Cherylynn N.
Yelp
2.5 STARS
When I need to be cheap...I can be c-h-e-a-p.
Just over the weekend, I got into it with a manager at an Asian market over $2. The staff mislabeled the price for coconut water. I told her it was the law and that they need to charge customers the posted price which was lower than scanned price. She refused, claiming that a kid switched the price tag.
Mr. NSS: "Please don't make a scene, I'll pay for it."
Me: "Ummm no, it's the phuckin' law!"
Mr. NSS: "Calm down, you're getting your granny panties ALL up in a bunch over $2 BUT you spent $360 for one meal at Saison?!?"
Me: "Hey, I love my granny panties dammit...have fun with PALMela tonight!"
Choose your battles wisely, fellas. If you're girl wants to haggle over $2 so let it be.
What drew me to Kama Sushi was their Happy Hour (HH) Specials available every day from 5 pm - 6:30 pm: http://bit.ly/10sysXZ. On the menu are $5 large hot sake, $4 large beers, $5 hot apps, $4 nigiri, and $5 maki rolls. I compared it the regular menu and you save about $1 for most items. Make sure to check in on Yelp for a free small hot sake!
I had a not so great experience at Kama's SoMa location aka mad Hershey squirts afterwards, however, I heard that their Noe Valley location was better.
LIES.
If you're looking for solid and authentic sushi, you will not find it any of their Kama locations. As the infamous Nobu K. would say, it's 100% Chinese here (I'm 3/4ths Chinese and I heard the sushi chefs speaking in Canto) with a huge jive ass roll selection. Not to say, Chinese sushi is entirely bad because Hamano Sushi nearby does Chinese sushi right: http://www.yelp.com/biz/hamano-sushi-san-francisco. Sakesan Bistro in Inner Richmond is also great as is Kamu Sushi and Amami Sushi in the Peninsula.
We came right when Kama opened and we were the only ones there until we left.
OUR ORDER:
*Soft Shell Crab (HH $5): http://bit.ly/1z2vFky
*Shrimp Tempura (Reg $7.95): http://bit.ly/1tgXqR0
*Yakitori: Kurobuta: Sausage & Butabura: Pork Belly (HH $5 each): http://bit.ly/1x6Xbj4
*Albacore Tataki (HH $7): http://bit.ly/1s9Jmsl
*HH CA Roll, Sake, Maguro, Saba ($5, $4, $4, $4) & Sake Toro & Hamachi Toro (Reg. $5.95, $7.95): http://bit.ly/1z2wj1E
What Kama excels in is their fried items. Whoever their chef is, they have excellent frying technique. The soft shell crab was piping hot, uber crunchy, and not greasy. Equally delicious was their shrimp tempura which was light, airy, and deliciously crunchy. One of the best shrimp tempura I've ever had!
You can skip their yakitori skewers. The kurobuta sausage was store bought and decent enough but their pork belly thinly dry, overcooked, and insanely salty.
With Kama's sushi, expect mediocrity. Thank goodness most of the nigiri we ordered was off the HH menu because I would NOT pay full price for these items here. We also ordered two nigiri off the regular menu to gauge the sushi making skills.
One of the fundamentals of solid sushi is the shari (sushi rice) and Kama's shari was terrible. The rice was grossly overcooked, mushy, and underseasoned. It reminded of the shari in Safeway sushi. The fish to shari ratio was also off (too much rice). Additionally, the quality of the fish was subpar and not fresh. Even with the Sake and Hamachi Toro Nigiri from the regular menu, the fish tasted dull and stale; no butteryness whatsoever. Avoid the Saba, it was fishier than p.....never mind. As a comparison, the sushi here is a baby step higher than sushi found at an Asian buffet.
Wasn't fond of the service either. Our male server was curt. After we received our food, he left to use his phone and never came back. The female server seemed friendly and brought us our bill. Had she been our server, this would have been a solid 3 star place.
Kama is small compared to their SoMa location with seating for about 25 people. We usually sit at the sushi bar but it was very dim so we opted for window seats for some natural light.
Easy street parking.
While this reads to be more of a 2 star review, I'm giving them 2.5 stars rounded up because of the HH specials and no mad Hershey squirts afterwards.