218 E. Third Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94401(650) 344-0888
Parking: street parking, nearby parking lot
Hours: Tues-Sat 11:30 am - 2 pm, 5 pm - 10 pm
Last Visited: February 4, 2012
Food: 4 to 5 star omakase (sushi tasting menu), 3 stars everything elseAtmosphere: 2 to 3 stars
Service: 3 to 4 stars (one specific guy), 2 stars everyone else
Price: $$ to $$$$
We received several recommendations about Sushi Sam's from friends, so perhaps my expectations were a little higher going in. This post covers two visits - one in February 2012 and one from July 2011. The two food experiences were vastly different. In summary, order the omakase if you go here. I got hammered by a few friends after my 3 star food rating because they said I had ordered the wrong thing (why would a place ever not serve the right thing, I don't have the answer for, but the omakase is good).
There are three main areas for dining - the bar, the area next to the kitchen, and a raised area on the right side when you enter the restaurant. It's frequently crowded, loud, and casual.
There are three main areas for dining - the bar, the area next to the kitchen, and a raised area on the right side when you enter the restaurant. It's frequently crowded, loud, and casual.
Upon our arrival during my first visit, the service was very fast and friendly. We were seated in the area next to the kitchen. Multiple people were checking on us frequently and filling our tea throughout the meal. However, the atmosphere is a little worn - a fresh coat of paint along the divider of the room would do wonders. The laminate tables seem more like they belong in a cafe. I also found it odd that they were selling canvas bags and other items with their logo by posting them on the wall. It seemed to reduce the ambiance of the restaurant.
- Geso Tempura - Deep Fried Calamari legs - While I expected for the size of the calamari to be like that served in an Italian restaurant, I never expected them to be like this. They're more like octopus in size - huge! Just when you're hoping for some delicate tempura batter to coat small calamari, you get these gigantic pieces that are still tender, but not quite so delicate, however, I've never ordered geso tempura before, so I didn't know what to expect. The tempura batter quickly became soggy, so it wasn't the best that I've had either. Just okay. $5.95
- Shrimp Tempura with Vegetables - This dish was fairly typcial of what you find at other Japanese restaurants when ordering tempura. It wasn't spectacular, but it was alright. I have mentioned this before in other reviews, but I really dislike being served tempura broccoli - it just doesn't seem fitting, and here, they had broccoli. Two shrimp also seems skimpy to me - at $9 and the reasonable cost of shrimp, another piece would make this a great value. $8.95 a la carte
- Sushi Set B - Tuna, Hamachi, Unagi, Salmon,Kani, Ebi, Tako, California Roll and Tekka - Presentation on a plastic raised plate made this dish seem less elegant than it could have been. Why not use ceramic plates? With two pieces of each item and a full tekka and full California roll, the price was reasonable, but it just didn't seem special because of the way it was served. The fish was fresh and the cuts tended to be larger than many places. Just okay though. $37I was a bit disappointed by my first visit because of all the people whom had raved about how awesome Sushi Sam's is. The sushi is okay and the portions are fairly generous, but the soggy calamari and the plain presentation left fair impressions. The service during the first visit was better than that of the second, but again, I can't emphasize it enough, don't bother with the other stuff. Get the omakase and be happy.
During my second visit, after being almost berated by dear foodie friends, I took their advice and ordered the omakase. I was seated at the sushi bar (which gets pretty noisy, so if you're looking for a quieter evening, avoid this area), and while our order was taken within five minutes of our arrival, service this evening was pretty bad. The sushi chefs were swamped, so it took about 20 minutes to get our first dish (this is raw stuff mind you, so that's a long time), and our tea cups were frequently low with no waitstaff in sight, so you couldn't flag them down if you wanted to.
- Butterfish and Blue shrimp - I loved how the blue shrimp had an incredibly fresh taste where there was almost a crunch to the texture. The fried shrimp heads were also an unexpected surprise. Super crunchy, you just eat the whole thing.
- Horse mackerel and Fatty tuna (lightly torced on top) - The tuna had a strong lemon juice accent on it. It seemed slightly thicker than lemon juice, but it was intense.
The yuzu souffle is a little reminiscent of a cheesecake pudding, but with citrus flavoring. The texture is light and fluffy with little dollops of stiff whipped cream on top. Candied orange rind added a nice pop of color to it too.
What I haven't figured out yet is why the sushi chefs speak both Cantonese and Japanese. I think there may be an interesting story there, but they're so busy that they don't have time to chat.
During my second visit, after being almost berated by dear foodie friends, I took their advice and ordered the omakase. I was seated at the sushi bar (which gets pretty noisy, so if you're looking for a quieter evening, avoid this area), and while our order was taken within five minutes of our arrival, service this evening was pretty bad. The sushi chefs were swamped, so it took about 20 minutes to get our first dish (this is raw stuff mind you, so that's a long time), and our tea cups were frequently low with no waitstaff in sight, so you couldn't flag them down if you wanted to.
Omakase (8 pieces) - price varies from $31 to $36 per person.
All of the pieces of sushi melted in your mouth and each had very distinct flavoring. Presentation of the omakase sushi was also elegant and beautiful, while the pieces from the previous visit were lacking distinction in comparison.
- Butterfish and Blue shrimp - I loved how the blue shrimp had an incredibly fresh taste where there was almost a crunch to the texture. The fried shrimp heads were also an unexpected surprise. Super crunchy, you just eat the whole thing.- Yellowtail (wild) and Arctic char - The yellowtail had a brush of soy sauce on top. I like how the fish is sufficiently larger than the amount of rice.
- Horse mackerel and Fatty tuna (lightly torced on top) - The tuna had a strong lemon juice accent on it. It seemed slightly thicker than lemon juice, but it was intense. - Sea urchin and White salmon
The white salmon had a sesame oil drizzle on top along with a lot of very finely cut scallions - it has the flavoring of seaweed salad, but without the seaweed. The sea urchin was rich and yummy.
Dessert accompanies the omakase. The choices included the special of the day shown below - yuzu souffle pudding with blueberries, green tea tiramisu with raspberries shown below, green tea ice cream and a custard. Both desserts I tried were good, but I think I liked the green tea tiramisu better than the special.
The yuzu souffle is a little reminiscent of a cheesecake pudding, but with citrus flavoring. The texture is light and fluffy with little dollops of stiff whipped cream on top. Candied orange rind added a nice pop of color to it too. The green tea tiramisu is also super light with green tea sponge cake layers along with green tea powder sprinkled on top of the dessert. Cut raspberry pieces accent the presentation.
One of the members of the waitstaff is pretty awesome. When he did get to us, he was extremely apologetic about our tea being low. He also was happy to check back on how our first dish was as well as whether we were satisfied with the dessert. If only all of the servers were that good. The other one gave us an excuse when we asked for ginger and wasabi since it never came upon our arrival.
What I haven't figured out yet is why the sushi chefs speak both Cantonese and Japanese. I think there may be an interesting story there, but they're so busy that they don't have time to chat.Overall, the second food experience was by far much better than the first. The second service experience was quite a bit worse than the first. Order the omakase and you'll be satisfied. One other tip - go early to avoid the crowds. Even our 5:30pm arrival was on the late side, but it allowed us to sit in one of the few remaining spots for the first round of service. The line was out the door for the rest of our time there.
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