of the event. She did not skip a beat! Everyone at the gathering really enjoyed the food. Their catering menu has a lot to choose from and the prices are VERY reasonable. The best part is she will work with you on your budget. I will definitely be a repeat customer!

delicious

Organized, efficient, helpful, flexible, prompt, reliable service, and their food is beyond awesome!
First off, I have no aspirations of being a party planner, whatsoever. I wouldn’t know how much food to order for 4 people, much less 40. I usually play it safe by over-​ordering then sending leftovers home with guests (keeping the good stuff for myself, of course). This is where Christine from Sozai Corner becomes invaluable.
Invaluable (adjective: extremely useful; indispensable).
I’ve had the great pleasure of working with Christine to cater three events: two work-​related parties and a 2^nd birthday party. She provided me with menus via email and notified me of any potential pricing changes before each scheduled event. Given my very tight budget for the work events, I didn’t think catering (with delivery) would be possible. With Sozai Corner’s very reasonable pricing and great portion recommendations made by Christine, however, we were able to cater to a party of ~50−60 people easily. Yes, our menu included salad, hot food (chicken teriyaki and tonkatsu, croquettes), AND sushi rolls! They were even able to cater to the kids attending our personal event… each child was provided their own bento box! Boom.
Why are you still reading? Contact Christine now with your catering needs!
Tell her my review convinced you and maybe we could both score some extra rolls in our next order. Boom.

Love this place, especially for the person who likes to find special holes in the wall it’s great. Where else can you find a restaurant upstairs. It’s quite reminiscent of actual sushi restaurants in Japan and I love love love it.
The food was good for the price, delivered in a timely manner and satisfied my bento cravings. True it’s no authentic and cheap japanese place but I come mainly for the atmosphere which it delivers. The server was very kind and gentle which is also a plus. Be wary, this place is only open for short hours during lunch.

We tried donkatsu ramen and chicken teriyaki bento box on the 2^nd floor. It’s kind of hard to find the place. There’s a very narrow stairs up to 2^nd floor. We first thought it was an entrance to the kitchen. The food was pretty good. I like kindness of the server. Japanese server, very kind, and polite.

I went here because of all you Unilocalers. Boy, was I disappointed. The little section left of the entrance that is supposed to be Sozai Corner was not stocked. There were a couple cooked items that didn’t look very appetizing and looked like they had been sitting there all day. I didn’t bother buying any food there, instead I did some grocery shopping. Maybe they had a bad day, who knows. I’ll be back to check it out, but for now it’s 2 stars.

As long as your expectations are properly set, Sozai Corner won’t disappoint. You won’t get mind-​numbingly amazing food here, but if want some sushi rolls, inari, or beef curry really quickly, you can’t go wrong with Sozai Corner.

Love the salt and pepper wings from Sozai Corner. Sushi is good also, but the wings get the first prize.

I came for the sushi, I stayed (and waited it out like a cheapskate) for the post 6pm 50% off sale markings.
I’m not above slightly aged sushi at the rate of 50% of the retail price. And I have to hand it to Abby S for the tip above not being afraid to throw some elbows when old ladies try to push and shove their way to the good spicy tuna bowl. Good call, Abby!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the good spicy tuna bowl… I got the ‘meh’ spicy tuna bowl. Not the best flavors and kind of tasted a tad discount, but the rest of the goodies I picked up were a damn good deal.
The plum rice ball was perfect, Albacore Tuna sashimi was a steal at $ 4.75 for a half pound and at that price I didn’t have to be stingy when I took it home and the cats were begging for bits. Not to be missed was the under-​a-​dollar peanut butter and nutella mochi. Ridic!

We’ve had Sozai Corner cater our daughter’s birthday party every single year for the past four years. Christine, the catering manager, is fantastic. She nails it when it comes to estimating how much food you will need. Their menu is pretty extensive — there are both hot foods (ie: chicken karage) and cold foods (ie: a variety of sushi). We’ve ordered the following items in the past: beef teriyaki, chicken karage, salt and pepper chicken wings, chicken salad, spam musubi, and California rolls. All of these items were a big hit and we’ve gotten compliments every year on how good the food is. The presentation is beautiful, well packaged, and always ready on time. Thank you to Christine and her staff!

Unilocalers have let me down big time here. Maybe everybody is getting Ramen and not sushi. I went with my kid to get some sushi. We walked upstaris to have lunch. The place is filthy, it looks unfinished with still some construction, the bathrooms are not great or hygienic.
About the food, the sushi was not good. The sushi menu is small and everything is California roll with other fish. The fish was not fresh. Frankly, I was concerned about getting sick, but no adverse affects to report. I also didn’t see a sushi chef. I think same personnel that stocks the shelf and does other work at the store below do the sushi preparation, which is certainly a no no.
The waiter was very nice and friendly, that is why I rated the place as two stars vs. just one star. Regardless, I won’t be dining at Sozai ever again.

This is from a year ago but still well deserved. Christine did it again! We ordered food for my son’s birthday and she was so helpful in ensuring what I was ordering was enough for our party. The food was perfect and everyone loved it! She is so helpful and nice — and the presentation of food is amazing!

Finally tried this place after walking by for years. Portions are decent size with a side of miso soup and salad. Tried the Korean BBQ chicken and short ribs. The beef was pretty good but t would pass on the chicken. Would have liked a better grill char on the chicken and the sauce was really light and a little tasteless. I would rate the chicken a little less than average. If I return will try other things on the menu but not in a rush to go back.

Nested in a corner in the Suruki market, it’s got a lot of lunch goodies for anybody who’s looking for a quick bite.
There are the more homely bentos, bigger bento boxes with multiple items, noodle bowls, sushi, and various other salads and cold dishes. The prices are reasonable, and any picky eater (providing that you eat Japanese food) would find something they might like there.
Lunch time in San Mateo can be crowded. However, the 24-​min parking spots are usually open. Just park at one, grab a bento and you’ll be out of there in no time!

I love buying sushi from here! :)

This place is a hidden gem! I would not have known about it if it weren’t for Lydia!
This cute Japanese market has everything you could possibly want! They also have a section full of takeout with sushi rolls, bentos, onigiris, seaweed salads and other amazing foodies! Some things I picked up here were Salmon Onigiri, Spicy Tuna Bowl and CROQUETTES! So delicious!
I highly recommend you stop by here if you get a chance, prices are cheap and food is great!