Isobune Burlingame

Pricy but really good. The sushi pieces are also enormous compared to a lot of other places I’ve been to before. They also have a wide variety of types and fish.
I saw some of the reviews of the fish being not fresh. But when I went, all the fish was fresh and delicious. I got some hamachi nigiri that wasn’t part of the sushi boat and it was delicious.
The best part is that the sushi spins around on little boats. That was super cute and definitely added to the aesthetic. I came on a Saturday night and it was pretty empty to my surprise. We were seated very quickly as there were only a few other people around. But as time went by, the place got more crowded.
Overall, I enjoyed it. But depending on how much you can eat, this place can get quite pricy.

I’d give this a solid 3 stars. The place was not that busy for Sunday lunch. If you come in starving, you can easily just get from the «sushi river boats»…
The sushi and sashimi were traditional, good enough.
Chicken Karaage was good but would’ve been better with aioli. Beef Terriyaki was surprisingly tender.
Portions are relatively small so if you’re planning on sharing, make sure to order AT LEAST one dish per person.

Avoid at all costs. There’s a reason that this place usually looks empty. The nigiri looked like it was stripped from leather and tasted like plastic. The chicken skewers were cold and were reheated to give them the texture of old shoes. The service was… non-​existent. They must love Snapchat because the servers kept disappearing. Took forever to get a simple order to the tables. After this, I’d rather buy prepared sushi at Safeway than eat here. Isobune literally means «sea boat». Hopefully this restaurant floats away into oblivion so no one else has to endure it.

Favorite place for my wife and I. We go there a couple times a month, for about 20 years. We like the sushi a lot and the service is good. I think it’s changed hands a couple of times in the past few years and most of the chef’s and waitress’s that we were friendly with have come and
seems like the construction on Burlingame Ave hurt their business. The past few times we’ve been there, their haven’t been many people dining. We hope they can make it through what seems to be a tough time. Its always been very good, especially the tempura maki, spicy tuna, spicy white tuna, tempura hand roll, Ebi, and Kani, it’s all good. we wish them well, but we kinda miss the crowd. Hope this very good sushi restaurant can get back on track. Jim and Karen SSF

oh my, oh my. been going here since the early 90s, when you walk in it smells like rotten fish. I talked with a Burlingame ave business owner and was told that it went down hill when the original owner died
I heard that RISE Pizza will be taking over the spot soon so maybe Isobune is just passing time until they no longer have to pay for the space.
I hesitate to say this, but please close down now. What is going on now is a disgrace

Isobune Burlingame is one of these places where we go so often, so naturally when we want to celebrate something with great Japanese food, that a few years later I realize I completely forgot to talk about it!
Time to right this wrong ;-) Isobune Burlingame is a Kaiten-​sushi, as it is called in Japan. That’s a kind of restaurant specializing in sushi, where the cook place the sushi on a small boat, circling the counter. You can ask the chef for any kind of meal provided by the restaurant, and not available in one of the boats.
We don’t go often to Isobune Burlingame (2 or 3 times a year since 2008) but service and food, either for lunch or diner, is always excellent and we strongly recommend this place if you are looking for some great food with an exotic twist ;-)

My family and I have been longtime customers of Isobune since I was a little kid. I have seen the place change management (or at least their layout) several times… until recently the business was good especially during weekends lunches. The service was excellent (chefs would respond quickly and bento boxes would come out hot and fast), and there were always fresh sushi being recirculated on the boats because there would be lots of customers.
Sadly, it seems things have slowed down here over the last few years. The last two times I can remember having lunch here have been not great. I often see dry sushi going around in the boats, and the sushi just doesn’t seem as fresh as it used to be. You can still ask the sushi chefs to make you any item you don’t see out on the boats (I always get several saba when I’m there) so service is still good at least.
I’m giving it 3 stars: combination of 4 stars because the service is still pretty good — 2 stars for the quality of the food.

Run far away from this place !!!
The food is horrible and I am amazed they have not been closed down yet. Place smells too and the bathroom watch of that one as well.

Went here for years back in the late 90’s when we lived in SF and loved it. Went and visited today after not having been there for about 10 years and it was JUST as good as then. Not sure where all the negative reviews are coming from but the food and service was the same as back then… GREAT. We sat at the bar so our son could experience the «sushi on floating boats» thing and had a mixture of California rolls (super fresh!), cucumber rolls, spicy seaweed and others… also ordered chicken teriyaki and rice and banana tempura for desert. all of it was fresh and tasty. Prices don’t seem like they’ve changed much which was even better. Our waiter was quick and friendly ad we had no problems at all with the speed and accuracy of our orders. All in all. don’t let the negative reviews fool you… give this place a chance… you won’t be sorry.

This location compare to the Japantown has an option for a few tables, instead of sitting at their sushi boat bar. It’s an okay place to grab a quick bite to eat for lunch. Prices are pretty much standard though some of their higher end sashimi might be a little steep for the quality. Parking can be a challenge during peak lunch/​dinner hours, especially here in Burlingame Ave. Overall, I’d say check them out.
Until then, Cheers! ~ :p

This is my first Unilocal review ever. My kids learned an important lesson from this experience.
My family loves sushi and we just wanted a quick bite. It was 12:45pm, should be prime lunch but the restaurant only has a couple parties at the counter. Our waistress seems ok at the beginning and it took a while to order because she was taking her time to clean the counter next to us.
So my 7 year old wanted shrimp tempura udon but it was not on the menu. There was a picture of a COLD tempura udon posted on the glass over the sushi boats so I asked if I could order that with hot soup instead. I also asked to have tempura on the side. The waitress answered, «of course, tempura is always on the side».
So the udon came COLD. I asked nicely, «sorry, I ordered the hot udon.». The waitress said, «No, you did NOT say HOT.» I said «I pointed at the picture but asked for a HOT udon.» then she said, «I did NOT hear you say HOT.» I said, «My son doesn’t eat cold udon so can you give us a bowl of soup so we could put the udon in?» She looked really irritated and as she started walking away, she said, «The picture said COLD and you pointed at the picture.» Obviously, this is simply a misunderstanding. Perhaps she’s having a bad day but I don’t think this is proper customer service. My 7 year old said to me as she stormed away into the kitchen, «mom, this lady seems kind of mad.» It was obvious that she’s pissed… over hot or cold udon.
As she put down my check, she said, «have a nice day.» My son whispered to me, «i don’t think I’ll have a nice day when she’s so mean.» This is a teaching moment…“even if we’re having a bad day, we have to be careful HOW we talk to people around us so we won’t hurt their feelings.” I hope my kids have learned something from this experience.

This is probably my favorite spot for sushi in Burlingame. The chefs and staff are friendly and approachable. There is always a variety of sushi to choose from and they are willing to make certain items on request for you. Sometimes you’ll find half the boats empty, but it’s never so busy that you can’t ask the chef to make something special for you.

I started coming here with my cousin and my aunt a few years ago and now we eat here every once in a while. Business has definitely slowed down, which isn’t really ideal considering that there is raw fish circulating around in those boats waiting to be picked.
We came in on Sunday for dinner and it was just one of those un-​busy nights. Every so often we would see something fresh the chef just put down, but we ended up having to order a few nigiri rolls rather than picking from the rubbery looking pieces of sushi.
Aside from that, the sushi typically tastes great (in my opinion). Plus, the waitresses are always very prompt with refills. If anything I would love for people to start eating here more often so they can almost guarantee fresh sushi on the boats.

This place is great if you’re in the mood for something simple, fresh and quick. In addition, their California roll is sooo delicious and made with fresh crab.
I always get the scallop, ika, salmon, and uni nigiri. The miso soup is also always flavorful and never cold.

We have been going to Isobune in the city since I was young and it is amazing. However, this Isobune was not the same, and a massive disappointment. Old sushi that had dried out, poor service, sushi boats half full, and filthy tables. They need to have more chefs behind the boat bar or lose the tables and focus on the sushi boats only. We will not be coming back.

Sushi place is awesome, best chef Ken. Unagi avocado hand roll is to die for, must try. The black tobiko w/​quail eggs is so so good. So fresh it melts in your mouth. The regular scallops sushi and Oyster yes fresh and flavorful!!! This I recommend to must try.
The ambiance is good, place is very clear and server are very attentive.

Been going here for about 10 years when in the area. Always liked it because it was quality with convenience. They have the bamboo boats that circle in a water channel around the sushi chefs. You grab what you want and away you go.
Unfortunately, this place has been declining the last 2 or 3 times I’ve been there. The food was OK but the service was really poor. The bamboo boats were less than half full of sushi choices. There was uncleaned tables all over, the 1 waitress barely understood the customers, and most tables were lucky to get service more than once during their meal. Couldn’t even get refills of water??? In defense, the 1 waitress was waiting tables, bussing, hosting, and taking phone/​to go orders. And the chefs would make anything to order if you knew the process.
But really declined since I started going here. Too many great places in the area to keep going here. Probably won’t stop back for a while.

Disappointed. I felt like I was robbed. Bill was $ 24 for two people and I did not want to spend another dime. Portions were too small. Beef teriyaki was okay, but for $ 9.50 and JUST for a small piece of meat with no rice, salad, and miso (that is $ 3.50 extra), is nuts. The sushi boat had small portions, as well. I left the place starving. Am comparing the food to all the other restaurants in Burlingame. I want to feel like I got my money’s worth. If the food was amazing then maybe I can justify the price, but it was not.
I have been here twice now and have never been happy with the experience. Cut the price in half or double the portions!

Meh. That’s what I think of this place. I thought I was eating a tempura roll from one of the boats but when I bit into it, there was an extra crunch. Seemed like the skin was on the shrimp so I asked about it… Turns out I was eating a spider roll. Either way it made me think besides I only got 2 pieces for $ 3.95. The chicken teri donburi bowl was tasty though.
Some of the items on the boat looked like they were sitting there for a long time.
The menu didn’t have very many options and I had to ask for a lunch special menu. I guess this is something that’s not automatically offered… Another thing to make me think.
The staff was very friendly but I’m not sure if I would try this place again. :/

Came here because the picture of the bento box wheeled me in and got seated and the young waiter said we didn’t have any bento boxes even though we saw a picture of it outside.
Menu was confusing and asked the waiter some questions and she was clueless on what was in each roll.
Everything you order here has to be ordered separately. Keep that in mind!
Everyone I came with had their food arrive and mine was taking longer than usual and so I asked if it was ready and she said no I forgot to punch it in and she can punch it in now.
I refused because everyone was done eating and didn’t want to hold everyone up.
HORRIBLE SERVICE AND THE FOOD WAS NOT THAT APPETIZING. NEVER coming here again.