Kokoro Sushi — Restaurant in Salinas

I ordered a philly roll and one of the ngiri sushi things that places like this tend to offer. I've eaten quite a bit of sushi in my day and this is the first time I've ever disliked it.

Philly rolls are my go-to. I love those things. Kokoro's philly roll wasn't unappetizing, but the fish didn't seem to be of great quality because I couldn't really taste it.

Which is basically how I felt about the ngiri as well. I didn't enjoy most of the pieces and there was even one that I felt was utterly revolting and couldn't bring myself to eat it. I've eaten sushi likely hundreds of times and this is the first time I've ever experienced a piece of sushi I just could not bring myself to eat. It might've been I just didn't like that kind of fish, but I've never had a piece of fish that was hard and crunchy like a raw onion.

Even ignoring that, I didn't really enjoy the sushi from here. Most of it was neutral at best, like the philly roll, but there were a few I actively disliked so I can't bring myself to...

Service was very slow, we asked for utensils and extra dishes and the server never brought them, and didn't stop by frequently enough to even ask a second time. One in our party received his main dish before the rest of us, and it took nearly 10-15 minutes more for the rest of our food to come out. Server did seem frustrated with the speed, but didn't make an effort to help while we waited. Our water/drinks went unfilled the entire time we were there. Food was pretty good, but a little overpriced.

EDIT: When we left two other member of our party covered the tip, (I believe it was $7 between the two of them on a $50 order, reasonable for bad service). I did not put a tip on my card. Just checked my CC statement and the restaurant added a nearly 5 dollar tip to my card. With the service we got, I wouldn't even consider a 5 dollar tip on a $20 order. I'll be making a complaint, and it's possible it was a mistake between adding a tip to the wrong card, but overall just another negative to an overall...

We were in town visiting my parents Thanksgiving week. It had been about 5 years since I’d been home and eaten at my favorite sushi place. I was pleasantly surprised with the remodel, very nice, welcoming and warm. I was happy to find that the sushi was amazing as always, the Red dragon is awesome! My husband and I ordered 4 rolls and they all were delicious. The only critiques I have was the miso soup needed to be hotter, my server warmed it up immediately after I brought it to her attention, however once our rolls were delivered she never came back. Which was not a problem, because all was good, except we would have liked a drink refill and we had to flag down another server for our check. I will definitely be going back, hopefully sooner then 5 years. Great atmosphere and awesome flavorful and fresh sushi!...