Blue Pagoda — Restaurant in San Jose

I debated on writing this review and I just felt like I had such a different experience than others. I gotten Chef Lang's sushi a couple of times when he was operating pick-up a few years ago, so I was excited to try his new restaurant. There's potential here but everything just fell slightly short. Much like their overuse of the gold duster, it was a lot more show and shimmer.

The pacing of the courses was strange and very irregular. Our appetizers came before our water and drinks. I had to flag down our server in order to add some oysters before we started our nigiri omakase and again, to add supplements after our last nigiris. Nigiris were pretty slow for the first few courses and felt super rushed at the end during the set. They dropped off the warm courses as we were getting our add-ons nigiris so our warm courses of miso soup and eel rice were tepid by the time we were finished with our add-ons. Again, just odd as they should have coordinated better between the sushi chefs and wait staff/food runners.

There was definitely a clear difference in quality in the sushi Chef Lang made vs his other chefs. There were a total of 4 sushi chefs, including Chef Lang himself. Chef Lang and another chef focused on the sushi bar and the two other chefs were focused on tables. We sat at the sushi bar in front of the two chefs making sushi for the tables. Some of the stuff being made for the tables looked messy and inconsistent; for example, some had very healthy amount of uni topper while some had broken pieces. The other sushi-bar chef who served all of our omakase nigiri courses looked and tasted different than Chef Lang's who did our add-ons which included a few that were repeats from the omakase. Overall, me and my dining companion found the rice to be inconsistent- it was overcooked but also had distinct, harder, undercooked, grains. Some of the nigiris felt a bit oversauced as it overpowered some of the more delicate fish. Chef Lang's versions were much more balanced. We also found shell in my crab "chawanmushi" and my friend got shell in both her oysters. The oysters tasted slightly old - it didn't have any oysters liquor and missing some of the sweetness Kumamotos are known for. We later observe these were pre-shucked. Overall the fish was good quality, but we did note the chutoro and otoro seemed a bit more red and lean. All the fish for omakase were also pre-sliced for the table and sushi bar (so possibly some quality control is needed during prep).

For their set omakase at approx $100 it is...okay. Decent quality and quantity with some hit and misses. It felt like we had to go out of our way to ask for things and guide our own omakase experience. We had to ask about add-ons based on what we saw on IG & what we saw going out to the tables. For example we had to ask about the uni topper we saw going out since none of our courses came with uni and there was no way I was leaving an omakase without uni! Since Chef Lang made our repeats, he did also offered us a couple more things including an ikura and uni handroll. In the end, we did a total of 6 add-ons, bringing our total to $220 pp (not incl alcohol, pre tax/tip). Considering the number of courses, I have had better omakase in the Bay and definitely way better in SoCal, Seattle and New York at this price point.

I was also looking forward to their sake selection as their sake walk-in looked impressive! Disappointedly, they do not offer any glass or carafe options. You can either order a 720 mL bottle or their 3-sake sampler. Hopefully they change this and offer a small selection of sake by the glass or carafe.

I hope they work out their timing and service during their soft opening. Their standard omakase for approx $100 is not bad, but definitely better quality and quantity out there if you have a bigger appetite and okay with spending...

14 course omakase at the bar during soft opening $108 [not including added drinks and supplementals].

Food was mid at best. Glad to see the south bay having more omakase spots but this was not it for me. We went during soft opening last week and everything was very inconsistent/mid. The initial part of the omakase was made by 2 people who were very sloppy. 1 looked like either he was too nervous or had no experience . Rice was too hot/mushy for me , while my friend had some grains that tasted uncooked. Towards the end, which we are assuming is the head chef, made our food and it was much better. He was much more talkative and friendly unlike the others. In the beginning, we found shells in the chawanmushi and oysters. Didn't appreciate how when we told them, they just said "oh ok" and brushed us off. Bear in mind, they also have preshucked the oysters and they sit in a box. I understand pre slicing the fish if you are mass producing at a pop up , but at the sushi bar? ehh. Also oysters is def something I prefer fresh shucked [no matter how long it has been]. For the price of the oysters, I expected something better. One of the hosts also spilled part of my drink in front of me and didn't wipe all of the mess. Just ended up with a sticky table and hand; didn't appreciate that. Server's ARE around but never around when we wanted to order a la cart/ was very hard to flag them down for things, despite us sitting front and center at the bar. They only started paying more attention to us when they noticed how much we were spending compared to others around us [not sure how I feel about that type of service. ick] . Food in general was okkkk. Some of the flavor combos were interesting but due to how heavy handed the sauce was, it overwhelmed the fish itself. Seasoning is inconsistent. Some too much where it's more topping than fish, some not enough. Otoro looked like chutoro. chutoro looked lowgrade, barely passing for chutoro. Quality of fish, I guess, is not was we were expecting.

Personally I think the decor was done very poorly, as in they HAD intentions but could not implement. Decor/lighting do not go well together and instead makes the restaurant look cheap. Atmosphere, was hard to talk in [without yelling ourselves] since the table behind us was screaming n shrieking like they were at the clubs - pretty annoying. It's fine to have a girls night and have fun, I'm all for it, but don't ruin other people's experiences because you have no self and situational awareness.

I understand they must be swamped from their soft opening but they never picked up when I called, even during hours. I also DM'ed them online , to which they answered , saying they would get back to me, but never did. Thankfully my friend was able to snag a resy.

Overall there is muchmuch improvement to be made in terms of food taste/quality, food handling, and services. Would not go back...

For the soft opening of Blue Pagoda, we reserved seats at the bar and got to watch the chef prepare each course right in front of us. The head chef was absolutely wonderful and so welcoming, which made the whole experience feel warm and memorable. The owner was also there greeting guests, adding to the hospitality.

Dinner began with a four course appetizer set: Okinawa Mozukusu, soft boiled octopus, toro tartare with caviar, and snow crab chawanmushi. The octopus was my personal favorite for how warm and tender it was, while the Okinawa, soaked in vinegar, was tangy but refreshing.

Then came the nigiri course, where every piece had its own personality—from the brightness of Japan Tai with yuzu salt, to the smokiness of kanpachi with Nam Jim sauce, to the richness of bluefin otoro with kimchi radish. Each bite paired fish and topping in such a thoughtful way that no two were alike. Out of all of them, the Japan Tai with yuzu salt stood out the most for me—clean, delicate, and perfectly balanced.

Following the nigiri, we were served a warm course of miso soup and unagi don. I completely fell in love with the unagi don because of the green powder topping that slightly numbed the tongue as you ate, making each bite even more unique.

For dessert, they closed with a black sesame cheesecake that struck the perfect balance—not too sweet but not too bland, which we really preferred. To top it all off, we were surprised with champagne to celebrate our anniversary, which made the evening even more special.

Blue Pagoda feels like such an exciting new addition to San Jose, and I cannot wait to...