Kenji Sushi

Their presentation of the sushi was wonderful and their rolls were an ample size. I loved the restaurant décor and the atmosphere.

Overall, decent sushi, generous portions for lunch combos, good service, and lots of seating. The only drawback is a tiny parking lot with only one entrance and that the lighting inside the restaurant is kind of dark (unless you sit on the north side near the windows).
Sushi: lots of choices of sushi rolls with several options I haven’t seen at other sushi restaurants before! The fish is fresh and comes in generous portions, and the rolls are usually the typical 8 – 10 pieces each. The pricing is about the same as I have seen at other places — about $ 12 – 13 per roll.
Combos: pretty decent pricing for the amount of food. ~$ 10 for one entrée, with miso soup, salad, rice, 3 small california rolls, and 1 piece of gyoza. For $ 3, you can add a side dish (such as 3 pieces of sashimi, tempura, karaage and a few other choices). Taste-​wise, the food is pretty solid. I especially like the menchi katsu and sukiyaki entrees. The portion size is also pretty generous, as I almost always go home with leftovers from my entrée.
The service here is also pretty nice, as the staff is pretty attentive and comes around occasionally to check on you during the meal. Also, Kenji Sushi is conveniently located across the street from Santana Row so just a short walk away from shopping, and it does have a bar section too (which means they’re also busier at night). I definitely would recommend this place and have already come back several times for sushi and lunch bentos :)

The service was great! I loved the soft shelled crab! We sat at the sushi bar and it was really enjoyable watching the chefs work. They were super fast. There is nothing better than fresh Uni and quail egg!

I went here for the first time last year and I remembered it being good. I came here today and it was horrible. I don’t mind spending almost 90 bucks on sushi if it was good but I’m never coming here again .
We sat by the sushi bar and first thing I noticed was the sushi container door wide open and left open for a long period of time. Also the sashimi was precut and not wrapped up.
What’s even worse is the service .
We sat down and my BF back was hurting so we kindly ask if there was any table available the first girl said she’ll check wth host and come back. She never did so we asked our server she responded can’t you see were busy but I’ll check with host. It would of been fine if she said no were unable to. She then came up to us again at the end of our meal and told us hay I can’t get you a table. It pretty late at that point and no use to even notify us.
Our waitress Sarah was terrible she never gave us small dipping plates I had to grab some from on the other table .
The person who dropped us our food said «there you go» .
We watched the host sat customer while being on the phone which by looking at the customers face is pretty offensive .
We also had to waive down our server Sarah for the check but our chef had to call for her why she yelled back «I got it «in a annoyed manner.
She then dropped off our check and said thanks and walked away with out acknowledging us if we needed anything else .
The food itself was okay .
The fish was slimy so I’m pretty sure it’s old from being precut and the rice has too much vinegar .
I’m going to pass on this place

Amazingly delicious. I’m always excited to try something new when I come here and I haven’t been disappointed yet!
+ You get to dine next to beautiful hanging terrariums! Best sushi I’ve had in SJ!

Fast seating and friendly service. The food was also good ;D
We had:
yellowtail jalapeño,
spicy tuna roll,
spicy scallop roll,
Kiss of fire roll,
tempura udon noodle,
Hamachi karaage
I liked the yellowtail jalapeño. The oil and jalapeño went really well together. It wasn’t sweet not too spicy either, just the right amount of both.
The next one I liked was the spicy scallop roll. I loved how soft and fresh tasting the baby scallops were. The flavor of the handroll was delicious and it tasted like seaweed salad for me: P.
The kiss was fire was a nice heat, no fire though. It was sure a kiss of goodness!
The udon noodle was chewy and had lots of seaweed inside. The broth reminded me of miso soup without the tofu though.
I was expecting the hamachi karaage to blow me away but it was just any other fried fish but with a more lemony dipping sauce.
Something that annoyed me was that while sitting in the booth, you can feel the person on the other side move and shake their leg. Super annoying during dinner if they keep moving! I would be back, but not in the same booth.

Great sushi! This is my first time at this sushi restaurant. I pass by this place a number of times and finally, I did! My friend and I came from Aquis and was looking for a place to eat for a late snack or dinner. I skimmed through a couple restaurants in the area and Kenji sounds quite appealing. What’s great is that they close til 11pm! Perfect for the both of us. This place has a very a modern décor with great seating arrangements and a full bar. We ordered minimal amount of food, but it was so filling. Let’s just say, we both have small appetites! Overall, Good experience =)
— We both got 1 order of Spicy Tuna Roll
— Victoria Secret Roll
— House salad with dressing

The food was filling. Pretty exotic names for the menu.
However, the service was disappointing. First of all, when my party walked in, we were not acknowledged. The workers’ backs were turned to us and none of them looked welcoming nor cared. We got there first, but the general manager, Ming, seated the customers behind us before. I wonder why… ageism? Anyways, once we were seated in a cute little booth, we waited for a solid 10 minutes to even get water. Everyone else had their appetizers and waters ready. Once again, we were ignored. We politely asked multiple times to be served. Vivan, our waitress, was in charge of our row, but did not do a very good job of equally providing enough service for all. Sure they may have been understaffed that day, but I am a waitress too and she did not have that many tables to serve. She was running around all over the place, not having her shit together. She kept saying «1 sec» after we asked, «excuse me» to get her attention. While she was walking over to us, the party adjacent from us called her and she immediately turned her direction to them. Lastly and most importantly, when we were ready to pay, she made US sort out the cards and the orders because she was too overwhelmed, you can say. We wrote out whose order was whose and had it all ready in the black check book. I clearly put it at the edge of the table and she passed by it multiple times, still failing to finish serving us and letting us leave. We had to go up to the general manager so he could charge us. After she saw that we stood up, she finally cleared our table and acted like she would have charged us herself. We left feeling unsatisfied and tired since the service ruined our experience.

I came here yesterday for my friends birthday dinner with my girlfriend. I’ve been here twice and both times I’ve enjoyed my meal despite how pricey it is.
Ambiance: Very sleek, modern and trendy atmosphere.
Food: Sushi is actually pretty good here. My girlfriend and I ordered the Victoria Secret, Kiss of Fire and Tropical Ocean. The Victoria secret was a solid choice with assorted fish and avocado. The kiss of fire had shrimp tempura and was topped a jalapeño and sriracha on each piece. The tropical ocean was interesting because it came with fish, shrimp tempura, mango and apple. Out of the three rolls my favorite was definitely the kiss of Victoria Secret. The flavors of the fish were on point and it was a simple which really let the flavors of the fish shine. The kiss of fire wasn’t as spicy as I thought it would be but I do eat a lot of spicy food so that’s no fault on Kenji. I never thought that fruit would go well with sushi rolls but the flavors actually work pretty well.
Service: Service is pretty much non existent after you order which is fine to me since I don’t need much besides water refills after I order. Overall though the waiters/​waitresses are good at taking care of your basic needs which is fine with me.
Overall Experience: I like the food here and I think the ambiance is really nice as well but I definitely don’t think either of those things justify the high prices. Their parking situation is a huge pain in the ass. The Chipotle next door actually has a security guard so you can’t park there and walk over. The only options for parking are their tiny ass lot or walking over from the Flames parking lot which is across the street. I will say their happy hour menu looks good and the drinks are cheap so I’ll have to come back to give it a try. Overall this is a nice place to go if you want decent sushi either for a nice meal or a late night (they open until 12).

I have been here twice and I came here recently for a friend’s birthday.
Rolls: My boyfriend and I split 3 rolls amongst the two of us.
Victoria Secret — This roll is more to the safer side if you don’t like exotic flavors or trying out new rolls. This has three types of fish with avocado and wrapped in edible soy paper! I thought it was pretty cool since the soy paper literally looks like white printer paper and it tastes good as well! It is my favorite roll out of the three we chose.
Kiss of Fire — This roll has a kick of spicyness to it. Although it has jalapenos and spicy garlic to it, it really isn’t as spicy as it sounds. I enjoyed this one too since it has shrimp tempura.
Tropical Ocean — This one tastes exactly like it sounds: tropical. This rolls consists of shrimp tempura, tuna, salmon, mango, and apple. I never had apples in my sushi before. Seemed kind of strange to me at first since I didn’t know how apples would taste with raw fish but it is actually pretty good.
Parking: Although the parking lot may seem full, the restaurant is not yet packed. We were here on a Saturday night around 7pm and there were still empty tables. Parking is very limited! You can do one of two things during busy hours: wait at the parking lot until someone leaves or park somewhere else and walk. It took us about 30 mins to find parking. Quick tip: Chipotle next door has a security guard so you can’t park there.
Service: The staff here doesn’t seem excited or welcoming. They would simply take your order, serve your food, and would be gone the rest of the night. The waiters/​waitresses would just walk pass by us if we needed anything and it wasn’t even that busy. The only good part was our food came out quickly.
Ambiance: Nice decors with booths and a nice bar.
Overall, the prices are decent and the food was good. I would come back, but the service wasn’t as great as I liked and parking is difficult.

Kenji Sushi was an unexpected stop during our night out near Santana Row. We were enjoying some whiskey and wine across the street when we decided we wanted some sushi. Kenji was the obvious choice after a quick look on Unilocal.
Aside from its fantastic hours, they have hundreds of reviews and they’re glowing! Walking in at around 10pm, the two of us were seated immediately at a spacious table for 4. The service was very attentive, and we got our food pretty quickly. Between the 2 of us, we shared 3 rolls of sushi still after having snacked/​drank elsewhere and still managed to put it all away — because they were amazing! Each roll tasted fresh and unique in terms of flavor compared to other sushi places and are definitely worth their current price tag. Their alcohol selection was quite prolific, but alas we passed on it this round since we had already had so much to drink at Santana Row.
The overall ambiance was really nice and modern.
Kenji lived up to its glowing ratings, will definitely be back!

My review is not just based on food quality but for take-​out service!
I used the «Caviar» app for my order and I was super excited about this place because of the great reviews. But I have to say I was a little disappointed. :(
I’ve worked in the food industry and know how frustrating to-​go orders can be and all you wanna do is hurry up and get them done as quickly as possible… But the goal is to make sure the customer doesn’t notice. I noticed.
My half-​size sashimi salad was just a tiny bit of lettuce with raw fish thrown together. We also got fried, hot, jalapeño things and they were in the same plastic container as my cold mango crunch roll! Not cool, pun intended. My husband ordered chicken teriyaki and there was absolutely nothing teriyaki about it, he said it was just grilled chicken with sesame seeds.
I don’t expect everything to come delivered as nicely as it was when it left the restaurant but this was just poor order placement and careless. We paid the same as we would in the restaurant plus a convenience fee, and we tipped the delivery guy. The only reason I gave 3 stars is because my roll, although warm, was tasty and I’m hopeful it’s much better when dining in.

This review is long over due. I’ve been here a couple of times already and I believe I tried enough «exotic» sushi to know what’s the best here. Well from my point of view.
The décor is really nice. I love the ambiance and it’s really good for groups. I love the floral and earthy feel. Sometimes it can get really crowded and they get really busy at night so it’s best to make a reservation or go late at night since they close at 12!
My favorite is definitely the crunch mango and the kiss of fire. It’s a must get! Also if you like baked sushi, my favorite is also the lobster roll! Super yum. I tried the tempura udon as well, the soup is very salty and I had to drink so much water but the tempura was good!
The service is okay. I guess since they have to serve so many people they are just a little slow. But overall it was a good experience every time I went.

Great food, average service.
First of all, I much prefer traditional Japanese style to the club/​bar feel they have going on here but this place is very Santana Row if that’s what you’re into. The service was pretty average in my opinion. Maybe if you’re a regular you get more attention but I was constantly without tea or beverage of any kind and between the high sodium soy sauce (maybe you can ask for low sodium, my preference) and the fried hot dishes we ordered I was parched the entire meal. I would, however, come here for the food. If it were closer, this would be my new sushi to go place.
We tried a couple of the hot dishes which we mistook for appetizers. They were generous portions at a good price. The octopus karaage was excellent, if not a touch greasy and a little stingy on the sliced lemon. The Kenji Oden was pretty good too. I didn’t care for the tartar/​mayo sauce that came with both dishes.
I’ll have to try more of the rolls but the exotic rolls we tried were all good. The Victoria Secret roll was my favorite, very refreshing. The orange blossom, pink lady and dancing dragon were all tasty but didn’t stand out over my other favorite sushi restaurants.
All in all, great food at an average price, but I wouldn’t eat in by choice. Or sit by the sushi bar — then you can sit by the sushi chefs and tip them directly.

4 stars, good quality interesting sushi and food. Expensive side of the sushi for the Bay Area. Spent $ 70 for two people and 5 items. Beautiful experience but only moderate and slow service (otherwise they could be a 5).
Beautiful décor, mod, floral and earthy. Definitely a more upscale feeling sushi lounge.
Noise level is medium, modern top 40, edm playing. Not an intimate conversation place.
Busy on a weekend afternoon was a little challenging to get service, seemed like they couldn’t really handle everyone here.
That said the food was good, we had the:
Kenji oden (deep fried fish cake with pork): cute presentation, great savory app or snack (think Chinese meets Filipino snack, my bf said it was like lumpia filling)
halibut fusion sushi (nigiri, 2pc): beautiful fish, very interesting — definitely will come back to try all of these, had a strong garlic sauce but was still refreshing.
Hokkaido scallop tiradi: this was delicious, esp if you’re a scallop fan, a good starter if you’re still scared of raw fish– it’s really mild in terms of fishy-​ness and has a strong citrus flavor.
Hotel California roll: I’m glad they didn’t drown it in unagi sauce, but the lemon was cut a little too thick so we were eating quite a bit of rind. This is a good simple sweet roll.
Tropical ocean roll: the apple slices inside were really mild flavorwise, provided an interesting light crunch to the roll, compared to the tempura shrimp crunch. Also fairly mild roll flavorwise, I enjoyed this one a lot.

Delicious! I was in the area and wanted some good sushi and the reviews looked great so I gave it a shot. There’s a large selection of special rolls which I recommend and then they have your normal rolls. I ended up ordering 3 – 4 special rolls and some simple rolls for dinner. The sushi was fresh and tasted great. The portion was quite generous where the rolls were packed nicely. I left feeling full at the end of my meal.
The staff is extremely friendly and very attentive. Overall the experience here was great and I would definitely come back for more.

Finally had time to try this place out.
The parking lot is always so packed and «people love them on Unilocal» so I had to try them.
My husband and I decided to get 3 Exotic rolls, Asian Fusion, & Sashimi. Everything we ate we really enjoyed and didn’t have anything negative to say about them.
1. Super Mexican: Crab with Avocado topped with Fried Unagi & Spicy Tuna– We didn’t really taste any unagi at all, mostly the spicy tuna over powered the roll. It was good though.
2. Popcorn Scallop: This is definitely something you need to try. The roll had plenty of baby scallops topped, slightly spicy but very good.
3. Hotel California: This is basically a 49er Roll in all other places. Fresh & tasty.
4. Salmon Fusion Sushi– This was a 2 piece sake infused with pear & apple ponzu. This. we couldn’t decide if we loved it or didn’t care for it. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t something that I couldn’t wait to try again.
5. Hamachi Sashimi: This is a 3 piece and the fish was fresh, but not «melts in your mouth» though.
I’d like to try this place again. I liked our meal, service was OK. I never got a refill for my water and the lady spilled soy sauce all over my napkin and didn’t bring me a new one.

Kenji Sushi is a contemporary Japanese lounge concept right across from Santana Row. The tastefully-​appointed dining room blends a rustic sophistication with Asian minimalism. The beautiful bar has a natural wood finish and the neon lights provide a pleasing bright contrast. The tree-​fringed dining room is very inviting with cozy private booths and soft hanging lights. They did a wonderful job with the design.
The menu is very fusion roll-​fortified with a nice section of nigiri, sashimi and specialty appetizers. The rolls are pretty big with a nice balance of flavors and colors (not dredged in sauces). I was going to order a nigiri sushi plate but changed course after seeing a few of the eye-​catching rolls go by. I went with the Victoria’s Secret Roll (tuna, salmon, yellowtail wrapped with soy paper topped with salmon, avocado and yum yum sauce) and the Mango Crunch Roll (spicy crab and mango topped with salmon, avocado and crunch). Both rolls were extremely good and were some of the best rolls I’ve had lately. I would definitely order both of these again. They were very filling!
I didn’t like how they brought everything out piecemeal, even the bento box components were all brought out 20 minutes apart. My brother and my dad ate all their tempura about 20 minutes before the meat and rice arrived. I don’t know if this is the normal routine or if the kitchen was overloaded but it would have been nice for everything to come out together. Once everything did arrive, everyone was very happy and pleased with the great flavors. The sukiyaki is not your traditional Japanese hot pot sukiyaki but it’s a delicious rendition with loads of flavor and served with a variety of vegetables.
I need to get my hands on some of these rolls again soon. This one’s a keeper!

I been here a few times and I have never really ventured out to trying different rolls or dishes. I been sticking to the hamachi jalapeño cold dish and the crunch mango which the two are my favorite. I love the décor they have inside, very modern. The rolls are very fresh every time I come here. I have never had any sort of complaint being here. Customer service is great too, always coming around to check on us.
The only downside is parking, the lot is very small. You will probably have no luck finding parking usually around dinner time or weekends. Overall I’d say the food is worth it. Dreamy in the mouth!

I enjoyed this sushi joint. The atmosphere was very fresh with a lot of woodsy stuff in the dining area. We were seated promptly.
Both ordered 2 sets of rolls and we wanted the seaweed salad as an appetizer. But it came last. Their crunch mango roll was hella good.
I usually rate a sushi restaurant by its California roll. And *drum roll please* yes! It was good!!!
Spicy tuna and their ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ was delicious. And their seaweed salad was good, not too salty.
Prices are pretty reasonable. Enjoyed the food and the company!
They have a private lot which is good! Woot woot