Sushi Murayama

After 10 years, this place is still my favorite sushi place. My husband and I live in Chicago and this is the first reservation we make. Sometimes if we have the time, we go twice. We eat omakase all over the country and this is the best in terms of quality and creativity. The chef has an amazing ability to meld different flavor profiles together that works brilliantly. Balancing fish and seasoning. All the ingredients were exceedingly fresh. The service is also great. The chef chats with you as you eat in a non intrusive pace. The service is also good and attentive.The cost is only $180 per person. Very affordable considering what you get.

Recently discovered and tried their takeout poke bowls and it is a game changer!! One of our new favorites if you're looking for an affordable sushi meal. We've tried the spicy ahi poke, sweet shrimp, hamachi zuke, and salmon ikura. They are always very generous with the fish for the price you pay. I recommend calling to place a phone order. There is a loading zone you could park in or have someone wait in the car while you grab your order if you're bringing it home. 10/10 and we will be back soon!

Grabbed a platter sashimi for vday. Yum. And pretty.Also got some bowls for the airplane. Choke rice. But also nice size slabs hamachi. Got 1 grilled and 1 panko. Delish. Needed lunch too so picked up salmon tempura and salmon skin salad. Holy moly salad is huge. Ate about a tenth of it. Feeding everyone with it! Tempura is so good. Why places don't tempura salmon more often is lost on me...but I love salmon.Never not full after eating their stuff...always happy and content.

I have been coming to Sushi Murayama for over 7 years now and this place is still one of my top choices for places to have Omakase.Omakase phrase literally is, "I leave it up to you". It's most commonly used when dining at Japanese restaurants where the customer leaves it up to the chef to select and serve seasonal specialties.The prices went up.... Like everything else in Hawaii unfortunately. However, it is still worth the experience here. What makes Chef Ryuji Murayama stand out is the way he prepares his sushi. Most sushi places.... It's just fish and rice...Chef Ryuji explains the process in preparing his dishes. The menu items change with the seasons of fish and ingredients that are available as well. For example, his fried hamachi belly, one of my favorites this time... he soaked it for four days and did some magical thing to the outside flaky batter thing before frying it on spot. Soooo good.I took my new boyfriend to experience Omakase sushi for the first time. He asked, "why do I close my eyes when I eat the sushi?" I told him, it's the flavors, the deliciousness and sometimes the way it just melts on my tongue and slide down my throat. He replied, "wow.... I think you're enjoying the sushi more than you enjoy me lol". Chef Ryuji laughed. I was skeptical if my new boyfriend would appreciate and enjoy Omakase sushi being that he's from the mainland and is sometimes picky about food and texture. To my surprise he really really enjoyed the food and the experience here.The atmosphere is like business casual... it's super comfortable in here and Chef Ryuji is fun to interact with when you dine at the sushi counter. After 7 years, this is still one of my top favorite omakase sushi places to dine in at.

**This review is for the takeout poke bowls only **As a poke lover, when I heard about these poke bowls with quality ingredients AND for a great price (basically everything is under $17), I knew I had to try this place out.. asap lolI called ahead and ordered a spicy tuna bowl with a wagyu rice upgrade ($14.50) and a salmon ikura bowl, also with a wagyu rice upgrade ($17.50)At first glance, the containers look small, but the portion was actually pretty fillingSPICY TUNA: I enjoyed how this bowl was unique in that it had fresh ahi cubes on top, but a layer of spicy ahi "paste" as well. It resulted in a dish that was enjoyable not only in flavor, but texture as well. The fish was definitely good quality - no stringy pieces here!SALMON IKURA: this bowl did have quite a bit of raw onion, so if you aren't an onion fan, I wouldn't recommend this one. However, the salmon pieces were buttery, the ikura was delicious, and the flavors paired very well togetherWAGYU RICE UPGRADE: both bowls were delicious with the wagyu rice upgrade. The rice had a meaty umami flavor to it that really made the dish feel extra indulgentAlso, it is definitely worth noting that the bowls come with ginger... not thin slices of sushi ginger like you see elsewhere, but big chunks of ginger that are candied! I'm not a ginger fan usually, but the ginger in the bowls were SO good and it really brought the bowls to the next level.I definitely recommend trying this place out and I can't wait to come back and try the other menu items!

One star off for having no chicken or any proteins for the udon for the kids.Other than that, the $180 16 piece omakase was a surprisingly satisfying dinner. Sure, it had no premium pieces I was looking such as hotate, amaebi, or uni but it really made up for it with thick cuts of nigiri, red vinegar rice, and zero fishiness on any of their offerings. Wife did detect slight fishiness on the oyster shoote though. Toro was melt in your mouth tender but didn't have that sweetness from toyosu market. Highlight for me was the aburi nodoguro. Really brought out the fish fattiness and tenderness. Tobiko was very sweet and not overly salty like in most places. Saba wrapped in shiso and kombu was also very creative. Ginmedai with shaved yuzu peel and sea salt was also very good. It kinda mimics the yuzu salt that's very popular in Japan. Squid with shark fin top with honey is really a nice touch. Great textures coming through with the fin.Overall a great experience for the price.

It's been a while since I've been here but this review is on my last visit where I ordered takeout. I ordered the mini salmon ikura and my husband got the mini maguro with garlic miso and wagyu rice. I called in the order and luckily I did cause the wait was 20 mins. When I got there, the place was packed. I was a little surprise because it was a weekday. They also have some tables outside so that you can get your take out there if you want. My bowl was really good. I had the perfect amount of fish. I also really liked the ikura. Definitely will be ordering takeout again. The mini bowls are just a great deal.

Sushi Murayama reminded me of several sushi restaurants I visited in Japan. There is no noticeable signage and you'll completely miss it if you don't see the sushi bar inside. Once inside, the atmosphere is very authentic and there's the distinct smell of fresh sashimi in the air.Dinner was omakase. We had the 10 dishes for $100. The other choice was 16 dishes for $180. Each dish was made of fresh sashimi, complemented with some ingenious ingredients. For example, ikura with house soy sauce topped with grated mountain yam. Or Japan Sea Jack seasoned with sea salt and orange. The dishes were unique and made with high quality, fresh, raw seafood. Sashimi used in the various dishes included ahi, ika, salmon, oyster, sea bass, niboshi, iriko, ikura, sea jack, oyster, and dungeness crab.The service here is excellent. Each dish was brought out in a very timely manner. We never had to wait long between dishes and the servers would constantly check on our water and tea.I would highly recommend this place if you're looking for fresh sushi made with a unique combination of ingredients. $100 may seem like a lot for 9 pieces of sushi and an oyster shooter but when you see the quality and innovative way in which each dish is made, the experience is worth it!

I used to visit chef Ryuji ages ago when he worked at Yohei. Since moving to the mainland, he opened his own shop (as he should have!). When I came back to visit with my family, I knew I wanted to see Ryujisan again. I made a reservation and his staff was polite enough to inform me that there are no high chairs available. They sat us at a table that had 1/2 a booth with pillows to accommodate my daughter. We opted for omakase and it did NOT disappoint. We ate a lot of omakase sushi during our vacation and Murayama's was the best! It has the most innovative flavors, with the widest variety of fish from Japan. We loved every single bite of our omakase and wished we could afford to eat there every day until we had to fly back home!Omakase here is money well spent! You will certainly enjoy it and be blown away by Ryujisan's creativity and direction. The best part about this experience is that he was particularly kind to our daughter. He went above and beyond to make her feel welcome. Ryujisan gave her a handful of candies and even a Japanese coolish pouch!! Without a doubt, this is the best omakase on Oahu. We can't wait to come back to Murayama on our next visit!

Order Omakase. You will not be disappointed. Get ready for elevated seafood. Was blown away be chef and service. Went in wearing shorts and t-shirt, didn't feel out of place or treated differently. Staff were very personable, I felt like a guest in their home. Go BIG here get as many courses as possible or you will regret not trying as much as possible. Treat yourself and someone special to this experience. Doesn't look impressive from outside but everything down to the plates impressed. 10/10