Musashi

Not really a sushi restaurant, but a Japanese restaurant.Great "wine" -- sake -- list. Tried a few. The Shiro Kirishima was my favorite last night, though that "honor" could have gone to another. Just an excellent glass of wine, served at the perfect temperature (slightly chilled, but not cold).Service was appropriate. We were there for almost three hours, and never felt rushed.The meal started with some pickled items that opened my palate. Up first was the "mini" chirashi bowl. It was loaded with a wide variety of fish and seafood (including a whole prawn and some octopus). For $21, methinks you might wanna check it out.Two grilled skewers, one rib-eye and one duck+leeks (kamo negi). I rarely eat duck (as I would be eating alone; like poor, neglected lamb, so few of my companions join me in exploring menus as they refuse to deviate from the beef-chicken-prawn trichotomy) but dang this was a great way to enjoy duck. The leeks added color, texture, and tons of flavor.The veritable coup de grâce was the salmon collar or "samonkara." Grilled, succulent salmon, full of flavor - the real finger-lickin' good (as if I lick my fingers, ever, cos that's what the napkin's for, diners).The price? Four people, plenty of food, flowing booze, and great laughs: $200, before tip. Just a great time and night.Check it out.- workingman's gourmand

If I am in this area again I will return Good local sushi shop with decent sashimi and some nice grilled items. Tempura is American standard ( meaning too battered for me but if you generally like the tempura one gets in the USA then it's that )

Whenever I am there, since covid - dinner only, I always ask Jin, the owner and chief sushi maker, to select for me. So many amazing fish from Japan to try! Never disappoints, always delicious. I really hope many others who love sushi will try his many special options. This time I had amazing mackerel - nothing like stateside mackerel, scallops from Japan and 3 more remarkable and deliciously unusual fish. Go there if you can! Marilyn

Sometimes you just have to seize the moment, and it was just one of those moments when Jamie W. and I were strolling on Dwight Way. Jamie was actually the one who spontaneously pointed to the place and said we should have a light dinner here. Never been before, but we could tell it was a casual spot, pretty family friendly. We managed to nab a good size table.Before we ordered, the server gave us a complimentary plate of their homemade potato salad (photo). Nice start. We couldn't help but notice quite a few yakitori choices in the Robata Grill section of the menu. We ordered several sticks. The first was the $3.50 Kawa (Chicken Skins), which was crispy-tasty and not too chewy (photo: https://yelp.to/LrKdTRk2Fk).The second was the more substantial $5.50 Kama Negi, which alternated pieces of tender duck and grilled leeks (photo: https://yelp.to/71FHin34fj). Delish. The third yakitori was the $3.50 Hatsu (Chicken Hearts), a personal favorite because I like poultry innards (photo: https://yelp.to/8UlQxK7TNZ). The last was the $5.25 Teba, a couple of meaty Chicken Wings that required two sticks (photo: https://yelp.to/mA8XeoMBd6).Yakitori was clearly what they did best as they reminded me of the sticks we ate in Japan. Yep, that good. The $10 Kara-age Appetizer was good but not quite at the same level (photo: https://yelp.to/_bR49uaylD). Crunchy though the chicken was a bit chewy. We were surprised our priciest item, the $21 Rainbow Roll was the most disappointing (photo: https://yelp.to/U91ODg-Lv0). Not bad but kinda sloppy and not as fresh as we were hoping. Stick to the sticks.FOOD - 4 stars...the yakitori is the get here, hands downAMBIANCE - 3.5 stars...casual place like you'd see on Midnight DinerSERVICE - 4 stars...friendly and timelyTOTAL - 4 stars...satisfying izakaya especially if you like robata RELATED - Exploring Berkeley? Here's my collection of places I've patronized and reviewed: https://bit.ly/2CbVh8u

GREAT Japanese food near downtown Berkeley. Service was kind and efficient. Parking was easy with no wait on a Tuesday evening. Ambiance was nothing special but the food was authentic and fresh with reasonable prices given the fish quality. Tempura was excellent. Like the make of any great Japanese restaurant, grated daikon came with tempura, and shiso leaf came with sashimi. Will be coming back!

Absolutely everything here was fantastic! We tried mackerel dinner, agedashi tofu, small plates of grilled sweet potato and eggplant, gyoza, meatballs, sashimi, and the uni special from Japan. Service is friend, the food is fairly quick, the decor is cozy and authentic. They even have happy hour specials!

Randomly found this place via Yelp. Someone had mentioned about hiyashi chuka so I was eager to get some delicious cold noodles.While I was unable to locate this cold noodle dish, they did have excellent happy hour running from 4-7pm. From their happy menu we got to try their agedashi tofu (this impressed my husband despite not having much interest in tofu normally), California roll, salmon roll, and sashimi plate. All very scrumptious and their sashimi insanely fresh.Also got a couple skewer items and chawanmushi - I'm a sucker for egg dishes! The latter was decadent and filled with spinach, fish cake slices, mushroom, and shrimp. Since we didn't have resos, we got seated at the sushi bar, which wasn't bad at all since I've always liked watching sushi chefs perfecting their craft.Parking easily to be found on Shattuck! Definitely will go back. Service very attentive despite them being busy.

Overall is very good. I always come here with my friends. The salmon is nice but sometime need to wait for a while during busy time. Overall is awesome!

We came on a Friday around 5:30 for the Happy Hour and we were seated quickly, the rest of the dining room filled up not long after we arrived. The chicken karaage, which my boyfriend and I order at every restaurant that has it, was juicy and delicious, earning a high ranking on our Karaage Tier List. This was our first time trying takoyaki, and unfortunately I believe they were undercooked and they tasted of raw flour but the octopus inside was tender. I ordered the poke mini-set, which tasted fresh, spicy, and perfectly seasoned. The mister ordered the special spicy tuna roll, which was a little underwhelming because it only came with 6 pieces and the only spice was a bit of sriracha dotted on each piece but good nonetheless. Service was good given how busy it was, we plan on returning to try out some skewers and for their happy hour deals!

First let's start with this is a more traditional Japanese restaurant. If you are looking for lots of rolls and only sashimi/nigiri this may not be the place for you. Now you can get those things don't get me wrong (more selected variety but always fresh and what's in season) but to me the highlight of the menu is everything else. The happy hour is also lovely with a decent selection. The sake menu is extensive and their speciality menu changes fairly regularly. The service depending on the day can be slower especially when they are busy. However, that being said I have never complained and they are always appreciative. This type of food is meant to be enjoyed slowly. People are in to much of a hurry I feel especially these days. I appreciate them and the service they provide. Ambiance wise it's like a traditional Japanese restaurant. The location could be a little better but yet again it is family owned, been here a very long time, and the prices wouldn't be what they are if it was in any other location. I do wish it was a little warmer in the area where the sushi bar only because it has been so cold lately. I'm sure it would make other areas way too hot. Overall, I am very appreciative this restaurant is the way it is. I have always been happy and satisfied with the variety of food. It is so much more reasonable than more than half the other restaurants around with great quality. I have tried others, I pay more, quality isn't really better for the price, and service is generally worse by far. It makes it hard to venture to others after so many failures and knowing that this place will always serve quality! I hope this place is around for many many more years.