Kamado Sushi

The selection of special fish and scallops from Japan and environs is remarkable. I always ask Jin, the owner and excellent sushi chef, what I should order. This time he suggested the mackerel. Nothing like our domestic mackerel. It was a delight. I also had scallops, perfectly prepared and absolutely delicious. I am really picky about what I order and do not trust all sushi restaurants for scallops. I always trust Jin. I had at least 6 dishes, each perfectly prepared.I hope others will go to Kamado sushi. Before the pandemic they used to be open for lunch. I can't get there for dinner hours as often as I would like.Easy parking and I am confident you will NOT be disappointed.

I would give no star if I could. We ordered Omakase but nothing fresh. There was not enough rice either, only a flat layer of rice under the fish. I don't think the sushi chef got proper training. Every single piece fish with a lot of soy sauce and tastes bitter. We had to stop the chef after 7-8 pieces of nigiris. We also ordered the tempura which was pre fried I believe. It's very hard on the surface. And the pickle we ordered is obviously from the super market. It's our first and last time here. I feel regret ordering omakase before a small trial order. My husband is very upset and he stopped eating after tried 3 pcs nigiris.

First time trying sushi in the Berkeley area!Was craving sashimi so I came to this little restaurant on Shattuck. Dark interior and small tables divided by mini Japanese screen doors.I ordered some unique fish from the seasonal menu shown on the tv inside the restaurant (posted a picture).Ranked best to worst:1. Isaki: also known as chicken grunt (Japan), this was DELISHHHH. The sear was immaculate and the flavor was almost meat-like. So rich, flavorful, and fresh. I could straight up eat this without any shoyu or wasabi.2. Iwana: arctic char (Iceland) belonging to the salmon family, and it did taste like really rich, buttery salmon. Man. It. Was. Delicious. BUT. I could tell it was not superrrr fresh due to slight fishiness/degradation of texture (moosh).3. Umi masu: also looked like salmon, but is actually ocean trout (Scotland). Tastes much lighter and fresher (flavor profile) than the iwana or regular salmon. I would say it was about as fresh or maybe a bit fresher than the iwana, but was still slightly mush in relation to what fresh sashimi feels like.4. O-toro: big disappointment and the most expensive thing I ordered. Fatty blue tuna belly. Not fresh. Mush. Was definitely well cut, but it came WARM to my plate. And it wasn't even seared. What??? I regret ordering it. $25 is too much for 2 pieces of poor quality o-toro sashimi.Something that could have also played a part in the freshness deteriorating is that I specifically asked for sashimi, and my plate first came out as all nigiri. The waitress noticed right as she was bringing my plate and immediately brought it back to the kitchen which was awesome service. But my fish could have been overworked by hand and thus become mush and warm ):

We love coming here - it's one of our regulars in the neighborhood and we eat here a lot once a week. The sushi is excellent and traditional, with many fresh specials, and the staff are very lovely.

Fantastic, fresh sushi and appetizers!!! Creative sauces and seasonings! The black cod is a MUST, so buttery and flavorful!! The service is super fast and courteous. Very clean, simple, and pleasing decor.

Hands down my favorite sushi restaurant in Berkeley. The service is always warm and welcoming. Newcomers and regulars alike will feel at home here. I love to sit at the bar where you get to see the chefs do their magic.I love being adventurous and getting the seasonal fish. Depending on the month, you'll have an opportunity to get unique fish like ice fish and firefly squid. Everything tastes incredibly fresh and the sushi rice never feels too heavy. I always splurge on the nigiri but their hot items are also well prepared and delicious.

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.

This is a nice little sushi bar! The service was very nice, attentive, and helpful. The food itself was all at a high standard. The breading on the karaage and the tempura were both light yet crispy. I would have like to see a little more variety in the vegetable tempura, though. The fish was the star of the show. The toro (fatty tuna) nigiri literally melted in my mouth and was such an amazing piece to eat. The chirashi included shrimp, octopus, scallops, eel, and several types of fish. They were all good, except one of the fish was cut at a weird angle, which created an unenjoyable chewing experience. Overall, great sushi place for a casual/slightly elevated dinner. Tip: The screen above the sushi bar has the prices listed for market price items. I didn't realize before ordering the most expensive nigiri on the menu!

I had ranked Kamado Sushi as one of the best in the Bay Area. Sadly, I stopped by to celebrate an event recently and was disappointed with the quantity of the servings. Truly, the quality was superb, however, for the $100 it was fairly skimpy.

Great food. The karaage was juicy. The studio was delicious. I liked the ambiance. I'll definitely be back.