Kashiwa

Courtesy. Tradition. Quality. Friendliness. First time was a bento with a group for lunch. Everything was excellent, including the price. I commend their non-​sushi fare and attentive table service.
Next time was at the sushi bar to unwind after work. This was was traditional sushi from a master of both craft and courtesy. A highlight for me was flying fish roe in 2 colors. The red looked like rubies and was really good, the yellow was less gem-​like, but even more delicious. The oysters half-​shell were beautifully prepared, and tastier than any I’ve had at several oyster bars.
Both times they were out of uni. Planning my third try for uni real soon.
PS — If you want more modern ingredients, like sriracha and cream cheese, then you might try another place.

Excellent service. I recommend the Omakase 5 course special. The fish is outstanding.

Called over the phone to put in our order. The lady who answered the phone was very monotonous and seemed unhappy to take our order. I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt, maybe we would be better received at the restaurant during pick up. To our surprise, the lady at the front was very rude. No smile at all, no thank you. I asked one of the other employees if they have a take out menu but this lady at the front answered for her saying «no, we don’t, we only have it online» again with attitude. The food on the other hand, was very well prepared it was packaged neatly for us. The food tasted delicious, and if it weren’t for that lady who took our order I wouldn’t mind coming back and I definitely would have given 5 stars.

Wow not kidding one of the best sushi place and great food. Buffet $ 11.99 can’t beat that. Love the interior sitting

I am a minimum once per week customer. If you live in the LB area you may not want to come here because it will ruin sushi almost everywhere else you can go south of Torrance. The sushi bar is manned by an extremely experienced chef who prepares pieces of nigiri and sashimi that are perfectly seasoned and need no soy sauce or wasabi.
They serve only fish that are fresh and high quality so they may not have things other places have certain times of the year. They also don’t have ramen or udon due to the very traditional nature of the establishment.
The uni is especially remarkable as is the halibut, red snapper, ocean trout, and broiled collars. The crab sunomono salad is outstanding… The crab quality is as good as you can find and the quantity is easily enough for 2 people. The salmon skin salad is also an amazing dish that you cannot replicate at home and I’ve not had one like this anywhere else. The baby octopus salad is also light, fresh, and highly recommended. They also have tail and skin on «fish bones» (don’t know the variety of small fish) that go very well w/​a cold beer.
I highly recommend the omakasi… The 12 piece nigiri w/​miso soup and sunomono salad is one of my favorite meals and the quality and consistency never vary. Regular customers get small complimentary special dishes brought as a surprise.
Excellent staff, service, and food and all 3 rate 5 stars!

I would give this place 5 stars since I’ve eaten here multiple times, but my husband and I just got up and left. We were sat by the hostess (who is also a server and looked incredibly annoyed) who then left us there and never came back to serve us. This is the second time that we have been left by our server and it is unacceptable. We sat there for 20 minutes.
We love coming here because the sushi is amazing, but maybe your manager needs to hire more help when it gets busy.

Craving for Japanese food we looked on Unilocal and found Kashiwa. We weren’t disappointed at all. Setting is simple with a sushi bar in the front. The all Japanese staff are very friendly and knowledgeable.
The menu offers all the classic raw and cooked dishes. They have a good selection of different sushi rolls, some influenced by the California taste.
The sashimi was very fresh including Spanish mackerel, Uni and Toro sashimi. Portions are generous, too.
If I’m in the area again I’ll definitely return. Inexpensive, good value for money!

Small little spot. Both the cooked food and the sushi/​sashimi is very good quality and delicious. It comes with a decent amount of food as well. It is a bit pricy but you definitely get what you paid for.

I’m not a sushi expert, but my husband thinks he is.
We’ve tried several sushi places together and he always says it not worth getting sushi in LA, and that the sushi in Seattle is fresher and better. He is from Washington.
So we try this place and I ask if it’s better than what he’s had in Seattle. He says it’s been awhile, but it’s the same or better than what he’s had there. FINALLY, I find a sushi spot he likes!
The fish is fresh, yum for those milky pieces, and the pieces that are so soft you can break them apart with your tongue.
One last thing, it is run by Japanese people. A lot of sushi places aren’t Japanese at all, but Korean.

Great Sushi!!! The freshest fish is always served and the sushi chef is the most wonderful and humblest person I met behind the sushi bars I ate at. I highly recommend Kashiwa to all who enjoy authentic Japanese food.

Awesome place in such a random little town center. I never heard of this place, until now.
My mentor too me here for dinner and a few friends. It was great. The experience is pretty cool, because the waitress wear geisha, very polite, and respectful. We had so much food that night. It was my first time trying uni (I was tricked without being told what it was).It was so good. Definitely a place to stop by if your in the Long Beach area.

Awesome hole in the wall sushi joint. Super authentic, seasoned sushi chefs and clean ambiance. Limited seating, get there early to beat the lunch rush.
I tried their pork curry cutlet this time. Breaded pork cutlets smothered with Japanese curry sauce served over rice and six of picked vegetables. Awesome!

There were quite a few specials going on, including daikon roll, Amanda roll, amaebi, «medium» toro (which we believe is what they call chu-​toro), among other good items, and they also advertised omakase for $ 45 per person. Since we knew exactly what we wanted, we decided to sit at the sushi bar and order individual items instead. Surprisingly, at the end of the night, it ended up being about $ 45 per person (including sake), and we ordered some good quality items (scallops, amaebi (deep fried heads), geoduck, yellow-​tail, white fish, black seambream, chutoro, tamago, and… I think that’s about it).
The cuts were not super fine (a bit veiny on my toro) yet, fish were super fresh that you overlook that part. The rice was also a bit more sweeter and harder than most sushi spots, but that actually worked to my advantage since I have a major sweet tooth. Despite the two negatives, I still highly recommend this place because you can’t find «quality» sushi places like this with great service and reasonable prices. The «non-​knowing fish» couple next to us ordered a sashimi salad (about $ 13?) which came out in a HUGE bowl that could feed a party of 4. If you like your sashimis drenched in sauce and all that good stuff, then make sure you order this item. They expressed how much they loved it.
Place was located at a weird industrial spot so we almost missed it but made another turn and realized that it’s in the same plaza as «Sub King» and some generic teriyaki spot. If you’re here for the fish, then avoid the omakase. It appears that the omakase here tends to caters to those who aren’t too picky about their fish.
Arigato!

Solid lunch spot.
I had the sushi plate. The fish wasn’t the freshest but it was bearable. The service was good and we didn’t feel rushed even though we came close to the end of lunch.
Not the first place I would go for sushi if I could go anywhere but maybe the case if I was limited to Long Beach.

When you hear Japanese business men in the next table you know you’re getting good food here. Most of their customers seem to be Japanese, which gives this place extra cred. This place is a bit on the expensive side, but they do have bento box specials for $ 18 – 24.
I ordered the beef and tempura bento box. You also get 4 pieces of tuna. Now, I’m not the biggest fan of tuna sashimi but these pieces were pretty tasty!
The boo ordered the sushi plate. Very fresh and very delicious. Would come back here!

I went here with my co-​workers for lunch. First thing I noticed about this place is that this place is like… authentic Japanese. Miso soup is served in a bowl with a cover and no soup spoon, a little placeholder for your chopsticks, and the staff is actually Japanese! A lot places nearby are either Korean or Vietnamese owned (not there’s anything wrong with that!). Also, the staff was very friendly and nice.
I got the lunch special with mixed veggie tempura and spicy tuna roll. This was super good: it was served with rice, salad, and a cali roll all served in a bento square box. The tuna was fresh! Overall my lunch only costs around $ 11, which I think is a pretty good deal with the amount of food I was given, and the great quality and taste.
I am definitely coming back. Thanks!

This place has great quality sushi and great service. Definitely a fine dining experience. My fiancé and I first came here for our second date three years ago. We love the quality of the sushi and the ambiance. We haven’t seen the same quality or uniqueness in sushi anywhere else.
Located in a small shopping center with plenty of parking.

Cross off my oldest Unilocal bookmark!
In 2011, when Kashiwa first opened, I bookmarked this place because I love sushi/​sashimi. But, for one reason or another, I just never made it in, until tonight. All these years, I was missing out on the best sushi restaurant in Long Beach. And it’s close to work too, which means I could have been enjoying both lunch and dinner here. But, oh well — on to my review …
Walking in, I couldn’t help but wonder, if this place was open because it was empty, except for one person at the sushi bar. I asked to be seated at the bar — because I knew I wanted sushi and not anything off the cooked menu. I opted for the Omakase — $ 45 for twelve pieces which comes with a cucumber salad and miso soup. I added an order of octopus and green tea ice cream to finish off the meal.
Sushi came out in four rounds of three. In between, I wanted to try the octopus. I love the freshness of the fish and the fish to rice ratio. I kept my menu so I would know what I was served, in addition to Chef Kei explaining each piece. I really liked how he didn’t just give me the usual offerings — he served me choice pieces that in several cases, didn’t need any soy or wasabi.
Service was spectacular. Between Chef Kei and the floor staff — I was never left waiting for anything. Each round was served with perfect timing. I wasn’t just inhaling the sushi — I was enjoying and savoring each bite which timed well with his prepping not just my order, but others — as the restaurant started filling up.
As for the restaurant, it’s not very big. Make reservations or come in early.

This local secret was perfection. The quality of the fishes were so fresh. The price is a little up there, but I don’t mind if the fish is fresh! It wasn’t quite busy when we arrived but quickly filled up on a Thursday night. They have omakase style at $ 45 for 12 pcs and you can order off the menu. I chose to just order off the menu, while the bf wanted to try the omakase. A great way to try different dishes they have to offer. Bento boxes for those that don’t eat raw.
Salmon sashimi: Wow so fresh and buttery. I don’t mean there was butter in it, but when you take the first bite and the fish is nice and cool with freshness, it’s like butter, melts in your mouth. Nice big slices, you can definitely get full from.
Daikon Roll: salmon, tuna, and albacore (i think). Cut out the carbs with this roll. So refreshing.
Scallops Roll: this one was my favorite. AMAZING! It had a slight sweetness to it and the roe gives it an extra pop (no punt intended) biting into it. I would probably crave for this roll.
The bf enjoyed the omakase style sushi. There were a few he probably wouldn’t want to try again because of the natural fishiness of the fish. Overall it was pretty good.
Service started off really good. The ladies were attentive up until it got busy, which we understand. Just a tad impatient when you have to ask for something twice. Just shrug it off. The sushi chef was wonderful. Eventhough we didn’t sit at the bar and interact with him, I can feel and see that he was looking over at us to make sure we were satisfied with his work. It is a work of art that he creates and I can see he takes great pride in it.

Omakase is not about quantity. It’s the actual taste of what you are getting. That being said, I was a little disappointed in the omakase tonight. The set I was served just left something to be desired.
I knew going in that I was getting omakase. I knew going in that I was going to eat 12, and only 12 quality pieces of sushi. I learned that I would rather pay $ 25 for Odori than $ 45 for kashiwa omakase. There’s just something to feeling full that you don’t get when you eat omakase. But to be fair, it’s not about quantity. The rating has nothing to do with comparing omakase to all you can eat. Only comparing omakase to other omakase, I should spend double and go to a place like San Shi Go. Spend $ 45 for mediocre, or $ 90/​$ 100 for spectacular?
Some of the fish seemed super fresh, some so-​so, and most were not the greatest cuts. Out of the 12 pieces of nigiri, I’d say 4 tasted stellar. The sea urchin (uni) was the only memorable bite that stands out. (Yellowtail, albacore, spicy mackerel, tuna, scallop, uni, and salmon were among the set.) If I’m paying $ 45 for 12 pieces of sushi I want to be blown away. Omakase is only a once in a blue moon treat for me. I’ve wanted to try kashiwa for a while, but after being let down I’ll try omakase somewhere else next time.
Omakase literally means «I’ll leave it up to you.» We are entrusting the chef to select his freshest, tastiest pieces for us. Gimme the best you got basically. So I was a little let down.
Service notes:
(Kiko and Kei were the two sushi chefs.)
Waited about 7 minutes from the time I walked in to actually being seated at the bar. Was frustrating because there were plenty of seats at the bar. Why was I waiting around for nothing when I could have been seated immediately? The lady that sat me seemed bothered when I asked her. Not very friendly.
The bottom line is, I am not a sushi snob. I don’t claim to know ‘great sushi.’ Maybe my expectations were too high going in (based on such rave reviews from others). I’m only conveying my own experience so that others may be aware of it. IMO if you’re searching for omakase, kashiwa is nothing special.

Hola yo trabajo en kashiwa restauran enla cosina soy cosinero espero le guste la comida que preparo para todos ustedes y que regresen de nuevo otra vez ah kashiwa les deseo un buen dia ah todos atentamente de los cosineros angel jimenez catarino diaz y luis leal y del patron keichi nakai saludos