Masa used to be our favorite sushi restaurant in Marin. Opened by an exceptional sushi chef from Sushi Ran, we would often sit at the sushi bar and be wowed by his creations. Accordingly, we were looking forward to visiting again last night. Upon arrival, I didn’t recognize any of the sushi chefs, non were Japanese or even Asian. Now, to clarify, you don’t need to be Asian to be an excellent sushi chef. However, you need to be well trained over a period of many years to be even a decent sushi chef. This should have been an indication: did this restaurant change hands and we missed it?? On to dinner: The shishito peppers and the cauliflower apps were very good. Everything went down hill from there. The fish in the chiller in front of us looked old - discolored and old and tasted that way. More than once the fish was cut incorrectly and as a as result was chewy. The rice - so important to good nigiri - was all wrong - dried out and also chewy. In sum, very disappointing and we will NEVER go back.
Katie Vogel
For the quality of food, I would always give this restaurant five stars! However, my husband and I went downtown to get sushi at 5:30pm. We walked in and although there were multiple tables available, they told us they were reserved for possible larger parties! There was also two openings at the bar, but we were told those were also reserved and that we were welcome to sit outside, but the heat lamps were broken and it was very chilly, so that wasn’t very inviting. I was very disappointed and we decided to go somewhere else. In my experience when you have walk-in customers and tables that have not been taken you seat the people that walk in, not tell them your holding those tables for larger groups. It’s a very tiny dining area and to reserve all the tables and not have anywhere for walk-ins on a Saturday night at 5:30pm is really ridiculous and bad business. So although I recommend this restaurant for the food, the customer service was not good especially the hostess! We were not treated kindly and so for that I have to give it three stars.
Christopher Greenwald
Very possibly my favorite restaurant in Marin county. The red dragon roll is a grand slam & the sashimi is always top, top quality.
Brian Ivy
I was expecting significantly better food for the price I paid. The service was fine, nothing great nothing bad, and the actual restaurant is very nice and has good outdoor seating.
The food was NOT good. I should of known because their menu has spelling errors the restaurant didn't notice and all other people who have reviewed it didn't notice either. Tartare is spelt with an E, not tartar. The tuna also wasn't even a tartare, it was a paste, almost like it was blended together. It was a tasteless mushy roll with the only texture coming from a piece of cucumber and ginger (in a roll?).
The gyoza was frozen gyoza and tasteless (so was the sauce it came with). I felt like I got scammed paying $15 for 6 pieces of frozen gyoza.
Unfiltered lukewarm tap water isn't the best thing to serve to customers unless they enjoy the taste of chlorine.
Joe Ching
Always delicious
Francia Cifuentes
Absolutely TASTELESS sushi !!! I ordered 2 different rolls They both were ice cold and both tastes like tasteless rice I happen to love sushi The WORST sushi ever !!! Will NOT recommend this place and will never go back.
Jason K
I’ve had a lot of chirashi from many places and this is the first place that had some lobster in the chirashi and it was wonderful.
Andrea Walhof-Grisham
We shared the Bento box, and it was delicious, with chef s choices blue fin Tuna sashimi, scallops roll and grilled Miso Black Cod was melt in your mouth! We sat outside because it was nice and sunny out, and inside was kind of loud.
Afshin Afshar-Ghasemlou
A Taste of Tradition at Masa's Sushi
During our last visit to Novato, we decided to have lunch. Walking by Masa's Sushi, we noticed they were getting ready to open in 10 minutes. So, we walked around the block and returned when they were open. We had our puppy with us, so we opted for outside seating. It was chilly, so they turned on the two heaters near us, and we were all set.
I later learned Masa's Sushi in Novato is a popular local restaurant founded by Masayuki Okugawa, a skilled sushi chef passionate about traditional Japanese cuisine. The restaurant is renowned for its fresh, high-quality ingredients and authentic flavors. Today, Masa's Sushi is guided by Chef Takatoshi Toshi, a highly respected sushi chef trained under Okugawa.
Our server, a very professional young man, explained a couple of items on the menu and answered a few questions we had. We started with Miso Soup, which was delicious, and shared four pieces of Salmon and Yellowtail Nigiri. Needless to say, the nigiri was fresh and tasty.
For the main course, I chose Kakiage Udon, and my significant other chose Miso Black Cod. Both dishes were very well presented, tasty, and satisfying. Although my partner is not a big fan of Cod, she really enjoyed her choice. As for the Udon, it was one of the best ones I have had in recent memory.
This was a very pleasant experience, and we will definitely visit Masa's Sushi next time we crave food in Novato.
Wheelchair accessibility: No stairs at the entrance.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Nigiri
Bowen Dwelle
Food was excellent, just as good as Sushi Ran or Village Sake but... the pacing of service was off. I'm not here to complain, just to note that something was out of order. I wonder if they were down a staff member.
We ordered sake when we sat down and didn't get it until 15 minutes in, after first dishes were served. Spinach salad was totally forgotten. One miso served solo, then the other ten minutes later; I asked them to re-do the first one, no problem. All in all, very tasty and no big deal, we'll probably be back as the food was great and it's quite convenient. ??
Love this place! The food is inventive and delicious and the service is wonderful. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it! They are gluten-free friendly and made their miso cod gluten-free for me. It was so yum!
Masa used to be our favorite sushi restaurant in Marin. Opened by an exceptional sushi chef from Sushi Ran, we would often sit at the sushi bar and be wowed by his creations. Accordingly, we were looking forward to visiting again last night. Upon arrival, I didn’t recognize any of the sushi chefs, non were Japanese or even Asian. Now, to clarify, you don’t need to be Asian to be an excellent sushi chef. However, you need to be well trained over a period of many years to be even a decent sushi chef. This should have been an indication: did this restaurant change hands and we missed it??
On to dinner: The shishito peppers and the cauliflower apps were very good. Everything went down hill from there. The fish in the chiller in front of us looked old - discolored and old and tasted that way. More than once the fish was cut incorrectly and as a as result was chewy. The rice - so important to good nigiri - was all wrong - dried out and also chewy. In sum, very disappointing and we will NEVER go back.
For the quality of food, I would always give this restaurant five stars! However, my husband and I went downtown to get sushi at 5:30pm. We walked in and although there were multiple tables available, they told us they were reserved for possible larger parties! There was also two openings at the bar, but we were told those were also reserved and that we were welcome to sit outside, but the heat lamps were broken and it was very chilly, so that wasn’t very inviting. I was very disappointed and we decided to go somewhere else. In my experience when you have walk-in customers and tables that have not been taken you seat the people that walk in, not tell them your holding those tables for larger groups. It’s a very tiny dining area and to reserve all the tables and not have anywhere for walk-ins on a Saturday night at 5:30pm is really ridiculous and bad business. So although I recommend this restaurant for the food, the customer service was not good especially the hostess! We were not treated kindly and so for that I have to give it three stars.
Very possibly my favorite restaurant in Marin county. The red dragon roll is a grand slam & the sashimi is always top, top quality.
I was expecting significantly better food for the price I paid. The service was fine, nothing great nothing bad, and the actual restaurant is very nice and has good outdoor seating.
The food was NOT good. I should of known because their menu has spelling errors the restaurant didn't notice and all other people who have reviewed it didn't notice either. Tartare is spelt with an E, not tartar. The tuna also wasn't even a tartare, it was a paste, almost like it was blended together. It was a tasteless mushy roll with the only texture coming from a piece of cucumber and ginger (in a roll?).
The gyoza was frozen gyoza and tasteless (so was the sauce it came with). I felt like I got scammed paying $15 for 6 pieces of frozen gyoza.
Unfiltered lukewarm tap water isn't the best thing to serve to customers unless they enjoy the taste of chlorine.
Always delicious
Absolutely TASTELESS sushi !!!
I ordered 2 different rolls
They both were ice cold and both tastes like tasteless rice
I happen to love sushi
The WORST sushi ever !!!
Will NOT recommend this place and will never go back.
I’ve had a lot of chirashi from many places and this is the first place that had some lobster in the chirashi and it was wonderful.
We shared the Bento box, and it was delicious, with chef s choices blue fin Tuna sashimi, scallops roll and grilled Miso Black Cod was melt in your mouth! We sat outside because it was nice and sunny out, and inside was kind of loud.
A Taste of Tradition at Masa's Sushi
During our last visit to Novato, we decided to have lunch. Walking by Masa's Sushi, we noticed they were getting ready to open in 10 minutes. So, we walked around the block and returned when they were open. We had our puppy with us, so we opted for outside seating. It was chilly, so they turned on the two heaters near us, and we were all set.
I later learned Masa's Sushi in Novato is a popular local restaurant founded by Masayuki Okugawa, a skilled sushi chef passionate about traditional Japanese cuisine. The restaurant is renowned for its fresh, high-quality ingredients and authentic flavors. Today, Masa's Sushi is guided by Chef Takatoshi Toshi, a highly respected sushi chef trained under Okugawa.
Our server, a very professional young man, explained a couple of items on the menu and answered a few questions we had. We started with Miso Soup, which was delicious, and shared four pieces of Salmon and Yellowtail Nigiri. Needless to say, the nigiri was fresh and tasty.
For the main course, I chose Kakiage Udon, and my significant other chose Miso Black Cod. Both dishes were very well presented, tasty, and satisfying. Although my partner is not a big fan of Cod, she really enjoyed her choice. As for the Udon, it was one of the best ones I have had in recent memory.
This was a very pleasant experience, and we will definitely visit Masa's Sushi next time we crave food in Novato.
Wheelchair accessibility: No stairs at the entrance.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 4
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Nigiri
Food was excellent, just as good as Sushi Ran or Village Sake but... the pacing of service was off. I'm not here to complain, just to note that something was out of order. I wonder if they were down a staff member.
We ordered sake when we sat down and didn't get it until 15 minutes in, after first dishes were served. Spinach salad was totally forgotten. One miso served solo, then the other ten minutes later; I asked them to re-do the first one, no problem. All in all, very tasty and no big deal, we'll probably be back as the food was great and it's quite convenient. ??
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 3
Restaurantji Recommends
Great fish selection, incredibly fresh, simple and traditional. Good value lunch omakase. The kinmedai in particular was fantastic.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Love the lunch here - Bento boxes and soups.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
The quality of the food is great, fish is fresh. The servers are attentive. Pricey but worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Tuna Roll, Hamachi Jalapeno
The quality of the food is great, fish is fresh. The servers are attentive. Pricey but worth it.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Tuna Roll, Hamachi Jalapeno
Love this place! The food is inventive and delicious and the service is wonderful. It’s a bit pricey, but worth it! They are gluten-free friendly and made their miso cod gluten-free for me. It was so yum!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Omakase Roll
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