Tokyo Lobby

Too bad they’re closed. I came on to check their hours, and am more than a little sad about this.
They had the best donburi in Walnut Creek. Their lion king roll was yummy, and their sushi was excellent. I will miss them.

I want to say farewell and good wishes to my friends at Tokyo Lobby. It’s been a great 8yrs for me (12yr run for you). I will miss you guys a lot. Where else will I find Baja Sauce and Brown Sauce made with such precise care, I can taste the love in this sauce. My husband and I have many fond memories of our 8yrs here.
Mark: thank you for the sake bombs and good conversation.
David: you have become a good friend, I will see you later.
Fang: you are also a good friend, I will see you too.
Last Day 8÷31÷09

Hovering over people while they’re eating isn’t exactly the greatest customer service. It was as if they were rushing us to finish and we were the ONLY people in there on a friday afternoon.
Far limited sushi roll selection and disappointing service.

On the quest for a Lion King Roll for lunch yesterday, so I Unilocaled local sushi spots in downtown Walnut Creek. Me & 2 other mgrs decided to go w/​this one just for the heak of it. Now I was introduced to a Lion King Roll in 2006 from a house party that had a sushi chef catering fresh sushi…1^st bite & immediately fell in love w/​the Lion King Roll!
I’ve had my share of Lion King Roll since… Tokyo Lobby’s Lion King
was good, but ok in presentation… I had to advise my mgrs other areas do the Lion King Roll full justice like Oakland’s Ichiro
or Mountain View’s Hon Sushi
We did enjoy the taste & presentation of their Spider Roll & Dragon Roll
although Spider Roll was too big for one bite & not easy to pick up. Here’s their other «special rolls»

Sushi & service was good, but not something to brag about. Not a crowded lunch spot during the wkdays… while the 3 of us were eating, we noticed we were being hoovered over… heak, while chattin’ it up sitting @ the sushi bar, the waitress reached in btw me & mgr to grab the bottled Sapporo Beer
poured the rest in his glass & the rest in my other mgr’s glass (WTH!). To me, I’m not use to this kind of royalty treatment… don’t touch my flippin’ beer/​drink unless you’re invited to. Prooooobably not comin’ back here anytime soon.

Second sushi place i tried in Walnut Creek. First was the Japanese Grill place heading towards the freeway, and Tokyo Lobby definitely did not match it.
California roll was tiny and mine had barely any rice holding it together. Staff were very abrupt and didnt care to explain my menu options.
Food was brought out very fast though, which was good. Cant really say much else about it, as I wasnt impressed but i didnt hate it.
Overall — take it or leave it. I wouldnt be upset if i never went back.

Since we were in Walnut Creek and hungry, we stumbled upon this place.
I liked that the Chinese man said «Sumimasen.» Which meant ‘sorry’ because we were waiting. I thought the seat we got was cool and the food was prepared in a timely manner. Sushi was good and their katsu don was delicious.
I like this place. :)

I was visiting my daughter for the weekend; she is still trying new places in her new city of Walnut Creek, so she thought this would be a good choice for dinner. After the usual, round & round of trying to find parking in W.C. on a busy Friday night, we luckily got a spot [had to get quarters for the meter– what a pain] and had just a short walk to the restaurant.
It is kind of an odd name, and a very small place. All the tables were filled, so we sat at the sushi bar in front of the chef. We are not very sushi –wise, in fact Laura doesn’t even like fish… but we know what we do like, and not feeling very adventurous tonight, we stuck with our favorites.
The staff were efficient & courteous, but it was odd… they carried on personal conversations over the heads of the diners [ in Chinese?!?] and there seemed to be some dissension in the group. they didn’t seem too happy to be working that night was my impression.
But the Sapporo, miso soup & salads & California rolls came out quickly & really hit the spot. I thought they were very tasty & fresh. Next came our Shrimp tempura– hot, crispy & plentiful. Laura’s Udon was yummy & enough for her to take home for lunch the next day.
We were very happy with our choice and had contented tummies. Our meter didn’t run out either.

For someone on a budget and looking for the most bang for their buck-​this is the sushi place for you. My friend and I love sitting at the bar and conversing with the chef himself who explains some of the ingredients if you’re not completely familiar with their exotic menu.
The place is cozy and has a very warm, inviting atmosphere. It’s not super fancy, they treat you like a good friend. Their non-​sushi cuisine is plentiful and we always have trouble finishing it. I recommend!

I have to give this place five stars because I am friends with the owner and the workers there and I’m not even Asian. This was the first place I have ever had sushi and is still my go to restaurant. It was also the restaurant that my husband and I went on our first date. I guess that’s kind of sad that the only reason we are friends with all of them is because we go there so often. The owner has even done sake bombs with us in the past. The waitress does make comments about my weight on occasion but that’s fine I still like her anyway.
The Diablo Roll is my favorite. And a big Sapporo.
Sit at the bar right in front of the chef to get the best food. If your really good he may give you a surprise roll.

Not so good. But convenient.

Following dim sum at Tin’s Tea House Lounge, we ran some errands and strolled around Broadway Plaza. Then dinner came around and it was time to eat again.
We picked TL because Tomatina’s was packed and we had skimmed through the menu plastered on the window.
We ordered the Teriyaki Salmon and some rolls. The salmon was served hot and fresh on a sizzling plate making it soft and tender. And we made sure that there was nothing left for a doggie bag.

I give this place 3 stars for this reason… 1) If you do take out there is an older asian waitress who gives you the cold shoulder! Why? Well, from my experience she expects you to give her a tip. If she doesn’t see a tip on the receipt (when you charge it on a card), she gives you ugly looks.
Besides that everyone else gives you real good service. Its not the greatest sushi in the world, but I am addicted to there dragon rolls! YUMMI! I would suggest this place to anyone who wants to grab a quick bite and does not want to leave the shopping area. OH and its better than SUSHI GROOVE by FAR!
They do serve beer, but i’m not sure about saki.

The sushi counter is where you want to be here. They staff are really nice and service is always quick.
So it may not be the best sushi you’ll ever have in your life but they are decent. There are a variety of options for both rolls and sashimi. They also have the tempura’s and yakitori’s.
The lunch bento boxes are also decent. Great price and you leave feeling full.

I’m going to be totally biased here, but I can b/​c I’m Chinese:
Once again, I’ve been proven that CHINESE people cannot run Japanese joints.
Yeah, I should have known with a NAME like TOKYO LOBBY.
The negihama was SOOO freakin’ chewy and PINK ginger.
I think y’all can relate, okay, maybe not in Contra Costa. I’m from Alameda County, we’re spoiled by all the ethnic folk.

The prices were good, and so was the sushi — but nothing spectacular. We went in for lunch this afternoon, and as we sat down, our server immediately took our drink orders, which I thought was nice. She returned about 30 seconds later, and asked if we were ready to order. When we told her we’d need a minute, she just kind of stood there… hovering. She continued to hover until we ordered.
The food came out, and I thought it was a little odd that they only cut the rolls into 6 pcs, instead of 8… but not that big of a deal. They weren’t sealed very well, so they started to fall apart when being dipped in soy sauce. However, they WERE pretty tasty. All the food was good in fact… though slightly off-​putting that our server hovered until we were finished with our meals.
The sushi chef asked us how everything was, and when I told him it was very good and thanked him, he just… well, he just kind of stared at us. It was really weird.
Would I go back again? Probably. Would I try somewhere else first? Probably.

I was in Walnut Creek in the last week before Christmas. There were people everywhere. The first restaurant we tried to get into had an hour wait. Since we both love sushi, we walked into Tokyo Lobby after seeing it pretty empty. That should have been a clue for what we should expect.
The seaweed salad was good, but the sushi did not seem very fresh. It simply did not taste fresh and, thus, it did not taste very good. I left very disappointed.

3.5 and here is why:
1) staff tried to take my plate when there was half a salmon left!
2) staff weren’t speaking Japanese but another language (no judgment but interesting)
3) the meal was 7.50! I thought that they had misprinted the bill it was so cheap!
4) pretty fresh
5) nobody was in there on a weekend
6) since no one was there, the staff just watched the TVs
7) they validated the parking for the big ramp behind

I have to admit, it was pretty bad even the second-​to-​last time that my mother and I went, but the one that absolutely did it for us happened a few months ago. The waitress was pretty unfriendly especially for a Saturday afternoon. I ordered a 7-​Up which came to me flatter than God knows what — it was basically sugar water. I question if they did it thinking that I wouldn’t notice, since it was obvious that the carbonation had been out for a while.
The food was gross. The beef teriyaki I had was so tough. They put water on top of the salad and called it dressing. The miso soup was old and tasted like dust.
Another person reviewed this dirty place on Yahoo! and was served a cockroach in their salad. Sadly, that didn’t surprise me. AND SEE THE REVIEW BELOW. SAME PROBLEM!
I’ve given this place plenty of chances since it’s conviently located. but please learn from my mistakes.
Save your hard earned money and go somewhere else.

CLOSING!!!
8÷23÷09
Tokyo Lobby will be closing after this week
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I walked into this place one day and have loved it ever since. They have great California rolls, miso soup, avocado maki, kappa maki (cucumber) and udon. The folks working there are always very friendly and nice and I love that it’s in the heart of downtown.
The only downside is that they’re closed from 3 – 5 like all sushi places in WC… I have no idea why this is, but so far I’ve found it true.
The prices are good for the food and the service is wonderful. If you’re looking for a good sushi place, this is it.
Oh and as for the other review, they do take credit cards during the lunch hour, I never pay in cash so I don’t know why he had a problem.

I don’t each much sushi but I thought this place was great. It was a small Japanese restaurant with a friendly and clean environment.
Everyone enjoyed their food and had a good time. We had udon, teryaki beef, and a variety of sushi. The food was fast and the service was good. We got a lot of a attention… probably because we sat at the last table toward the back and we broke our saki bottle. The price is a little expensive but worth it.
With a full stomach and 3 saki’s later I was happily on my way.