Amakara

After reading all of these reviews on Unilocal,my sister and I decided to come here for lunch yesterday. We arrived there around noon, and our wait was 20 minutes– which isn’t TOO bad, depending if the sushi bar is available first or not. They say patience is a virtue, and particularly for food, it better be awesomely delicious! This place was crackin’ lackin’, with families and workers (there are businesses around here, so it must be a favorite lunch place).
We eventually got a table, and our server was a very lovely older woman. I ordered the spicy ramen, and my sister ordered the regular ramen (from the lunch special menu). We also ordered the takoyaki and the Philadelphia roll. The ramen came first, then the takoyaki and lastly the roll.
I ordered the spicy ramen thinking that it wasn’t awfully spicy. DAMN, was I wrong. I have an okay tolerance for spicy, and I want to increase my tolerance as well as my appreciation for spicy food. I couldn’t finish my broth, but I finished everything else! Lots of chili oil and flakes are in this ramen, so if you have a low tolerance, it might be wise to not get it, LOL! Despite my mouth burning like no other, I thoroughly enjoyed the spicy ramen, as well as the takoyaki and the Philadelphia roll. It’s not so spicy that there were tears coming out, but it definitely has a kick. My sister enjoyed her ramen, and after drinking my spicy broth, the broth in her ramen tasted awesome.
The one thing my sister and I noticed is that there weren’t enough servers/​waiters. They were understaffed yesterday for lunch, thus service was a little slow.
From the looks of it, the lunch special combo is a hella big plate of rice and whatever items you choose from that list! It looks like it could feed two people, or just yourself if you have a big appetite (:
I would definitely come back here to try the menu rest of the menu!

Food is great. Service is mediocre.
Waiters need more experience/​training. Went for dinner and wAitress was passing food from across the table behind others heads to the opposite side of the table w/​out saying excuse me or anything. Was very unprofessional. Also some nwaiters need to be prompted for basic device items.

This place is pretty good. They have a few unique items I have not seen anywhere else.
The service is great.
It gets very crowded on the weekends so be prepared to wait at least 30 minutes. They have a bar which makes the wait bearable.
The prices are comparable for a sushi restaurant. I’d say it’s high end but you’re in Dublin. Great date place.

I would give them 5 stars but everytime we come here their service is lacking.
Everything we have tried on their menu is good. We love the edamame for an appetizer.
The rolls are good we always ask for ours with less rice and they typically comply.
Seafood tastes clean and fresh.
Haven’t had any desserts here so can’t comment.

I’ve eaten at a lot of sushi places in my time and ALWAYS compare them to Amakara. I have been going to Amakara since it opened. Let’s just say I had my 15^th birthday party here and I’m 23 almost 24 now. Before Amakara, I was going to the owner/​head chef’s other restaurant that he worked at in Stockton. To make a long story short this place is good, better than good… it’s the best! They are pretty much always busy so make sure to either make a reservation or get there and expect a possibility of waiting (it’s worth the wait though).
First thing is first, you have to order the grilled edamame. They are unlike any other edamame that you have ever tasted and will make you actually like to eat it! Other notable items on the menu that I pretty much always order whenever I go:
–Gyoza
–Miso soup
–Red Dragon
–Spicy Crunchy Rainbow roll
-***Scallop paradise (the best)
–Lime Scallop (amazing)
–Spider Roll
–Tempura Roll
There are a lot of other rolls you can order but these are my personal favorite rolls and items on the menu! They also have great lunch specials that give you a lot of food if you are into that sort of deal. The ingredients they use are top notch (you can just taste it)! Their service is so so. It isn’t like omg WOW this is amazing but it isn’t bad either. Really you’re going for the food anyways so what does it matter? If you haven’t been to Amakara you are missing out on the best sushi place in the bay area. Once you do go, you’ll understand what I’m talking about. Words and pictures don’t do this place justice. Trust me on this one and get here today!

Finally, I have found a great sushi place outside of San Francisco.
The place is happening and the atmosphere is fun.
The sushi is fresh and the menu is great.
It closes at 9pm and after 8 pm you can see fatigue set in some of the severs; which is not always fun.
I will definitely go there frequently.

If you’re looking for good tasting Japanese food and fresh sushi you’re in luck because Amakara delivers.
We ordered the agedashi tofu for starters and mixed tempura, mixed sashimi, spicy tuna roll and spicy sesame seared tuna roll. Everything was delicious and the sushi was fresh!
Staff is friendly and attentive. The restaurant itself is a decent size with a sushi bar in the center. Make sure you make reservations or else you might have a long wait ahead of you! The first time we ate here we came on a Saturday around 4:45 PM (they open at 5 PM) and there was already a line formed outside. This time we ordered take out for dinner on a Thursday. Didn’t expect it to be crowded when we got there around 7 PM but I was wrong, there was a long wait.

NEVER DISAPPOINTED. This excludes the wait. Come to the place expecting a line and you won’t have anything else to complain about.
A few of the eats that I order:
— Sashimi Appetizer: always an order.
— Uni Sushi– if it’s available. Why the H not?
— Steak and Eggplant: Steak is Rib Eye. Eggplant is seasoned well and grilled. I’ll just stop there.
— Garlic Edamame: You’ll never go back to regular Edamame again.
— Lychee Martini: LOVE
— Pomergranate Martini: LIKE. It’s a nice teaser but the Lychee’s the pleaser.
— Beef Teriyaki: Not what I usually order. But this is a staple for my dad and brother and I always catch myself stealing some. It’s Rib Eye. CMON now.
— Spicy Tuna Roll: Delish and Fresh.
— Spicy Ramen: Noodles and broth so good, I didn’t even notice there wasn’t any meat or that the egg was overcooked. But because of those two items, I rate this a 4.
Some kindly advice: Get there by 5 PM or forget about it. Bring a book for the hour plus wait. And they don’t take reservations.
Should you wait and you’re not starving, it’s worth it.

I’m going to keep this short since there are a ton of other reviews.
The is restaurant is one of the most reviewed in the Dublin area and for the area, this restaurant gets 5 stars for the quality delicious food it provides. The place gets pretty busy, so try to make a reservation if you can. The restaurant is huge so it’s able to accommodate a lot of people, so it’s also good for large groups.
I’ve been here several times and the quality has been consistent. I’ve ordered the Chirashi bowls, Rainbow Rolls, sashimi salad, etc. All of them were delicious and come with a decent portion of food. The fish and the ingredients are fresh and I would definitely come here to eat if I’m ever in the area.

In an area like Dublin, you would think the sushi here is going to be overpriced and under expectation with mostly Americanized food selection like chicken teriyaki and tempura. But little did I expect, it has slowly become my go to «sushi» place on any given night.
There’s always a line, so get there early like 15 minutes before 5pm which is when they open in order to get in on that first round of seating. If it’s any dinner time Mon-​Thurs you can make reservations. But I mean, there’s an open bar RIGHT THERE that you can drink and dine at to help time pass along (which goes by quickly). It’s always popping at this location and lots of festivities and noise. There’s also happy hour Mon-​Friday, specials off beer!
The wait is going to be there, so don’t get upset that you weren’t warned to start with! Anyways, onto the food. They have a great selection, that’s extremely fresh of sashimi and they usually have everything in stock.
Mirugai sashimi is MP (20) and comes with five pieces, like all their sashimi does. Such freshness and crunch that you can’t find anywhere else. They even top it off with a little bit of red tobiko. Tako sashimi (8) and unagi sashimi (10) so bomb AF in freshness. Never anything disgusting, so slimy, you know that your fish was fresh and clean, wasn’t going to give anybody salmonella.
When your waiter comes, make sure to drop a line that you want to order the grilled edamame (6) so it can come with your drinks as you wait for your food! It’s mind blowing amazing and the portion is huge, even for two to share. Nicely salted and oiled, with that roasted char. You simply can’t just have one, Next thing you know, it’s round two of drinks and you’re out of edamame.
Drinkwise, their bar is a full bar you can basically have whatever you usually order. Bartenders here are SUPER generous with the portions and you will get a great buzz. They have a great cocktail list that’s their own speciality here. My favorite of all time is the NightOwl Punch= basically vodka and redbull and then some. Gives you a killer buzz, but my own complaint is that the cup they serve it in varies depending on the bar tender. Sometimes, I get a pint other times it’s in a whiskey sized glass. (They also have never put the little umbrella or the pineapple slice-​NOT IMPRESSED). If you want to go for a more classic, the moscow mule here is ginger-​ly refreshing.
There’s a variety of house rolls that are special. I’ve enjoyed the Klondike Express, Shrimp Mango, and the classic Spider Roll (they use an entire fried soft shelled crab that’s crisp to perfection). The nigiri is always fresh and on point– the sushi chefs know what they’re doing and presentation is always a given. You can’t go wrong on your choice of fish. I often times only come for the drinks, an order of the grilled edamame, and some sashimi.
There’s always something to experience new here food and drinks! The atmosphere is always great and if you want something more intimate, sit at the bar for a chance to chat with the chefs and give them a custom order. Plus, you get front row seats to all the sports you can watch during the season!
As «high end» as this place might seem, it’s extremely down to earth with some amazing food. To catch up, for a date, I mean the menu is endless and the customer service here is awesome. Japanese fusion + bar.

I was going a 4 or 5 star review but went for a 3 star instead. I’ll tell you why. My friend made a reservation for a Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. We didn’t get a table until 8. We waited 20 minutes for our server. My friend is just like me. She get cranky when she hungry with a bad temper. By the time our server introduced herself and after placing our order we waited another 20 minutes for our food. If our server had been at our table at 8. We would have had our order in front of us when she introduced herself. Keep in mind that we had 30 minutes to look at the menu while we waited to be seated so we already knew what we wanted. Maybe they were understaffed on server or in the kitchen that day.
The food was really good. We had the grilled edamame (must try) as a appetizer while we waited for our food. Big portions especially for the salmon teriyaki which came with two big pieces of salmon. Good quality sushi! Chirashi bowl had a pretty decent size pieces of sushi.
Don’t let my bad experience keep you from eating at Amakara. It’s really good quality food. You’ll get your moneys worth. I shall return at a different time that is not after 5 p.m. when everyone is off work and I’ll update my review.

Good sushi, bad service.
My friend and I decided to grab dinner one night to catch up. East Bay sushi spot with over a thousand reviews and four stars? Yeah, my expectations were high.
First off, this place gets CROWDED. Expect to wait for a table. There’s no way around it. Of course in Dublin, you have huge granite tables and chairs that could pass as thrones. It’s the nice part about being back in a bougie suburb. Personal space. Oh how I miss you. It adds to the vibe.
The portions are huge. Yes, you are paying about $ 15 for a roll but the portion size does more than its part in filling you up.
I’ll give Amakara points for their creativity. Its rolls are really unique and aren’t the traditional «Lion King roll with that delicious but bad for you spicy mayo». My friend and I got the Klondike Express and Tropical Punch. Both rolls were good. The Klondike Express had a generous portion of avocado and the Tropical Punch’s spicy tuna is actually spicy.
The service though? It shouldn’t take forty minutes to get the check. I get that the restaurant gets busy but still. The service has more of a «get in, get out» vibe and it’s not ideal to be taking your time.
It’s definitely one of the better sushi spots I’ve been to in the East Bay. It’s worth the money but don’t have high expectations on the total restaurant package.

One of the better sushi spots in Pleasanton/​Dublin. Wait times can be a bit long but it’s because they are that good.
Prices are steeper than usual for sushi places, especially lunch specials, but their fish is fresh and they are incredibly friendly.
Portions are bigger then what you normally expect. I normally go with the lunch combination (it’s a lot of rice, so if you don’t do carbs skip this). I get the salmon shioyaki and vegetable tempura. If dining in it comes with soup and salad and 2 gyozas. If taking out you get all of the above except the soup. Also, for take out call in advance because it’ll be about 35 – 40 minutes. If going on your lunch break… either go before or after the lunch crowd, because it will take most of your time to even get seated.
If you like edamame, make sure you get an order of their grilled edamame, YUUUUUMMM,
This is the first time I tried Uni, it was fresh, but Uni isn’t really my thing. My friend said it was prepared correctly, and tasted like it was good quality Uni.
The soft shell crab appetizer is pretty tasty as well, I think it’s the green sauce that makes it tastes good.
If you’re in town and not on a budget… I would check out Amakara for your sushi needs.

Our family has been coming here for years, when Joe the sushi extraordinaire would make us special sushi rolls. Before there was a line of 70 people for 5:00 dinner service on the Sunday before Christmas.
Never had a bad meal here. We’ve tried almost every sushi roll, the sesame chicken is to die for and the spicy ramen is everything.
The service can be hit or miss. Yesterday when I went in to buy a gift card at the bar, the lady was complaining that she had to refill the gift cards already 3x today. This was around 2:00 in the afternoon. I know she’s trying to say that they’re really busy and doing well but I just think this is an odd thing to say.
Although I came in for a gift card, I decided to stay for the spicy ramen and my mom took advantage of the lunch special. Everything was delicious, our waitress spilled the gyoza (Japanese pot sticker) off my mom’s plate but came back within 10 mins and replaced it.
Our family absolutely loves this place, food is great, cocktails are strong but be prepared to wait in line and the restaurant can get really loud during peak times.

I didn’t know such high quality sushi existed so close to home! My parents kept telling me about this Japanese place in Dublin that always had an hour-​long wait, but we finally decided to go for it. You’ve got to get here right when it opens, or you’ll have to wait a while. The bar is a great place to distract yourself.
We ordered a bunch of different rolls, the chicken katsu on rice, grilled squid, tataki, sashimi, and tempura. Everything was really good and fresh, with the exception of the chicken katsu. It tasted sour and was really mushy, and it was also around $ 20. Stick to the sushi!

Spontaneous trip to east bay only to find this spot on Unilocal.Chilling around 430pm and wanted something to grub. Saw that this spot opened at 5pm so I decided to stop by. I read that the line would start forming before it was open and that was surely the case this time even on a Tuesday.
The line to enter at 5pm was at least 15 people long and we were quickly accommodated at the bar as requested to watch the Warriors game. #Dubation
As I was entering the restaurant, I could see that the spot was definitely more of a higher tier sushi restaurant. It was dimly lit and decorated with class. We end up ordering a shrimp mango roll and a Hawaiian delight which came up to be around $ 34 pre tip. I got to say that the Hawaiian delight tasted like pizza. It has such an unique taste to it that I have never had before. Pizza on a sushi roll? Now that’s something you have to try. The bacon bits make it that much better too. The shrimp mango was also fabulous. Carefully crafted with love, it tasted very fresh. Although we stopped ourselves from more rolls, I got to say this spot is one I would I go back again to.
Although on the pricier end, if you’re craving a little good stuff and don’t mind dropping some bands, this sushi spot is for you. Hawaiian delight is a must especially if you’re a pizza lover. Thumbs up!

Conveniently located near Stoneridge Shopping Center. We came here about ten minutes before opening and there was already a line outside the door. It eventually got longer as it got closer to 5pm. I have never seen a line for sushi, ever.
Given that it was also a Tuesday, one of the least busiest days of the week. this sushi place seemed to be pretty popular, which meant one thing, it HAD to be good. People weren’t lining up for nothing, right?
We got seated pretty quickly. Requested to sit at the bar because wanted to watch the Warriors game. Got served hot tea and water upon request. Looked through the menu and saw that they had tons of options. They had the more common rolls on one page, like the dragon roll or California roll, but turn to the next page and you find yourself looking at a whole list of really unique rolls. We ordered the shrimp mango which was basically tempura, crab, mango, etc. We also ordered the Hawaiian delight and this was my fave. Why? Because it tasted exactly like the maui zaui pizza from Round Table which I love so much. Sushi that tastes like pizza, whaaaaaaaat?! It had teriyaki glaze, smoked salmon, bacon, pineapple, etc. It had a tangy sweet/​sour flavor to it, but it was perfect! Each specialty roll was around $ 12 – 16. The more common rolls were $ 8 – 10 and that’s pretty normal.
I loved that we were able to sit at the bar and watch the sushi chefs do their thang! :)
The place was very clean and dimly lit. The place started getting crowded 30 minutes after they opened so good thing we avoided the wait! Would definitely come here again, but only if I’m in the area!

HAWT DIZZAM!
This sushi spot is the BEST thing popping in Dublin! This is like a best kept secret joint in the Bay Area. I don’t know what it is about Amakara. Now, don’t get me wrong this place does get packed house in here especially during dinner time; it’s not easy to get a table here but that LONGGG wait is totally worth it. Let me tell you this restaurant is better than all of the upscale SF sushi restaurants, including Ozumo, and isn’t as expensive. The wait is long during dinner time but trust when I say, «It’s all worth it».
The rolls are original and tasty. The sushi and sashimi plates come with high quality fresh fish. The presentations are wonderful. It can get a bit noisy when the place is full and the bar area. I had this place on my bookmark list for a while now and wanted to finally check it off. I came here with one of my girlfriends for a Friday Ladies Night and was totally pleased with everything!
FOOD:
~Asparagus beef Wrap $ 11.50
Grilled edamame $ 6
~Klondike Express $ 15
~Beef Terriki Vento box (That our server split in two plates) How nice is that!
DRINKS:
Amakara Cocktail $ 9
Every tasted incredibly fresh and left me happy and excited for the next time I visit this amazing spot.
Our server Stephanie was very polite especially as the place was really busy, and we were there on Friday night.
All THE REASONS YOU SHOULD COME HERE:
I love the creative, trendy, fresh food. I am sure the owner hired selected chefs and said, «go– create imaginative food and have fun». Everything is picture worthy that they bring you. Don’t be afraid to try new things.
The only downside (if you can consider it one) is that it’s so amazing, you will rarely get in without a wait. During this difficult time, I suggest ordering a drink from the bar!
The average price for dinner without drinks is about $ 30 but again everything is TOTALLY WORTH EVERY PRETTY PENNY!
Enjoy!

4.5÷5
Just moved to the East Bay and I’ve been trying all the sushi places near me but I just couldn’t find one that actually satisfied my craving for good quality fish, rice, etc. but Amakara did the job. I called ahead during Friday lunch and ordered a Chirashi and Uni nigiri. They told me it would take 30 minutes and they had it ready as soon as I arrived. I was surprised since the restaurant was pretty busy.
Now for the food:
Chirashi:
Some ups and downs but overall impressed. I was scared that the $ 27 wouldn’t be worth it but it really was. I was a bit disappointed when I first opened the box (it looked small and some of the fish wasn’t cut very well) but by the time I finished, I realized how much fish was packed in there. They gave the typical selection of fish you’d expect in a Chirashi but they did a few extra things to set it over the top. For example they added grated ginger to the saba (which just makes it so much better), had a beautiful scallop (much sweeter than most places), added in hirame, etc. And for the most part their fish was fresh and tender compared to the typical sushi joint. Rice had good texture and was more flavorful than a lot of the places I’ve been going to recently. Overall 4.5÷5 stars.
Uni:
Oh so so so good. I haven’t had good uni in a while (under $ 10). But the uni nigiri has generous sizes and the uni is sweet and buttery. Probably the best I’ve had for the price ($ 8). (⁵⁄₅)
I couldn’t decide if I wanted to round up or down but the kind, timely service plus other small things like a big parking lot and nice atmosphere (even though I didn’t eat there) made me round up. Overall a really good sushi spot. I will definitely be back if I’m in the area.

I’ve been coming here for over 5 years now, and it’s consistently good sushi.
Eddie, thanks for accommodating us at the bar a couple weeks ago with our customized handrolls! Hope you enjoyed the sake.