Sushi Salon

Lovely experience! Food: 5/5 flavorful exotic fishes Service: 5/5 good with refilling the tea Jojin introduces each dish Ambiance: 5/5 Clean, modern, small tabletop place

Went here with my wife on a Wednesday and enjoyed our experience at Sushi Salon. Chef Joji focuses on serving fish predominantly from the Kanagawa prefecture. I admire their focus on sustainability and sourcing fish thats less mainstream, but always in season. The place seats 8, so it's an intimate space where Anna works FoH and is knowledgeable in sake. She picked a great junmai daiginjo for us to enjoy during our date. Overall I enjoyed my experience here, but because the fish is sourced from one area the flavor profile, mouth feel, and finish and were all pretty similar that night. Even though my favorite cuts are ones that fit the category - Hirame, Aji, Sanma, Kanpachi, Shima Aji - I felt a bit of flavor fatigue near the end of my meal. There's no reason to dock ratings for the things above at all: it's all down to preference. Because the fish flies in twice a week, it'll change on when - and which season - you visit. Overall, while it was delicious, I still prefer Hanazen in Orinda if you're in the east bay for omakase. Their ice cream dessert was absolutely delicious. They used the sake rice from Den Sake in West Oakland to make it and it was by far the best ice cream flavor I've had in years.

Such an adorable hidden gem! Only enough seating for 8 and two seatings per night. Very cozy and intimate. Their omakase menu was really diverse and I was surprised to enjoy everything I tried. I wasn't even able to try the last five because I was too full already. Staff was very friendly and warm. Really great experience!

Sushi Salon is one of the best omakase experiences I've ever had. The fish is absolutely incredible--flown straight to Oakland from Kanagawa Prefecture--and Joji is a master. I can't recommend it enough!

I came here for Valentine's Day with my spouse, and had a great time even though they didn't have any Valentine's Day specials or decorations. Since this is a whole sushi experience, they waited until everyone arrived before Chef Joji started serving. They did check for allergies around the room. Pretty much everything tasted great, from the fish to the pickled ginger on the side to the buckwheat ice cream at the end. Even the seaweed was excellent! The miso bone broth was a little disappointing though because it had less miso flavor than expected and had an odd taste to it (though I normally like bone broth). After the broth was dessert, so that was our chance to order extra, and we chose to get amaebi (sweet shrimp). As a side note, it did not come with the shrimp's head like typical Japanese restaurants. We took the liberty of ordering alcohol, and since I like sweet drinks, I liked the Oze x Rose, Gunma Junmai Daiginjo and the Orange Daiginjo Special Sake the best (out of the 4 that I tried). The Honeya "Tsubasa", Toyama was good, but it was on the drier side. One of the downsides is that they don't have a restroom, so you have to use the one next door at the mac and cheese place. All in all, this was a great place to go to for a quiet fancy-ish dinner for a special occasion. It's also a quick walk from MacArthur BART (though I don't recommend walking alone, especially at night). ECO NOTES (Dine-In)Dine-In Dishware: Reusable plates and bowlsNapkins: Reusable cloth napkinUtensils: Reusable wooden chopsticks (since they appear to be lacquered)Water cups: Short cups made of glass

Excellent fish which you can't anywhere. Their sushi rice is also special. I highly recommend this place for sushi. Also, they have extremely good selection of sake. Must try in Oakland.

Sushi Salon by Chef Joji Nonaka is a special spot with its quality selection of fish and signature sushi rice using vinegar from Iio Jozo Vinegar Brewery based in Kyoto. Seriously, the rice has this burst of umami that I haven't had before with nigiri. The approach here really honors the less is more, allowing the fish to stand out on its own. We had the pleasure of trying Chef Joji's pop-up menu last December when they were at Fish & Bird, and this was reminiscent of that, along with some of the classics.Highlights were the mature yellowtail, Japanese butterfish, sweet shrimp with shrimp head paste, and barracuda (best bite of the night). I also enjoyed Chef Joji's playful take on carrot "uni" (which made me appreciate carrot even more in a way), and the fish bone broth miso soup was like a hug for my soul, especially given the rainy weather.To top it off, we appreciated them making our anniversary all the more special with the little touch to our matcha dessert and the attentive service as always. It's an intimate setting with up to 8 seats and two services per night, so I anticipate they'll get booked up quick. We were happy to support Chef Joji and Anna again, now in their own establishment. Many cheers to them, and we can't wait to come back again soon.

8-seat traditional omakase menu featuring 17 courses by chef Joji Nonaka, honoring the meaning of less-is-more. They source the majority of the fish through a well-known fish concierge in Japan. They also use a special 8-month fermented vinegar crafted by Iio Jozo Vinegar Brewery based in Kyoto that is dedicated to transparency, environmental sustainability and cultural preservation. They use Mitsuboshi Shoyu, naturally brewed and fermented using a 300 year old traditional method that continues to use wood fire in their cooking. You can taste the combination of these three intentional decisions in every course! Also loved the cubbed ginger they served. Every course is prepared allowing fish to shine. Absolutely delicious. Clean space. Quietly attentive service. Fantastic sake options (saw a review giving them 3 stars mentioning lack of champagne or wine - such an ethnocentric perspective. Thats like going to an Italian restaurant expecting sake to be served. Also, did not agree with their assessment of the "uninspired" experience. Perhaps they'd be happier at a modern Japanese restaurant catering to the western palate. Just sayin'!). Price point was great for the quality. We will definitely be back!

I usually have one Omakase meal during the holiday season and for 2023, my friend wanted to go to Sushi Salon. I was intrigued - it's a pop-up turned brick and mortar whose specialty is rare fish not available elsewhere. The other thing is that it's in Oakland (not SF) - it's an eight seater around a sushi bar and they do two seatings a night. Overall, the dining experience had some hits and misses. The appetizers were bluefin tuna, hirame and octopus. The bluefin tuna was crusted with kalamata oilves which was very unique - to this day, I still don't know if I liked it or not. The hirame and octopus were good. The nigiri came out fast and furious - a total of 11 nigiri plus two handrolls (Ankimo and Negitoro). There were some unique pieces (especially the white fish varieties served earlier in the meal) and the best pieces were the medium fatty tuna (Chu-Toro), snow crab, Hokkaido Uni and the Barracuda. The weirdest piece was a vegetarian (carrot) nigiri - it was out of place and I would replace this with another unique fish. The Ankimo preparation served as a handroll was also unique and very good. The sushi rice was good but the vinegar content was inconsistent from piece to piece (don't think that was intentional). The meal ended with some miso soup and a matcha olive cake. I had the genmai tea as my beverage pairing for the evening. Service was excellent. The ambiance is a bit mixed - it's OK but probably not at the same level you'd expect for an omakase experience at this price level (with tax and tip, this was around $260 per person). They don't have their own bathroom and you have to go to the bar next door. I think they are still working through some kinks and this experience is still evolving. At this price point, there are stronger options in SF but if you are in Oakland, this is a solid choice.

Lucky to have this delicious sushi restaurant in Oakland. Great owners and a chef who shows great passion, creativity, and skill with the food he prepares. In the Bay Area only here or Yoshizumi for sushi.My favorites are the usuba hagi (Unicorn leatherjacket), ishigakidai (spotted knifejaw), kagokakidai (stripey), sumikuiuo, sawara (mackerel), and utsubo (moray eel).