Kotobuki Japanese Cuisine

The spinach salad and the steamed salmon were the only dishes worth highlighting. As a Japanese food snob, I’m really not impressed with the sushi chef’s knife skill. The sashimi pieces were too thick and (for some fish like tuna), too muscle-​y. The steamed salmon was really delicious, and i was so glad that they offer brown rice on the menu!

Excellent Japanese family owned restaurant with caring service and very fresh fish. My family and I have come to this restaurant for more than 15 years. Masa San has served us consistently good sushi and Japanese dishes. His wife welcomes guests with smile and helps keep a tight ship. Masa San serves the traditional fare plus he always has something special for his guests. We highly recommend Kotobuki. Thomas and Deca.

Best sushi in Stamford, hands down. I’ve tried every other place around and nothing is as fresh or worth the money you pay. They do not deliver anymore but if they did they’d get even more of my business!

Extremely slow service, Sat down at 1PM for a quick lunch. Food arrived at 1:35 looking horrible!
Edamame tasted horrible, miso soup should be called miso salted soup,

Excellent food. Menu has a wide selection, and the service is good.

I have been coming here since the 90’s. In fact when my uncle visited from Japan he picked this spot because it was the most authentic in the area. Kotobuki has the freshest fish and when I come here I always get the traditional sushi pieces. I never get the fancy rolls here because the fish speaks for itself. I love the sushi C dinner. It has a great mix of the seasonal fish with the staples like tuna and salmon. The mackerel is my favorite. Do yourself a favor and try this place out.

Best sushi in Stamford. In fact, I believe this may be the only sushi spot in Stamford worth visiting. Masa and the guys are a cool bunch. Quiet but friendly and always happy. Fish selections are great and so are many of the rolls.
I have never had any of the entrees.
Appetizers are good, especially the gyoza and the trout (watch for bones!). Sushi entrees are the best bag for your buck and if you’re not sure what you want ask masa. He will make great suggestions.
Service is usually crappy unless you sit at the sushi bar but we don’t mind. Service is for fancy people. I don’t want to be fancy. I just want great fish!

Not authentic, need to improve especially miso-​soup. Too thick, and no flavor. Sushi is just ok.

So, you know, I get it… we’re in the ‘burbs of New York, life is supposed to be a bit slower, right? No. Not this slow at least. We came here on a Friday at 7pm. There were three other parties (a couple, a family and a girls night out group). The rest of the restaurant was empty, emptyyyy and somehow our meals (see photos) took over an hour to come out. When we finally called them out on it they were super nice and brought it out immediately, but didn’t care to admit the fact that they had forgotten to actually place the order.
Nonetheless, I’m here writing them a review because it was the most fresh, grade A sushi I’ve had in a while. Now I’m no sushi snob (ok, yes I am.) but whoa, this was pretty bomb. It had no sign of that chewy white vein you sometimes see AND the color was a true reddish pink. This is the color you want to see people! I don’t care if you’re at O Ya! in Boston or at Morimoto in NYC. If you don’t see this color, send it back.
But anyway, I digress.
TL;DR version: this place has extremely quality fish and although it’s expensive, I’d be willing to go back again, BUT! the service was truly too slow. If you have no where to be, you’re in the clear. But think twice (or come up with a good excuse to your boss) if you choose to come here for a weekday lunch.

By far the best sushi in Stamford /​Norwalk area… Wish I came sooner since I live down the street. Will for sure be a regular. Try the dynamite roll !!

I always sit the the bar and tell Masa to feed me and have never been disappointed. Today it was baby conch, horse mackerel, toro, baby yellow tail and some uni. Wash it down with an ice cold Sapporo!
It’s a stop every time I travel to Stamford.

Went here for maybe the fourth and last time tonight.
Service was god-​awful. We’re convinced our waiter (s) were high because they completely forgot to put our order in and we had to remind them.
We waited over an hour to get our food. 4 other tables got their food before us (having arrived after us). The acting manager told us «sorry, the chefs make orders at random» — what a crock of shit
The waitstaff are reluctant to check in on you & seem to just hang out by the cash register — you really have to flag them down hard if you need something.
The food, thankfully was okay, but not worth putting up with the shitty service. Eel was good but the spicy tuna was real fatty.

Very fresh sushi that’s very important. and great service. The quality can compare with those in city and very decent price. You can pay a little to swap out the fish you dont want. I usually get the boat for 2. Owner/​Chef is Chinese but it’s as good as the Japanese chef.

Second time here; first time was about two years ago and ’twas fairly good. There will not be a third time as I will NOT come back. NEVER.
Had thought it was one of the better Japanese restaurants in Stamford but what a joke! Ordered chirashi, which should be an assortment of sashimi on a bed of rice but I literally found only three thinly sliced fish — maguro (tuna), salmon and maybe tilefish or red snapper? I don’t exactly remember the third one but not worth remembering, either. The rest were 2 custard egg slices, 2 crab surimi (you know, those fake crab sticks), MANY Japanese takuan (radish) pickles and LOTS of ginger which filled up most of the small bento box they served it in. Still, I had so much rice left over and nothing to eat it with. What a waste of $ 16.95!
On the other hand, my son — eleven years old — ordered a sushi A platter and found himself quite upset after the first bite. Peeled off the fish and there’s a big blob of green wasabi on each and every one, OK, maybe OUR fault for not reminding the server NOT to put wasabi?! We had been lucky over the years to be struck with thoughtful servers, considerate enough to see that kids generally do NOT like wasabi?!
And speaking of servers (I didn’t see a manager there today), the one that handled our table was probably the worst. Well, he came by only after we called him over several times and didn’t even ask what we wanted to drink. When I asked him if I could get a drink first, he makes a face and says, ‘aren’t you going to order food?!” (Maybe we were lucky enough to even get served. The table next to us finally got served right before we were done and ready to leave.)
As we’re finished, he comes by and says the customary line, ‘how was it?” So, I answer honestly. «Not so good». His response? «Aah», says he, glances at my hardly touched meal, takes my bowl and walks away completely ignoring my comment. Little did he care.
The staff are a mix of Mexican, Indian and Chinese; not that it makes any difference but I had heard of the previous owner — a respected Japanese lady who currently teaches cooking — and had high expectations that this restaurant she had once owned would not disappoint me. Well, it certainly did.

I was very excited to finally try this place and boy did it underwhelm. Their salmon was not good at all, the dumplings didn’t seem fully cooked, their calamari tasted like paper, then the Kevin roll was something I could get at a buffet somewhere and the Alaska roll was pedestrian. For all the good ratings I have read about this place, I could not have been more disappointed. Not sure if it was an off night or not but I was expecting more for a Friday night dinner. I will not be back.

Very decent sushi place. Tips: (1) Have their Dobin Mushi soup; (2) Ask for their super spicy sauce (totally unique and awesome — but really really hot); (3) Don’t have their Toro. The rolls with funny names are normally very good, as well as the entrees such as the Donburi. Overall great value in a casual local place.

Decent reasonably priced sushi in Stamford. Too much rice, not enough fish in my opinion. Also, they charged me $ 2.00 to change my yellowtail scallion to yellowtail jalapeño — what a rip off! Then they charged me $ 1.00 for asking to have my roll inside-​out. They didn’t even notify me of these charges. Next time NOTIFY THE CUSTOMER SO THEY DON’T GET PISSED.

Went here last night with my husband…
Yuck. I’ve never had sushi where during the middle of a meal I’ve asked for the check because it was so bad.
We got the Rainbow roll which was nothing special. The No Name roll which was covered in slop and tasted horrible. The Spicy Yellowtail which tasted old. We decided to try 2 more rolls before we left and it was just disgusting. The Spicy Tuna was like paste. I scraped it out with my chopstick and tried to eat it, just gross. Couldn’t finish it. And the Scallop Sashimi, the rice was covered in wasabi, which made it completely inedible.
Just sucked being there. The ambiance left something to be desired. And the service was the worst. We kept getting over looked just for water.
Never trying this place again. What a waste of money!

Finally get to visit Kotobuki for dinner after passing by several times. We parked in the rear of the restaurant which was convenient instead of trying to find a parking spot on Summer St. But it’s a small parking lot so. be prepared to go park elsewhere.
There’s no fancy décor here, very casual place. First glance at the menu, basic stuff, but. wow… food is actually decent price for Stamford area. We ordered tofu in fish broth for an appetizer and 5 different types of rolls; dynamite, rainbow, eel, spicy tuna, and Mikey. I really enjoyed everything and very satisfied with the quality of the rolls (much better than Tengda next street IMO). This will be my go-​to place for Japanese rolls in Stamford. Can’t comment on any other dishes yet, but I’m a fan. I’m giving 3.5 stars for now.
Our waitress was very lovely and friendly. I would recommend this place if you just want sushi/​rolls with no frills.

Since my last post I’ve been ordering delivery from here at least once a month! And it is great everytime!
So now we are here once again and again 5 rolls!!! A beer and soda this time we paid $ 36.59!
Fresh fish, and pretty good service and great price! This place is a gem!