Koyomi — Restaurant in California

I had an early dinner here Sat. This is my "go to" sushi-place in CV. I also like I-Sushi but it's a bit more expensive and a much smaller place to eat.

Food is always good, and the fish is usually very fresh/safe. I had the dinner bento box (which is an excellent value at $18). I also usually get the spider roll ($10.95) but I wasn't that hungry tonight). I picked the chicken teriyaki and the 6-pc. sashimi (2pc of: maguro, salmon and hamachi). It's a nicely optioned bento box (lunch is good too). The hamachi tasted funny (not fresh). It was probably cut wrong and/or wasn't the freshest. I was fine (did not get sick). But it was the 1st time (of numerous times I've eaten here) that the fish wasn't completely fresh. Maybe also because of the way the hamachi was cut (slightly more/thicker skin)? Another item I noticed was, I hardly got any wasabi/ginger. My CA roll (within the box) had a very small dab of wasabi and a few pcs. of ginger and my sashimi had none (which is strange, you usually get a liberal hill of wasabi and a nice helping of ginger). I didn't ask about it but I should have. I suspect they might have been very low/availability on both the wasabi and the ginger.

Service is always good and this visit was no exception. Parking is still an issue. My recommendation, is parking across the street (at the mini golf) and walking across CV Blvd. to Koyomi. This has been my best solution to the limited parking in the front of the restaurant. Trying to find the parking in the back is extremely difficult.

Edit (about a year later): Had dinner here tonight, a little later than normal (6pm). It was a Friday and wow it was very busy. Almost full. Even as a single diner, I was in/out of there in less than an hour. Can you believe that? Food was excellent and service was even better. I elevated my review from 4 to 5 stars. Based on this visit. They deserve it. Easily, the best sushi restaurant in CV and maybe Alameda Cty?

Edit [another year later/2023]; same rating. I gave just a bit off because some of their interior tables could use some minor work, due to age/client abuse/etc. And I'm also reporting they finally raised prices [about ten percent, on most items - including the dinner box, my favorite item]. This business kept prices steady and unchanged, even during Covid. Still my go-to sushi/sashimi place in CV [and Alameda Cty.]. Still the freshest fish in that area too. Their raw fish/sashimi is one of the best I have ever eaten. While in the USN [in the early 80's], I ate lots of sashimi [before it was popular here in the US], at Japan locations and their fish is comparable to that.

Edit: (2 years later/2025). Not much has changed. Prices have gone up, slightly. Kudos to them for keeping prices reasonable. They did refurbish the interior, looks cleaner and more up to date. But, my last visit (for dinner), was a bit off, service-wise. I hadn't visited in awhile (about 2-3 months - I don't eat out as much anymore). I was "greeted" with 'you haven't been here in awhile'. Didn't think much of it, however, when I sat down at a table, 2 other patrons/there, well after me, were given menus before me; I actually had to ask for a menu. Now I guess the wait-staff wanted to wait on 2 patrons rather than me, being alone and/or did they want to make a point (I hadn't eaten there in awhile?). Not passing judgement, just making an observation. Another observation, I ordered sashimi/raw fish. The maguro/ahi was a bit mushy (which usually means it wasn't fresh and has been refrigerated awhile). While I did not get sick, it showed me they probably changed their fish supplier. I took off a star for all of this but I still will continue to patronize, just to see if this...

Koyomi is our go-to Japanese restaurant in Castro Valley. This is actually another gem in our small town. I have to admit, I ignored this place for a long time because we have other favorite Japanese restaurants we go to until the pandemic happened.

We ordered online and it did not disappoint. The portions of sashimi cuts are generous, cooked food are also good. My favorite here is the sashimi salad but everything we order from this place are actually good! We ordered almost regularly since our first order and we have dined in a few times when dine in was allowed. This place is always busy with take-out orders and the last time we dined in which was just a few days ago, it was full so this is an indicator that they have good food. The staff are always pleasant as well.

Give this place a try. You will...

I ordered online and was provided a pick-up time that was 40 mins from order time, I arrive to pick up 5 min after the pick-up time and was told the food is almost ready... 30 minutes later still no food while six other customers have come in and gotten their food.. I demand an explanation because they have clearly screwed something up and I was told by the chef (very rudely) that its because its Friday and I should try ordering after 7PM if I don't want to wait... Apparently it takes 90 minutes to make some sushi or they just don't want to own up to their mistake of messing up the order... all in all I had to wait inside for 30+ mins during height of COVID and couldn't even get an apology. Save your money and support other local restaurants with...