Kaizen Sushi Bar & Grill — Restaurant in Sturbridge

So…..NOT a sushi eater here, but went with my sister for a celebratory dinner and ending our visit together. Working in Alaska and Florida in the fishing industry I am highly critical of ANY seafood I don’t catch and prepare myself. Nonetheless I went with an open mind to try something new. I loved that it was an older home, so we walked in and right away the character of the place was pleasant. It was PACKED on a Thursday at 7:30 and there were no tables left. Fortunately we had reservations- which I HIGHLY recommend.

We decided to order several dishes and share since I wasn’t sure what I would actually like. We ordered the Spicy Scallop, Love Roll, Bulgogi and Dragon. They ranged from scallops, Lobster, Escolar, Eel, Korean Beef and Shrimp all with various other items added in. They were all DELICIOUS 😋 like BEYOND DELICIOUS. I also ordered the hibachi fillet and it was perfectly cooked. The seasoned sauce on the side with some of the best Yum Yum sauce I’ve ever had. I’m not exactly sure what it was but that’s the closest comparison.

Sadly I live many states away, so I won’t be going back soon, but my sister will certainly enjoy having it just down the street from her If your ever in Sturbridge, MA, this is definitely a good place to stop for dinner. Our waitress Sharon/Shannon was amazing. So genuine and very personable. We had a lovely evening and I will definitely be trying sushi again in my...

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My hubby was looking for some sushi and we stopped in here because we’ve driven by several times and it’s always packed. Overall, we liked it. There are a few pros and cons…

First, it’s a large place and great service. We didn’t wait to be seated and got greeted by our server immediately. I did did find the establishment a bit difficult to navigate if you have any issues with mobility. Not super friendly for seniors, wheelchairs, etc. it was also really cold in this restaurant. I had to eat with my hoodie on. It’s also packed in pretty tightly so it’s on the loud side and you can hear everyone’s conversations. Not great for a quiet dinner.

The food was spot on! It was all fresh and tasty. Had plenty of variety. There’s a big drink menu that others seem to love. I don’t drink alcohol so this didn’t help me much. And unfortunately the water they served tasted like chlorine, even the ice, so that tainted the meal for me.

All things considered, I found it a bit pricey for what I value, but I could see others loved this kind of place. Glad I went and I...

Good grief do NOT get the bulgogi if you've EVER had real bulgogi lol. Teeny tiny little overcooked gray chunks of meet swimming in diced onions with the world's smallest gochu smear on the bowl as if it was just there for decoration?! It was honestly terrible. Crab rangoon was mid, barely any crab and the sauce was so bland! Got a specialty roll, it had shrimp tempura as one of the ingredients....the roll was soooooooo much smaller than any single specialty roll I've had in almost 40 years of eating sushi from Connecticut to California. And yet also soooooo much more expensive for literally no reason? Should have realized when one of the sushi chefs was a young white presenting male that it would be a far cry from authentic. The eel was the only saving grace and the reason for 2 stars instead of 1. Ambience sucked, server was genuinely NOT very friendly, and overall just so deeply disappointed that our first trip to Kaizen, which we'd heard rave reviews about, was so bad from start to finish. Might try Baba next time. If you're a sushi lover, Kaizen is unfortunately...