Kuka Sushi & Izakaya — Restaurant in Tempe

I'm sorry - I really used to love this place and recommended everybody here. When this place opened it used to be at the forefront of the sushi spots in Arizona - it stood out especially with the amazing happy hour and most importantly the omakase for sushi fanatics such as myself, who really wanted the authentic taste of the fish instead of ordering crazily made sushi rolls that took away from the flavor of the seafood itself.

The last time I was here, I still thought highly of the place, but got food poisoning shortly after. I chalked it up to a one time event, and decided to go again with my family today for lunch. My husband and son were happy with their choices of chicken teriyaki and the spicy ramen. No complaints there. The ramen here is really good - it rivals Shady Park, Tampopo Ramen, etc. However the sushi, the one thing a sushi restaurant should excel at, was less than stellar. This time again, I got food poisoning as well.

I knew it from the first moment I bit into the chu-toro nigiri. the color wasn't right, but again, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and still ate the first piece, but it was SO fishy and it didn't taste right. I told the server, who gave a lackluster apology. Much to my dismay, on our $167 lunch bill, he didn't even remove the $11 charge of chu-tori nigiri. That speaks on the lack of professionalism he has -- if someone genuinely complained about it, wouldn't you at least just comp that portion of their meal and let the chefs know? I wasn't asking for an entire lunch comped, as the rest of the sushi was adequate. However, it's extremely dangerous to be serving raw fish that is spoiled. That is absolutely not cool. Really sucks, as this was one of our favorite spots because of the vibes of the restaurant. And you know what? Their prices went up -- however, their customer service and food quality should have done the same as well. I won't be going back again, and letting everyone I know to go someplace...

On a whim, I decided to try out this place, and it's one of the worst Japanese restaurants I've eaten at. I had a problem with literally everything except for the sticky white rice.

Starting with the entrees, the teriyaki chicken bowl has just plain and awful. The chicken with overcooked and dried out, and was cooked separately from the teriyaki chicken for some reason. The reason you cook the chicken with the teriyaki sauce is to prevent the chicken from drying out; which they absolutely did not do. The teriyaki sauce was good, it's just a shame they didn't combine it. The vegetables they serve with the dish were also way overcooked, steamed vegetables, soaked in soy sauce. Overall, I gave just this dish 2/5.

The fried rice was better than the teriyaki chicken, but not by much. It had very little flavor, in it's own right, and was only improved by adding salt and soy sauce. Also, there was too much egg in it.

I also got the Las Vegas roll, which could have been good, if it had not been for literally everything inside the roll. Way too much rice, the avocado was mushy, the salmon was Luke-warm, and the cream cheese was not only melted, but overpowered all the flavor inside the roll.

The last thing was the miso soup, which wasn't absolutely horrible, but the seaweed was extremely prevalent in pieces and in flavor. It actually reminded me of the bagged miso soup you can buy at grocery stores, almost as if they bought it and then added freeze dried seaweed.

Overall, I did not like most of the items I received, and I felt as though they do not put heart into the food they serve, and the customers suffer for it. The food quality I got was comparable to McDonald's, if McDonald's sold teriyaki chicken and sushi. 2/5 stars, and I will not...

I had a dilemma. It tugged at my soul. I lost sleep—everyday, I'd wake up to find a few more strands of gray. I must decide: four stars, or three?

Well, you ARE reading this...

I ate a very late lunch, to align with their happy hour (2-6 PM), during a Monday. The restaurant was mostly empty, like freeways on Christmas morning. I chose "calamari tempura" and a pint of draft beer from their happy hour menu. Five skewers and udon soup rounded out the meal.

Why potentially four stars? Because, numerous patrons wrote reviews raving about the filet mignon and how this spot is the best yakitori in Arizona. Because, I wanted to like the place. Because, some elements of my meal were actually on point. Foamy cold beer served in a frosted glass. Not greasy but exceptionally crunchy tempura. Excellent prices on happy hour options.

However, my true intention was those skewers: chicken hearts, chicken gizzards, filet mignon, hotate (scallops), and galbi (beef short rib meat). Most were awful: dry/rubbery/unsavory. Basically, overcooked old, frozen items. Only the gizzards tasted adequately fresh. Still, I'd suggest skipping here altogether and taking a delicious roadtrip to next-door California, to an authentic Japanese establishment.

The udon arrived extra salty; possibly more than a day's worth of sodium in one bowl. Other components were acceptable, but it's hard to mess up boiling noodles, pre-made naruto (fish cake), commercial seaweed, and chopped scallions.

Finally, a couple of non-food blunders: (until I requested) no spoon was given for the noodles and (until I reminded) they didn't use happy hour pricing for the tempura.

And, if you must ask: no binchō-tan was involved in the making...