Exceptional Sushi - I drive here from S.F. for sushi
I-Sushi has incredible sushi. So good, that I actually drive from San Francisco to Castro Valley to eat sushi here. The sushi quality and flavor is of the highest quality as the owner himself hand picks and tastes all the pieces they purchase for the restaurant. A friend who raved about this place took me here and now I rave about it and take my family and friends to I Sushi. I highly recommend the seared tuna appetizer - it is INCREDIBLE. All the sushi is fresh, the cuts are generous, and it's worth every penny.    [14 Dec 2004 01:09:53]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 

     ­Klina   klinaklina at yahoo dot com

The other sushi bar in town
After dining at Katsu (review submitted) many times, my wife and I decided to try I Sushi at the recommendation of a colleague.

The initial impression of I Sushi is almost a cheap fast food hole-in-the-wall but it does have a full sushi bar as well as restaurant seating.

We were initially seated at the bar but the seats were so uncomfortable we asked to move to a regular table. The service was polite and prompt and they serve Asahi Dark Beer which we both like.

My wife had a hard time finding something on the menu she could eat since it is almost exclusively fish (unlike Katsu). In the end she chose gyoza as an appetizer (pork pot stickers) and the shrimp / vegetable tempura dinner.

I chose the sushi deluxe dinner to get a variety of nigiri, maki and sashimi as it was my first visit.

The dinners come with miso soup and a salad and should have come with rice (but we did not get any). The miso soup was unusual because it contained a lot of vegetables and no tofu but it tasted OK. The salad was small but had a nice ginger-sesame dressing.

The tempura was quite oily and the dip was completely tasteless. My wife ate the shrimp but none of the vegetables. I tried a piece of sweet potato but it was very disappointing.

My sushi deluxe selection included six pieces of California roll, six pieces of another roll, two pieces each of maguro (tuna) and sake (salmon) sashimi, and an assortment of nigiri sushi. The California rolls were extremely disappointing with dry rice and a fairly tasteless crab filling. The sake was actually pretty good - both the sashimi and the nigiri. The maguro was a bit bland (both the sashimi and the nigiri). The ebi (shrimp) tasted like it had been washed in something unpleasant. There was also a crab stick nigiri which was disappointing from a presentation point of view although passable in taste.

In addition to the extremely disappointing meal - probably the worst Japanese meal I've had anywhere in the world - it is expensive when compared to Katsu. The beer and the service aside, it was certainly a waste of most of the $75 it cost.    [19 Sep 2005 01:43:09]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Nigiri sushi, especially the Kaibashira. Also check the daily specials (for desserts as well as entrees).

     ­Sean Corfield, Castro Valley