Kobe Sake

SAVE YOUR TIME AND YOUR MONEY. I would give this place no stars if that was possible. Never in my life did I think I would wait almost 2 hours for mediocre food. I came here with one other person and was able to be seated right away. There was currently two other tables taken. It took 20 minutes to get our order taken and not even water was offered within that time frame. We decided to get two salmon skin hand rolls, a dragon roll, a shrimp tempura roll and a volcano roll. The salmon skin hand rolls had no flavor whatsoever. Both the dragon roll and shrimp tempura roll were just okay (I’ve definitely had better). And the best thing about the volcano roll was the lemon piece they put on top of it. I tried being patient and understanding because I saw there was one person waiting tables and one sushi chef, but when the sushi chef is drinking beer with other customers instead of making food for the people who have been waiting for a long period of time, that’s when I have a problem. No apologies were given for the fact our food came out one by one all within the span of 2 hours. Ichiban Sushi is literally three doors down and it isn’t one of my favorite spots either, but the food is so much better than what I got here. Honestly, don’t waste your time going here. Your stomach and your patience will thank you later.

6:25pm — Arrive with my girlfriend, first impression was a very chill environment. Good Hawaiian /​reggae music playing, clean, and cozy.
6:35pm — We had to ask for water, but was denied to take our orders when we were ready
6:45pm — Finally placed our order of 2 salmon hand rolls, 2 specialty rolls, and an appetizer of the mussels
7:00pm — waitress informs us that they are out of mussels, we order another roll
7:20pm — hand rolls come out, mediocre
7:35pm — 1^st roll (tempura tastes like an onion ring wrapped in rice)
7:50pm — 2^nd roll (ok dragon roll)
8:10pm — volcano roll (all hype, burnt fish, piece of lemon was the best part)
8:15pm — Gave debit card to chef for check, he leaves it on the counter, we had to walk up to the waitress to get checked out while I see the chef drinking a beer in the back talking to his friend
8:25pm — End
*It should not take 2 hours for sushi
* mediocre sushi
* terrible service

If I could take this one star back I would because this plase does not deserve to even be in business. I came in with my family 4 of us in total we all ordered at the same time, my wife’s food came about a half hour before my daughters and her food came in about 15 min before my son’s and his food came in about 20 before mine. This place sucks so bad. Food was gross bathroom was filthy. I would go next door if I were you.

This place doesn’t even deserve a one star. It deserve nothing! This is the WORST place I have ever seen in Millbrae. Waiter can’t get order right. The chef spent more time running his mouth instead of doing his job to make the food. Waited over an hour and still waiting for an order of sushi. Do he have to travel across country to get the food to prepare? Absolutely NEVER coming back. Lousy food, service and disgusting place.

okay, it took us 1 damn hour to get our food and it was NOT BUSY !!! I saw a couple come in 20 minutes right after we did and they left first… So service was okay, I asked the waiter why our food took so long and why did the other couple get to eat and leave so quickly he said because they ordered soup… Yeah whatever… Never once he apologized. All he said was he tried to time it so that both our food came out together but no mines came out first how long does it take to roll 2 rolls and fry some tempura. Never going back there again disappointed and upset. I’ve been in the restaurant industry for over 10 years and I know what a good dining experience is!

We stumbled into this place because Amami was full and we needed a sushi fix before dropping our friends off at SFO nearby. It was really quiet in there for being 6:30 on a Sat night but those at the sushi bar seemed to know the staff. The atmosphere is very different here at Kobe and reminded us of a dive bar that happen to serve sushi. Their service was friendly and attentive and we liked the food just fine. Nothing was amazing but it’s good enough. However, I was not happy with their sake prices. They only have house sake and large bottles of sake with $ 60 being the lowest price. I love my good sakes but I had a 2^nd dinner to get to so I wasn’t about to drink $ 60 worth of sake to myself. They have draft beer so that’s another plus. The Agedashi Tofu was good but I would call it Tofu Tempura because it had a lot of batter and texture of tempura. We enjoyed their Miso soup and their rolls. The Snow White Roll $ 11.00 (Scallop, mayo, tobiko, kaiware) and Felicia Roll Sushi $ 8.00 (Shrimp tempura, spicy tuna topped with avocado) were both very good and we like the names. In fact, many of their rolls have creative and clever names. The rice-​less Summer Roll $ 11.00 (Ahi, salmon, white tuna, avocado, mint leaves, rolled in cucumber) was great! The Volcano Roll $ 15.00 (Crab, salmon, white fish, scallop, lobster and tobiko) had a very pretty presentation. As you can see, their prices are OK. We’ll be back when I feel like drinking a big bottle of sake. I like to find Japanese restaurants owned and run by Japanese so I can practice my Japanese should I feel like it but this is not that kind of place. It’s a divey joint staffed and possibly owned by really friendly, non-​Asians, which is simply an observation.

Never coming back here again. Service was too damn slow. Food was okay. Nothing to shout about. I could go to any ordinary sushi place and get roughly the same quality and amount (maybe even more and better for a better value of money).
We came at 5.15pm on a Friday and were the first ones here. We saw the sushi chef (which we later found out turns out to be the owner) taking a smoke break outside and he only came into the restaurant around 5 minutes later. Shortly, two other customers came after us. So, it wasn’t packed or anything. We only ordered 3 rolls and 1 sashimi plate and waited for 35 – 40 mins and only 3 dishes came.
At this point, we were already ready to leave and the customers after us haven’t even gotten anything yet besides a bowl of edamame. Shortly after that, (into 40 mins now), the two other customers went up to the server and told her that they wanted everything to go because they had to be somewhere. She didn’t even offer any apology what so ever. After that, we decided to get our last roll to go too because, honestly, close to an hour and they couldn’t even make 3 rolls and 1 sashimi plate (non cooked rolls btw)?? I even told her that it was taking forever and that we wanted our last roll to go. No apologies for us too! And she gave us the cheque before the last roll even came! However, there were two customers at the bar who appeared to be regulars/friend’s of the owner and had his full attention by chatting with them. They also got their food before everyone else there. And the regulars arrived later than all of us.
I rarely get frustrated about things like this and I would understand if it was packed or would even appreciate an apology or some sort of acknowledgement at least but, non was given.

I love this spot. Perfection thru rice and fish. Chef is a rockstar.

my fav sushi go to!!!

we were on our way back from the city and decided to stop here for a quick dinner since it was close to the freeway. at 6pm on a sunday, it was pretty empty here, i think it was just hubby and i and a handful of other customers.
i ordered the following:
+happy buddah salad ($ 6) — this was described as a mixed green salad with dressing, but i think i got much more than that. i received a fairly large bowl of mixed greens with sliced cucumbers, daikon, pickled carrots, sliced avocado, and salted tofu. it was garnished with sesame seeds and came with a side of creamy ginger/​miso dressing. what a great combo! everything in this salad was so fresh and tasty and i didn’t even need that much dressing for it to taste good!
+summer roll ($ 13) — this roll consisted of salmon, white tuna, avocado, mint leaves, all rolled up in cucumber. it was essentially a low-​carb, gluten-​free roll which is something i’d never had before. to be honest, i didn’t miss the rice and seaweed b/​c the fresh cucumber and avocado with soy sauce made up for the salty component! the fish was just ok, definitely not the freshest i’d had, but they were certainly generous in filling this roll with various cuts of salmon and tuna. i did not detect any mint leaves, but that wasn’t a big deal to me. i had chosen this roll based on the recommendation of our waiter and did not regret making this choice.
my husband ordered the shrimp tempura curry ($ 13) which consisted of tempura tiger prawns over curry sauce. this was a nice serving of protein and carbs, and my husband, being a lover of prawns, fried food, and white rice, pretty much devoured his bowl! i’ll take that as a sign that he enjoyed his food!
the service was pretty good as we received a great deal of attention from our waiter. we even got to chat with him a bit when he brought our check and found out that he was originally from spain, and had lived in several countries prior to moving to the bay area.
parking was easy for us, as we parked just a few steps away from the restaurant, but noticed that there weren’t too many dedicated parking spaces for this restaurant.
good location in san bruno, near 380 and 101, and definitely a good place for a date night when the restaurant isn’t at capacity.

This place is a 2 min drive from my house but I’ve refrained from coming since I moved here 2 years ago because honestly, I didn’t expect much from this place. But on Monday, the other local sushi places were closed and my hubby had been craving a negihama roll so I decided to give it a try. Should have gone with my gut.
The sushi was mediocre at best and the rolls fell apart. Why I’m not giving it a 2 star which is standard for «mediocre, not BAD food» is that my negihama was $ 9! That is way more than some much higher end sushi places. There was no negihama roll on the menu but I figured if a negihama hand roll was $ 5, a regular roll should be $ 5 or $ 6 a most. I thought for sure this was wrong so I double checked with the waiter but he said that was right. I let it go and figured maybe it was going to be like a «special» roll, which are bigger, but nope, just a standard 6-​piece sushi roll. I still think I got mis-​charged.

Judging from the review’s… Kobe Sake restaurant is struggling to run and operate a restaurant. The restaurant has the worst service, and probably should figure out why they are even in this business. Ordered from door dash and the restaurant failed to open on time, and the staff was super rude to door dash and me. Poor service! Will not be ever eating here again!

Great food and great people! A really good, friendly atmosphere, and they make you feel like family.

Let me start off by saying the rating is strictly based on the service coming from the kitchen/​sushi chef. The food was good and our waitress was so nice, but the long wait kind of overshadowed anything that could have been great about this place.
A friend and I came here a little before 8pm on a Sunday night, to kill some time before picking up a friend from the airport. We called ahead to make sure there wasn’t a wait, and they told us they had plenty of open tables so we would be seated right away. When we got there, there were only about 3 other tables that were occupied, so I figured we would probably be in and out within the hour. WRONG.
We spent about 5 – 10 minutes max looking over the menu before ordering, and we each got one nigiri and one specialty roll — all made with raw fish. It took about 20 – 25 minutes just for the nigiri to come out, which is just ridiculous considering it’s literally just a tiny sliver of raw fish on top of a scoop of rice. Our waitress told us our other rolls were coming right up, and for awhile I believed her. Another 10 or 15 minutes passed by and my friend asked for a second beer, and again she said the other two rolls were coming «soon.» Another 10 – 15 minutes goes by after that and still no rolls.
Finally I hear what I assume to be the chef say something along the lines of «oh sorry i got caught up back there — what’s the order?» I couldn’t believe it — where on earth had he disappeared to for 30 or so minutes?!? Sure enough he was making my roll, which took another 5 minutes to come out once he reappeared. And then even after my roll came out my friend didn’t get hers until 10 minutes later! I tried to be polite and wait but at this point I was so starving and my whole roll was gone by the time hers came out.
Not sure what exactly goes on at this place or if I just came on the wrong night, but I most likely will not be coming back. If it wasn’t for our waitress being so nice I would have complained, but maybe that’s apart of their gimmick. In any case, I’d only recommend if you’re desperate for some sushi and don’t mind waiting a long time for your food. I’m scared to see what the wait looks like when it’s ACTUALLY busy.

Awesome sushi joint with fun and great service and super tasty bites. This place always puts a smile on my face and we always try to find time to come here. The uni is fresh and mouth watering and they have delicious sake. Ambiance is great, love the huge fish mural on the back wall.

Terrible service. After nearly an hour and a half we finally got two of our appetizers.
He forgot the other one.
I ended up canceling the order and getting the check. A few other people also walked out. It was not busy and it’s a small place, there’s no excuse.
Waters never got refilled and we were never offered other drinks.
There are too many good places to sit around waiting hours for food that doesn’t even need to be cooked.

I’m speechless and embarrassed.
Speechless because: we were seated at a table in the empty half of the restaurant, next to the restroom, when we walked in. Luckily my fiancé asked to move out of the time-​out section once a group of patrons left. Then, from ordering to receiving less than half of our food items, it took an hour and a half. NINETY MINUTES. In the time it took for us to cancel the rest of our order, another table walked out, and their oblivious server brought out their order minutes later. One of our appetizers never came out, probably because the order never went through. A roll was served with no wasabi or ginger. Dry glasses and no offers of another round of drinks. No apology or care in the world that we were leaving.
Embarrassed because: a friend of mine from out of town wanted sushi, and we had a good experience the last time we came here so we thought, this will appease her. Luckily Ninja Sushi (across from Artichoke Joe’s) salvaged the night.
Did we need to be regulars to receive a shred of decent service? Friends of the chef? Who knows, but I won’t be returning to find out.

Fresh food that was absolutely delicious. Nice cozy atmosphere and very friendly service. Definitely will return here many times. Pricing was reasonable as well and again, food was supreme

BLEH. Mediocre food and extremely sllllllllow food service. So slow, I felt my stomach was eating itself because it felt like forever for my food to come. We ordered one bento box, salmon sashimi, and 2 rolls. If it’s going to take close to an hour just for that, they should either hire another chef or give complimentary edamame or something in the mean time.
All the food came out together but the wait time was ridiculous, and the food was not worth the wait. The bento box order came out wrong, but we decided just to keep it since it took forever just to get. The salmon sashimi did not taste fresh at all. Dragon roll was the only good thing about this meal. Skip the Snow White roll– I didn’t like the texture or taste of the scallops.
Yes, The servers were friendly, but if I’m the one that keeps asking to get my drink refilled and the place was not even packed shows something lacking in customer service.
I’ll give one star for the friendly servers and another because this place is open later than other sushi places in the peninsula. If you’re hungry and craving good sushi, don’t come here.

I just wasted 45 minutes and my hard earned $$. I get that they are short staffed from over hearing the sushi chef say his assistant chef left, but that’s no excuse for bad sushi rice and over cooked tempura shrimp. At least I hope that’s what I ate. I really couldn’t tell. It was that bad.
Ugh.

PLEASE READ FIRST!
I’ve never written a review on Unilocal,but this place needs to read this. Two young waiters and a sushi chef were present (all male). Kid with glasses works at a sushi restaurant but doesn’t know what Saba is. He barely knows anything on the menu.
Time was about 9:30, place closes at 10. The sushi chef told his waiters to mention that they can only take to go orders to any in coming customers. A family walked in and were turned down. Frustrated as they were, the waiters calmly apologized to refuse them to sit. I thought the two waiters handled it well. It’s 9:45 and next thing you know it, friends of all staff came. About 6 people came in, sat at the bar, and started drinking!
The staff and their acquaintances bumped up the music and were so loud, they acted as if we weren’t present in the room.
My brother overheard one of the waiters talking to his friend about his encounter with the family that were persistent in being served. He quotes the waiter, «I mean it sucks to suck.» That pissed me off. First, you tell customers that they are not allowed in, have your friends come over to hang out, and talk bad about innocent people?! Terrible!
Oh I forgot to mention the sushi chef was drunk. He kept mentioning how he took two shots of 100 proof whiskey.
Never have I had service this bad. Everyone was immature, obnoxious, ignorant, and down right disrespectful. The food was good I’ll give you that, but I will never come here again because of these people. They deserved to be fired. The owner of the restaurant must do something about this.

Slow and bad service combined with mediocre food.
We got the sashimi’s lovers plate but there were no actual sashimi, just nigiri and two rolls. The caterpillar roll was supposed to come with tobiko, but only ONE piece had tobiko. Wtf? See pictures.
Then they took away both soy sauces while we’re eating and didn’t replace them. I had to ask if we could get the soy sauces back. Then they only gave me the low sodium one, which I preferred but my bf prefers the normal one. So I asked for the normal soy sauce, in which they responded by taking away the low sodium and then bringing the normal one. WTF#2.
I haven’t even mentioned the other things yet, like how they have three waiters and not that many customers but still took so long to give us the menus, take our order, and etc. I’ve been to this place twice before writing this review and this place still sucks. We wasted our time coming here.

My favorite place in the world for sushi no question. My spcial spicy tuna appetizer is my most craved food ever! Everyone I bring to this place ends up coming back over and over cause yes is that good! :-) thank you Kobe for being so tasty and always giving me a great time. May you thrive fo many more years to come! Love you guys.

Went for dinner here this past Saturday. I’m visiting the area but my parents live in San Bruno. This was the first time here for a all of us. The staff was very welcoming the fish was excellent and the atmosphere was fun. I’ve been searching for a casual sushi place that serves good food and I think I’ve found it. If you don’t have a sense of humour and are generally not in a good mood this place is not for you.
One other thing to note was that my Dad had dietary restrictions and the staff was more than willing to accommodate. When ever I go out and visit my parents this will be a must for dinner!

Looks like a small place but they have two separate rooms.
We got to sit where ever we wanted.
They play movies behind the sushi bar which caught everyone’s attention.
Service was a little slow and there were only a few parties.
We ordered and chicken teriyaki bento box with CA roll. It had lots of teriyaki sauce which was good.
Dragon roll was big and fulfilling.
I enjoyed the New York roll out of everything.
$ 40 for food and Sapporo was not bad.
Glad this place closed at 1am on a saturday.