Ray's Sushi - Hayward

Best Sushi Rolls

888 West A St, Hayward CA 94541
(510) 887-0701
Parking: in shopping center parking lot
Hours: Lunch – M to F 11:30am to 2:30pm, Sat 12 to 2:30pm; Dinner – M-Th 5:30 to 9:30pm, Fri-Sat – 5 to 10pm, Sun – 5 to 9:30pm

Last Visited: March 4, 2006

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

Enter Ray’s and find a sculpture with water running down it. There is a hallway leading to private rooms on the left side, and the main dining room is to the right. At the entrance, there is a view of the kitchen. The walls are a light cream color.

On one of the walls are windows that have white Japanese screens with black grids covering them. This gives the room a more authentic feel. Large prints of Asian modern are displayed on the walls from calligraphy on gold print to multicolored designs. The prints are available for sale.

The room has an open feel. From the ceiling hangs track lighting and in the middle of the room are lights that remind me of flying saucers, except you can see the wiring that holds them mid-air. These lights have a light green glass and rigid thin black poles hold them in place.

The tables are maple in color with the grain running along the length of the tabletop, and the cushioned chairs match the tables. Two menus are available. One menu contains all the sushi along with color pictures of all the rolls. The other menu contains the combos available and the dinner entrees.

Upon our arrival came very hot tea. The tea was so hot that I couldn’t hold the teacup for very long. This gives them bonus points. The Japanese restaurants I have been patronizing lately seem to have lukewarm tea, and that’s just not a good sign. The cups are brown and tan in design, and the plates are colorful in blue/green rectangles for some, black for others, and more.

Since we had such a large party, we tried a number of rolls. Ray’s Sushi has an impressive menu of rolls that you may not find elsewhere, but they have the standard items too. Some unusual rolls include Crazy Monkey Roll, Golden Gate Roll, and Lion King Roll. Fortunately, since their menu shows the picture, and they’re pretty true to the photo, you’ll know what you’re about to receive.

Since there were so many in our party, and I didn’t do the ordering, these descriptions are more on the vague side. We ordered so many rolls that I lost track of what we were having, though all tasted good and looked lovely.

- 30 pieces Assorted Sashimi – A variety of sashimi tops a stack of thinly shredded turnip and is served on an enormous plate. The presentation is quite nice on the colorful plate. The slices of sashimi are generous – almost an inch thick. Unlike other places which slice the meat very thin, you’ll find that each piece packs a big bite, and in some cases, multiple bite. It’s chef’s choice, but you’ll find some items fairly standard. We got three pieces of each type of fish – katsuo, maguro, and tai to name a few. $35.95 (Sashimi is also available in 10 pieces $15.95/$20 pieces $27.95)

- Shrimp Tempura – The tempura is served with miso soup, green salad, and steamed rice for entrees. I think we got ours a la carte because I don’t remember seeing these other items. The tempura is served in a straw basket/hammock with dipping sauce. Again, presentation is nice. The shrimp tempura is accompanied by vegetable tempura – carrots, mushrooms, yam, and possibly other items. I tried a carrot slice, and it tasted fresh and crisp. $10.95

- Miso Shiro – Hot miso soup with tofu, seaweed, and fresh scallions. Great. $1.50
Here are the rolls that stood out for me. All the other rolls are pretty much a blur.

- 49er’s Roll – Avocado, cucumber, and tobiko are placed in a roll. The roll is then topped with salmon sashimi style and a very thin slice of lemon (including the lemon rind). The roll has a fresh look and the lemon accents the salmon very well. A very refreshing roll. $7.50

- Dynamite Roll – Avocado and daikon sprouts are placed in a roll and topped with spicy tuna and scallion. The combination tasted good, but I have little memory of what it looked like, and unfortunately, the take out menus don’t show any of the pictures. $6.50

- Chris Roll – Real crab, avocado, and unagi are placed inside a roll. It’s a great combination – not much to say except - Yum. $6.95

- Super California Roll – A California roll is topped with unagi and avocado. Inside the roll part is crab. The super California roll looks a lot like the Chris Roll except with the unagi on top instead of inside the roll. $6.95

- Two Balls No Strike – This is one of the most memorable specials. Two avocado halves are sliced thinly and fanned out. Underneath the avocado is spicy salmon chunks mixed with tobiko. The avocadoes are huge. A great tasting combination, but not the best value, although a great one to indulge upon. The price hasn’t changed since the last visit (fortunately), but it’s still not a bargain. Also, the avocado was riper last time. This time, it was a bit hard which means the avocado doesn’t have the creamy texture that melts in your mouth. Worth trying once, but not more than that. $11.50

- Lion King Roll – This is one of the hot rolls. A California roll is topped with salmon filet and baked. It’s sides are wrapped in foil creating a wonderful boat-like appearance. The only thing that could make this roll better is to leave the salmon slightly undercooked. Otherwise while it’s resting, the salmon can get overdone, so remember to eat this one fast. It’s rich in flavor and quite filling. Very good. $9.50

- Ray’s Roll – Yam tempura is wrapped inside a roll and topped with fried unagi. Just a little crunchy with sweetness from the unagi. The sauce accompanying this roll is very sweet, so know that in advance. The price of this one went up by more than 10%, but it’s still a bargain considering the portion. $6.75

- Dragon Roll – The dragon roll is comprised of shrimp tempura rolled in rice and topped with unagi, avocado, and crab. The portion is again large, but the tempura wasn’t very crispy. The tails of the shrimp were poking out of both ends, and although it looked impressive, the final flavor wasn’t as good as the looks. Okay. $9.50

All the rolls were fresh and fairly large in size. It felt like a mix and match of similar ingredients, but they’re quite creative with each item’s presentation. You’ll find all of your favorites. The avocado is especially fresh, and anything with avocado seems to taste just that much better.

What I didn’t like about Ray’s is that they were pushy. About 15 minutes past our reservation, they wanted us to order despite the fact that more than half of our party hadn’t arrived yet. They shared with us that they had allotted an hour and a half for us to eat and that they would be needing the table. Although I understand the need to do business, I think it’s rude to allot that timeframe to the table. Even before all of our dishes had arrived, they had already given us the bill. Aside from that, service was okay, but not wonderful.

Another issue was that some of the dishes had rice on them. The cups had rice stuck to them, and the dishes seemed to have a twig on them here and there. This downgraded their otherwise higher atmosphere score by one star. Their staff also seemed like they could be a bit more knowledgeable in describing some of the items. We asked about one of the sashimi since nobody knew what it was, but had to talk to three staff members before someone could explain what it was.

The fish quality is fresh, and the rolls are original. Portions are above average. Keep in mind that you may be on a time budget, and keep an eye on your dishware. You’re sure to enjoy the great food. Try out the rolls.

Service was very bizarre during my second visit. The level of service was highly dependent on the server. Some would announce the dish they were bringing as they placed it on the table. Others didn’t. Of course, since we were still new to the establishment, I found the announcement helpful, and the lack thereof disappointing. The main reason for reducing the service rating was the refilling of tea. Upon our arrival, fresh tea was poured and given to us in teacups. However, we asked one waiter near the end of our meal to refill the tea. The lack of people checking on tea levels wasn’t good for starters. What was worse was that the waiter forgot to bring the tea. We had to ask another staff member for tea. This second person almost forgot, but was quite apologetic as he took a chair from our table for another table he was setting up and soon brought us an entire pot of tea. The tea this round was weak, but I was happy that he left the pot with us. The waiter we had asked for tea from originally then proceeded to come to our table, pick up the pot, pour tea into our cups, and take the pot away! I was alarmed. This just isn’t something you should do if you’ve brought it to the table. It’s a serious Asian faux pas. For this reason, I dropped the rating to two stars.

Since my last visit in 2004, prices have gone up, and service has gone down. I’ve adjusted the Food rating from four stars to 3 to 4 stars and service has dropped from three stars to 2 stars. Portions remain very good. Updates have been made to several descriptions above both in price and comments. Ray’s is not meant for the sushi purist, but more for the type who enjoys creative concoctions.