Sushi Kashiba is an upscale sushi restaurant in Seattle. It’s conveniently located by the Pike Place Market and is owned by the Seattle legendary sushi chef Shiro Kashiba, who trained with Jiro Ono back in the 1960s. Sushi Kashiba is often regarded as one of the best sushi restaurants in Seattle. Tourists and locals alike queue up outside its door before the 5 o’clock opening time waiting to get a seat at the sushi bar.
But, does it live up to the hype?
We arrived at 5:30 on a weekday. Sushi bar was already full, so we were seated at a table.
This being our first visit, we opted for the seven-course omakase menu.
The amuse-bouche was a menagerie of six sweetened black beans, a piece of shrimp and some colorful egg concoction.
Our first course was a duck salad. The greens were good. The duck, however, was chewy with some sort of sweet reduction.
Our second course was a tuna hand roll. It was good, but I’ve had better across the lake at Izumi Sushi in Kirkland.
The next three courses were all nigiri sushi. They did not come out one by one as is usually the case when you sit at the sushi bar and there were little explanations as to the source of the fish and how they were prepared.
Our sixth course was a crab hand roll wrapped in tofu skin. This was our favorite of the evening.
For dessert, we were served miso soup and tamago. While tamago is a regular dessert item, I have never heard of miso soup as dessert.
In the end, our food bill summed up to $124 per person, which is $95 plus tax and a mandatory 20% service charge.
Overall our dinner was not bad but it was nothing to rave about. For the same price, we had an amazing meal at the Michelin starred Kusakabe in San Francisco a couple of month ago. The well orchestrated tasting menu includes a good variety of hot and cold items, exquisitely prepared and artistically presented, right in front of our eyes.
As to the service at Sushi Kashiba , it matches the standard of a high-end restaurant in America. However, we were surprised that our server did not gather information about food allergies before putting food on our table. When inquired about this, we were told that they only do so at the sushi bar, which looks like a whole different dining experience – there were interactions with the chef, progressive serving, and individualized/unique offerings based on fresh of the day.
So unless you are able to secure a seat at the sushi bar, preferably in front of chef Kashiba, do not bother going to this restaurant. Right across the courtyard is a Korean Gastropub called Chan Seattle. This tiny little place serves delicious Korean food with a modern twist and they even have a happy hour menu.
Travel-Gourmand.com 
With places like Sushi Kashiba you’re only getting the ‘full’ experience by eating at the bar so I end up wondering why there are tables to begin with. So it goes. (Though I totally agree on the love for Chan!)
Our house usually ends up eating at Mashiko when we want nigiri, just because Hajime will occasionally serve stuff that is just wonderfully out there, if you know to ask.
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Exactly! I hardly eat at the table in any of the sushi restaurants here. We were going to the SAM that evening and it was a cold so we decided to stay put. What a mistake that was! Thank you so much for stopping by and writing comments. I have yet to make it to Mashiko, but will add it to my list. My favorites are: Kisaku, Izumi and Watarum it takes reservation for sushi bar.
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I miss sushi. I would never dare to have it in India
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You are lucky in Seattle to have such wonderful sushi options nearby! I love the presentation of these dishes and the prices, while not cheap, are surely the reflection of the cost of the fresh seafood ingredients and attention to detail.
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Never heard of miso soup for dessert either!
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Miso soup for dessert? In my opinion, too much sodium, not enough sugar! 😛 Thanks for sharing your review! Do you have Yelp or TripAdvisor accounts? I’d love to follow you there as well!
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Thank you Daina! I am not very active on those review sites. I need to work on that 🙂
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Towards the end of your blog, you mentioned “So unless you are able to secure a seat at the sushi bar, preferably in front of chef Kashiba, do not bother going to this restaurant”. That is very strong statement.
Buy reading your review, I sensed that you have very little knowledge about what Edomae Style Sushi is all about. Restaurant like Kashiba, although I’ve never been there, who strives to be true to the authentic Edomae style sushi restaurant should not be judged by somebody who is so poorly educated about the cuisine.
Even your comment about the tuna hand roll, you even failed to mention what kind of tuna you were eating. Do you know every tuna fish has uniquely different flavor profile? Of course, type of specie, where and when it was caught, and how it was transported and how long it was aged makes HUGE difference too. So, without knowing what kind of fish you were eating, how can you even compare?
I would suggest you to pick your phrase more carefully. Or else, you might just reveal your poor education about the cuisine.
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Thank you Shinya for the comment. A couple of months ago I was sitting at the sushi bar in Wataru where the chef explained to us where the fish was from, the cut, their difference in flavor and how to enjoy them. I jotted down the information and I owe that place a review.
At Kashiba we were sitting at a table, when the sushi platter was delivered to us by a waiter. Except the name of the fish, there were no other information given. Maybe the waiter was busy or rushed that night, maybe it was an oversight, but it was a completely different experience!
Which leads me to a more general question: Do you think if you want to have a good experience at a sushi restaurant, you should ONLY sit at the sushi bar? For Kashiba this was the case, I’m sorry but I need to repeat this.
Thanks again for your comment. Would you mind sharing your favorite sushi restaurant in Seattle? My favorites so far are: Wataru, Kisaku and Izumi on the Eastside. I would love to try some of your recommendations. Thank you.
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I’m Japanese. We don’t serve Miso soup at the end of the meal. I also wouldn’t expect to have a salad at a Sushi restaurant.
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Thank you for stopping by Storyteller. — Ray.
We live in New Orleans and Brooklyn. Our favorite sushi place is in Brooklyn. 12 seats at the bar. No tables.
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Awesome. And I bet you had plenty of good food in New Orleans. Sushi or not 🙂 Thank you for stopping by and leaving comments!
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We do. We are very lucky to have both.
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Ah looks lush! Next time I am Seattle way I’ll have to get some friends together to try this place. Looks promising!
If you have time, read my latest blog post about my Taro sushi bar review at https://tootinghustle.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/taro-sushi-bar-in-review/ and let me know what you think!
Happy blogging x
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