Sushi Mazi — Restaurant in Portland

Bottom line, will I go back? Hell yeah!

Atmosphere: cozy, warm, feels Japanese -ish, for example, the space is full but neat and well organized.

Service: excellent! They were quite busy, being down multiple staff members. I still thought the service was great. They were even apologetic for the wait and business. Any reasonable person will appreciate their effort.

Food/drink: They have a very wide menu, I would say, for a sushi restaurant. Don't worry if someone you are with does not want sushi, or does not eat fish. They also have a pretty large sake selection, including nama, if that interests you. Tea was good (overly watery tea always bothers me!)

Sushi: wide selection, good value, whimsical, contemporary feel, I would say. You can get what feels like, everything from rolls that feel very fusion, American-y; to straightforward clean nigiri; to some interesting specials. My preference is for basic, clean nigiri that focuses on the seafood. Overall I thought the sushi was quite tasty, if at times it was a little heavy on sauces. For example, I got:

Unagi (eel) nigiri, which was delicious (and great value at $2.50). It was very good, but I would have preferred a little less nitsume(?) sauce. Slightly fishy aftertaste from the skin, which I liked.

Spider roll- tempura soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, masago. Good option for someone who does not like fishy, seafoody taste. Mild, crunchy. Dominated by tempura.

Mackarel nigiri: really, really tasty. Small slice of lemon, complements fish extremely well while remaining balanced. $2.50 again? Give me a bunch of these.

Shinjuku salmon: a unique one, apparently popular in Shinjuku. Partially cooked salmon, big cut. Raw onion. Miso mayo. Very, very intense sushi! There are layers to the flavor, at first the miso mayo is very intense. Then you taste the raw onion. You wouldn't expect to taste the fish, but the first flavors quickly fade and you get the fish. It's a ride.

Aged toro salmon- interesting, never had aged fish before. It felt more rich, less fishy to me, than usual salmon. I would say a good option for someone that wants the flavor of sushi and seafood, without the fishiness.

Definitely getting again: Unagi nigiri, mackarel nigiri, aged sushi, green...

This was our first time at Sushi Mazi, but we did read about them online and their grasshoppers, which we wanted to try and were also a first. Both experiences did not disappoint. In fact, everything was delightful. We decided to sit at the sushi bar with it being our first time and wanting some guidance from the chefs. We went on a Tuesday night, and we were lucky enough to have Mazi himself making our sushi. Looking through the menu, it was hard to decide which rolls to pick, and Chef Mazi was happy to make some suggestions that were perfect for our first time. We had the Torch roll and the love me roll in addition to a grasshopper each and some tempura. We wanted to try some new things from their blackboard, which included a number of aged fish options. Something we haven't tried before. Mazi was happy to answer all of our questions and guided us through our choices. We tried the aged salmon toro, the spicy aged tuna, and the two other preparations of salmon, both aged latte salmon and shinjuki? Each and every bite was full of flavor with the perfect balance that melted in your mouth.  If only we could fit in more. We did save enough room for a special gelato that Chef Mazi collaborated with local gelato maker Gato Gelato to develop the perfect combination of sweet and tart. We had the sweet cherry and yuzu, which was the perfect end to a memorable meal. We will be back! Eager for more. And i would be remiss not to mention the excellent selection of sake. I wish i had more pictures of the beautiful presentations, but everything was so good. I ate all of it before I thought to take pictures. I did manage to...

I really enjoyed this spot-it was absolutely delightful. I'm someone who's happy to pay for good food, and while prices skew toward the premium side, the quality justifies the tag. Take the best-selling board: nigiri at $7 a piece. That's higher than most casual sushi spots in Portland-where plates often hover in the $1.50-$5 range-but it aligns more with mid to high-end sushi elsewhere in the city. For example, I just had a cheaper meal at ox with dessert yesterday. Ultimately, the experience-and the flavor--is worth it, and l'd happily return. If you go, take a cue from my friend and explore the blackboard specials; they were the real standouts.

My boyfriend said it didn't blow his mind for the price through. Which has me thinking. He rated it a 4.5 which I think I could agree with.

The service was really attentive and friendly too!

Aged tuna ⭐⭐⭐⭐ looked strange to me initially bc it was so flat I like the taste, it has seasoning my boyfriend said he would reorder this for sure

❤️ salmon torro ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I loved this one, would reorder for sure juicy, almost seared couldn't taste the roe

❤️Oyster tempera ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ this one is insanely good, I was surprised when you bite into it, there's an explosion of flavors love the pairing with lemon and seaweed

Fatty salmon ⭐⭐⭐ sashimi didn't love this one for some reason but I like the flavor of the yuzu, there's seasoning I don't love how small the serving was for the price of this, it was really thin, wouldn't reorder

Golden crunchy roll ⭐⭐⭐⭐ good low carb option, would reorder not the freshest but sauces...