Dozo Japanese Sushi

Food was very YAKky as my young nephew would say. Any Asian place that charges for tea is just a crook!
But now they are gone…
I guess that it’s a good thing!

Just pass this place today and looks like out of business.

The owners are really friendly and provide great service. I had the ramen and it was delicious! Next time I’m in the area I’ll definitely stop by again!

I will not go back again. After dinning there, I felt ripped off by them.
Order:
Veggie tempura
Salmon sushi
Spicy Scallop sushi
The spicy scallop was so spicy that it over power the natural flavor of scallop. So, I was just eating some white spicy stuff. There is not even a single ebiko in the mix. They dare to charge $ 9 for this … You fill in the blank. On top of that, the tea they gave me was another $ 3.
WTF!
This is one of those small restaurant; nickel and dime you because they know that you won’t come back. Feeling so pissed after that meal.

The restaurant is located just a block from Kirkland’s city center where you can park for free up to three hours before 5pm. I arrived for a late lunch. There was only one other group in the restaurant, so the waitstaff were very attentive.
Since I have limited sushi knowledge I was happy to see that the menu had descriptions of most of the items. There was also another menu with pictures as well. The woman who was serving me, was extremely patient with me, answering my questions about unfamiliar terms and giving me time to study the menu while checking on me frequently.
I ordered the gyoza appetizer and spicy tuna roll for my main course. It is better to come with someone else in order to share these items. There were eight of each, so I had half of the order boxed to take home for dinner. I loved the gyoza. They were delicious, especially dipped in my saucer of soy sauce. The spicy tuna roll wasn’t really spicy at all. Fortunately, wasabi was served with it, so I could ‘heat’ it up to my desired tolerance level and cleanse my palate afterwards with a bite of ginger.
The facility was clean and nicely decorated. My food was well presented. I would probably return if I happened to be in the area with a sushi craving.

Dozo has been making steady progress and I’m a now a fan. I’ve not retried the sukiyaki yet, but in general the food is really good, though I’m mostly there for lunch.
The daily lunch specials, including the bento box at $ 10, is a real treat. There’s so much food, all tasty, and at a reasonable price point and served up quickly.
I like the shumai that come with the bento, but some still prefer the more traditional steamed version, but the fried is tasty.
Our family enjoys the futo maki for take out. Even if we’re getting some other take out, we often place an order to accompany whatever it is we’re having.
While their ramen lunch cannot really rival some ramen-​centric places, they do a fine job. I particularly like the miso ramen.
The katsu don and the chuka don (it comes with pork, chicken and seafood, but if you prefer, they’ll substitute tofu, though it’s never vegetarian) are regulars for me, along with the bento when I’m hungrier. The bento often includes chicken katsu or salmon katsu, both being nice. The salad is usually fresh and sometimes comes with extras like potato salad.
They’ve just added the ability to cook at your table, but I’m still a fan of letting the chefs do all the work!

Service here is exceptional! Eugenia always waits on my fiancé and I, and we are never disappointed. The food is probably average for Japanese cuisine, but the atmosphere and service alone continue to hold our interest.
Though some of their food may be slightly overpriced for what you get, remind yourself that you’re in Kirkland. Most, if not all, restaurants in that particular area are overpriced simply due to the location. They have an amazing sake selection if you enjoy a great rice wine.
If you’re looking for a good Japanese atmosphere with helpful and friendly staff, then this location is suitable for you. The staff there are ACTUALLY Japanese and not just hiring employees of any Asian background to continue with the typical American stereotyping. Taste can only go so far, but the entire experience is what keeps me going back.

A visit to Dozo is about managing your expectations. The prices, décor, and location combine to create an expectation that doesn’t seem to meet those held by the majority of Unilocalers.
If it was priced like a teriyaki storefront there’d be little or no complaining; but it’s priced like Rikki Rikki or Oto Sushi — so there’s some backlash.
Dozo affirms to me what most of us believe; that the restaurant business is not easy. The reviews seemed to have improved over time so I’m hopeful it’s reflects the restaurant getting ‘dialed in’.
They’re giving it a good effort so I’ll continue to support them. They now have a rewards type card and you get something (an appetizer I think) after so many visits. So they’re trying, and that matters.

I hate to give this place 2 stars, but it’s an honest rating; and I know my fellow Unilocalers deserve an honest review.
Let’s start with the good, and explain why it pains me to give them a low score.
Good:
— Eastside local spot. You won’t have to battle traffic or parking since I don’t think non-​locals will be going out of their way to get here.
— Staff is friendly and service is prompt.
— Décor and ambiance is nice and relaxing.
— Has that homey feel that makes you want to root for your local business owner.
The Bad:
— The food is pedestrian. Nothing stands out, and a few things just weren’t that good. We ordered two different rolls, the sukiyaki (a staple for us), and a bowl of tonkotsu ramen. The rolls were pretty good, but everything else was meh. At the end of the day, it’s all about the food; and it’s unfortunate that Dozo doesn’t shine here.
— The price. Japanese food is usually expensive; but you pay and expect a skillfully prepared meal that is delicious, delicate, and well presented. Because of the bullet point above, the price isn’t justified at Dozo.
The Bottom Line:
Why do I choose to give Dozo 2 stars instead of 3 if most things are «ok?» Because when I ask myself «Would you recommend this place to a friend?» My resounding answer is «no.» When I ask myself «Would you recommend this place to a friend if there’s a coupon?» I would still answer «No.» When I ask myself «Would you recommend this place to a friend if everything were 50% off and it’s the only Japanese restaurant open within a 10 mile radius and your friend is massively jonesening for Japanese food?» I would answer «Hell yeah. Dozo’s your place!» And that’s why it’s a two star review.

This place is pricier than what it should be. The food is good here, but I feel that it’s overpriced. I also wish that the portions were bigger.
I would come here for sushi if I was in the area, but certainly would no go out of my way to come here.
The service was great though, but not great enough for me to come back sad to say.

This was the only place that didn’t have some long line on a Saturday at noon for lunch, though I suspect part of the reason is because it’s slightly off the beaten path. My husband and son came by my office to take me to lunch and we were trying to find something that would be close and relatively quick. No line — this place worked for me. It was also quieter, which we like since we have a little one that comes everywhere with us and doesn’t usually do too well with too much going on around him.
The service here is really good. I mean, really good, professional — I would come here again just to know that I’m going to be treated well. The place was very clean, another huge plus in my book. The food was good too. We shared a ramen, the tofu appetizer, and two rolls. I have to tell you to try the coconut shrimp roll. Surprisingly good — and different. You can get a dragon roll anywhere. Rolls come in 8 pieces. Not great, but not stingy either.
The price wasn’t cheap — we paid about $ 45 after tax and tip — for our four items. I suspect that location comes into play with the pricing. It is located very conveniently near the waterfront and the main downtown Kirkland shopping area. I walked here, so I cannot comment on parking difficulty, but there are a few spaces out front and several in the strip malls around it.

Been here 3 times now and overall I’ve come to a decision that it’s just alright. The lunch special is a pretty good deal, though lots of starchy foods. On our last visit, we got a small bowl of udon, 4pcs California roll, creamy croquette, tempura ahi tuna, side salad and optional bowl of rice. All of this for just $ 10, pretty good deal.
Of course, I didn’t get the bowl of rice but ordered some rolls. I don’t care much for the California rolls since I prefer raw fish. The udon was very delicious and the croquette was nice. The rolls we ordered were spicy tuna, spicy creamy scallops and ultimate roll I think. Hmm, honestly they weren’t very impressive. Rolls were tiny and mostly rice. You could barely see the scallops and all the rolls had no spiciness to it.
For the prices, I’d expect more. More fish that is. I can’t really say anything for the quality since there was barely anything to taste, but rice.
I think this might be my last time visiting or maybe I’ll only stop by for the lunch special. Pretty disappointing.

I went here only because I had a coupon from
(do NOT use this site). My coupon was for $ 25 off a purchase of $ 50 or more. So my girlfriend and I figured we could have fun with trying to spend $ 50 at a sushi restaurant. When we first walked in there were 3 people in the whole restaurant and the host sat us right next to the door at probably the worst table. I asked if we could sit at one of the booths (all empty) and the host said «those are for ‘hot pot’ diners only». I suppose that is some sort of meal where they cook on the table, but it still seemed to me that if no one is there you should just let someone sit wherever they want. So we moved to a table more in the middle of the restaurant since my girlfriend was cold (sitting right next to the door and all).
We started ordering our sushi, got a couple drinks and a noodle dish. The noodle dish was extremely bland, and my first beer was not cold and tasted flat (since we were trying to spend more money I didn’t complain and just ordered another beer). The service was OK, nothing special. This is also how I would describe the sushi.
When I asked for the bill I handed the waitress my coupon. She came back a few minutes later and said that even though we had spent $ 53 total, all of our drinks ($ 15) and one of my food dishes ($ 5) did not count towards it. The food item was on happy hour so I understood, but the drinks were not. The coupon that I had said on it that happy hour items did not count, but did not say ANYWHERE on it that alcohol wouldn’t count toward the total. I flagged the waitress down again and asked her about that. She said «yes it is. Its right here:» and pointed in the general area of the two paragraph long fine print. I read it two more times to make sure that I didn’t miss it, but sure enough it still wasn’t in there. When I told her that again she got really awkward and said that she knows for sure that I will not be able to get this to count toward my total.
I decided that I was going to reach the $ 50 and ordered a couple more sushi rolls to go. Once you count in the $ 20 that didn’t count toward the coupon (bringing the total to $ 72) and tax ($ 7) and the FORCED 18% gratuity for using this stupid coupon ($ 14), I ended up paying $ 68 AFTER THE COUPON!
This place is not even very good, doesn’t care about their customers, and blatantly dishonors their coupons. DO NOT EAT HERE.

Not bad for a mid-​price sushi restaurant. The sashimi plates are a bit overpriced and do not include miso soup or rice unlike the sushi plates. I wished I had seen the combination plates on the next page of the menu before ordering where you can match sashimi with cooked dishes. I think there is a triple combo of sashimi with American Kobe skewed and black cod.
Out of the med (5 selection) sashimi plate, the salmon was the best…

It’s hard sometimes to really find a good Japanese joint, and while I really wanted to love this place… I found that it fell short of my expectations.
The food wasn’t terrible, but it really wasn’t that good, especially for the price they were charging (Katsu Doburi for $ 12?!?). There was alot of rice and very minimal meat for the dish, also… I found the flavor to be really lacking… not that it lacked flavor but it was a bit of an odd taste I felt it lacked in the «my enjoyment» department.
Service was hit or miss, while they were pretty consistant with filling the water glasses, it doesn’t bode well when they forget simple drink orders (like a beer). Service was… so-​so…
I’d give it more like a 2.5, but i round up when possible. Not horrible, but not great. Hard to write any more about it, I may give it another chance in the future… but that is yet to be seen.
3 gomen-​nasai stars out of 5

Maybe I order the wrong food. Maybe I don’t know how to order. I am not really impressed by their food. Price is a bit too high. I get more at Tokyo at Factoria or pay less at Oto sushi as well as their food tasted way better.
Place is packed on Friday night.

I was really excited about seeing a new Japanese restaurant open in downtown Kirland and had high hopes for Dozo. Unfortunately, the food was really really BAD, and I cannot give it more than 1-​Star.
At the end of the day, Sushi is about freshness and quality of the fish. Period. This isn’t rocket science. Where the fish comes from is the single most important decision that a chef can make. Unfortunately, I discovered their salmon is farmed Scottish salmon. If you google it, you will discover that Scottish salmon is the most contaminated salmon in the world. It is disgusting, and people shouldn’t eat it.
I also tried their agedashi tofu, which turned mucky and goopy because they were using some weird tempura flakes on the outside. The texture was so gross that I couldn’t eat it.
All this crappy food and really high prices — even for downtown Kirkland standards. I won’t be back.

Kirkland, really?
I would have liked to have at least found this place mediocre, but I could find almost no redeeming qualities. The décor is reminiscent of Panda Express, the music was bad Japanese pop, and the food, oh god, the food…
The sushi was terrible. The fish was so unfresh, it was falling apart on top of the rice. It came with a pile of chopped green onions that looked and smelled like they were chopped last week. And it was missing gari. How can you eat sushi without gari? The one piece of sushi I tried made me gag a little as it hit my tongue.
The ramen was bland and didn’t taste like ramen. I know ramen is supposed to be Chinese-​style noodles, but you could probably find this ramen at a crappy Chinese restaurant in a small town in the Midwest.
The tuna poke (which they spelled pokki for no explicable reason), was unpalatable. The tuna wasn’t fresh, the shredded turnip tangled itself into a large mass of bitterness, and the sauce tasted like cheap soy sauce and rancid sesame oil. I want to say it was a lot of blah, but the small bowl of it was, mercifully, not a lot of anything.
The robata was the most disappointing. How do you mess up grilled shishito peppers? You basically just throw those on and let it cook. Come to Dozo to find out (but it’ll cost you). The sunagimo were tiny! Were these chicken gizzards or sparrow gizzards? The negita was slathered in an unusual tasting teriyaki sauce that covered up what I assume was bland chicken. There was no smokiness, no real taste.
All this might have been a little forgivable if we had walked into a cheap restaurant, but this place was anything but. Guess how much even tea costs? $ 3 per person! For hot water, and a little bit of matcha. How can a place get away with this? How is this place not shunned into nonexistence?
I mean, really, Kirkland? You can do so much better.

The first things that come to mind when I think of my dinner experience at Dozo: clean, friendly and prompt service, delicious, and a little on the pricey side.
I see someone was comparing Dozo to Rikki Rikki, but I found the service much much better and the food much tastier. Perhaps that explains the higher price.
I ordered the Agedashi Tofu and the Sushi Queen platter. My companion ordered the Chicken Shoyru Ramen and the Gyoza. The gyoza were pretty darned tasty and I am super picky about gyoza! He had less than great things to say about the ramen. The noodles were thicker than what I’ve seen at other ramen-​yas. I tasted a piece of chicken and it seemed dry and rather tasteless. Unfortunate, because I really enjoyed my sushi. The tofu wasn’t flavorful enough, or I guess I should say the sauce. Everything was fresh, fresh, fresh. I think I read somewhere on the menu that most of the food and meats were organic or whatever. That always helps (and again it explains the price).
They have a number of skewers on a separate menu. I’d really like to give them a try. Again, they seemed on the pricey side. $ 10 for a skewer of meat. eeeeh.

Dinner 7−29−11
THE GOOD:
Décor, while not 100% finished, it was nice
THE BAD:
Crunchy unripe avocados, No drink Menu.
THE LOWDOWN:
Being really close, if not actually in, downtown Kirkland this place is going to have to have high standards. With well established restaurants just doors away, this place is going to have to compete. Tonight it just didn’t.
Service was sub-​par, the avocados were not ripe, the fish was good, but presentation was poor. Rolls not tight, looked sloppy and just not visually appealing. Our table was out of soy sauce. We had an order of Agadashi tofu, which was so gelatinous that you could barely bite through it, and the pieces were huge. So large it was difficult to eat. We had one plate of nigiri and they put wasabi in-​between the fish and rice. I don’t mind this, but I would prefer it plain. There was no disclaimer about this, so for those of you who prefer to wasabi your own food, you have been warned.
For the price, any of the other fine restaurants would have better fit the experience I am after when I elect to eat out. Not going back anytime soon. Its a shame that Kirkland (Downtown) doesn’t have any top notch sushi restaurants. what gives?
Finally, it looks like they will have karaōke at some point in the future… fun!