Blue Gingko

Overpriced sushi and terrible service. You will never get a water refill. The best saki on the menu isn’t cold and the recommended best halibut ever is so garlicky and salty it’s not edible. The bonus for eating here is that it is close to where we live but the food and service is making us go to a different sushi restaurant l.

Yum yum yum four season and spicy crunchy yellow tail are our go-​to rolls but tried the Alaskan last time and that one was great too. Price is what you’d expect for lafayette but this is a great take out treat that is fresh and healthy.

Not great if you aren’t having sushi. Sushi chefs are the only reason there are any stars.
Their non-​sushi choices for the most part are extremely weak. I have tried their katsu a handful of times hoping it may get better and it is always thick and gamey without panko. Once I got a bowl of katsu that just looked like scraps from other people’s uneaten katsu. KFC or Wendy’s has more flavor and freshness. Also I am pretty sure their gyoza are store bought. or from the freezer.
So many other great places for Japanese locally. Maybe the Dublin location is better?

My review is for the sushi bar so if your looking for reviews on chicken teriyaki. look at another review.
We always get there around 8pm so getting a spot at the bar is easy. The sushi is great, we have tried most of the menu and haven’t had complaints. When the restaurant is busy the service can be a little slow, but they are always friendly which makes up for it. Plus in my opinion i would rather go to a packed sushi place than an emoty one…
Blue gingko is not somewhere you should go for a quick bite as it takes a little bit for each roll or nigiri to be made. I’ve never had a roll fall apart from here, which happens at so many other places when the chef is rushed. The fish is always fresh. When I say always, I mean we eat here once a week on varied nights and it’s always fresh. As for pricing, your eating sushi in the east bay, it’s pretty standard with the other good sushi restaurants in the area. As a couple eating only nigiri, sashimi and rolls we usually end up around $ 100 for the two of us.
Overall we have found our sushi spot for the time being. I’d suggest you give it a try.

We got a roll and one of their salmon meals and to be honest it was something quite forgettable and a bit over priced.

My fiancé and I wanted to give Blue Ginko another shot and so we went there last night to try different dishes. Tonight I had their tempura dinner. Like all places I’ve had tempura in the Bay Area, none of them do it right. It’s always these anemic thin pieces of shrimp and the batter isn’t prepared correctly. What it’s supposed to looks like is when it’s ice bathed and thrown into the fryer, the batter is supposed to splay out. The tempura here in my humble opinion is not prepared the right way. The tempura here was done well, but not perfect.
Service was really nice which makes this place a pleasant place to eat. I think I’ll stick with the sushi here.

We’ve been coming here almost weekly for years. The sushi is so fresh and butter soft. You MUST try the salmon skin handroll; I’ve tried this at six different places and Blue Gingko makes it best, hands down. So yummy!

I’ve been going here since it opened and it has always been outstanding. It’s a tiny restaurant in a strip mall and it can get crowded on a Friday or Saturday night, especially when it’s too cold to eat outside. The vibe is casual and the waiters are kid-​friendly. This is my favorite place to eat in Lafayette and I’ve celebrated a few birthdays here.
For appetizers, get the Kabocha squash, seaweed salad, spicy tofu salad, age-​dashi tofu, tempura, or the grilled rice balls. For a main course, get the sashimi sampler, avacado-​cucumber roll, or white tuna roll. I never get any of the specialty rolls because the fish is high enough quality that I want to really taste it. It’s pricey, but it’s a good value for how fresh the fish is.

Dinner out at Blue Ginko with my beautiful wife. Great outdoor seating and tasty sushi& Nigiri. Only suggestion is we wish they would describe their rolls better on their menu, not too clear how they are put together before they arrive.
Overall a nice sushi choice in the center of Lafayette.

Pretty good sushi for the burbs and prices are average. We had a lot of their sashimi and rolls and everything was pretty fresh. Definitely go here again for a mid week sushi craving. Nothing extremely life changing or creative on their menu but that’s okay for a middle of the week dinner. Service was a bit lacking but four stars for the consistently good food

If you want to know what a chalkboard eraser tastes like and are willing to pay $ 20 (after tax and tip) for the experience, try their grilled chicken udon.
Decent portion but who wants a decent portion of dry tasteless over priced chicken for $ 16.95 (before tax and tip)? If I wanted to eat something that tasted like microwaved 2-​day old chicken, I can do that at home.
Even my baby daughter didn’t eat much of it. I think we both took a few more bites than we would’ve liked because we were so hungry. I wish I read Marie M.‘s review before I came here so at least I would’ve been warned that the quality is only for dogs.
The Gyoza was nothing special (6 pieces for $ 6.95) but she loves that stuff.
I got out of there feeling ripped off and still hungry. Would I go if someone invited me and offered to pay? Not a chance.
We’ll meet up at Yogurt Shack next door for dessert when you’re done with your meal. I’ll be over at Chipotle where the meat is tasty, fresh and not $ 16.95.
Service was decent after I sat down but I think only because they thought my daughter was cute. Two people passed me by before I finally approached someone to get seated. Waited a bit too long before they took my order but maybe that was just my stomach getting impatient.
There’s a lot of consistency in the reviews on this place:
1. Slow service.
2. Those giving this place 4 – 5 stars have either never had their chicken or must be a Lafayette native who can’t tell the difference between chicken and a chalk board eraser.
3. Overpriced for what you get.
If you’re okay with that list, go for it. You won’t be disappointed.

3 stars though the food was really good (fresh fish, solid miso soup and seaweed salad, and awesome garlic tuna nigiri).
But they need to fix this service issue they have here. Only one waitress that keeps forgetting orders, doesn’t bring our sodas, and the food takes forever to come.
It all seemed a bit too pricy for what you get, but I will be back still because I like the area and it’s close to work.

My favorite sushi spot in Lamorinda — good food and great service. I love their pine-​nut seaweed rice especially when paired with the chicken skewers.
They also offer Tamari (a GF soy sauce alternative), just ask!

This was our second time there and we discovered there is for sure a very good consistency in the quality of the food and cocktails but inconsistency in overall service. There seems to be enough staffing so we just don’t understand why we have to ask to have empty plates removed. Even when you have the server or bartender come to the table, they just don’t seem to understand that empty plates and glasses SHOULD be removed and perhaps the table wiped down? This time we even had to stack the plates high in the middle of the table and guess what… they still did not get it!
We will be back because the staff is friendly, the food and drinks are very good but PLEASE fix this table maintenance thing.

I’ve had no problems with Blue Ginko until my experience today. My family and I came here tonight and we were waiting for a table for about 15 minutes. During that time that we were waiting, two tables cleared up. The employees did not even acknowledge us! We were right about to leave the restaurant when a lady greeted us with no apology and cleaned up a table. I’ve always known Blue Ginko to have decent service, but tonight was a disaster. Once we were seated, the rest of the dinner was great. The sushi was fresh and the dumplings were cooked perfectly. I ordered a Japanese soda to drink with my meal, so I couldn’t expect anything out of the ordinary. The portions of food were a little small, so I ended up getting a second order of gyoza.
Overall, the quality of the food was superb and the ambience is welcoming. The only negative thing about Blue Ginko is the lack of acknowledgement from the employees and the service. Since Lamorinda is not known for its restaurants, Blue Ginko is just like any other sushi restaurant. Out of all the restaurants in Lamorinda, Blue Ginko probably has the freshest sushi. I recommend this restaurant for anyone who lives in Lamorinda, despite the unforgiving service.

Decent sushi but nothing spectacular. I felt that the prices high for what I ordered. In all fairness I customized my own roll so I am sure that came at a premium.
The positive was the sushi chef. I sat at the sushi bar and he was great. Showed me a few things and was very helpful and personable

Here’s a five star spot with great ambiance. Fresh tasty sushi and a full menu. In the center of a fully equipped shopping area in town.
The chef is friendly and well trained.
Japanese by birth really knows sushi. I have this spot bookmarked for a future visit.

Tonight, Blue Gingko, you have surely earned your spot of real estate in the culinary wasteland that is, sadly, Lafayette. I have sworn off Blue Gingko a number of times and went tonight at youngest son’s request to have his birthday dinner there. There were two waitresses working this evening and we somehow drew the short straw and got the grumpy one. Restaurant was fairly empty and I mentioned the special birthday occasion. She said they don’t do anything but would bring a bowl of ice cream. Will get to that later.
Oldest son ordered a custom roll very simple– spicy tuna with the orange mayo sauce on top and crunchies. What he got was spicy tuna with cucumber and lettuce inside and the mayo/​crunchies on the side. After pulling the extras out of two pieces and having not much left of the roll, I mentioned to our waitress it wasn’t made the way it was ordered. That conversation went something like this:
Waitress: «All our spicy tuna has cucumber and lettuce.»
Me: «I have the honey spicy tuna roll and there is only tuna in it. We ordered the spicy tuna only.»
Waitress (insert dramatic pause): «Want me to ask the chef to fix it?»
Me: «That would be lovely, thanks.»
Sushi chef basically says tough luck, sends the incorrect roll back AND we are charged 9.95+.50 for the «custom» order. Seriously? Am I in sushi Twilight Zone? Who does that? Not to mention the tuna after all that had a bit off taste and the roll was hence forth shunned.
We had two salads which were fine but you’ve really got to try hard to mess up a salad with greens and a few tomatoes in it. Pork Katsu which is what youngest wanted to go there to have was just okay. Has been better in the past but frankly would gladly take L&L BBQ Tonkatsu over this at less then half the price. And shame on you, Blue Gingko, for charging $ 15.95 for a plate of Katsu and not including a side (that’s $ 6.95 extra for small!) salad.
And the ice cream? Anyone? Bueller? Of course it was never brought to the table. Grand total for completely sub par dining experience: $ 118. «Oh wait!» you say «there must have been drinks involved!» Yes, yes dear reader there were– 3 Japanese soda’s.
Much like an Amazon book review, proceed with caution regarding 4 and 5 star reviews. Lafayette really frustrates me dining wise as people here do know good food and yet… so close (there are a handful of decent restaurants here) but yet so far (the majority are on the other side of the tunnel).

Came here for lunch with some of my really good friends. The sushi was rolled well, the ingredients for the most part were tasty. The main issues with this place is that it’s small so there is only room for one waitress to work for the entire restaurant. She was busy for most of our lunch and we didn’t really get any good service other than our food being handed to us. Other than not getting our water refilled until after we finished eating is the fact that the sushi here is over priced. I guess it’s not really a surprise considering the area and lack of good sushi or seafood in general. Location, location, location. So if you are in the area and want some sushi, this is a good option just not a fan favorite, or a must try in my opinion.

Came here for lunch with my boyfriend on a sunny Saturday afternoon.
Atmosphere:
Blue Gingko was clean, relaxing, and quiet.
Food:
The food was innovative, tasty, and photogenic (Is that a new requisite now? Not quite, but it doesn’t hurt).
We ordered the Spider Roll, Volcano Roll, and Agedashi Tofu. They were all delish, and so creative! The Spider Roll really looked like a spider, taking on the pinchers and creepy spider shape that almost gives you the chills… until you eat it of course. The Volano Roll is topped with cool, delicious tuna that resembles a volcano — Close Encounter fans, anyone?
Service:
Our waitress was extremely friendly and prompt, completing the great dining experience. Our miso soup was even on the house. A small but much appreciated gesture.
I would not hesitate to recommend Blue Gingko for some fun sushi and great service.