Tsui Sushi Bar

I love love this place. The fish is always super fresh. Always! And, it’s affordable to boot. You can’t beat Tsui for good Japanese. I am going to go there right now. Yum

This place has an awesome happy hour. Good food at great prices for sushi. Good drink specials and large open patio windows for those beautiful Seattle summer evenings. Set up near Greenlake, this happy hour bar is a great Japanese restaurant. The sushi was good. The chirashi was decent and the beer on tap was a good price. Definitely worth trying if you are craving sushi and in the area.

Went for dinner again tonight. My 5^th or 6^th time at Tsui. A few things make Tsui the best neighborhood sushi bar in the greenlake area. First, the owner is awesome and you will get a chance to talk to him. Second, the new sushi chef Jake is a master sushi chef. He picks and prepares the cuts that will melt in your mouth. Third, the prices are very reasonable and happy hour is great. I highly recommend this place.

This place is great and the staff is very friendly. They are very creative with the sushi and food presentations. Food quality is excellent but not quite as good as the grade at some of the best sushi restaurants I’ve been too. That said we love this place and never have had a bad experience or meal. Prices are great and a good value.

Pretty good quality of fish and the price is decent too. The lighting is kinda dark really. but its ok. Haha

This has become my go-​to spot when I have sushi cravings. I almost always get the silver or bronze «set» of nigiri, then 3 rolls, all of which I split with whoever I’m there with. It’s so cheap! My favorite is the salmon skin roll, though it’s a super wide roll and impossible to eat in more than one bite due to its chewiness; there was one unfortunate incident when I attempted to eat an end piece in one bite and it was SO not pretty. Regardless, super delicious.
I also really like the atmosphere here; subdued lighting, huge bar in the middle with giant chandelier, and black-​and-​white versions of movies like The Last Samurai and Castle in the Sky playing silently on the big screen.
I can’t wait to keep exploring the menu :)

Great food at great prices. Happy hour all day long and the quality is great! I love the sashimi set and fried calamari! Sooo good!

We got take out from Tsui and were seriously impressed. Every roll we tried was more delicious than the last. I highly recommend the scallop roll, and the White Tiger special roll. Also spicy tuna, spider roll, spicy tempura roll and salmon were all excellent as well. So far, best sushi I’ve had in Seattle, and I’ve tried several.

Most excellent … food is always in happy-​hour mode — good portions and at a very good price — yeah baby! My wife n I had a couple of cocktails and four items from the kitchen + three orders of sashimi … OMG we had to cancel the sashimi — we were SO full … the check came out to be under 40 $s … were definitely comin back …

Absolutely delicious! If you sit at the bar, you can watch the lady sushi chef do her magic. Worth every penny

The sushi was great and the price was right. We could not believe how cheap this place was. Each roll is about 8 pieces and somewhere between $ 5-​$ 8. We tried about seven different rolls and some of or favorites were the crunchy Seattle roll and spicy California. We wouldn’t order the eel sashimi again, the eel was tough and not a highlight of the meal.

Why say you are open till 10pm when you lock the door at 9:30??? Drove here for nothing.
4 stars still, because the food is good and I had a chat with the owner one time before and liked him.

My fiancé and I live a few blocks away, so this is our go to spot when we want to go out. The «happy hour» menu is pretty limited, but isn’t too expensive and the sushi is good. I put «happy hour» in quotes because its always happy hour, so its really just their all-​the-​time menu.
The staff is very friendly and its usually busy but not packed. We like the Seattle rolls and the sashimi plate.

Went here last night based on the Unilocal rating. I guess it was an off night for them. Our server greeted us and said she’d be back shortly to take our order. 15 minutes later my 6 year old son flagged down the owner to let them know we were ready to order. She spent the rest of our visit overcompensating and made it uncomfortable a couple times. A simple apology for the long initial delay would have been appreciated and more than sufficed.
Our first order was screwed up but only by one selection of the same price. Wasn’t worth discussing. We also placed an order to go and one item was 8 orders instead of the 3 we ordered. After being there so long waiting for our food to come out I just signed and left without double checking. Now we have a huge surplus of mediocre nigiri that will ultimately go uneaten.
The overall quality is just okay. They have a decent selection and their all day happy hour and affordable rolls is nice but the quality is lacking. If you’re in the mood for excellent sushi, don’t go here. If you don’t mind some hit and miss items and a general lack of pride in the quality and presentation, this place might be a good fit. Some of it is just a step above grocery store sushi. I’d rather pay more and have a good experience.

Happy hour from open until close! Seriously what a great deal. They also have craft beers on hand (Fremont).
Their sushi is decent quality and I would come back for dinner in a pinch.
The restaurant itself is spacious. Service is excellent. Can’t finish your meal? You can always take it togo.

Great spot in the Greenlake Area! The staff was awesome and I really like sitting at the bar in the middle of the building. I think the place is decorated well and the chandelier adds a nice touch.
I went here for happy hour and got a few rolls, one Salmon Roll, one Tekka Maki and a Rainbow Roll. I went out of a wimb and tried the Takoyaki per a review I read here. I actually really like the Takoyaki, I felt like this version was a little different from other sushi restaurants I’ve been to. I definitely recommend getting this appetizer!

I gotta say I like this place. Good to know I have a good sushi place near the Greenlake area! The staff was very nice and the food was very good and the place is nicely decorated. Love the chandelier above the bar area. The menu isn’t huge but it has the good key menu items most people get at sushi restaurants. Not to mention they have a happy hour price menu all day every day– total plus! My favorite items were the Agedashi tofu and Seattle Crunch Roll. I’ve been wanting to find delicious Agedashi Tofu here in Seattle, and I must say i was very please with the one they serve here. I wish it was spicy but I’ll just ask for Siracha next time ;). Seattle crunch roll is served warm with the perfect amount of cream cheese and perfect amount of tempura batter. My friends and i ordered two of these cuz we liked it so much. Also tried the Salmon Roll and Spicy Tuna Roll. Salmon rolls were kinda small in my opinion but they were still good. I enjoyed the Spicy tuna roll though. If you’re looking for a nice casual sushi spot in Green Lake, this should be your go to! Next time i’m going to try the Chirashi bowl. assorted sashimi over rice? yes please!
P.S the Tempura fried green tea ice cream was the perfect touch to fnish. Green tea ice cream wasn’t too strong or sweet and the tempura batter was perfect.

I came here on a Monday night without reservations and was seated promptly at a window table. We were served the owner. We didn’t realize it until the end of our meal when he was telling us how he opened the restaurant within the past year. He’s super chill and friendly.
I ordered Takoyaki and their chirashi bowl. The takoyaki was really on point. It came with two skewers, each with three takoyaki balls on it. It was topped with the standard toppings such as mayo, seaweed, and another pink topping that tasted like ginger (not sure what it was). I’m a huge fan of takoyaki and their version of it didn’t disappoint.
Their chirashi bowl was solid for $ 13. It came slices of fish that was thinner than I am used to but they gave such a wide variety that it wasn’t a huge deal. Some of the fish that stood out was escolar, giant scallop, and crab. I normally don’t enjoy crab but their crab (snow crab, I believe) had very nice flavor. I’m a huge fan of escolar and was surprised to see it in the bowl because a lot of places don’t normally offer it in a chirashi bowl. Last but not least was a large scallop that was fresh and full flavored. The other fishes were standard but were out-​shined by the three I just mentioned. My only gripe about the bowl was that there was a large portion of finely sliced onions. I assumed it was used for plating purposes but there just a lot of it. It wasn’t huge deal, I just moved it to another plate lol. Last but not least, I absolutely love sushi rice and they gave the perfect amount!
I walked a way full and happy. Definitely coming back again.

Can anyone say ALL DAY HAPPY HOUR? So I ordered the tuna sashimi, salmon sashimi, spicy tuna roll, agedashi tofu, chicken karage and an IPA. Ok fine… I ordered a few IPAs =P Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised by both the tuna and salmon sashimi. I didnt expect it to be as good and fresh as it was since it was on the happy hour menu. Definitely a fan! The agedashi tofu was delicious as well. The tofu was cooked just right and the sauce was great. Definitely ordering it again the next time I go. The chicken karage wasnt bad, but I’ve have better. Same with the spicy tuna roll. I felt like the spicy tuna to rice ratio was not very good so you could hardly taste the spicy tuna.
I really liked the the atmosphere and the ambiance. The bar area was cool and the brick walls definitely added character. Not to mention the friendly bartender/​server.
My overall experience was great and I’ll definitely go back!

What is this happy hour all day shenanigans? It’s actually an awesome ploy to attract customers since it’s basically a menu with prices that they serve all day, everyday. Hey, it got me to check out this place. The «happy hour» menu is actually pretty long and they don’t cheap out. I’m still surprised at some of the items on there, but I’ll get into more detail later. The thing I really liked about this place was the décor though — the high ceilings, the decorated walls, and the bar in the middle really helped. The place also has a very chill ambiance, so it’s not a bad place to take for a casual date. Now onto the food!
When I saw chirashi bowl on the «happy hour» menu for $ 13, that was the first thing I needed to order. I was hoping that it would be pretty amazing, but I have to say that it’s no Musashi’s. They give you a good selection of sashimi, but the way that they serve it is deceiving. The bowl is pretty wide, so the sashimi to rice ratio was pretty off. They definitely don’t give you as much sashimi as Musashi’s. But I will say that their sashimi was pretty good. Wasn’t the freshest, but it wasn’t bad for $ 13. My friend and I also ordered a few rolls, and they were bigger than what I’m used to. Bigger as in there was a lot of rice. The rolls were good for the price, and filling because of all the rice as well. However, I will say that the agedashi tofu is totally worth it for the price. They don’t skimp out on the tofu and they’re pretty big tofu chunks. The broth was pretty good too!
This place isn’t as remarkable as Musashi’s or Japonessa, but it’s definitely a good go-​to place for decent Japanese food since there’s no wait and it’s not in downtown. If I ever get a chance, I plan on coming back here sometime!

The dishes here are quite a steal especially since it’s happy hour all day every day! They have your typical rolls: California, Seattle, bad boy, spicy tuna, etc., but they also have affordable sashimi sets for about $ 11. Their chirashi is only $ 13, and it comes with a lot of variety: ikura, salmon, tuna, tamago, etc. I’m definitely ordering that next time.
The restaurant used to be Thurston’s Bistro, which was owned by the same owners. Thurston is the son, and Tony is the father, while the sister runs/​manages Krittika Thai next door! I learned this from Tony himself.
Anyway, their chicken karaage and agedashi tofu were my favorite appetizers. I would skip on the kalbi and calamari. They were just meh. The takoyaki wasn’t too bad either. We ordered one of everything since we had six people so we got to try everything, and that was our verdict.
While this may not be your fancy sushi restaurant, this is definitely a nice addition to the area. They don’t have uni here in case you’re craving that. And… some of the fish pieces were huge slices, you have to forgive that because the prices are just so good! The fish tasted fresh though so that’s always good. My friend was comped her salmon sashimi because they took so long to serve it.
I devoured the green tea tempura ice cream also… the ice cream was partially melted when it came out, but still so delicious. It was sweet, but the green tea flavor could’ve been a little bit bitter and then it would’ve been perfect.
Nevertheless, I’ll be back soon! Be sure to make reservations on the weekends though because people are finding out about this place and it fills up quick!

With all the high ratings and hype on this place, I had very high expectations for it.
The sushi bar had a nice interior design & good environment. We sat at the bar with all the alcohol & he perfect view of the samurai movie playing. I liked the small sushi station decoration too. :)
What we ate and the reviews:
Miso soup: it was good. It’s hard to screw up miso sup.
Takoyaki: ehhh it was okay. It was more batter than anything else. I felt like there could’ve been tako in it.
Ribs: Way too chewy. It took us about 3 minutes worth of chewing before we can swallow. The sauce of it was okay.
Salmon roll: Good. Probably our best roll we had.
Eel roll: Very good. Another good roll we enjoyed. It had the perfect balance of everything. Plus the sauce just made it even more tasty :)
Spicy Tuna Roll: This is my bf’s dish. He said it tasted like nothing and it was bland. They attempted to mix the spicy mayo with the tuna, but failed at it. My bf ended up telling the manager that they might want to change the way they make it (they’re like 2 months old I think) and the manager took it in. He came back and covered the sushi with spicy mayo. It was a little better.
Seattle Roll: jeezus the balance of this roll was horrible. It was like ²⁄₃ avocado ¹⁄₃ salmon & cucumber. The avocado like took over the taste of everything so it tasted a bit funky…
All in all, it was a meh experience. For the price, I’d rather go to Umi Sake House, since the quality fits the price. The manager did give us a free roll card, so maybe in a few months we’ll go back and see if it got Better.

New sushi places always make me so excited. Tsui was such a delight to dine at.
My partner took me here for my birthday because I told him I was craving sushi. At first I told him I felt like eating at Japonessa but I didn’t want to travel all the way there in the cold night.
Tsui sushi bar delivered though. The place is on the smaller size but does feature a full bar. All the tables have candles and the place is dim lit. It has a nice romantic feel to it! The best thing about this place is that it’s ALWAYS happy hour. You don’t have to worry about coming at the right time!
The menu is very simple and the prices are so cheap! All the rolls are less than $ 8 and the sashimi sets flutter around $ 7 – 11. Good sushi for a really good price is a combination in heaven!
Miso Soup — It’s only $ 1 and you get way more than other places. It’s slightly on the saltier side and it seems a bit more bland. I think it could’ve used a bit more flavor but overall tasted like a lighter miso soup.
Takoyaki — The presentation was beautiful and there were six pieces. It was so soft and smooth inside with enough octopus inside it. This was one of the better takoyakis that I’ve had!
Sushi Set «Silver» — Comes with tuna, salmon, yellowtail, albacore and eel. All the pieces are big and fatty. The salmon and eel were my favorite and delicious. These were pretty high quality but it’s not the best I’ve tasted. But for the price it was so worth it!
Spider Roll — This comes with four pieces. Each piece is super thick, thicker than normally seen. I think they’ve could have cut it into five and the pieces would be better. However, the soft shell crab was crisp and tasted just as a spider roll should!
Seattle Crunch Roll — This was one of the ones that I think needed the most work. It says that it’s tempura fried but I felt like it was barely fried. The roll was not crisp at all, surprisingly it was pretty smooth. The sad thing about this roll was that there was way more rice than salmon. The roll literally tasted like a bundle of seasoned rice with a tiny piece of salmon in the middle. The roll comes with 8 pieces.
Bad Boy Roll — This roll was crunchier than the Seattle but it still needed more crunch to it. I felt like this was barely tempura fried either. (Maybe I’m just too used to japonessa’ rolls). In a sense, I feel like the frying was a healthier kind of tempura fry. The breading was lighter than usual. The insides to rice ratio was better on this roll. I loved the eel in this roll. This roll comes with 5 pieces.
Tempura Ice Cream — This is a definite must have. The pictures make it look way smaller than it really is. It is actually quite a decent amount of ice cream. I’ve never had fried ice cream before so this was a delight. The bitter/​sweet green tea ice cream balanced nicely against the soft fried batter. The sauce on the bottom added such a delicate flavor. The whipped cream is so luscious, light and melts the second it hits your tongue. I enjoyed this dessert so much!
Service was spot on. Our server was attentive and super sweet. She always came to check up on how we were doing.
Price is super awesome here and for all that we ordered it was less than $ 50 before tip.
Although it had a few flaws here and there I would definitely come back on a day where I’m craving sushi but am not willing to go downtown. Plus, all day happy hour, what could beat that? ;)

Stopped in here for a later dinner and ordered a house sake, seattle roll, adegashi tofu, chirashi bowl, takoyaki, and a miso soup.
The takoyaki could’ve been a tad hotter but it had good flavor. I really liked the adegashi tofu, it was very light, a little drop of soy sauce didn’t hurt. The seattle roll was fresh and came with 8 pieces. The chriashi bowl ($ 13) came with many different types of fish (salmon, tuna, hamachi, mackerel, shrimp, scallop, etc) AND tobiko, seaweed salad, AND ikura! All the fish were very fresh. Miso soup was $ 1 and fairly standard.
Portion wise, very generous, none of that hh portion sizing, the portions here are what you would expect for a full price dinner item. The bf and I left super full and satisfied. Price wise, less than $ 40 for all that food including sake.
FYI, it’s HH all day… so the HH prices are the normal prices. They have drink specials $ 5 beer, wine, sake, and kitchen appetizers. I will definitely be back. Service was great. Atmosphere was great. Tsui sushi is great!

Do you know that song «Save the best for last» by Vanessa Williams? Well, this is my last review for 2014 and I did save the best for last! Tsui was on my radar all because of Samantha G. (SO)! I saw her review and I know she’s the real deal whip appeal! OK, enough of the songs, let’s get down to business…
So, Thurston (the owner) was baptized into the restaurant biz from birth. Seriously, he and his Dad were at Tsui the night we visited and they informed us of all the restaurants the family has/​had owned throughout the Seattle area, so you know he understands the ups and downs of owning and running a restaurant. As mentioned in previous reviews, this was once Thurston’s namesake restaurant/​bar, and he paired up with sushi chef, Billy, of Umi, Wasabi Bistro, Japonessa, Billy Beach Sushi fame to open up Tsui Sushi Bar. I love that Thurston spent time talking with his customers, it was cool to see the interaction and it shows he loves his new business venture!
First of all, it’s Happy Hour all day, everyday! The restaurant itself has a well-​stocked bar in the middle, towards the back on the right had side was the sushi bar with seating for about 4 people, it’s where Jose-​san works his sushi magic, and tables and chairs surrounding the perimeter. There are 2 TV’s there playing cool black and white kung-​fu movies, now if you’re sitting underneath the TVs, then you’re SOL, but sitting from the bar it was cool to see those!
About the menu and the food. Well, if you’ve been to any of the above mentioned restaurants, some of the dishes will look and taste familiar. Well, if it ain’t broke, then don’t fix it. The menu is not extensive, but can only mean that they do things really, really well. Yes, they do have the bad boy roll, and some other rolls, and their rolls are ginormous!
We were greeted with a complimentary lightly seasoned and seared tuna from Jose-​san, and it was delicious! For food, we ordered the chirashi bowl, sashimi set, salmon skin roll, spicy spider roll, and Reihna’s ribs. All were scrumptious! The sashimi and chirashi bowl had fresh, quality cuts of fish, and my hubby kept raving about the rice (that’s right, the chirashi bowl rice). The salmon skin roll and the spicy spider roll were a lot larger than we thought and struggled to finish them. And Reihna’s ribs, OH MY! It was salty and sweet and savory! Reihna, I don’t know you, but I will be your BFF if you give me that recipe! ;)
Overall, my hubby and I are ECSTATIC that there’s a solid sushi spot in our hood, and within walking distance, too!!! Thurston, kudos on this new spot! I’m sure we’ll become fast friends!
Oishii, Tsui! Oishii!!!

Love loveeeee this place!!!
This place is just gorgeous, but it looks a lot more welcoming after the remodeling. I love all of their dishes, their rolls are creative, the fish are fresh. But this should be a given because they partnered up with one of the most famous Sushi chefs in Seattle!!!
The owner, Thurston is very friendly and always checks on his customers. His staff also does an excellent job whenever I come in. If you don’t know what to order for a drink, just ask the bartender, they’ll make you something special.
Their tempura ice-​cream desert is also very yummie, you definitely need to save some room for this after your meal!
Food = 5 stars, Service = 5 stars. Definitely will recommend this place to my friends and family.

I don’t know about you but it seemed like there were no decent sushi restaurants around the Green Lake/​Greenwood/​U District Neighborhoods open past 9pm. Luckily, Tsui Sushi Bar is open past 9pm and is on my way to work so I just had to check the place out.
It turns out this was formally Thurston’s Bistro & Lounge. The layout is still similar with a bar in the middle and they added a sushi bar in the back. I sat at the sushi bar and chatted with who turned out to be the owner (Thurston). Here’s what I learned over a generous chirashi bowl:
* Tsui’s opened recently (last week) and he was the owner of Thurston’s.
* Thurston has teamed up with Billy, who is tied to various sushi restaurants in the city (Japonessa, Umi, Billy Beach to name a few).
I have to say that I’m extremely happy he opened up Tsui’s because the ambiance, service and food was on point. My chirashi bowl was perfect and reasonably priced ($ 13). The bowl was packed with sushi rice, sea weed, salmon roe, sweet pickled radishes, tamago, and a variety of fish such as tuna, shrimp, salmon. I thought the fish was just the right portion and melted in your mouth. I’m not a fan of tamago but I really enjoyed the piece in my bowl. It was the perfect meal and really highlights the quality of the fish. The rest of the happy hour menu is decently priced, ranging roughly about $ 5-​$ 13 per item.
I highly recommend Tsui Sushi Bar as a nice place for a casual date or hang out spot.