Uzen Japanese Cuisine

This is my favorite restaurant in the world, and I say this with utmost honesty. I've had sushi in Japan, I've eaten at Michelin star restaurants around the world, and nothing compares to Uzen. This quaint neighborhood spot is home of the freshest fish you'll find in the Bay Area, and the most perfectly seasoned sushi rice, all for a very reasonable price. My personal favorites are their salmon rolls, trout nigiri, Uzen udon (best udon broth ever!), and their ten zaru soba. They have a very reasonable lunch special, and their other daily specials are excellent. The service here is really attentive, the food has been consistent in the 15 years I've been coming here, and the sushi chefs have been here forever. The interior is modern, with high ceilings. They have a tatami room upstairs which used to be used to seat larger parties but I think has now been converted to storage (please bring it back!). Since their restaurant is a bit small, I definitely recommend making a reservation if you're coming for dinner, particularly on a Friday or Saturday night. Moral of the story: if you haven't been to Uzen yet, you're missing out!

WHEN: saturday ~ May 13, 2023 ~ 5pmPARKING: street parking with 2 hour parking on side streetsA very small and intimate restaurant that is open for very few hours throughout the week. Got there right when they opened and sat at the bar. They have a very affordable omakase that comes in 2 sets. I chose to get the B set for $89 which came with miso soup, appetizers (4 small dishes), and 19 pieces of sushi! Unlike traditional omakase, the dishes are basically served all together. Which means you get a massive 19 piece plate of sushi! I would like to give out a special shout out to the appetizers that were extremally flavorful. The sushi itself was very fresh. They were fat pieces of fish and I could barely finish it. This was my first omakase experience so I don't have much to compare it with but this dinner was a huge treat so I made sure to really enjoy it.

Meh is the adjective I would use to describe this place overall. The rolls were inexpensive, however small and not much sashimi inside. The quality of fish was average. Service was average. For 2 ppl, $80 with no alcohol--left feeling hungry. Probably would not revisit.

This little hole in the wall on College Avenue in Oakland delivers top notch Sushi prepared by its expert Itamae. It is a small place designed for a discerning clientele and delivers either hand picked sushi on its list, with available variations such as quail egg added to its sea urchin hand rolls (very tasty).All of the sushi is very well presented and very fresh. It also has an omakase selection where you can yield to the chef to choose you the best choice he has available, prepared with exquisite care.It is a fun place to hang out, where you could either watch the chef do his work or find a table by the window and enjoy your sushi while people watching on the famous College Avenue. The service was great and the food was excellent.

Best Tonkatsu (spicy or not) in the east bay! The spicy is JUST right!The sushi is perfect-soft moist rice in the maki and nigiri rolls, perfectly prepared with the balance of sweet/tart and pressed firmly but not too hard.The mood is joyous, the sushi chef truly enjoys their work and all staff are pleasant and accommodating.Dig in! Highly recommend:)

Quick Summary- Cozy interior- Good for families- BGM, jazz themed Ghibli music- Fish tastes fresh and sweet- Entered hungry, left comfortably full- The door is automatic, it opens and closes on its own (noticed more than half of guests aggressively dragging the door closed)Feeling like sushi that day, we looked around restaurants and stumbled upon this one. The entrance appears narrow but when we went inside, it extends to the far end of the building. It felt homey in a way due to the window shaped opening at the center of the restaurant.When seated, we were given five different menus. We're not drinkers, so that reduces it to three, yet there were a couple of minutes to mull over. One of them is a menu list and we were given a pencil. This listed different sushi netas. I looked around this menu, but it didn't mention the price. We could have asked the staff, but it was a busy night, so it took a while for them to arrive at our table. Also, on this particular day, we were thinking of eating a filling meal than just one or two pieces of sushi.After discussing on the options, we both landed on the dinner section of the sashimi. When the staff member arrived, we asked on how the side dishes are going to be like for the dinner set comes with a salad, miso soup, and rice. They clarified with us, that each menu in the dinner set (except for the ones with sushi rice).The salad and the miso soup arrived first, and then the sashimi and rice came at a good time (soon after we finished eating the side dishes). The salad was drizzled with sesame salad dressing, one of my favorite dressings. It's creamy and has a subtle tanginess to it.It was a cold evening, so the miso soup was a good starter to warm ourselves up for the main dish. The sashimi plate arrived with roughly 10-12 pieces of sashimi, grouped by fish. I have eaten a few sushi places but it felt like the first to eat one and say, "wow, so fresh and sweet!" It could be the cold season, but even as I write this, I recall how good each of the pieces were at the time. Along with it tasting sweet and fresh, it was also melting in the mouth.What was a good cherry on top moment was that after eating this dish we were both full and content. I would definitely return here again to try their dinner set again.

Ate here for sushi at the barThe Omakase was average and uninspired- The thing I really didn't like was the service. I was asked several times by the waitress/ owner if I lived nearby and that they hoped to see me again - this was communicated was not warm and welcoming but cold, desperate and pushy - very desperate and condescending.The restaurant was completely empty during my meal at dinnertime. I feel that locals know this place is no good and really hope a better place opens in their spot...a waste

Amazingly fresh and delicious sushi at killer prices! Uzen has just become my new favorite sushi spot in Rockridge. Not sure what took me so long to try this place, but it is incredible! Stopped by for lunch for the first time a little over a month ago. Their restaurant is located on the busy College Avenue block amongst several other popular restaurants. It's a tiny space and the signage isn't the easiest to spot, but once you make it inside, you'll feel right at home. I arrived around 11:30 am on a Monday and there was nobody else inside. They have some bangin' lunch special deals! Ended up ordering their assorted nigiri with cucumber and California rolls lunch special. The nigiri came with some of the freshest fish that I've had in a long while! Both the California and cucumber rolls were both super tasty. The lunch special also came with miso soup and salad. The salad wasn't anything too special, but it was fresh and I enjoyed the dressing. The miso soup had wonderful flavor. The best part was that all of this was under $15! If you know Rockridge, then you know it's hard to find a good cheapish lunch nowadays (especially when it comes to sushi). Ended up coming back a few weeks later and ordered their Dragon and Lion Kings rolls. Both were so delicious, but that Dragon roll simply stole the show. Super fresh avocado and beautifully fried shrimp tempura. The rolls were not only tasty, but they were beautifully plated too. Chef Kasu was there and brought me complimentary soup and salad even though it wasn't a lunch special. He also gave me a sample of their deep fried baby octopus appetizer. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of octopus. But this was fried to absolute perfection. It helped to mask the consistency for me (which is usually what turns me off about octopus). It was a delightful try. Service was excellent during both of my visits from start to finish. I ended up ordering some food to-go for my staff (shrimp tempura appetizer and shrimp tempura udon). My staff was raving about their food, especially the tempura udon. I love udon, so this will be on my list to try next time. I've also heard amazing things about their omakase, so I will eventually be giving this a try too in the future.The inside is small but super comfy and inviting. It's also very clean. All in all, I'm so impressed with Uzen! I'm so excited that I was able to finally try them out. Looking forward to many more visits here. Would highly recommend to anyone who's looking for fresh and delicious sushi at affordable prices.

I love uzen. The food here is always fresh. It's definitely quite small inside, so be sure to make a reservation if you are a larger party!

My aunt and her mom took me out for my belated birthday dinner. I haven't ever noticed this place even though I live in the same neighborhood and Uzen has been there for at least 20 years! It's a small-ish very clean place, with very good food. I am not an expert on anything Japanese, but to me it felt authentic.We ordered gindara ( miso black cod ), ohitashi (blanched spinach), grilled eggplant appetizer, and a sushi special (salmon with fish roe and asparagus). For the main dish, I had Unaju (Barbequed eel over rice). My favorite was the miso black cod, although it was a very small piece. It was nice and fatty, very satisfying. The eggplant app and the eel dish were also yummy. Blanched spinach was ok, just the way it sounds - bland basic veggie dish. I couldn't taste the bonito flakes much even though there were plenty of those.They brought water and tea. The tea was a bit too strong and bitter for my taste, so they brought me a cup of plain hot water per my request. I left feeling full but not weighed down. Very satisfied and will def be back.Oh, and their bathroom is super clean. I especially appreciate it because I went out to a highly rated restaurant where I could smell the bathroom long before I could actually see its door. At Uzen, you can't smell anything offensive even when you are inside their bathroom.