This time I came here for lunch. The menu is slightly different, with less choices, but the food still tastes good.

I ordered the sashimi lunch, and the fish tasted fresh and good.

Next time I’ll come here for dinner probably, which will hopefully be very soon!

I didn’t even know this place existed, since it’s a couple blocks from Castro. I’m glad we found it though.

The place isn’t too small, and I didn’t have to wait too long, but I can imagine it to get super busy. They have table, bar, and tatami style seating.

I liked how the menu had a variety of Japanese dishes. I don’t see too many places serve croquette. I would definitely come again and try the other stuff on the menu. I’m sure it’s all good!

My follow-up review for this restaurant. Read my previous review for this restaurant here

I came back here for lunch on a friday, and this place was packed. The wait was about 15-20 min for a party of 3. The menu was not as extensive as the one for dinner, but I was able to order the Tomi Special Roll again. This time I had it with the lobster salad instead of the hamachi. It was still excelllent, but I prefer the hamachi.

Thanks to menuism and the good reviews, I decided to check out this restaurant since I would be passing by mountain view. And I agree that this has to be one of the best japanese restaurants in the area. I’ve been on a quest to find the best agedashi tofu, and this restaurant has probably one of the best so far. Sushi was excellent as well.

If you are looking for authentic Japanes food, Sushi Tomi is the place. You won’t find the super fancy sushi rolls stuffed with every imaginible ingredient here. Just great quality, traditional Japanese. The service and sushi chefs are also very friendly. That’s probably why there is usually a 10-15 min wait even on the weekdays for dinner.

Their 2 item combo for about $14.90 is a great deal if you want to sample their sashimi (tuna and/or salmon), tempura, broiled mackerel, pork cutlet, california roll, spicy tuna roll, sukiyaki, gyoza, or teriyaki beef/chicken/or salmon. I usually rotate among the spicy tuna roll, sashimi, tempura and sukiyaki.

There is also a wide variety of appetizers you won’t find at other Japanese restaurants, such as the “Ochazuke” (Rice in Tea) and “Onigiri” (Rice Balls).

Bottom Line: a must try in Mtn View if you are into Japanese food.

I had tried coming here for lunch before but it was closed, so I tried Monster Sushi nearby, which was filling but of far lower quality. This time I came for a friend’s birthday dinner, and I wasn’t disappointed.

The restaurant has a very homey atmosphere and is located a few blocks off the main University Ave. strip of fancy restaurants and shops. What you get in return for the humble decor is friendly service and high-quality food.

As other users have mentioned before, the quality of the food here is good, but I wouldn’t say SushiTomi ranks as one of my favorite of all time. It’s definitely a place I’d go back to in the future.

Never been to Japan? Imagine what it would be like to eat at an authentic Japanese restaurant and you’ll find all that and more at Sushi Tomi. The restaurant has it all. Entertaining/jovial sushi chefs, excellent sushi, authentic menu items and specials, tatami seating, and even some cute waitresses.

I go for both the ambience and the food. Try the combo meals for a great value. Try everything on the menu for some great food.

Warning though, there’s always a wait!

My follow-up review for this restaurant. Read my previous review for this restaurant here

I think I’m going to try and become a regular here. This time I got the chicken udon, the kobe beef skewers, and the fish cakes.

Like that episode of Seinfeld where George steals all of Elaine’s good luck, I feel like Sushitomi is stealing my good love from formerly beloved Kappo NamiNami. Every time I come here I love it more and every time I go to Kappo NamiNami I feel more mixed about it.

The unadventurous and un-initiated could find a good, but not great sushi experience at Sushitomi. But once you get the menu down, the food can be terrific and a much better value that similar Japanese restaurants.

The beef sukiyaki (half of a $15 combo meal) was really just amazing. The broth was wonderfully potent with a slightly sweet edge that made my friend want to pour it into a large glass and just drink it up. The beef is great, the translucent noodles very tasty, and the tofu has a very enjoyable texture, though you could choke a horse with some of the large pieces. We got this for $15 with miso, salad, rice, and a wonderful mackerel. The mackerel was a large hunk of fish with crispy edges that are buttery and burned. The fish itself was very enjoyable, but if you’re with friends and feeling selfish, dig into the crispy edges first.

As far as sushi goes, its definitely better than most places, but not as distinct as other options. The clam, eel, and white tuna were by far the best and beat most similar sushi I’ve had hands down.

The menu includes a very extensive list of interesting small plate options as well. The beef tongue skewer ($5.40) is salty and tough, but really great. The eggplant ($4.90) and julienned yam ($5.90) options were both very tasty, while the codfish liver with ponzu sauce was not that enjoyable since the liver was not that flavorful and felt like spam melting on the tongue. And for someone who doesn’t like tempura, I certainly did enjoy the vegetable tempura I tried.

On the negative side, I couldn’t get more than a few sips of the mushroom red miso soup. It was undrinkable. It was musky and earthy and tasted like Campbell’s tomato soup. Stick to the basic miso soup.

If you like finishing a meal with something sweet, they have gummi bears next to the cash register on the way out. A nice touch.

a couple blocks off castro in a more sparse area, sushi tomi gets surprisingly excellent business. i took this as a good sign when i walked in the door for a midweek dinner.

i was greeted by a small sushi bar and asian sushi chefs behind it on one side, and a second larger room w/tatami seating on the other. sushi tomi has a mom ‘n pop homey feel (like john says below). it took a few minutes to get seated as the place was packed, but ordering was quick and the food came out even quicker. oddly enough, service wasn’t that stellar (no one came by to see how our food was, and we had to ask for our check after 5 minutes of nothing).

overall, a solid choice and i’d have no qualms about returning.

Nice small japanese place a couple blocks off Castro. The sushi is good quality and there’s the standard assortment of other japanese goodies. It looks like they have happy hour beer specials and also various daily sushi specials. They also have the pseudo-mat seating where it looks like you’re sitting on the ground but you’re not.

This one’s definitely on my restaurant rotation. I come here at least once a week for lunch. Lines get pretty long so you need to get there early. The food is always great and the sushi is fresh. My favorite if the Mix Don (3 pieces each of Tuna, Salmon and Hamachi on rice). The Blue Fin toro is excellent (pricey) and the Friday curry lunch special is also a favorite.

Small operation with friendly waitresses and fresh sashimi

I always forget about this place since it is tucked away off of Castro and I can never find it. But this week I made it there and had the bento box dinner. It’s a great deal — I think it was $14 before tax and tip, and you get: a miso soup with excellent tofu, salad, several pieces of generously sized salmon sashimi, a bowl of rice, and beef sukiyaki. I’ve had better beef sukiyaki elsewhere, in which “better” to me means more vegetables, and a wider variety of vegetables. So it’s not the optimal sukiyaki to me, but it’s still delicious and filling. So for the price and quantity of food, this place rocks, in fact the bento box lasted me for 2 meals. And don’t forget the gummi bears at the door.

It seems like many seem to think that this place feeds you the most authentic sushi as one can get. I’m not sure about that since I only had a small piece of sushi. But nevertheless, it is pretty good.

The wait ends up being quite long because the place is small and is filled with Japanese customers—first sign of good sushi place.

If I can recall, most of the food available was Japanese food, not Americanized-Japanese food (like Chicken Teriyaki)—the first sign of an authentic Japanese place.

To avoid the wait, I’d get there pretty early. Since this area is filled with restaurants, it’s tough to find a parking space during the peak of the lunch hour. And once you find a place to park, you will have to wait a bit before getting seated.

The service was so-so. The lady that took care of us didn’t pay attention to us all that often. We had to wait a bit to get our bill.

Overall, it’s a place that I’d like to go back to try out their toro. Not that I’m the best sushi critic, but I usually eat toro to personally decide if it’s MY favorite place or not. I’d like to give Sushi Tomi another try just so that I can try their toro.

What’s tough is that there are lots of restaurants here so even though Sushi Tomi is good, I may end up choosing a different place if I’m just looking for a place to eat—like Ryowa.