Kappaya Japanese Restaurant

07/03/09

Served me well for years

by trueblueyou

I spent years as a regular at Kappaya and found it to be a wonderful little jewel. The food is down to earth, delicious and I always left feeling wonderful and full of energy. The prices were alway reasonable. Go for lunch and you will see there is a real community that surrounds this place. Thank you to the staff for all their kindness! This place if full of good people and healthy food. I have moved now, but will visit you when ever I can. Best to you all.

• Pros: Great down to earth cuisine

02/04/09

Eh...

by BadHorsie

There was a little lost in translation. I asked about the tempura appetizer, and told the waitress I wanted it with my sushi. We went back and forth 3 - 4 times about it, and finally I got my tempura well ahead of my sushi anyway. Oh well. As someone else mentioned, the oil may affect flavor a bit.

People say the portions of sushi were big, but I found them to be not so big. Takahashi serves sushi that takes most often two bites to eat one piece, where here one bite is more than sufficient. So I ended up spending more money than I would at Takahashi.

The owner and sushi master, Teri, was a nice man. Pleasant and helpful.

The sushi was top notch and very fresh.

We had to ask for tea as well as a refill, so service wasn't as great as it could be. The third refill, she did bring on her own.

The decor was very bland indeed. I felt like I was in a brightly light office.

Tamago wasn't too sweet, which was nice. I do not like eggs too sweet.

I liked the natto roll, although found it was made more into a paste than actual full beans, which I think I would have preferred for the texture.

I tried the umejisho roll, which had a very distinct and fresh shiso flavor to it. It was green, and not pickled. I recommend not dipping it into soy sauce or wasabi, but just eat it straight.

Of course, the ebi (shrimp), kuni (crab) rolls were very good too. The veggie rolls. Masurgo, Sake (salmon), oregon albacore rolls... all good.

My mother tried the udon noodles, which she said did not contain too much noodles in it. She liked the flavor, but thought it had a lot of broth compared to amount of noodles in it. The noodles were not homemade, but very flavorful. She got the tempura udon, and was disappointed it did not have any fish or shrimp.

All-in-all, we enjoyed it, but the value wasn't quite what you might find at Takahashi. Still, both are good places to eat.

• Pros: Fresh sushi! Sushi master Teri will help you, and is pleasant. lots of parking.
• Cons: Small pieces of sushi can lead to expensive meal. Some communication with the waitress was lost in translation.

05/23/08

Sit at the bar and get to know your sushi chefs

by bastiandantilus

Oh man, you want to know about a good sushi place? You gotta try Kappaya. The portions are generous, the sushi is delicious, and the chefs are friendly. The wait staff can be a bit standoffish, particularly if like me you don't know Japanese, but the chefs themselves are really nice (one of whom is the owner). The nigiri (the type of sushi that is a piece of fish on top of a bit of rice) is really superb, I particularly recommend the hamachi or oregon maguro. The unagi avocado maki (roll type sushi) is quite good and there is a good variety of spicy, savory, and crunchy rolls depending on your mood. I've also had a tasty dinner here even when I wasn't in the mood for sushi, including sweet and salty Kitsune Udon (yum).

I've heard this place favorably compared to places that cost 3 times as much, and my experience is much the same. The atmosphere is kind of a cross between a japanese convenience store and a Japanese person's home, but I come there for the food.

When I go to Kappaya with my girlfriend, she always orders her sushi with "no cucumber, please". They have always accommodated this with no issue, which is a big plus in their favor in my book. I have never gotten bony fish unlike some other places I could name. The sushi is just the best.

• Pros: Excellent Quality Fish, Tasty Food, Special Orders Okay, Great Specials, Ample Parking, Great Value
• Cons: Popular can sometimes mean Slow, You'll want to order appetizers on busy nights, It would help if you spoke Japanese (I don't)