Sushi On The Run

OMG Im sooooooooooooo sad this place closed down! (I just walked by, the place is almost cleared out)
We love coming here, sushi here is BY FAR the best, and Nobu-​San is such an amazing/​kind sushi chef.
Sad Sad Sad! I hope the last review is wrong about the landlord not renewing Noba-San’s lease, who needs MORE wine and cheese bar in LG!!! LAME!!!
Nobu-​San plssssssssssss open a new place soon and update us? We miss your sushi and your smile!

It is a sad day for me as Nobo of Sushi On The Run is retiring and returning to Japan. I have had an office in Los Gatos since 1985 and used to go to Sushi On The Run before Nobo bought the place. I went for lunch the first week Nobo took over (approx. 20 years ago). I was hooked from that day forward.
I frequented this place 1 to sometimes 3 times a week for all of these years. The quality of his fish, portion size and relatively reasonable prices were the primary reasons for my addiction to this place. I loved the quirky layout accommodating only 8 people at a time, the large menu on the wall behind you with the letters printed backwards so they read correctly in the large mirror in front of you (behind the sushi bar). Every person I recommended to this place also became hooked.
Nobo brought a good deal of Japanese sushi tradition to Los Gatos demonstrated in his attention to the quality of fish making his nigiri and sashimi some of the best around. He also made many rolls appealing to the general American sushi palate; again some of the best rolls around (I loved the rolls too). The level of consistency through all of these years has been amazing. Nobo was not one for presentation, but it did not matter because the fish was so frickin good.
I never minded waiting in line to get a seat. You had to decide what time to get there to be the first in line or at least one of the first 8 so you were part of the first seating. People who walked by would wonder what is going on or why are we waiting in line for this place. All of us in line knew exactly why. It was our secret.
Nobo you will be missed. It has been a pleasure being your friend and patron. I wish you all the best.
Sincerely,
Don

It’s time to say goodbye, and this is my closure. (Con te partiro…)
I tried to eat here one last time before Nobu retired, but alas it was not meant to be. At 7:30 he had already handed out his last card for his dinner service, which ends at 9:30. I had eaten here on the weekend and the wait was over 2 hours long. I get it. I really do.
I don’t quite recall the first time I ate here. I sat around and thought back a great deal. Then, I thought back some more. My earliest memory of eating at Sushi on the Run was when I was hanging out with a friend who worked in the area and we met for lunch. While talking about lunch spots, I was talking about how I had wanted to eat there but I had trouble finding it. Apparently, he had frequented the restaurant many times and was happy to walk me over. The rest is history.
Sushi on the run has been my favorite sushi spot in the bay area and nowhere else quite hits home in the same way. I like my sushi simple. Large portions, reasonable prices, and most importantly of all, fresh fish. I’m not sure where my new favorite sushi spot will be.
I feel kind of lost.
Nevertheless, Nobu will be missed and I’m glad that I had the chance to tell him so the last time I ate there.
If you are reading this review after February 28^th and haven’t eaten here before, you have missed out!
Goodbye Sushi on the Run.

In honor of Nobu closing his shop Friday (²⁄₂₈), I will write this review which is long overdue.
Sushi on the run its literally the definition of a hole in the wall restaurant. However you feel very relaxed dining in and Nobu, the chef serves quality sushi, especially for the price. This place is a gem of the bay area.
I typically skip all of the other nonsense and go straight for the 9 piece sushi combo, however the lunch combo (which substitutes 3 pieces for some California roll pieces) is also worthwhile. As many others have noted, the pieces are gigantic compared with other places, upwards of 2−3x bigger pieces with ½ of the rice! That’s a win win win in my book. The third win comes from the fact that every piece is delicious!
Some notable fish served here are:
–Eel (you will want this!)
–Squid (not for everyone but he makes it well)
–Tuna (staple anywhere)
Nobu does not serve things like blue fin tuna due to the high price however it is commendable that he does that since most places mislabel blue tuna and they are also on the endangered species list.
Tips:
–If you don’t like a certain fish, tell him before ordering the chef choice prefix, I usually tell him no salmon roe.
–he has a bottle of low sodium soy sauce under his cabinet, ask him or the assistant for it.
–the green tea is a hit or miss but he uses matcha powder (plus)
–Don’t mind the slight manliness to the restarant, I think of it as character.
–If you sit next to the toaster oven, freaking watch out, that gets hot, and the fridge is next to your legs so that’s always hot too…
I will miss Nobu’s shop and would definitely recommend however you only have till Friday to act on this recommendation.

Came here on a Saturday 45 min before it opened but there was already a line so we ended up going in with the second group. No biggie though as this place allows you to BYOB (although I’m not sure if you’re supposed to be drinking outside: P) so we had fun passing time in line playing silly games like charades in our group of 4.
This place is closing for good but I wanted to give praise on one thing in particular — the Unagi. I’ve never been much of a fan, would eat it if it’s on the table but wouldn’t put in an order myself. Maybe it’s because I don’t regularly order it but Nobo’s Unagi was the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of having! He serves it freshly baked from a little oven that he has on the bar and the portion is very generous. We naturally ordered seconds because it was sooo delicious, just melts in your mouth… I think I’ll be ordering Unagi from now on using this as my baseline in the hopes of finding something just as good again.
We also ordered the assorted Nigiri and man were those suckers were huge. Definitely the best bang for your buck and very tasty! The Amaebi was fresh and sweet, I ate the Tobiko with Quail Egg too fast to taste it, and the only thing I was a little let down by were the rolls which were okay but a little small and didn’t contain too much meat.
Glad I was able to come here at least once! Hurry before it closes!

Nobo, no more.
Ordered:
— Seafood Salad $ 8.50
— Assorted Nigiri (9 piece) $ 21.00
— California Roll $ 5.50
— Amaebi $ 8.00
— Hamachi $ 6.00
— Tamago $ 4.00
— Unagi $ 6.00
— Tea ($ 2.50 per cup) $ 5.00
Tina’s Tips and Tantrums
— Total of $ 69.60 with tax (tip not included)
— Arrived at 6pm on a Friday, finally got in at 7:40pm (about an hour and 40 minute wait) for two people
— Closest Restroom is at the Los Gatos Brewing Company, a block down. Make a right at William Sonoma, go through the side door and straight to the back of the restaurant. Ghetto way, but if they had asked me to buy something, I would’ve. Ha!
— Bring jacket if it’s cold, you’ll be waiting for a while
— Chef Nobo is well known in the area, mainly people who has been loyal to him for years standing in line with you (some even bring lawn chairs!)
— I felt like we were in a bird cage being watched
— 8 seats in restaurant, super tiny and no reservations so go early!
— Minimum credit card charge of $ 20
— BYOB, bring your own beer. No alcohol served here, but allowed to bring your own inside
— Proportion is on point! Sashimi is bigger than the rice, which is how it’s suppose to be. Some people say he doesn’t know how to cut or his pieces are too big, you’re wrong.
— Can’t be shy! Gotta learn to tell your order.
— Everything we ordered was great, I wish I ordered the quail egg one though. Looks good from the photos
— Ordered way too much food, mg ugly recommend the nigiri. You get a bit of everything and it’s super delicious
— Amaebi is the sweet shrimp and it was juice with wasabi goodness inside
— Tamago egg is sweet and cooked to perfection (served cold)
— Unagi is hot out of the toaster oven he uses, super good that at the end I just ate it, itself and left the rice out since I got full
— Seafood salad is another good order! It consists of mostly cucumbers, but also different fishes, squid, crab meat, and his special sauce
CA Rolls were made differently, wasabi and something special inside, tasted good
— They have specialty rolls but I didn’t try any other ones
— Not like other places, utilizes your plate so he makes as he goes and puts it on your plate (it looks a little messy at times)
— Definitely worth it to try it for the first and last time plus Chef Nobo’s funny!
— I heard his lease was up and he couldn’t renew it, looks like it would be turned into an ice cream parlor.
— Go before you can’t no more. He’s retiring and going back to Japan on Friday, 02/​28/​2014

Yes, this place is closing on 2/28/14…so why am I still writing a review? Consider this a PSA to get your butt over there ASAP before it closes its doors forever! :(
What you need to know:
1. Only 8 seats TOTAL. So come early (15 – 30 mins before opening) to make sure you get in during the first seating or else you’ll have to wait an extra 1.5+ hours for those people to finish.
2. No alcohol is sold/​served. But you get to bring in your own beer, sake, vodka, whatever your heart desires at no additional charge!
3. Get nigiri everything! It’s the most bang for your buck since the slices are extremely generous (albeit also very ugly) for ~$ 5 – 8 per order. The length of each slice was the size of the palm of my hand. O_​O The rolls are small, more expensive, and you do not get as much fish so skip ‘em.
4. CC accepted with a $ 20 minimum
5. And lastly but also most importantly… everything here is SO FRESH! Salmon, Yellowtail, Tuna, Sweet Shrimp, and Uni were all sooo good.
The sushi chef will be retiring at the end of the month to return to Japan. Make your way over here stat before you regret it forever!

This is a place that is not fancy in any way. It’s tiny, unkempt, and the rolls are not pretty, and the sashimi is not big.
That being said, this place is legit when it comes to fresh fish. Everything is hand chosen that day, and Nobu makes your sushi in front of you and plops it onto your plate as you’re eating. This is the kind of place that makes you feel really guilty when you reach for the soy sauce (due to your sodium addiction, not a lack of flavor).
Anyhoo, this review is pointless because Nobu is going back to Japan and SOTR will be officially closed on 2−28−14!

This place is a one chef’s show! 8 seats, almost all 8 ppl sit down at the same time, get their menus, put their orders and served at the same time. There is no waiting list, just stand outside the door if inside is full. It is worth the wait!
The fish portion of each piece Nigiri equals 2 pieces elsewhere.
Chef is somewhat serious looking but nonetheless very down to earth once you start talking to him.
It’s too bad that this place is shutting by the end of Jan, I was hoping to go back for those gigantic nigiri…

The tiny sushi-​ya, with only a counter and one old master sushi maker who can’t be bothered with politeness, so intent is he on his craft, appeal to the hipster in all of us. It screams authentic. It feels elite and knowing.
And everyone knows the secret hole-​in-​the-​wall places are the best, right?
Sushi On The Run is popular for exactly the reasons above. Oh, and the fact that the owner/​chef slices you huge slices of fish, and so people like him for his generosity, too.
Except that big sushi is almost invariably *bad* sushi. There’s a reason the size of the fish is so standardized. It’s the right bite for the nigiri.
So please cut your fish smaller. There’s nothing, absolutely nothing, about this place that wouldn’t be fixed by taking the same piece salmon, the same piece of himachi, and cutting it another time or two.
What, did the sushi chef run out of knife?
Otherwise, this place is average. Averagely priced, average choices, with an above average wait and huge slices of fish. The best part is that the fish tastes super fresh.
But I hope you have a big mouth.

When you look up «hole-​in-​the wall» ~ there should be a picture of this place. Seriously. We couldn’t find it walking down the street, and we almost passed it again when we were backtracking. I giggled when my husband was searching for the door.
Even though I am echoing the same review as most, it has EIGHT seats, and that’s it. Portions are large, the fish is fresh, service is prompt and courteous.
Due to the lack of seating, I would recommend coming late lunch or early dinner, so then you are not stuck waiting for a seat. We were seated with one other guy in the restaurant, so I could see me freaking out with a sudden case of claustrophobia if this place was packed.

People say the best food is always at a small dive or hole in the wall. That is NOT the case here!
I was VERY surprised such poor quality of a restaurant exists in Los Gatos, really. It is very small: seats 8 ppl at the counter, no table, and the «chef» is on the other side making your sushi (which I’ll get to later). If you sit at one far end and need to get out, the other patrons would have to get up for you to get out. That is not even the bad part, really.
While we were waiting for our food, something was burning so bad and due to the poor ventilation, our eyes started watering so badly, it was uncomfortable. That was still not the bad part…
The bad part: I’m used to sushi chefs/​masters taking great pride in their work and presentation. Here, the «chef» made globs of sushi rolls and literally, physically just HANDED them over the counter and flopped them onto my plate like it’s no big deal. The pieces were all squished and became a glob of sushi pieces, it was disgusting. My gf and were so shocked (and was laughing our butts off from the shock at poorly that was delivered). We ordered 3 different rolls and all three were treated and delivered the SAME SLOPPY way!
The quality was very bad and the rolls were a joke. We ordered a tempura roll and it came with a greasy, thin piece of something that was deep fried and had scattered pieces of rice sloppily formed into a thin, small roll. The spicy tuna roll had small chunks of tuna and with some rice again skimpily formed into a «roll» with chili flakes sprinkled on. The «call of the wild» was supposed to have tuna and yellowtail with roe and again, the «roll» arrived as a glob of mush. Each roll was $ 7.
My gf and I sprinted out of their as soon as we can. Laughing and shocked at how HORRIBLE that was. Seriously, don’t go there; it’s TERRIBLE!!!

It’s not the prettiest sushi, but it sure is the biggest cuts I’ve ever had!
The downside is having to wait for a seat, but it’s worth it. Once we got in, we were good to go. The upside is that you have enough time to stare at the menu beforehand to know what you want to go fairly quickly. It’s good pricing too and you get HUGE portions of fish. Suggestion: Get nigiri because those cuts are so big! We shared 2 rolls and some nigiri and I was super full afterwards and we only paid like $ 30 to feed two of us.
WORTH IT!

I feel like you would never know or think to come to this place unless a friend tells you about it. As mentioned its a tiny place with 6 seats. We came on a Sunday evening and only had to wait 10 minutes yay!
Promptly seated and handed menus. Had some sashimi and shared a roll. Also ordered some seaweed and seafood salad. Everything was super fresh and all a very good size pieces. Was so stuffed I couldn’t eat my hand roll.
Highly recommend!

It’s a dining experience in itself. Come by yourself or with a couple of friends. You’ll enjoy it either way. I’ve only been on weekdays and have been seated first round as long as I got there 10 – 15 mins prior to opening.
Hamachi sashimi is fresh and delicious. Unagi is baked and served warm. Saba is good, but that prominent and lingering mackerel flavor ain’t my thang, so no mas.
I’ve tried a few rolls, and they were all alright. Nothing exciting. I’d order them just as a filler to complement my sashimi fix =P I really like that the rolls come out warm because of the rice.
Hopefully I’ll get to try the toro when it’s available next time. Also, I’ll probably go for the lunch special because it seems like the best bang for yo’ buck. Filling and delicious.
Hot tea was great & comforting, free refills.

The salmon skin hand roll alone is worth the wait.
I ate here with a party of 4 on Sunday, and we lucked out as there was no line at all, and we only waited 15 minutes or so. But based on all accounts, this is not usual. Come prepared to wait– use the time to go buy a beer to have with your meal (you can bring your own for free!). Also come prepared to see how incredibly tiny this place is. Seating for exactly 8 lucky diners at a time. It’s not like 4 tables for 2 in there either… it’s literally wall, stool, counter, fish, Nobo. It’s TINY. Nobo himself isn’t the friendliest guy, but he is quick and efficient, and that’s fine by me.
OK– that said, here’s what you get in return– incredibly fresh, high quality sushi. Ever order tuna nigiri at some sushi places and it comes out in a stringy little florescent red rectangle that doesn’t look entirely natural? Well– this place has none of that. You get a *generous* slab of fish draped over a small bite of impeccably seasoned sushi rice. I opted for the 5 piece nigiri special and was delighted and satisfied with my choices, all for $ 14– what a bargain!
And the salmon skin hand roll– what a treat. Most places make this dish with just salmon skin. Here it’s made with thick slices of skin-​on salmon, with more meat than skin. The effect? A symphony of flavors– combining the sublime sweetness of the sushi rice, smoky/​fatty salmon and skin, buttery avocado, and herbaceous shiso leaf. I can’t say enough about how good this is, you just have to try it.
For most restaurants, I usually conclude my review with «I’ll have to try it again sometime.» For this, I will say that I’ll be back as soon as humanly possible!

MAN talk about a small crowded space! This restaurant takes the cake. Can it even be called a restaurant? Basically there are about 8 seats in total in this spot. I think we’ll call it a food spot.
People actually wait hours to get into this spot. Well, the wait speaks for itself because the portions of fresh fish are insanely chunky.
I am not a raw fish eater, but I can tell good food when I see and this is good food at a great price!
If you’re looking for great prices and orgasmic fresh fish then this is your SPOT!

I came as they were close to closing… which was good in a way since we didn’t have to wait, but sadly they were out of salmon, my favorite fish. =(
This place only has 8 seats and one chef making the sushi. I was surprised by how traditional it was… I’m not really used to eating rolls warm and straight out of the chef’s hands. I got the Big Wave Dave and it was good…
I don’t really get what people mean when they say this place is cheap. I mean the nigiri pieces are huge, but they also cost more than they would at other places, so it kind of cancels out. And the rolls are cheap, but they’re also only 5 pieces.
Maybe I just have to come back when they have salmon, and order something different.

The sushi here was ruined me for all other sushi places. It’s as beautiful to look at as it is fantastic to taste.
There are only 8 chairs and no reservations. People stand outside on the street looking in like urchins from a Charles Dickens novel.
The focus here is on great nigiri. If you like crazy rolls that are buried in sauce and deep fried, go elsewhere. If you want fish that feels like it was picked out by a curator for an art show, this is your new favorite place.

So I’m not a huge sushi person, where I dream about sashimi, etc. I’m more of a rolls kinda girl, but this place accomodates both. Love how it’s a hole in the wall setting, gives it more of a traditional Japanese feel, of 8 seats around the bar. Note to self, if you sit on the end, it can be difficult to get out as those next to you have to get up and out for you to pass through.
My friend told me that the sushi chef picks up all the fresh fish from Santa Cruz the morning before, and brings it to his store. He does all the slicing of the fish and serves it up. There is one additional worker who takes your order, and brings you the non-​sushi stuff, like drinks (no alcohol here) and for example, edamame (which were a bit too overcooked for me).
You face a mirror, where you can see the menu, pretty cool, but I opted for the real menu. My friend ordered a few nigiri (salmon, hamachi, fresh crab), while I ordered a volcano roll, california roll, and something else I cannot remember.
You are given a plate, with a side of wasabi and ginger. As each nigiri/​roll is finished, the sushi chef plops it on your plate, which he split both of ours equally.
The fish was indeed fresh, and hefty in size. Rolls were good too, and could taste the fresh crab. Overall, a great dining experience, and felt like I was in Japan, not on the streets of LG.