Coming to Seattle from Vancouver, I definitely miss the Japanese food there. The quality and prices are so much better! I prefer the Eastside of Seattle, so most of my favourite restaurants are there.
It’s interesting how many conveyor belt sushi chains there are here as well! Some are decent, but they are definitely much pricier than in Vancouver.
Takai By Kashiba (Omakase Available)
The best sushi and omakase experience we’ve had on the Eastside was at Takai By Kashiba (check out my Instagram reel here!). It is a famous omakase restaurant in Bellevue.
We were served by Chef Jun Takai, who was recruited in Tokyo and trained by Chef Kashiba. He was super friendly and continuously engaged us and other guests throughout the experience.
The ingredients are sourced locally. There were so many different types of fish! My favourite was the sardine nigiri, as it just melted in your mouth-and the people sitting beside us loved it, too.
I loved that for dessert, we had their signature tamago with the restaurant logo stamped on it. It also came with a hojicha ice cream. Besides omakase, you can also order nigiri and other dishes separately. I highly recommend spending a fancy night here!
Toma Sushi (Kaiseki Available)
Since I already had Takai By Kashiba for omakase, I decided to try Toma Sushi during another celebration event. They are more known for their kaiseki multi-course dining. The team behind Toma Sushi is also behind I Love Sushi in Bellevue.
Personally, I love the presentation of kaiseki! Everything is almost bite-sized and beautifully presented with a lot of decoration. The overall service was amazing and the seafood was very refreshing. My favourite dish was the rice. They even let you pack it after!
The only feedback is that, given the price point of the kaiseki, some might find the portion sizes a bit small.
Izakaya Supa Banana
One of my new favourite sushi spots is Izakaya Supa Banana in Redmond (Instagram post link). I love the modern and unique sushi selection, rice bowls, and drinks.
They mix in a lot of Asian flavours such as gochujang, laksa, and yuzu. It seems their sauces are also made in-house. The pricing is on the higher side, and I personally enjoyed the nigiri sushi more than the rice bowls, as the bowl I ordered turned out to be quite small.
Though I still prefer traditional sushi, my favourite fusion sushi was the Mentaiko Salmon and Brie nigiri. Their drink menu sounds fantastic, and they offer great happy hour options. I want to eventually try more dishes there!
Overall, even though I would definitely prefer getting sushi back at home in Vancouver, there are decent places here in Seattle too. If you’re willing to pay a little more for better quality here, then go for it! I heard there are a few other popular Japanese restaurants in downtown Seattle as well. These are the ones that I have tried on the Eastside that I really like!
Leave a Reply