Kimoto Sake & Sushi — Restaurant in Modesto

I have to say after to much anticipation of coming here, we will not be coming back. Hubby and I have been a sushi fan "for years". We were both living in the San Jose, CA area until we moved to Modesto, CA. Unfortunately, the quality of restaurant is as different as night and day. Tonight, hubby asked if we should eat at Olive Garden or at Kimoto and w/o hesitation I said Kimoto. Definitely was better off at Olive Garden. I can only give two stars for a couple of reasons. 1) The provide good portion and 2) the Miso soup was good. Unfortunately everything else needs major improvements. When we first arrived, we could only sit at the sushi bar. All the booths were taken, which was a good thing for me so that I can observe the sushi preparation. The staff were too laxed. They were joking one another and even to the point of tossing food at each other. Another issue was while just about everyone was wearing "Kimoto" shirts, one person, to which I had issue with was wearing a "Thrasher" shirt, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. This same individual was the only one that was preparing food without wearing gloves. During our meal, we watched this person touch food AND touch his face. Btw, the purpose of the facemask is to cover the face not cover the chin. And from my observation, he did not have any beard either so I'm not sure the purpose of the facemask. What was the worse of the worse was my husband ordered the teriyaki chicken meal. There was raw piece of chicken. I just hope he didn't get food poisoning. However, I was impressed with my chicken katsu. The panko was light and the chicken was not dry. For this reason I could only give no more than 2 stars. Also, you don't serve medium grain rice in the meal. You serve the same rice as the rice on sushi rolls. I'm also not too keen on the servers touching the dish from the kitchen. I watched the server take the bowl of rice on the combo plate and flip it. All she had to do was ask the cook to flip the bowl for her so that she doesn't touch the food. Lastly, this was the first sushi restaurant we were charged for tea. SERIOUSLY??? When you go to an Italian restaurant, you get free bread. When you go to a Chinese restaurant, you get free hot tea. When you to go a Mexican restaurant, you get free tortilla chips and salsa. When you even go to an Indian restaurant, some provide free Naan bread but this place, we were charged $5.00 for hot tea. I told hubby, this was going to be our first and LAST time eating here. Normally, we would be going to our usual sushi restaurant in Turlock, CA.

Advice to the owner: Visit a genuine sushi restaurant in the San Jose, CA area and observe the sushi chefs, the cooks, the servers, the ambiance. There is no horsing around, all staff members behind the counter observing food observes the health code (not touch face with the same hands handling food).

Price: B Quality: D Service:...

My family and I went here last Friday night. We had requested some good sushi in Modesto, and our family talked this place up. It delivered and more!

I'm going to start with the Wagyu beef. This was such a standout! My husband and I were skeptical when we saw Wagyu on the menu. It didn't have a set price, so that made us curious. My husband asked about its meat grading and we were told the grade and brought a certification and pedigree. They were very forthcoming with information. I was very excited at this point. Because of the price, we only bought two pieces, but they exceeded expectations! This Wagyu was cooked with care and sliced perfectly. Do not pass up this opportunity to try this special cut.

The rest of the rolls we shared along with gyoza, rice, and an edamame appetizer. The edamame came free for checking in on Yelp, and was delicious.

The gyoza was great and larger than I expected. My one year old son also loved them! They came with a nice dipping sauce as well.

My brother in law got the rice, which was so well made. It stay together well, and included great seasoning, veggies, and egg. My son has become spoiled on this rice and has refused other rice since, it's pretty funny. This is a great side.

I got a Hotel California roll. It was humongous! I was shocked at the size. The flavor was great. I love cream cheese in a roll, and this one had just the right amount. The tempura shrimp was crunchy and the spicy crab added just a touch of spice.

I got to try a spicy monster roll. Again, this was a large roll! If you enjoy spicy flavors, you'll definitely enjoy this.

I can't remember what the other rolls were, but they were all delicious.

I cannot recommend this place high enough. Don't forget to try the Wagyu...

Went here tonight for the first time. My usual place is a little down the road, Osaka Sushi. I have waited a little while for this new place to get stable and establish a decent number of reviews before trying it. The selection in the bar is wonderful. It is significantly better than the offerings at Osaka. Sadly though, that was the only thing that was better. They both have good wait staff and offer a decent selection of items on the menu. Personally I didn't care for a single thing that we ordered, which is disappointing when my bill was $72 without ordering any alcohol. We ordered a Japanese Mafia roll, McHenery roll, Lion King roll, California roll (for my toddler), and two pieces of toro sashimi. Neither the Japanese Mafia or the McHenery roll had very good flavor. The Lion King roll was inedible. The sauce they put on top looks and tastes close to cheese. Luckily it was a baked California roll with that nasty stuff on top, so my girlfriend just scraped the top off. It was the first time I had ever ordered toro, so I don't want to judge that. It tasted like tuna and was quite expensive ($12 for two slices), that's about all I can tell you on that. All in all, I was quite disappointed. We only go out to sushi once every few months because it's expensive, and we won't be coming back here next time. I gave the restaurant a 3 star review because their selection of sake and Japanese whiskey was excellent and their wait staff was attentive. I might come back sometime to try out their ramen and sake, but I will stick to Osaka...