Rumble Fish

Service is just awful. Took them 30 mins to serve water and I’ve been here for almost 2 hours and food has not been served.

I have eaten at a LOT of sushi places so I am cautious about providing one or two star reviews. The servers here are friendly but either not trained or under staffed. The food was not well suited for me or my guests due to:
* Miso soup was served luke warm at best. It was almost room temperature.
* Sushi rolls were small. Really small for the price compared to almost any other restaurant I have been to.
* Unagi sauce is extremely sweet. More than I have ever experienced and it actually made you flinch while eating it.
* Teriyaki sauce has the same level of sweetness so I think that type of preparation is in their strategy. If you like very sweet sauces, you should be fine with this.
Closing issues — there was a special for a saki drink that our group mentioned upon being seated but the drink never came. Second issue was the miso was not removed from the bill. Lastly, had to ask for water refill twice. It should not be this hard.
The closing issues combined with the food (size, sauce) result in the rating.

This restaurant has continued to be one of my favorite places for sushi. Parking can be a colossal big pain but this place to me makes the effort worthwhile. Sometimes I just pick a night or time of evening where the odds of finding parking is easier. The restaurant is Japanese-​owned and their style of sashimi combo resemble their style (versus those owned by other nationalities) and have always been quite good. Last night when I came I also tried their spicy scallop roll which is actually more of a tuna roll with scallop topped on the outside. Quite delicious too.
I especially liked the young lady waitress working last night. She was very friendly, and very cute too. Would love to see her again here often. :) (I must add, that the waitress I normally see from prior visits is nice too.)

Fresh market fish daily. Family owned. Clean. $ 20 gets you a great roll, soup and edamame.
Go early before the crowds. Nice neighborhood sushi bar.

I was broken-​hearted over Minami closing (a family friend ran that one), and had to find a quick dinner. My bf found this place and we went thinking that it would be yet another Japanese restaurant where the taste was just a tad less authentic because of the chef not being Japanese trained. Well, let me tell you, this place is run by a Japanese chef and the food tastes like it. So far, we had the miso black cod, dragon roll, hamachi sushi and the kara-​age chicken. I always judge a restaurant by the soup. If the stock is good, the soup is good, and I know the chef is doing it right. Miso soup is very inexpensive to make, so the chef has no excuse for bad broth. Rumble Fish did it right. The prices are a little higher than one would wish but for the quality of the sauces (not too sweet) and the excellent broiled fish (miso black cod), I would recommend eating here. I would go early like we did. We got there at 6 and were in and out in no time. I am somewhat puzzled at the other bad reviews and am wondering if the restaurant changed their operations accordingly.

This place was great, and the best part is that it’s authentic. The owner is a great guy who is always happy to see you. Also, the black cod soaked in a miso sauce is amazing.

I posted a good review for Rumblefish awhile back and I have to post this update as a warning.
After leaving another sushi place due to bad service we went back to our neighborhood counting on Rumble Fish for a great option for sushi!
We got there at 8:30 pm (on Saturday night) and were told they were closing because they had «No more rice.»
How is that even possible? It was crowded, but no one looked like they had eaten more than their share.
We simply can’t return to a place where we don’t know if we can get nigiri with the second most important ingredient!
Too bad, it’s close to our house and with the unfortunate closings of Shimo and Minami, this leaves us having to go a bit further. We did — to Kabuto and it was wonderful.

It’s a really bad place. I went here for lunch, I’ve been there a couple of times, and had a terrible, rotten piece of Tuna. I told the waiter, and he said that he would tell the chef. He came back and said he told the chef. I asked, …well, what did he say? The waiter said that the chef said sorry that we didn’t like it. We were still charged for this fish and surrendered the uneaten rotten piece (perhaps) to the next person who they plated it for. Please, don’t go to this place based on the premise that rotten food will be served and you will be expected to eat it and pay for it served in such a fashion. Shameful!

I had recently moved to the neighborhood and I would see this place on my way to/​from work so I was really excited to try this place out. They have cute décor and lighting that displays the bar really well, especially at night…
Unfortunately I was rather disappointed. It’s possible we just ordered poorly, but we were trying a lot of their specials, and were just underwhelmed. I don’t think I’ll be back.

Love love this place. We try to frequent here a couple times a month. It’s really the only place we go for sushi. Fresh fish, great service, yummy sake, great prices, and a mellow environment in the Richmond. You won’t be sorry to discover this neighborhood hidden gem and you’ll be back!

We’re still on a quest to replace Shimo’s (now closed)… and Rumble Fish is just OK.
We thought the rolls were a bit on the small side, and the spicy ones were not spicy at all.

For $ 13 rolls, I expected better. My standards for sushi isn’t that high honestly (total sucker for 50% «deals»!), so it was a bit disappointing when the rolls did not seem very fresh.
Went in during dinner and only a couple people were there. We ordered three rolls and it took half an hour since we arrived to receive our complete order.
Atmosphere is so-​so. Friendly staff at least!

The service is excellent and the food is top notch! Sake served in cute champagne flutes! The agendashi-​tofu and the rumble fish roll were awesome! Would come back. Make a reservation – this place is hoppin’!

Decent food and friendly service. We came on a Saturday night and was able to get a table with no reservations. Service on a Saturday night was extremely slow, but the wait staff was friendly and welcoming. Perfect spot for a low key dinner in the neighborhood.

Usually, when I find a restaurant is not good, I simply do not go back. This time, I thought I should write a review.
The food was okay, but as a native of Tokyo I found the service astonishingly poor. The main waitress, with whom I communicated in absolutely fluent Japanese, appears to have lost her Japanese customs, and showed a rough manner from beginning to end.
A bad sign showed up immediately, with miso soup served as a first dish. That is not our tradition. Miso soup should be served with other dishes along with rice; or toward the very end, by itself or with a small amount of rice. The waitress, even knowing we are Japanese, did it her way instead of ours. That is a San Francisco custom, not a Japanese one.
The worst thing was that she did not say thank you as we were leaving. Not one word of goodbye.
No matter the shortage of servers or other difficulties, you will only survive for so long with such poor service and attitude, counting on customers to take anything you dish out.
Good luck with it.

Why the 2 star review? No need to explain much, the picture says it all. I’m a big fan of uni, and I know what the color of uni looks like. If it has nice bright yellow color, it’s good uni. When it has dark brown color, it’s not as good. As u see in this picture, which I ordered Togo from, was all dark and black. It looks like some old leftover uni and they sold it to me. Shame on u the lady in the front, and extra shame on u the chef in the back

This place is so good, I came back and ordered 2 Rumble Fish rolls. This place can get expensive depending on what you get, but it’s cheaper compared to other most.
I love almost everything here. I also love the fact that it’s a small neighborhood restaurant.
The downside is the poor ventilation. You will go home smelling like food.

If you are desperate on Friday night for sushi and have a gun pointed to your head by someone saying, «let’s eat at rumble fish.» Then this is the place to go.
My girlfriend and I decided to give this place a chance one weekday night to see if we might find a sushi jewel in the rough in the Outer Richmond. We were extremely disappointed.
We were seated promptly in the restaurant after scoring awesome parking. Our hopes for the night were then killed when the waitress decided to ignore us for 15 minutes prompting my girlfriend to get the menus from the front entrance herself. We then had to flag her down to give us a cup of water and chopsticks.
After finally being able to order, we questioned the Coppola movie posters of «Rumblefish» as the décor. Odd but quirkily endearing. Our food came and we were furthermore disappointed by the appetizers (tataki espcially) and the nigiri. The fish was poorly cut and of sub-​par quality. The rice ratio was overbearing and at that point we called it quits. The rolls were palatable but small in portion as it had only 4 pieces. Weird.
To the unknowing this place is a great start for getting your sushi eating training wheels — but if you’ve been around the sushi eating block a few times I suggest taking your business a few blocks down to Shimo, Daigo, Minami or Ariake.
Sorry, Rumblefish. Maybe next time (if that ever happens).

SUMIMASEN !
it’s the one word you want to learn in Japanese.
Located in the Geary, Clement, California cluster of non parking, this sushi joint provides reasonably priced sushi in a quaint establishment.
Daily drink specials and neon lights illuminate the alcohol bottles, while a single chef creates his masterpieces.
Their small menu offers daily specials, rolls, and other snacks you might want to sample.
Their small space has few tables and a bar.
The environment of the night depends on the patrons. When we walked in, you could hear classic «ratpack» music in the background and it was easy to have a conversation.
Once the joint filled up, it got a little more rowdy, but it was still manageable. I liked the old pictures on the wall, and ironically they reminded me of an Italian restaurant.
I ordered the dragon roll, a soft shell crab roll, and a scallop salmon special roll.
Everything had clean flavors and the rolls weren’t overly complicated.
Service was a little slow, but it was an enjoyable experience.
There are no TV’s Giants fans, so you need to eat and run if you want to watch a game.

A wait at Pizetta 211… at 8:30 at night? Still? As much as I’ve been wanting to try them, and while I’m normally willing to wait to try places, everyone’s got their limits. For me? It’s when my stomach tells my brain, «Dude, let’s eat already!»
While I would like to say it was Rumble Fish’s tasty looking menu that pulled us in, it was actually because we passed them across the street and saw they had a couple of open spots when we walked by. But the menu really did look good though!
— Hamachi Nigiri (
)
The fish was fresh, but they didn’t really stand out either. It was still good enough (love hamachi!), just that there’s better out there.
— Rumble Fish Roll — Hamachi and Unagi topped with Ikura and Uni (
)
By far the highlight of the night. The hamachi was overshadowed by the uni and ikura, but only because they were so good!
— Special Scallop Roll — Spicy Tuna, Cucumber, and Green Onion topped with Scallop and Tobiko (
)
I had high hopes for this one (love scallop sashimi), but it missed the mark. Despite the spicy tuna, it didn’t feel as flavorful as it could have been. While I wouldn’t say it was bad (the scallop was still fresh), it was a little disappointing.
— Soft Shell Crab Roll — Soft Shell Crab, Radish and Cucumber (
)
Not unique as a roll, but the crab was super meaty and flavorful. Solid choice.
— Mixed Tempura Plate (
)
I liked how the batter was very light, but let’s be honest — it’s hard to call a plate of fried veggies and shrimp amazing. They did give us a decent amount though, and it wasn’t overcooked.
Overall, the food is worthy of a THREE AND A HALF, but I’m rounding down because of the service. Nothing bad happened and our server was really nice; it was just a little slow. As other Unilocalers have noted, it took a bit for our food to come out and each time we asked for our tea cups to be refilled. Still, I wouldn’t be opposed to going back, especially for that Rumble Fish Roll!