Sushi Karen Japanese Restaurant

I’ve been driving past this place for almost 14 years and I did not know this place existed! And I’m a big sushi fan. Thanks to Unilocal,I saw this place, looked at the reviews and photos, and decided to try it out.
At first glance, the place is like a whole in the wall. Inside it was totally empty. We did come in around opening time (5.15pm), but there was no other customer inside almost the entire time, except for me and my two little kids. We ended up sitting at the sushi bar because initially my kids (4 and 5.5 years old) thought it would be fun, and the seats weren’t high –bar stool type-​, so I wasn’t worried about them falling off. Later on I realized that it was a good idea to sit at the bar because the chef was very polite, respectful and attentive. The server, was also nice and friendly, but a little dazed. I asked for a hot sake, and first she brought over a cold bottle, then she took it back to heat it up and forgot it. After our food was served, I asked for my drink again, and then she brought it over with the original bottle and a small towel wrapped around it. I wondered how she had heated it. the cap was still untwisted. So I guessed she must have put it in hot water.
Anyways, as far as the food goes. I was surprised at how fresh and good it was. I’m always trying to find really good sushi restaurants near by, and either the fish is not so good /​fresh/​exotic, or it is really expensive. This place seemed like a good balance with the two. The fish they served me was definitely fresh and delicious. Their carpaccio was incredibly yummy. My kids gobbled it up and wanted more immediately. Both the sauces on the carpaccio halibut and kampachi were very yummy.
I would have given this place 5 stars except for the fact that there was hair in my sweet shrimp. Yuck! :(and when I first showed it to them, the younger chef behind the bar couldn’t see the hair and told me its a piece of fiber on the fish’s head. Then when I pointed out the black long hair and said «look at it carefully» he saw it and took the dish away. I must say, seeing hair in food is such a BIG TURN OFF for me. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left the restaurant and sent my food back and never gone back to a place that is careless enough to have hair in their dish. I’m sorry but this is not acceptable in book. But, I am giving this place a pass because I could see how embarrassed the chef was over this. and he ended up acknowledging it by making us a cut tuna roll. It also looked like they had taken the price of the sweet shrimp off of the bill, although it was a little unclear to me how much each dish was. When I got the bill (the same server lady ran my card twice, had issues, voided my first bill, and was quite late the whole time…) it was $ 96, which seemed kind of high for one adult and 2 little kids. I would have liked to look at the bill and see what each sushi had cost me and also would have loved to check and see if they really added in that sweet shrimp or not, but the bill only had one huge number for «sushi» and one huge number for carpaccio and a few other little things. So I was confused leaving the place paying all that money plus tip. I did wonder if she had charged me wrong since she was dazed, and baffled at the cashier totaling my numbers.
Anyhow, overall I am pleased and I will go back again. The restaurant has an A on the door. The bathrooms were clean. The fish was delicious and the chef seemed like had pride in what he does. Hopefully I will never run into hair in my food again in this establishment because it is a good local restaurant to keep coming back to. And oh please, next time can I get an itemized bill? I’d like to know what my food cost. Thanks!

A very solid sushi experience. Reasonably priced and high quality. I usually sit at the bar and order sushi a la carte. These guys are the real deal old school sushi purveyors, nothing fancy and it costs more for this kind of practiced artistry.

Service here was whack! First of all, there was only one server & while this sushi restaurant is small, she was scatterbrained, loud, and obnoxious.
When the server came we had already filled out the little sushi sheet, we handed it to her and asked her for some hot sake.
About half an hour later we finally got our hot sake and then she asked us if we were ready to order, I reminded her about the paper we had already filled out and she said they were working on it. Right after I watched her hand it to one of the sushi chefs. She must have forgot.
Also, maybe I’ve been spoiled, but our hot sake came in a hot glass bottle with the twist top still sealed and a towel held by a rubber band around it to keep from burning our hands along with two IKEA shot glasses. I’ve never seen sake be served so ghetto. Can I get a legit sake set please?
Anyhow, the server continued to race around and yell around the dining room and then took an ungodly amount of time to bring our bill as well.
It’s sad to say the food was great, but I won’t be back solely for the bad service and the ghetto sake presentation.

Came here with my family and waited over 2 hours for our 4 rolls. The service was ridiculously slow, which we heard about, so upon sitting down we filled out the order sheet and had it ready to go before the waitress even came back with our drinks. I asked her if she could take the order sheet and she kept it on our table for 30m before taking it to the chefs. Then it was just a ridiculous waiting game. They put off the special rolls til the very end which is why it takes so long. But I’d you’re going to charge $ 18 for a roll, maybe have that ready before the ones you charge $ 6. Never going back.

It took 2 hours for three rolls and 4 pieces of sashimi to get to our table and it was not a busy time. The waitress told us that the service was lacking because they had VIPs (that came in after us) that were mad if they didn’t get their food quickly. They literally said that to us. I’ve never had sushi take that long at busier or slower places. I’m saying this as someone who’s worked in the service industry for 10+ years… there are many other places in the area that are totally worth eating at than this place. I am but one of many negative reviews and you don’t know me, but trust me, they were unnecessarily disrespectful to my friend and I tonight, and we won’t be back. I urge you not to go as well.

I’m confused by the negative reviews complaining about the fish quality. The salmon belly and uni were some of the best I’ve had — super fresh, flavorful and delicious. There’s nothing I hate more than chewy, bland salmon or «off» uni (you know the kind), and luckily Sushi Karen’s are neither. The amberjack, served with a jalapeño citrus ponzu sauce, was also great.
It’s a pretty modest place, and based on their dinner menu (or lack thereof), this is definitely the kind of place you should go to for the sushi and not the entrees. I absolutely plan on coming back to get more of the salmon belly and uni, and I’d love to try their amaebi (sweet shrimp) based on the pictures other reviewers have posted.

Really? I ask for some more ginger and the next time they say they are going to charge? Really? Great, not! customer service!
The fish was ok. Pretty fresh but nothing special at all

It was ok. I wasn’t so pleased with this sushi place. I was trying to order the shishito pepper and the waitress told us that would take to long so I should order just the sushi. I thought it was an odd advice. I ask her how long and she said an hour. Interesting…
I just got the 7 pieces regular sushi. Nothing special. Fish was not super fresh as I am used to. Street parking or across the street at the mini mall.

Always incredible fish quality, I would expect this quality from a place three times as expensive. Don’t be fooled by the slightly shabby interior, this place is fantastic.

We love this place! The food is always fantastic! Kanpachi With Jalapeño Citrus Sauce amazing!
We frequently come with our toddler and the staff is always very sweet and patient.

really good sushi rolls, sashimis, and the price is decent. fresh tasting sushi. too bad I dont live around here, otherwise I will become a regular :)

One of the best value sushi restaurants in the city. Very low key and not pretentious. It’s hard to spend more than $ 50 per person (including alcohol!) and the fish is delicious. Sit at the sushi bar and buy Toshi a beer — one of the nicest guys around. Certain cuts that really stand out:
Salmon belly
Amberjack
Red Snapper sashimi with spicy lemon salt
Scallop
Yellowtail belly
Uni
Blue crab hand roll
Dragon roll

I love this neighborhood sushi spot. I’ve been a loyal customer for nearly 12 years. Kanpachi Jalapeño is kick ass. Toshi almost always stock hamachi belly. The quality of fish he serves is top grade. Blue crab hand roll, occasional specials of jumbo scallops, marugai clams. Uni is always super fresh. Crunchy roll is always a favorite. Toshi saves you money with his hole in the wall location and street parking. it’s behind the Best Buy and next to a Mattress store.

Small hole in the wall. Sit at the bar. Dedication to make the sushi from the masters. Street parking.

Good quality sushi for a decent price! The service is kind of slow for the place not being too busy, but other than that I had a good sushi experience.
We ordered the Salmon Carpaccio ($ 16) and the Assorted Sushi Dinner ($ 17) to start off with.
The Sushi dinner came with 7 sushi pieces, each a different kind of fish (red snapper, shrimp, albacore, salmon, tuna, yellowtail, and one other I wasn’t familiar with) and 6 sushi rolls (I think it was spicy tuna or spicy albacore, not too sure). The salmon carpaccio was good quality, thick salmon pieces. I also loveee the lemony sauce that surrounds the dish. I dipped in almost every part of whatever sushi I ate cos I’m a saucy person lol.
Then we ordered the crunchy roll cos my bf was still hungry, and that roll was amazing as well. Surrounded by sriracha sauce and the spicy mayo sauce, the roll itself had shrimp tempura in it along with the usual California roll I believe. Still good and the price was $ 13, which is a standard price for a roll.
I’d come back again if I were ever in the area, and hopefully the service wouldn’t be too slow again.

I was looking for a sushi spot in the Culver area, and ended up coming here for dinner on a Friday night. The place isn’t big, but luckily there were empty tables.
My husband and I ordered the Salmon Carpaccio, Tempura & Sashimi Combination Dinner, and Assorted Sushi Dinner. Overall, the quality of the fish was decent and the dinner combinations came with a good amount of food. We ended the dinner with some delicious Green Tea Tempura Ice Cream.
This restaurant seems to be run by a family, so service may not be the fastest. However, the staff did check on us enough, and most of the food came out quickly.
We found free street parking pretty easily.
I will definitely come back the next time I’m in the mood for sushi at a decent price.

Love the sushi here. The salmon is so incredible it melts in your mouth.
The only reason I didn’t give 5 stars is that service can be slow.

Basically, they served my boyfriend cold spaghetti and cold marinara sauce with his chicken teriyaki dinner. IN WHAT WORLD IS THIS OK? And when we asked the waitress why, she said «oh the owner said people used to waste the broccoli that we used to serve with it so now we serve pasta» ok… And everything was below average (sushi, apps, etc.) and overpriced.
Freaking cold spaghetti, guys.
We spent 70 bucks on fast food, go to Ralph’s for better sushi. Seriously, DO NOT GO HERE. THIS RUINED OUR ANNIVERSARY DINNER. Thank god it was so bad, because we could at least laugh about it. — my boyfriend

Came in for lunch, and while nothing was particularly bad, nothing was beyond ok either. Ordered 3 hand rolls, all of which were ok– salmon skin roll was burnt, spicy scallop was more mayo than scallop, and a blue crab hand roll with no real flavor.
Their iced green tea has definitely been sitting in the fridge for a week. Yuck.
The staff was friendly, but again just ok. If their prices were more in line for an ok sushi joint, I would give them a third star. However, the prices were comparable to some great sushi spot smear here. I would not go back unless I needed to. Just an overall meeeeh

Loved that place for lunch! I would have never gone to that place because I never noticed it but I went with customers and they knew about it.
We were the only customers on that particular lunch time so it was perfect, we could talk to Toshi and we basically asked him to give us what was fresh and we ordered until we were full. The price is right, the service is great and it is clean. Our plates we switched after every sushi. I would faintly go back again.
The name of the restaurant is the owner’s daugther’s name :)