Amami Sushi — Restaurant in San Bruno

I should preface my review by saying that the best, and the most memorable, memory of this place is the high temperature of the water and soup they serve (which is nice on a rather chilly night), but other than that, there isn’t much to praise about.

This is the very first restaurant I have been where if you don’t own a smartphone, you are not welcome here: the menu is entirely digital and they don’t even have a paper menu when asked. This is utterly unacceptable: this isn’t the first restaurant where the menu is digitized, but I have never had a restaurant where they don’t at least have a few paper copies of the menu for customers who either don’t own a smartphone, or don’t have a good connection that day. To me, this is basically saying, if you aren’t tech-savvy, you aren’t welcome here.

Nonetheless, I was so hungry I decided to order anyways, because I have to meet some people shortly after, and there isn’t much time for me to pick and choose a better restaurant. I ordered a roll of Unagi Lover (broiled eel) and a bowl of Unagi ramen—yes, I really like broiled eel, something which brings memories of the youth. I buy broiled eel from both Korean and Japanese markets (most, if not all, of which are from China anyways :-p), so I am reasonably familiar with the price, so imagine my shock when I see how little eel they serve you in the Unagi ramen. But as I said, at least the broth was hot and good on a cold day.

However, when I was served the Unagi Lover’s roll, my expectation went from low to almost nothing: it was incredibly how little they serve you, from the size of the actual maki (each piece of the sushi roll), to the amount of eel they have on the outside and the inside (Unagi Lover’s roll is where unagi is used on both sides). In fact, the maki is so small that it isn’t much different from a quarter coin (although it’s definitely significantly thicker :-p).

I think the price isn’t bad but considering how much they serve you, it’s unreasonably expensive, and, worst of all, they don’t even greet you upon entry or departure, which is typical of Japanese restaurants, and they aren’t even busy and it’s a pretty small restaurant. I get that the place is operated by a Chinese staff, but if you are going to be in this business, I would at least greet people, whether it’s in Japanese (preferable for the authentic experience) or in English (it’s in the U.S. after all). Before you start calling me a racist, I am also Chinese, and I know at least one Chinese who was a former chef in a Japanese restaurant: if he took the time to at least learn some Japanese to give customers a better experience, why isn’t the staff here doing the same thing, I wonder.

Overall, I think if you are on a cold day and you crave a cup of hot water and some ramen with really hot broth, this is the place to go, because both of them were still pretty hot when I was about to leave, but otherwise, I recommend looking around for a place where you either receive better service, or get a larger portion of food for the money paid (it’s really unreasonable how little was served—yes, I have had kaiseki [traditional multi-course Japanese dinner] where each item is really small as well, but at least they were delicately made, which is completely absent in this experience). And, if you don’t own a smartphone, you are definitely not welcome here, because unless you want the stuff from the menu on the whiteboard, you can’t browse the menu at all.

Nonetheless, I still tipped a decent amount, because the hot water and hot broth were really comforting on a cold day, which, to be fair, isn’t typical on a night...

Maybe it was overhyped or I've just had better but Amami was only okay to me. I came here with my boyfriend excited to try the omakase that everyone raves about. $30 dollars for a 10 piece nigiri omakase..what a deal!

As of lately, I've been pretty addicted to omakase. When I heard of Amami's deal, I had to try it! we came over here on a Saturday night and there was a wait. I suggest calling ahead for a reservation so you don't have to wait. The restaurant is not small but not big either. They have a couple of tables that can sit 4-6 people and the sushi bar can sit about 10. The restaurant is also really popular and crowded so it was pretty noisy in there, if you're going for ambiance then this place doesn't really have it. We were lucky enough to be able to sit at the bar right in front of chef Alan so we got to watch all the magic happen! We both ordered the omakase and the Melt in Your Mouth roll to share.

The reason why I gave this place 3 stars is first they were really slow. We waited around 25 minutes for our roll to come out and that was our first dish. It wasn't only that but I also saw how slow it took for the other orders to go out to the tables. Chef Alan would finish with the dish and the order would just sit on the bar for a good 5-10 minutes before it got out to the tables. Fresh fish shouldn't be sitting out like that :( Maybe it was just that one night but that isn't acceptable for a restaurant that's used to this amount of people that come and dine in. The second was half the way the omakase was prepared and second the fish selection for the omakase. As we sat there at the bar, I saw how omakase was prepared. I've been to several other places now and seen the quality and care that goes into preparing omakase and this place just didn't measure up. It sounds a little harsh but the omakase was mass prepared. I get that there was only one chef preparing all the dishes but the restaurant shouldn't have put the burden on him in the first place. To me the omakase is a special dish and most of the omakase i've had, was prepared with care. Each fish was dressed specifically to highlight that fish and the fish selection was unique. For this omakase, I felt that it was underwhelming. The $30 definitely got you huge pieces of fish but not at the quality I've seen from other places. The roll was also just okay. I got excited that there was toro in it but I couldn't taste it with the unagi and avacado overpowering the roll. Overall I was disappointed. The reason why I think this place is popular is because you get a bang for your buck, their portions are no joke. It's nothing on Chef Alan, I thought he did a remarkable job keeping up with all the orders and preparing the fish!

In my opinion, if you want a fresh and unique experience for Omakase I recommend Dash in San Mateo because it's only $10 more and I think the portion size is good, the fish is fresh, and the...

My sister and her family took my family here to celebrate my birthday because I'm the type of person that can never get enough of sushi. Judging from the esthetic from the parking, it looked like restaurants was a fast food restaurant previously.

The menu is entirely digital and they don't have a paper menu when asked. This isn't the first restaurant where the menu is digitized, but I have never had a restaurant where they don't at least have a few paper copies for the tech peeps.

My sister recommended I get the omakase so brother-in-law and I ordered that dish, it was one of the more expensive item on the menu, but my sister insisted so I ordered it. The dish came with 10 pieces of the chef's choice selection for $42. The price seems reasonable if you calculated by pieces and the slice the fish extra long, which almost give you an extra 1/2 piece os sushi. We were very pleased with the selection and finished it without trying too hard. Omakase: 5/5

My husband ordered the beef teriyaki dinner. He said it was very nicely prepared. By the time I wanted a piece to try, he finished his entree already. It's either that good, or I'm just too slow. Teriyaki Beef Dinner Entree: 5/5

For the rest, they ordered ordered the Following to be shared:

Tai Carpaccio - it was good on the first bite, but it later became overwhelming sweet. It was left on the table until the very because none of us like it. My husband finally eat it without the sauce and said it was fine. This $18 dish is a total disappointment Tai Carpaccio: 1/5

The spices and batter on the Chicken Kara-Age is very good. Everyone appears to have enjoyed this dish. Chicken Kara-Age: 5/5

We also order the Kanpachi Kama. Most restaurants usually just have the yellow tail version. We never seen this type of fish and the waitress said it was good. It was just ok. the flavor is not bad but it didn't not have much meat so couldn't taste it that much unless you take the whole collar bone and just naw on it. For $22, I don't think I will order this...