Sushi & Maki — Restaurant in Milwaukie

Hi, firstly - I don’t do this, leave reviews. But I’ve also NEVER had foodborne illness from sushi before.

Please note the following: I visited here this past sat, 3/2 with my 74 yr old father.

It had all the markers of a great lower budget sushi spot and is family run. We ordered a couple hand rolls and an assortment of nigiri.

To cut to the chase, I was a sushi chef at Katsuya in LA and Pabu in SF. I know the craft and there was something about the texture of the uni that flagged my attention. I took a sniff - it was musky and sour / strong smelling. I ate a small piece off the top and it was off. Bitter, spoiled, slimy. I had to wash the taste from my mouth.

My father had already eaten his bite. I knew it was a top tier bad fish problem and let our server (older woman) know immediately. Her approach is what really is a HUGE RED FLAG. She spoke to the chef and returned to defend the uni -at length- returning again to try and convince me that I was just expecting a “different” flavor. The color was ok. Etc. She’s not wrong, but certainly wasn’t right. They were more concerned in being sure we would still pay for it, which was not my concern and we did. I didn’t push the subject and we left without letting it escalate.

My father has been cramping and experiencing other bowel distress (not going into detail) for 48hrs. I had mild cramping for 12ish hours.

Aside from the uni, there were other indicators that weren’t alarming but not great. The nigiri rice was formed into stiff balls and the handrolls were held before serving for long enough that the nori was damp. It was lunch and we were 1 of 2 tables.

I have officially reported the foodborne illness to the county. It’s just not safe, especially with the lack of professional courtesy as food purveyors. We have a responsibility to the public and its not a value to...

Sushi & Maki is Ok. Anything fish related is good, but DO NOT go here if you want JAPANESE FOOD (again,unless it is fish related). The sashimi quality was good so I will assume the same of the fish for the sushi, though I cannot comment on the sushi as we didn't try any) and the saba shioyaki was very good but that was the limit of it.

We ordered chicken karaage and what we got was definitely NOT authentic karaage. It was more like seasame chicken than anything else, now as far as a chicken dish goes it was good, but it was NOT japanese karaage.

I had chicken katsu as part of my bento and that was also not good. The taste of the batter far outweighed any chicken taste and the batter was nearly as thick as the chicken itself. The katsu sauce was while not bad, was not really katsu sauce as it was overly sweet.

My wife had the Tendon which she didn't particularly care for. Tempura doesn't usually stay crispy for that long but most of the pieces were overly heavy from oil, their was too much sauce poured over the top and not all the pieces were cooked all the way through (the kabocha in particular).

My wife is Japanese and from Japan, and although we knew this was Korean owned and/or run, we had higher expectations of the food. Tokio restaurant (on 185th, also Korean owned and/or run) is better at Japanese food than Sushi and Maki.

Overall, good fish, very good service, bad...

I was rather "underwhelmed" at this restaurant. As soon as I walked in I could see the ambiance was that of a high-end Sushi establishment, not a little strip mall stoe-front. While nicely done, it did not make up for the stingy servings of each choice, nor the higher than justified prices for our area. I have eaten sushi for 30 years, and in major parts of the U.S. as well. In major hubs it was expensive, but you couldn't read a newspaper through the slices of Himachi or Maguro. For the first time I wondered whether the thin slices of Himachi were really Himachi! It had silverish skin and it was literally falling apart. The Tamago was unlike anything I've ever seen or tasted before. Their Ika salad (squid salad) first appeared to be sufficient, but the bowl was filled nearly to the brim with with chunky cucumber slices with just a tablespoon of the delicious squid for $7.50. If you choose to try it yourself, you might want to request that the chef go easy on the Wasabi. I always use Bragg's Liquid aminos instead of the (bad for you) Soy Sauce and put a marble sized ball of Wasabi and make a slurry for dipping. That, combined with their chef's addition was very unpleasant. The wait-staff was efficient and genteel and the decor was pretty, with low lighting, but it was a huge...