Sushi 29

I’ll say right off the bat that technically I’ve never had their actual sushi (though family members I’ve gotten takeout with love it). But that’s only because the Sesame Chicken is that good! I can never resist ordering it. The sauce is creamy and flavorful, the chicken is tender, and the veggies and rice on the side go perfectly with it. The Miso Soup on the side is delicious, too. One of my favorite takeout meals on Solano.
As for the restaurant itself — cozy and small with cool décor, and super friendly employees to boot.

Sushi 29 is good, but not great. Service was pretty good but the setup is a bit cramped and I can’t stand the décor – the wallpaper gives me a headache!
The food itself was tasty, but nothing blew my mind. It’s definitely better than some other sushi places I’ve been on Solano Ave., so that’s a plus.
Over all my experience here was just OK. Maybe I’ll give it another try, but there are other sushi restaurants I’d rather eat at if I had the option.

Sushi is great. SERVICE WAS PERFECT. Adorable Helen was our server. Very sweet & accommodating for us. Started with Miso soup, really good.
I Love the nigiri. Tuna, salmon & seared salmon was DELISH. We travel from the North Bay JUST for this great little place.

We wound up here serendipitously, when our usual place was too crowded. The gods of cuisine were smiling on us, as we have a new local favorite! Dishes were creative and delicious… one roll was not to our taste, but that was hardly the restaurant’s fault. As other’s have noted the nigiri are giant, and the fish was more than decent. I highly recommend the spicy salmon appetizer. It is a gourmet-​level dish, and worth every penny. (BTW– I am a bit of a rice fanatic, and whatever issues others have noted in the past were fixed when we were there.)
Can’t wait to return!

09.16.15 — The sushi was great and fresh, large portions, too. BUT, towards the end of our meal, we saw a cockroach crawling along the next table… an immediate lost of appetite. No amount of sake was going to make my appetite come back

Sushi 29, we sat down and instantly my friend found a baby cockroach on her napkin, and the chopsticks were unusually sticky. The service was ok, the portions were very large (not in a bad way) the food was mediocre but most of the rolls we ordered already had wasabi mixed in which is not something everyone wants. And last but not least… we spotted a cockroach on the table next to us and it was crawling all over the plates and the table. Definitely grossed us out, let’s just say we won’t be eating there again.

Fish is fresh, service is attentive. The nigiri pieces are enormous, what would be easily 2 pieces at another restaurant comes as one piece draped across the rice ball and plate… And the order comes with 2, so a huge quantity of fish. It was odd, but if you like sashimi it feels like a bonus.
The rice is too sweet, and my rock n roll came drenched in sweet sauce, so what has always been my favorite roll everywhere I go, was something I wouldn’t order here again. In fact, the rice is so off-​flavor I probably would stay away from rolls on my next visit.
But I will be back for those giant nigiri! Yum!

We had the grilled chicken udon (in soup) and the rock and roll maki. The udon is simple but delicious — it’s only udon, grilled chicken, spinach and the soup base. There are no other toppings. The grilled chicken is tender inside and slightly crispy on the outside. We liked the soup base but could not tell exactly what it was. I like the noodle’s texture too. The rock n roll maki has BBQ eel, tobiko and avacado. It came nicely plated and tasted good too.
This place is decorated with one of the main walls painted red with a lot of identical white flowers. The service was good.

Not skimpy with the fish… at all. Everything is so fresh & delicious & you can even eat the flowers on your plate !

Sushi 29 is our go-​to restaurant for great sushi, great service, and a casual atmosphere. To be honest, it has a lot to do with being head-​over-​heels in love with the CU 29 roll (cream cheese & crispy unagi topped w/​spicy tuna & green onion… a bit of spicy, sweet and savory all wrapped in one delicious roll). We’re not the most adventurous sushi eaters, so we normally just picked from a couple maki rolls, and they’re always yummy. I find myself calling in almost once a week to pick up a couple rolls and miso soups (about 15 minutes from phone call to food-​in-​hand, not bad at all!).
Eating in the restaurant is also pretty great. It’s a casual and funky atmosphere. Sometimes the place is packed with families young and old, sometimes we’re the only ones in there. Either way, I’ve always had a great experience with the servers being friendly, helpful, and speedy.

Great presentation of delicious food. We went at lunchtime. Our server was helpful and courteous. The food was great. We had gyoza which were perfectly cooked and really tasty then good maki. No-​one worried about our baby who was with us in fact they made space for him, which is a nice change. Would defo go again!

Little restaurant on Solano Avenue. When I first walked in during lunch hour, there was only one customer in there eating her meal. I decided to give this place the benefit of the doubt and try it out, also cause I was too lazy to find someplace to eat blocksss from where I was. I was greeted as soon as I walked in by both the chef and the waitress. I ordered the Spider roll and a miso soup to-​go. It was pretty pricey for just a couple of pieces. a bit disappointed but the fried soft shell crab inside of the roll made up for it. The miso soup wasn’t salty, which I didn’t really like. When i think of miso soup, i think of salty. Well, that’s how they usually are. Other than that, the service was great. Gave me free tea while I waited for my order. I wouldn’t mind coming here again for lunch.

Meh…
I love sushi so after reading the reviews from other folks, my hubby and I chose to try out Sushi 29. Hubby is not a nigiri fan, like me so we always look for places with a good variety of vegetable rolls and other grilled meat options. New to the area, this restaurant looked like a nice balance.
The décor was a little odd but it was their theme and we did appreciate how the theme was reflected in their place presentation (e.g.; flower wall paper, dishes, and fresh flowers plated with your meal… very cute). The menu had a great variety to it and we were excited to dive in.
Appetizer: we ordered vegetable tempura but got tempura with prawn in it. Though it took a while to get our server’s attention regarding this correction, it was apologetically and quickly corrected. The maki (rolls) were fine. Nicely sized and tasty combinations.
Main Meal: The first reason for the two star rating was that everything was oddly flavored… why so sweet? I mean everything was oddly sweet and yet, the teriyaki sauce on my hubby’s chicken was almost flavorless. The soy sauce, wasabi, tempura dipping sauce, and though sushi rice is supposed to slightly sweet, this was exceptionally sweet. We could not help but wonder what was being covered up.
Here is the other reason why the rating is two stars… the cuts of fish on the nigiri were double the length of the rice ball. I am not over exaggerating here. The fish hung off the front and the back for the same distance/​size of a traditional piece of nigiri… This was extremely difficult to eat and if I wanted sashimi, I would have ordered sashimi.
Sushi is about simplicity and balance. The sweet flavor to everything felt overly complicated and hid the natural flavor of the sashimi. This is always a concern since the freshness of your fish in sushi is a must. Normally, I would not complain about begin given more sashimi then ordered by the balance of rice to fish really is important … maybe it is just me. Fresh delicate fish on a perfectly sized such rice ball to make one bite is part of the zen of the meal that I look forward to. No fuss, no over elaboration, just honest and true flavors.
All in all, it was disappointing. Not terrible, just disappointing.

And we are back for our 2^nd visit in 6 days. Woot! We drive from Fairfield to come here. The wife and I are hard to please, mostly because we have eaten at some very high end places and some mom and pop stores that will make you moan out loud. The service both times have been Superior. Tiffany the first time and Serena the 2^nd, comparable to some 5 star restaurants without the snoodiness. This place offers great FRESH fish with a traditional and Fusion that is spot on. With me being picky, the sushi chef was able to make my roll beyond my expectations. Great value and did I say FRESH! Ya worth the 40jnute drive and toll.

Food: the rolls were inventive and the fish was flavorful. The seaweed salad was good as well although the server mentioned it looked like the one from Costco, and indeed, it did! The coconut roll was really good. The fish is cut in very large portions so if you’re looking for subtle, this is not the place. Great value for portion size and good food really.
Service was NOT good. The server made a mistake with my order and brought me a more expensive item that was twice the price. I pointed the error and she took the fish back begrudgingly. Her boss then came to the table to blame me for ordering the wrong thing and comped me the difference. The server never returned and someone else took over– she was great. What was a rookie mistake turned into a rather unpleasant experience. Never a good idea to blame the customer and make them feel unwelcomed. Puzzling really.

Sushi 29 can see me tonight!
This place is by far one of my favorite sushi restaurants to go to. I have now been trained to compare other sushi places I go to with the standard set by sushi 29. The CU 29 roll is a must order, along with the shrimp tempura with blue cheese dipping sauce.
This restaurant puts effort and creativity into the flavor and appearance of your food. Each of the sushi plates are garnished with real flowers and displayed beautifully. Each bite leaves you happier than the last until the last bite that’ll make you sad and wanting more.
Spoiler alert: I always order more.

There better sushi restaurants around Berkeley. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come here.
I agree with what some other reviews have said about the sushi rice not being seasoned properly. One of the rolls I had came in a puddle of yuzu or lemon juice… I didn’t like it and didn’t end up finishing. The seafood yaki soba does not taste anything like traditional japanese soba…
If you know your sushi and tend toward the «purist» side when it comes to Japanese cuisine, I would not come here. However, there is an audience for everything. I do agree that it is clean, décor is nice and service is friendly.

Call me girly, but I was completely taken with Sushi 29 upon arrival.
With it’s small dining area with appropriately-​sized tables placed neatly around the room, vivid pink daisy wallpaper, tasteful mood lighting, and pop music playing faintly in the background, I knew Sushi 29 and I would become fast friends.
My best friend had paid this restaurant compliments for their fresh selection of fish, delicious rolls, and rather affordable prices. All things I love to hear!
We chose to come here for a quick dinner before venturing off to the bars.
The restaurant was fairly empty so we were seated immediately. The hostess was rather quiet but nonetheless sweet.
I go crazy for raw fish, so I often have to reign myself in when it comes to ordering. Expensive addiction!
I opted for their Seared Ahi-​Tuna Tataki and a side of their Spicy Tuna Rolls. The dishes were served rather promptly which was perfect since I was famished!
The presentation was stellar! Everything was placed neatly on the plates and garnished with various fresh sprouts and greens along with some beautifully colored wildflowers. Flowers make me so happy! I was in heaven.
The fish was certainly fresh! The Spicy Tuna Rolls had just enough heat to be noticed but not overpowering and the rice was cooked perfectly. Great flavor, texture, and color. Ace!
The Seared Ahi-​Tuna Tataki was delicately flavored with a wasabi dressing and the tuna was to die for. The portion size was also just right.
I left feeling enthusiastic and satisfied. I look forward to my next visit Sushi 29!

A bit on the pricier side for the portion sizing. But pretty. Cute plating and the thin tallish water glasses come with a cucumber slice. Yeah. Cute.
Loved the sushi roll with the plum sauce and coconut shavings and I don’t even like coconut or shrimp but it was like BAM in my mouth. Can’t recall the name but do yourself a favor and order it! Never had anything like that in a Japanese restaurant.
The other roll we got with the mango was solid but not as cool. Did wish there was more mango.
It was cold inside. Not cool.
The waitress was great, sincere and friendly, and the dessert we got had some real good green tea ice cream. Nice and creamy and wholesome.
We ended up adding another roll for my tummy sake so the bill was more than I would have liked but I would be back!

Sushi 29 is my go-​to sushi joint. Of course, I’ve been blessed with better Japanese food elsewhere but it is the most conveniently located spot for me. I crave raw fish something fierce like clockwork every week and I eat an Omega 3 rich diet 5 – 6 days out of the week so I love to come here for some variation in my fish intake.
In terms of the food, I have never felt cheated. The plating is well done, the ingredients are fresh, the flavor combinations are pleasing, and the portions are substantial. Every time I come here, I get the salmon sashimi appetizer and savor every bite. My rolls of choice would have to be the garlic hamachi and spicy tuna. Not totally in love with the ones that comes slathered in sauce but everything else hits the spot.
All the nigiri I’ve tasted has been simple and delicious. The specials board is worth a peek if you’re going on that route. The chirashi does not disappoint. I’ve also enjoyed the spicy salmon parfait on occasion. I can’t really comment on their cooked items but the people I’ve dined with have liked the spare ribs and various dons. I give props to the chef for crafting a menu that deviates from the predictable list of offerings that most sushi restaurants serve.
Sushi 29 is pretty small but not cramped by any means. The large windows in the front are usually open and let in a cool breeze. People bring their kids here a lot so it can get loud at times. The décor of the restaurant is somewhat off putting, mainly the hot pink wallpaper covered in vivid daisies. If you come here for dinner, the mood lighting makes it significantly less severe but don’t expect ambiance. Music wise, they frequently play pop, dance, and electronic tracks softly. The service is efficient, the waitresses don’t seem that experienced but they check up on you and seem to be good natured.
All in all, if you are the neighborhood, come in and get some hamachi belly.