Kiku Sushi

Best vegetarian sushi ever. Great service and excellent selection of sushi sashimi and non- fishy dishes.

Love the variety of vegan selections: soups, sushi, salad, entrees & appetizers! Very veggie -full & attractively presented & so delicious!Our server was very pleasant, patient & knowldgeable ! The green tea was very earthy & robust (with matcha residue in the cup? ) We sat by the window ...but there's a lot tables packed into this small space & even outside along the sidewalk !The service was very personal & friendly, the waitress commended us on our choices & we agreed & enjoyed our soups, which came out piping hot !We also ordered the vegan roll & a mushroom/tempura green bean roll, the ginger was very spicy but good!

Cute Japanese spot with a full vegetarian menu (4/5 green stars)Kiku Sushi in Berkeley has a sister restaurant in Lafayette - I enjoyed eating at both of them - service, food, and ambiance were solid in both branches. Most memorable dish: Crispy Rice & Sweet Potato ($9.25). For those looking for a fully vegan Japanese restaurants in Berkeley, I can also recommend Cha-ya or Tane Vegan Izakaya, both of which are on Shattuck Ave. Cha-ya is usually listed as a vegetarian Japanese restaurant but it's actually fully vegan. Of these three, I've been to Cha-ya (the oldest) most often, but I can recommend all three of them for different situations. For example Cha-ya for comfort food favorites (e.g., Taku-sui), Tane Vegan for its inventive food and bustling atmosphere, and Kiku for a quieter meal in a cute location. Both branches of Kiku score well on the cuteness scale, in terms of both the restaurants (Berkeley perhaps has the edge, here) and neighborhoods. I'm also giving Kiku Sushi 4/5 Green Stars for social and environmental impact. * Both branches of Kiku have an emphasis on vegetarian items with a fully vegetarian menu that helps avoid any confusion or mistakes while ordering.* The menu does feature fish and a couple of chicken or pork dishes, but avoids the most climate-unfriendly meats - beef and lamb.* Fyi, if you want to choose climate-friendly fish, then small pelagic fish (sardines, mackerel, anchovies), farmed bivalves (oysters, mussels, scallops), and some wild salmonids (salmon and trout) are your best bets. Avoid crustaceans such as shrimp, prawns, crabs, and lobster. https://greenstarsproject.org/2023/12/16/whats-the-most-sustainable-kind-of-seafood/ * Kiku doesn't provide any information on sourcing of fish or other ingredients.Please join in and include a Green Stars rating with your own reviews!

So disappointed to not find good salmon skin rolls anywhere in the east bay.This was the worst yet.So bummed I wasted my money. The skin was not grilled nor julienned.Big fat hunk of cold skin with way to much meat attached. Making the roll unreasonably large. Not a nice cone shaped roll that fits in your mouth. None to fresh and the California roll wasn't any better. Update to be fair.Called the restaurant to express my displeasure and they refunded my money completely.

Neighborhood sushi place that the locals obviously like, but I wonder if they know that this place does not serve genuine Japanese food. We ordered the chirashi and by the look of the sloppy cuts of fish, the chef could've been using a hatchet.Since Kiku appears to be a family-owned restaurant, I will not completely trash it, but I don't think I'll be returning. BB

Kiku Sushi on Gilman has just re-opened, with a new owner. We're still fans, but with new prices we'll reserve Kiku for special occasions.WHAT'S NEW?***Cosmetic Upgrades***The space looks very similar, but more upscale and less cluttered. There's nice new wood paneling in back and over the bar. The most noticeable difference is the much brighter modern lighting, which I liked at first, but found to be a little harsh.***Vegetarian Delight!***The biggest change at the newly reopened Kiku is an extensive and creative array of new vegetarian and vegan menu options! This is easily the most extensive and diverse fish-free sushi menu I've ever seen.There are over two-dozen vegetarian or vegan Maki rolls, each filled with various combinations of avocado, eggplant, sweet potato, crunchy potato, spicy tofu, and some even have ginger carrots, or pumpkin seeds, and multiple types of mushrooms. All were quite tempting, we tried two and they were both delicious. They have multiple other vegetarian options as well, including salads, soups, noodles (hot and cold), vegetarian teriyaki, they even offer a vegetarian Chirashi bowl, which is something I've never seen anywhere else. We were surprised when we ordered seaweed salad and found it was made from fresh seaweed with homemade sauce -- totally different from the fluorescent-green seaweed salad we're used to, and also delicious. ***Service Improved***Service still wasn't perfect, but much more attentive than in the past. OLD KIKU: As more or less monthly regulars for 15 years, we'd grown to expect poor service, and we repeatedly chose to forgive amateur mistakes from waitstaff because the sushi was consistently cheap and delicious. KIKU NOW: In a dining room this small, we were generally able to get somebody's attention after only a minute or two, but when my daughter (of course) knocked over her full water glass, the three of us were quick to jump up and begin strategic napkin placement, but even with our whole party standing up and performing flood-control, nobody noticed, and after getting the spill under control we eventually had to ask our waitress for more napkins. For a meal of this price, I would expect a higher level of attentiveness.That brings me to the last thing that's changed, which is:***New Prices***Welcome to 2024. We ended up spending almost $300 for dinner for two adults and one child. This includes a surprisingly expensive Otoro nigiri from the specials menu (my fault, I should have asked), and also a $35 bottle of sake. Even with those indulgences, we were a little surprised by the total. I understand there's often a premium for good fresh sashimi and sushi, but at this price we'll reserve Kiku for special occasions.WHAT'S UNCHANGED?***Fresh Sashimi***As always, the fish is consistently fresh and delicious, with multiple specials available. They didn't have the chalkboard set up yet, so our hostess recited the various offerings verbally (and quickly). When we got the bill I regretted not inquiring about pricing before we ordered.***Accessibility***Generally excellent. There's limited parking in this neighborhood, we sometimes end up a block away, on narrow residential streets. Outside, there's no covered waiting area nor seating. Inside, there's again no waiting space, the small dining room is packed with tables, leaving very limited standing room. The small space could make it tricky to maneuver a wheelchair to your table. There are no stairs to enter the restaurant, but there's a single significant step up to access the restroom, which also requires walking outside and around back. The dining chairs are comfortable and supportive, and there's also a padded bench along one wall, and four tall stools at the chef's bar.

Local neighborhood sushi place. Maybe 12 tables inside and 6 outside. Reasonable prices and nice selection. Extensive vegan and vegetarian menu which my wife explored. The toro special was excellent.

Found this spot by chance on Yelp! Berkeley really has no shortage of sushi bars. Kiku is a bit further out, tucked into the corner of a residential cul-de-sac. Takeout only due to COVID. We called our order ahead of time (4 dishes) and had it ready in 15. The doorway is closed off as a pickup-only counter, along with register and hand sanitizer up front and center.CHIRASHI: BOIII she thicc as hell. I'm wondering if they compensate for the small portions by including larger cuts of fish. While I love the convenience of bento boxes, there's significantly less fish & rice than most places offer. Regardless, fresh af & mouthwateringly fatty. Couldn't ask for better quality.BAKED SCALLOP ROLL: Exceptionally good! Loved the savory sauce with the plump pieces of scallop. While I usually shy away from scallop rolls, Kiku's was baked to perfection.ALASKA ROLL: Standard salmon & avocado roll. Still tasty, I'm not complaining.A little out of the way from downtown, but still worth checking out!

A favorite local Japanese spot. Excellent vegetarian options and one of the few places that has sukiyaki at times.

Great value. They even have hard to find things like Uni from Japan. Go early they do run out of things.