Simple strip mall location. Don’t let that fool you. Incredible fish and very generous portions.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sashimi Deluxe
Hubert Wang
Summary (tl;dr): Quality sushi, sashimi, and rolls with generous (and I mean generouusss) portion sizes and fantastic presentation relative to the price in a quiet strip mall with sometimes slow service.
I'll be honest I mostly get takeout from here, but the remarks about the food are the same whether you dine-in, takeout, or get delivery.
Food (5/5 for the sushi and rolls for sure; 3/5 for the cooked stuff)
The sushi, sashimi, and rolls are definitely the stars here. The portion size is very, very generous. The fish itself is usually fairly fresh, not omakase level or fresh-from-japan level, but still pretty good. I go a lot and I have yet to have a bad fish quality experience with them. If you go look at some of the photos here posted by people, you'll see the tiktok/instagram reel friendly *moriawase* (aka poor-man's omakase) that they present on this wooden circular staircase-type platter. The rolls are also large and substantial and presented very well without going overboard with the rice (think - Sen Dai). The prices for the specialty rolls are approximately in the range of $12-18? Considering the sizes of the rolls you get are at least 50% larger than many other places (excluding Sen Dai) without compromising on quality, you're definitely getting your money's worth here.
I will have to say, the cooked food items are just average. The bento/combination plates are ok as a whole, but like the quality of the meats are just ok and they tend to slightly overcook them.
Service (4/5) It's a small restaurant and I think the front service staff can be understaffed most likely at times, although they've been efficient when I've been there. I'm just assuming based on the capacity of the restaurant at peak hours compared with the number of actual waiters. The waiters also perform double duty too, taking to-go orders or finishing packaging up to-go orders in between managing the in-restaurant customers.
I think the kitchen is probably pretty well staffed though, because I've never really noticed food taking all too long to come out.
Ambiance (3.5/5) It's in a tired looking strip mall with an ok-amount of parking that inexplicably fills up sometimes. I don't understand why the parking lot can fill up when the other places that command attention are one other restaurant, a liquor store, and a dance studio in one of the corners.
The inside of the restaurant was actually recently renovated and is clean and newish looking although looks fairly sterile. It was previously very tiny and now has much better capacity. I think they bought out the place next door and broke down the wall to open up the restaurant. But as a result it kind of looks like two different seating areas (one with pretty sterile fluorescent bars, and one that has more normal lighting). They've also played music before on occasion I recall? But it comes from a small bluetooth speaker so it's not like a true music system.
Other notes: They actually have two other locations. One in Fremont and one in East SJ off McKee and White. I haven't been to those two other locations but I've looked at the yelp profiles before and I would imagine the food portion of the reviews are probably pretty similar.
Parking: It's in a tired looking strip mall with an ok-amount of parking that inexplicably fills up sometimes. I don't understand why the parking lot can fill up when the other places that command attention are one other restaurant, a liquor store, and a dance studio in one of the corners.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: California Roll, Chirashi Don, Mackerel, Sashimi Deluxe, Dynamite Roll, Dragon Roll, Salmon Sashimi, Spider Roll
1811CraftStudio
Kakuna offers some of the best sushi I’ve ever had! The fish is incredibly fresh, and each roll is crafted with care. Each week, my family either dines in or orders to pick up, and the service is always impressive. Our favorites are the Crunchy Mango, Fireball, Dragon, and Citrus rolls. The staff is attentive and knowledgeable, providing great recommendations and ensuring everything is perfect. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Dragon Roll, Mango Roll
Oliver Holmes
The gem of Milpitas. Kakuna is fast, delicious, and inexpensive.
It's a fusion of Japanese and American style for the rolls, and it tastes incredible.
Our favorite roll is the Boujie Roll definitely get that. Orange Blossom and Nutcracker are also great.
The pork belly bao was perfectly toasted.
Food: 5
Shefali Jaiswal
Food was really good and the portion size was huge for the price we paid. Quick service and no wait at 6:30 on a Wednesday.
Wheelchair accessibility: Wheelchair accessible
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bang Bang Shrimp Roll
Paul Baldassari
Great, authentic Cantonese food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Brian Biskeborn
Great sushi. They expanded their dining room at some point in the last few months, and the new space is incredibly loud. Hopefully they fix the acoustics soon.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Prince13
Their food is really good except for the quality of rice is bad. They served it really hard to chew like a left over rice.
Recently dined at Kakuna after having a craving for sushi! They have an extensive menu with different types of sushi rolls, sashimi and even classic Japanese dishes like ramen and donburi. We ordered 4 sushi rolls and they were very generous with the portion size! The fish was of good quality and the flavors were pretty good. Our favorite was the Gilroy Garlic.
The service was a 4/5 for us. The staff were very friendly, but we had to get their attention a couple of times and we waited quite some time for our order to reach the table. Other than that, if you’re looking for quality sushi that is a bang for your buck, I’d recommend Kakuna!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Tuuyen Do
Pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sushi! The atmosphere is pretty sterile, but the fish is fresh and well priced. Sake Don is my go to, and I wasn't disappointed with theirs. My daughter chose 2 rolls. They were huge and tasty.
We'll be back!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sie Cheung
I love their signature roll and the Sumo.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Ameya Morajkar
Amazing option for vegetarians, loved the veg mango sushi a must try. And jalapeno bomb in non veg. Also very reasonable prices.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Shrinedhi Rajan
Highly recommend this place for vegetarian sushi. Their Spicy Soy and Vegetarian Mango rolls are incredible! Generous portions and a wide variety of plant-based options.
Got takeout, was delicious all around
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Sushi is fresh! Very delicious.
Simple strip mall location. Don’t let that fool you. Incredible fish and very generous portions.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sashimi Deluxe
Summary (tl;dr): Quality sushi, sashimi, and rolls with generous (and I mean generouusss) portion sizes and fantastic presentation relative to the price in a quiet strip mall with sometimes slow service.
I'll be honest I mostly get takeout from here, but the remarks about the food are the same whether you dine-in, takeout, or get delivery.
Food (5/5 for the sushi and rolls for sure; 3/5 for the cooked stuff)
The sushi, sashimi, and rolls are definitely the stars here. The portion size is very, very generous. The fish itself is usually fairly fresh, not omakase level or fresh-from-japan level, but still pretty good. I go a lot and I have yet to have a bad fish quality experience with them. If you go look at some of the photos here posted by people, you'll see the tiktok/instagram reel friendly *moriawase* (aka poor-man's omakase) that they present on this wooden circular staircase-type platter. The rolls are also large and substantial and presented very well without going overboard with the rice (think - Sen Dai). The prices for the specialty rolls are approximately in the range of $12-18? Considering the sizes of the rolls you get are at least 50% larger than many other places (excluding Sen Dai) without compromising on quality, you're definitely getting your money's worth here.
I will have to say, the cooked food items are just average. The bento/combination plates are ok as a whole, but like the quality of the meats are just ok and they tend to slightly overcook them.
Service (4/5)
It's a small restaurant and I think the front service staff can be understaffed most likely at times, although they've been efficient when I've been there. I'm just assuming based on the capacity of the restaurant at peak hours compared with the number of actual waiters. The waiters also perform double duty too, taking to-go orders or finishing packaging up to-go orders in between managing the in-restaurant customers.
I think the kitchen is probably pretty well staffed though, because I've never really noticed food taking all too long to come out.
Ambiance (3.5/5)
It's in a tired looking strip mall with an ok-amount of parking that inexplicably fills up sometimes. I don't understand why the parking lot can fill up when the other places that command attention are one other restaurant, a liquor store, and a dance studio in one of the corners.
The inside of the restaurant was actually recently renovated and is clean and newish looking although looks fairly sterile. It was previously very tiny and now has much better capacity. I think they bought out the place next door and broke down the wall to open up the restaurant. But as a result it kind of looks like two different seating areas (one with pretty sterile fluorescent bars, and one that has more normal lighting). They've also played music before on occasion I recall? But it comes from a small bluetooth speaker so it's not like a true music system.
Other notes:
They actually have two other locations. One in Fremont and one in East SJ off McKee and White. I haven't been to those two other locations but I've looked at the yelp profiles before and I would imagine the food portion of the reviews are probably pretty similar.
Parking: It's in a tired looking strip mall with an ok-amount of parking that inexplicably fills up sometimes. I don't understand why the parking lot can fill up when the other places that command attention are one other restaurant, a liquor store, and a dance studio in one of the corners.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 4
Recommended dishes: California Roll, Chirashi Don, Mackerel, Sashimi Deluxe, Dynamite Roll, Dragon Roll, Salmon Sashimi, Spider Roll
Kakuna offers some of the best sushi I’ve ever had! The fish is incredibly fresh, and each roll is crafted with care. Each week, my family either dines in or orders to pick up, and the service is always impressive.
Our favorites are the Crunchy Mango, Fireball, Dragon, and Citrus rolls.
The staff is attentive and knowledgeable, providing great recommendations and ensuring everything is perfect. Highly recommend!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Dragon Roll, Mango Roll
The gem of Milpitas. Kakuna is fast, delicious, and inexpensive.
It's a fusion of Japanese and American style for the rolls, and it tastes incredible.
Our favorite roll is the Boujie Roll definitely get that. Orange Blossom and Nutcracker are also great.
The pork belly bao was perfectly toasted.
Food: 5
Food was really good and the portion size was huge for the price we paid. Quick service and no wait at 6:30 on a Wednesday.
Wheelchair accessibility: Wheelchair accessible
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Bang Bang Shrimp Roll
Great, authentic Cantonese food
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Great sushi. They expanded their dining room at some point in the last few months, and the new space is incredibly loud. Hopefully they fix the acoustics soon.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 5
Their food is really good except for the quality of rice is bad. They served it really hard to chew like a left over rice.
Restaurantji Recommends
Recently dined at Kakuna after having a craving for sushi! They have an extensive menu with different types of sushi rolls, sashimi and even classic Japanese dishes like ramen and donburi. We ordered 4 sushi rolls and they were very generous with the portion size! The fish was of good quality and the flavors were pretty good. Our favorite was the Gilroy Garlic.
The service was a 4/5 for us. The staff were very friendly, but we had to get their attention a couple of times and we waited quite some time for our order to reach the table. Other than that, if you’re looking for quality sushi that is a bang for your buck, I’d recommend Kakuna!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Pleasantly surprised at the quality of the sushi!
The atmosphere is pretty sterile, but the fish is fresh and well priced. Sake Don is my go to, and I wasn't disappointed with theirs. My daughter chose 2 rolls. They were huge and tasty.
We'll be back!
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I love their signature roll and the Sumo.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 5
Service: 3
Amazing option for vegetarians, loved the veg mango sushi a must try. And jalapeno bomb in non veg. Also very reasonable prices.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 4
Highly recommend this place for vegetarian sushi. Their Spicy Soy and Vegetarian Mango rolls are incredible! Generous portions and a wide variety of plant-based options.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
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