Kamei Japanese Restaurant

This establishment is more teriyaki joint than Japanese restaurant. Despite the dingy/​grubby atmosphere and less than spectacular food here, I’ve patronized this restaurant over the years because I wanted to support a local and family owned business. The sushi is decent, but the chirashi bowl at $ 20 is a rip off with its thin and skimpy fish. So I’d recommend going to Mashiko if you’re looking for good sushi in WS or Maneki in old Japantown. The donburi is also a decent selection for a fair price. A redeeming factor was the friendly service provided by the mom and daughters.
But today’s experience really rubbed me the wrong way. We ordered 3 entrees and sushi for 4 people, as my children were sharing one dish. After a longer than usual wait for our food to arrive, my husband and kids received their orders that came out slightly wrong, but we elected not to send them back since they were hungry and didn’t want to wait longer for their food to be remade as ordered. Everyone ate their food and finished while I sat there twiddling my thumbs, hangry and watching other tables, who ordered after we did, receive their meals. I asked for an ETA on my food and was told by the waitress that she’d put in my husband and children’s order first and then my noodles and sushi after. Why? Did she figure I’d not like to eat my meal with the rest of my family? Once the waitress knew I was displeased with the long wait for my food and cancelled the rest of the food that was still cooking or hadn’t been started, she become less than hospitable and slammed our check on the table.
I’ve had better experiences here in the past, and honestly don’t know that I will continue to patronize this establishment after today’s less than desirable experience.

We went to this restaurant because we were craving sushi in W. Seattle. The wait staff were friendly, but service was slow. The portions are quite large… that’s the good news, if you prefer quantity to quality. The tempura glistened with grease and although hot, was on the soggy side. The fish varied in quality from decent salmon to hard, stringy tuna. The worst part, perhaps, was that two dead fruit flies came out of the soy sauce bottle, landing on my rice. Upon returning home, we felt on the bilious side… let’s leave it at that.

Great little family run restaurant. You could tell that the staff were really proud of their work and the food they put out on the table.
The menu is vast but isn’t overwhelming. They many of the typical dishes that you may find elsewhere, but do them well. The prices are pretty fair as well and you get a ton of food in the bentos. The sushi was delicious and fresh! I had sukiyaki and it was one of the better broths I have had recently, not overly sweet that it overpowered the meat portions.
Would definitely be coming back again, this will be one of our go to spots now in West Seattle.

After what I think was my 8^th visit last night, this is my favorite Sushi place in Seattle — The free tea is excellent, Miso soup delicous, salads tasty, and the Nigiri is amazing!

Tasty and fresh rolls. Nicely presented. Little place with friendly staff. Fairly priced. Chicken teriyaki is probably my favorite non «sushi» item. Love the miso soup. Sashimi is nice and relatively inexpensive compared to other places in the junction and just as fresh and tasty. This place is a great value.
We go here frequently as we live in the neighborhood and I don’t need to impress my wife with superficial annoying date like ambiance when we just want to get in and out for dinner. I used to go to another place up the street that is always crowded (and overpriced compared to this alternative) that is full of hipsters and yuppies who want to go out and have sushi as opposed to just eating sushi.

Mashiko had a 45 minute wait, so we ventured up the street to Makei. Looked dingy when we walked in, sat at the bar and asked for recommendations, and then waited forever before we even got our soup appetizer. Saw a couple of dragon rolls being made and they looked good so we ordered one of those. Long story short, we asked for the check early after we saw the lady making our food with the same gloves she had JUST used to cash multiple people out of the cash register, clean the counter, among other things. Then they tried to deny she had done that when we just watched her do it ourselves. This place is just not clean or good, don’t waste your time.

Walked by and saw the place; so we stopped and had a quick meal. Fast, and good service. The sushi, roll and teriyaki salmon were all excellent.
My only negative feedback; upgrade interior a little; clean up bathrooms; the interior of the place is a little run down, especially bathrooms; dust in fan, dirty walls.
But food was great; so we would come back!

Wish I could write a review about the food but I can’t. I can’t because they closed before their actual close time. I was looking around to eat sushi in Seattle but wanted to go to an area where I heard there was a few options, all on California street. But this and one other restaurant closed early. Can’t trust going there again without calling to ask if they are open. Too bad…

Craving sushi, and not having a reservation to Mashiko, my wife and I decided to give Kamei a try. Unfortunately, our experience did not measure up with the experience it appears most of Unilocal has had here.
When you first walk in it has a bit of a «hole in the wall» «divey» kind of vibe to it. I should make clear that some of the best sushi I’ve ever had has been in those types of places. As a result, we were really looking forward to giving this a shot.
We both settled on a couple of «tasting/​omakase» style plates. We tend to shy away from a lot of rolls, sticking with the nigiri and sashimi. Unfortunately, for both of us, our general feel was exactly what two stars on Unilocal says– «Meh.» The fish didn’t seem overly fresh, and it didn’t do a whole lot for us.
The service was very nice, however. Our waitress, and chef, were both very friendly and very attentive.
Unfortunately, the food just didn’t match the service. Not sure if we’ll be back as there is so much great sushi in Seattle.

Blah. Not exactly clean. Sticky floor, dirty bathroom, fruit fly circling in front of my face, not what I want in a sushi place. The food was just OK. Rice on my salmon nigiri was sweet for some reason. Other sushi just blah. Plenty other places in Seattle. I won’t be back.

Not sure where all the good reviews are coming from. I’ve had grocery store sushi that was much better. The nigiri was warm, which is very off-​putting. The rice had a terrible salty flavor to it which completely detracted from the fish. The fish itself was okay. Seriously over-​priced, especially considering the quality. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

What a great find. Excellent service and wonderful sashimi. Went with my son for a late lunch and had a fantastic experience. I don’t think there is a very extensive sake selection but the pricing and service more than compensated. I’ll definitely be back and highly recommend for a casual sushi/​sashimi dining experience.

The only reason they are missing a star is because I haven’t been in enough times to know how consistent they are. But yes, clean, friendly, not busy, tasty food and their rice is a tad sweet for that extra yum.

Food was splendid and real good! I ordered calamari as appetizers, the red dragon roll (8 pieces), and salmon sashimi with rice.
I’m rating it a ³⁄₅ because service was ok. They got my dad’s order mixed up with someone else nearby twice. Plus, the refill on water was not consistent. And my tea was not hot, it was warm. I mean, I’ve been here a few times and tonight the restaurant WAS busy.
I’ll probably rate it higher next time I go. :)

Decent Japanese food that’s been around for a while. I got the bento but was a little disappointed in the size of my salmon teriyaki but it had good flavor.

Been going here for over a decade. The family that runs this restaurant is always super friendly. A lot of variety: teriyaki, bento boxes, donburi, appetizers, udon, and more. It’s also the best deal in town for sushi. The rolls here are delicious. And prices are easily a dollar or two less than most restaurants in Seattle with sushi chef.
Oh, and bonus points for having the same kind of ice as Taco Time.

Kamei reminds me of what it’s like when you step into a family owned restaurant in Japan. This was my first visit and I tried various sushi, which was tasty. What I really liked was my son’s dish, the Beef Udon. He slurps a lot of udon and he raved about Kamei’s udon.
Mashiko’s is my favorite sushi spot in West Seattle (and still is)… but I’ll be back to Kamei to try savor their udon’s and other hot dishes. AND they’re open for lunch!

Small mom and pop shop that was amazing! Reminded me of being back in Japan. Prices were great food awesome. We were staying in west seattle this trip, but next trip to Seattle may travel this way just for the sushi because it was so good.
We went to a sushi place in downtown Seattle last time we were here and it was three times as much and tasted horrible.
Will be back again
We had the Red Dragon Maki, Kamei Maki, and Smoked salmon Maki

It’s my favorite sushi in West Seattle. They are incredible about making sure I don’t end up with ANY gluten, dairy or egg in my food. One of the daughters of the owners, who are also the chef and his wife who hosts, has celiacs so they know more about hidden gluten then any other sushi spot I know about.
Mom and pop shop. Great prices!

The Bento box with teriyaki salmon is incredibly delicious and lots of food. This is small little establishment with a quaint feel and great food. The miso dressing is great too. Totally recommend stoping by here.