Sawa Sushi in Silicon Valley

High quality ingredients you wont get anywhere else, prepared expertly and creatively by a talented chef.

Having a meal with Sawa was special. The food was the best! Absolutely ideal quality and beautiful preparations.Yes, the prices are high, but the experience is priceless.No, Sawa is not rude. He was kind and thoughtful to my mother and myself.Yes it looks like a place you can walk in…that is certainly part of the it’s charm. But simply text the number and ask. I was able to get a same day reservation for a Wednesday.yes Of course you need a reservation. The preparation, and quality demand it.Thank you Sawa for an unforgettable dinner!

Overpriced. No menu for show like other Michelin restaurant, he gave whatever he wants to served you, rude and like cold jokes..NAH, save your money to somewhere else instead please.

We walked in from great ratings online. Unfortunately we didn’t realize the place was reservation only. The man who was serving food to a group pointed at his shirt which says “no reservation, there’s the door” it was awkward and showed a distinct lack of respect to us and the party for letting us walk into the private event. Perhaps the chef / owner should invest in a host and atrium to avoid such ridiculous interactions. We will not be back.

The chef is very rude, he is wearing a shirt that says "no reservation there is the door" .. When people walked in he didnt even talk, he was pointing to his shirt waiting for people to read it.He should simply put a sign outside.Not sure why the place has high rating, it is very small, very warm / hot inside.Do not go here, there are better places in bay area

The owner/chef is very rude, he didn’t even talk to us, he pointed to his T-shirt that said “Only reservations, there’s the door”

Better than many Michelin star restaurants! Why? Because it is not corporate but curated as a magical, out-there, just-for-you experience. You will not get in without a reservation. It was only the 2 of us, and I think the chef had bought the fish just for us on that very day. Some tech bros in pajamas showed up and he turned them away saying this was a private experience. Every course was perfect and different. Rare fish and the most exclusive ones. Hard to put into words to taste unfamilar but reminiscent flavors. Accompanied by purées of interesting vegetables and spice notes. The sake and beer pairings took it to another level. You lose yourself in ectasy. A hidden gem. Like a speak-easy. An unassuming parking lot with chain restaurants that add to the seamless experience. If you have taste and know what Michelin star restaurants can run you, come here instead to be served by a chef and get the experience you cherish for years to come. Its a story.

Stopped after 4 courses (including caviar add on), a bottle of sake, and the bill was >$1100 all-in for 2 people. Totally OK with paying a premium, but this was excessive.

Freshest and highest quality of ingredients, mostly from Japan. Grade AAA Uni and Hotate from Hokkaido, Wagyu beef from Kobe, etc. Our family had all sorts of sashimis and Wagyu, no sushi. Chef paired different source for different sashimi. Delicious. We have been to all Michelin star Japanese restaurants in the SF Bay area except Shota. Most of them served traditional style dishes. We like Sawa the most. Steve is always friendly and accommodating. Also full of fun.Caution: high quality and freshest ingredients come with high cost.

Unbelievable pricing thats ambiguous and not itemized on the receipt. I would not recommend coming here because of these reasons. There are plenty of better options on the Peninsula and in SF.

Wonderful food, atmosphere, and service! Every plate we were served had a unique flavour, from the distinctly fresh sashimi to the handmade sauces paired with it. We also got to eat lots of sashimi and fish thats normally hard to come by elsewhere due to their required freshness to serve. Particularly tasty was the "worlds best uni" that we had, which lives up to the bold claim. The atmosphere was quiet, allowing for easy conversation with Steve, the chef. Hes the only one running the show, and the care he puts into every plate is apparent in how good they taste. Pricey, but the experience of good food and the great personality of the chef are worth it.

Probably the best sushi I’ve ever had in my life, and I’ve been to Japan several times. Amazing service, unique dishes especially the sashimis with sauces.

Best Sushi I’ve ever had. You must try it! I’ve been to Japan many times and this is better than what you would get there. The sashimi’s with unique sauces are to die for.

My wife and I went there recently. We both have had omakase before, but this dinner was so delicious. Because it was omakase, I did not know how much I would pay. I did not even know what I was going to eat that night. I trusted the chef, and I am glad I did.Anyway, I love interacting with the chef who came from Kyoto. The experience felt like we hired our own private chef. There were no onigiri, various sashimi, plated with his home-made sauce and herbs. My favorite part was the uni by itself, fresh from Hokkaido in a very exquisite packaging opened in front of us. (Fresh uni is supposed to taste a bit sweet, creamy, and a bit sea-taste; its not supposed to have a very unpleasant taste.He was kind enough to ask if we would like uni -- as some people probably had bad experience with un-fresh uni.When youre at an omakase, dont be afraid to ask how you should eat it but allow the chef to prepare and present the meal in a way that he thinks the meal should be made. If possible, its best to interact with the chef.I hope to come again in the future!

Definitely not a Michelin restaurant. The toro i had was old and chewy, im going for the taste but all I got was big portions of sashimi. No hot tea, no ice and no price list. i felt like ive just been conned, definately not worth 200$ per person. Horrible

Food is ok. Extremely over price with no service and not good environment. Dont even have hot tea for over $200 per person dinner. Very regret to visit such place.

I wish I could give zero star. This guy is absolutely a sham. Rude chef who is out to empty your wallet. I felt cheated after eating here.

Amazing food and the owner chef is very friendly

This "restaurant" is a total sham that preys on wealthy eaters attempting to find a high end sushi joint in the heart of silicon valley. Sushi is meant to be art and they butcher the fish into partially frozen cubes and drown it in sauces. Pretending to be a Michelin restaurant, he does not put prices on any of his dishes and gives you a subjective bill at the end. A bold move for a restauranteur who pulls lettuce out of a plastic Costco container and serves bottled water with your meal. Do not be hoodwinked by setting a reservation at this "premium sushi" farce.

Crazy foods... A most spicy dish has came at 3rd of 9. How do you enjoy the taste after this?

The quality of seafood including sashimi and variety of Japanese sake are awesome. Unfortunately, the owner is too proud of the variety of their sake not to answer my questions on the characteristics of their sake. The size of sashimi pieces is huge, so my friend and I should stop eating our course after enjoying just four kinds of sashimi.

Awesome food! Steve is great and explains what he is preparing for you! Love being surprised as to the sushi and/or sashimi we get! His sauces or delicious. Highly recommend!!!

Unique delicious sauce created by chef Sawa accompany every very fresh sashimi dish. No menu, just being served what Chef Sawa can get fresh for that day.Reservation a must. No reservation, chef Sawashows you the door.Expensive but worth the unusual sashimi eating experience.Chef Sawa is named one of Forbes 100 best chef in America.

This restaurant seems remarkably polarizing, so I wont get into the he-said/she-said scrum. For sake of comparison, suffice to say that my wife and I have eaten at Michelin-starred restaurants throughout the world, and have also enjoyed omakase at several locations throughout the Bay Area. We are not always impressed by the foam and what-is-that-thing cutting edge techniques like molecular gastronomy. At our hearts, were comfort food folks and we appreciate that focus over presentation or obsequious service. This restaurant is all about the food. If you go in thinking about anything else, then this isnt the place for you. It is not a cookie-cutter omakase destination where the quality of your meal is solely delineated by the freshness of the fish. Chef Sawa takes risks and uses the highest quality materials combined with his own creativity and expertise. It is a unique experience where my wife and I continually marveled that we had never had fish presented in such a way. Neither one of us tend to care for uni, but the uni that was presented to us was creamy and fresh to where it made us think of a perfect oyster...which was then combined with toro and caviar to make a mouth-feel that were still trying to put words to describe what the nature of such a wonderful and unexpected combination could be. We had a scallop with a light, spicy sauce that had us picking up the plates and literally drinking the sauce after. There was a salmon spinach, kampachi lightly cured w/ salt, medai, the aforementioned toro w/ uni, and a never-frozen bluefin dish. We went with open eyes after reading all the reviews; in our experience, Chef Sawa was quite polite over the phone and via text, and was an engaging and humorous host. Considering that he uses such high-end fish, it makes a lot of sense that he would require reservations so that he knows how to make sure to have enough without wasting anything. We enjoyed our time very much and are looking forward to finding another special occasion to visit again. Thank you, Chef Sawa.

Steve was incredible. Best Sushi in the South Bay! I was impressed... And full...

Dont go unless you have called and arranged in advance. For the best experience, let Steve know your budget and let him feed you. Amazing! And be sure to ask about what youre eating. I enjoyed learning about the different fish we were eating and what they were served with. Mostly very light sauces. No rice. Perfect compliments. Its truly a treat, and Steves sake selections are wonderful too. The yuzu sake with dessert is really good.

Perhaps the best sushi and sake place in South Bay. Steve Sawa makes the best sashimi and sushi paired with unique sauce; the flavors burst on your tongue for a unique flavor. You must ask Steve for the deep sea water. It is quite amazing.

Amazing Japanese beers and phenomenal sashimi in a casual environment. Steve will keep sending you unique dish after unique dish until you are stuffed. Expect to pay $200+ per person and reservations are highly recommended.

Idiosyncratic place in an unlikely location, but great sushi and the owner is quite a character.

Disappointing was the best word to describe my experience. I showed up with an open mind. Ive been to a few omakase sushi dinners both in the states and in japan and I knew this one was non-traditional. I had 5 total plates and 3 of them came at once. I found that two of the 5 plates were exceptionally good and showed what his concept of sauce driven sashimi could do. the others were either incredibly clumsy or somewhat bland. I dined alone which is usually a trick to get outstanding service at high end restaurants but I felt ignored and i noticed that other diners had things that I wasnt offered (beluga caviar and some other interesting bitesdespite the fact that I was never asked any questions about different tasting menu options. Its one thing to disregard traditional japanese hospitality and edo style sushi, its another to disregard a customer and knowingly cause a negative experience without attempting to make it up to them. 180 dollars for 2 good plates and three mediocre ones is terrible. Save your money and get a reservation at a real omakase placeNot to mention that steve sawa apologized to me directly and said "next time it will be better." If you really felt that I was having a poor experience then why not try to improve it by offering more plates or a discount. Instead you expect me to "try again" when the meal costs 180$? No thank you, for only 40 dollars more I can go to Manresa. This place is a joke and honestly the portions are too big for this kind of experience.

5 stars for good sushi but 2 stars for price-performance. This place is very overpriced.

Best meal Ive ever had. My sister took me and the chef was delightful.

Food is disappointing.Not like other "bad reviews", I have no complain at all towards environment and service.I was at SAWA sushi around a year ago. From my memory, most-if-not-all dishes are freshly cut fish, with some sauce, on top of some green leaves. Yes, fish was fresh and good quality. So we enjoyed the first 2,3 dishes, until finding the followings are all repeating and boring. They were also mostly if not all ordinary fishes that you see everywhere (salmon, yellowtail, etc). There was also noticeably no sushi rice at all. When asked, Chef says some guests says they do not want to eat too much rice. However, eating so many plates of fatty fish with rich sauce is very overwhelming. I ended up eating all the bottom leaves on the plates, but still could not quiet balance it.FYI: From my double digit visits to other similar-priced-Japanese-omakase-only restaurants all over North America, this was the only one I left with disappointment.

Sushi quality is great but price is steep and service is ok.

Before you go to this place, read all the examples here of how people have been treated by the chef/owner. I have my own personal example that I could pile on here, but Ill save time and just say that the customer service skills of the ownership are null and void. For these prices, I expect a first-class experience. There are SO MANY other AMAZING places in our area. Put this place on your "SKIP IT" list.

Chef Steve is always very consistent with the quality!Make sure you have a reservation and follow the float, you would love the food and Steve!Tokyo quality fish.

Some of the best sashimi in the Bay Area - dont ask for the menu just be taken on a journey- enjoy!

Super fresh fish, great for sashimi lovers. Little touches like the yuzu tobiko were awesome. Gotta make a reservation. Like must. If youre expecting to order off of a menu, GTFO. Steve is actually very accommodating but you have to know what kind of place your in and not ask inappropriate questions.

Restaurant looks closed, walked in and small number of people were seated, so I asked if they were open. Chef asked if I can read English and points to his shirt which says "no reservations? Theres the door" and thats it.

Sawa Steve serves wonderful no-nonsense sashimi. He only does omakase style, meaning chefs choice. His fish is super fresh, and you must have a reservation.

An unexpected gem in Sunnyvale. Theyre a reservations-only omakase restaurant. My friend called an hour ahead and managed to snag spots for 2 for my birthday dinner. Parking was no problem since theyre located in a large plaza with tons of open parking. It was dead quiet when we walked in. The chef was already serving other guests at the bar, so we quickly took our places at the bar. He asked us about dietary preferences and then, immediately started serving us. There were about 8-9 courses (I lost count). Each one was extremely fresh and so unique! I loved the combinations of textures and flavors! The dishes look simple, but I was surprised again and again by how complex the flavors were. Throughout the dinner, there were hushed conversations between the other guests and some funny exchanges with the chef. I found the atmosphere very still, but in a relaxing sense. I felt like everything around me completely slowed down and I was able to focus only on the moment. Despite the silence, I had no problems chatting with my friend throughout the dinner, but I can also see how other folks used to lively dinners feeling a little uncomfortable at the quiet dining experience is. My favorite part about dinner was the unlimited mochi ice cream at the end of the meal. Hell give you a few random flavors to start with, and once you finish, hell ask if you want more. Yes, please! Recommended for romantic special occasions!

Full disclosure, I have never eaten at this place, but we tried to schedule a reservation and it was a complete disaster. My wife called and made reservations for our seventh year wedding anniversary on October 19th 2014. She made reservations for 6 pm for Sunday even though the person on the phone was rude. Keep in mind that we were planning a nice night and would have spent between $500-$700 on the meal. She called the night before (Saturdayto confirm our reservations (luckily she did this). The guy who answered the phone was extremely rude to her and asked “Have you looked at our website? We are closed on Sundays”. Not sure why they accepted a reservation for a time when they were closed. Thanks for ruining our anniversary!! I don’t care how good your food is if you can’t even manage to handle reservations.

No menu; sit at the bar; reservations required; awesome fresh sashimi with incredible sauces and textures. Hefty price tag, but worth it.

There not open till 10:30.He closes when no one shows up which is pretty early. I would says before 7-8.Just dont come here. Place sucks!!!

(First off, Steve let us know that hes pretty good about matching reviews to recent visitors, so Hi Steve!)If youre in the mood for sashimi (and really kids, thats what Steve is all about), this is nirvana. Like many of the best places (Matsuhisa (LA), Sushi Nozawa (now Sugarfish in Studio City& Ino in SF), greatness is made in equal parts from the personality of the itamae and the quality of the fish. Steve has both, in spades.Sawa is the kind of place where you go and trust completely (its an omakase shop for a reason). Those that dont tend to write crappy reviews because they dont understand that good fish is like good art of any kind -- the artist knows what works and you should trust them to their craft and STFU.In short, if youre looking for the kind of American sushi experience weve become accustomed to, where users can pick and chose what they want, and art gives way to customer preference & price, youre going to hate Sawa. Youll also hate Sawa if:1you like form over substance, or decor over cuisine (this is not a sexy-looking place);2youre an idiot who asks for things like California rolls and that spicy tuna handroll;3you forget to make reservations (hell probably yell at you);4you get annoyed when the craft remains somewhat opaque;5you dont like sarcasm.If youre not in that group and you go with an open mind & reservations (he very carefully crafts his fish purchases to likely demand -- meaning all the fish is extremely fresh and little goes to waste), a good group thats curious and engaging (2-4 peopleand the understanding that sushi orgasms are in fact real things, you will love Sawa. Steves sake selection is also second-to-none -- and just like good wine, it really does make the experience.

No menus, no problem. Master sushi chef Steve will serve you some of the best sushi youve ever had - but dont expect a typical experience. He has no menu (he serves you whats good that day), he answers questions about what you are eating with cryptic misdirection. But none of that matters, its amazing - just go with the flow and youll have a night to remember. Oh line more thing - he will keep serving you until you say stop, more courses means more money. All you can eat mochi ice cream at the end of dinner. Only Saki and beer, no wine. No Amex.

If you have been to Japan and tried the real sushi experience where you eat what the chef tells you to, you should know this is not it. Whether you want to pay $20 per item given this information, is up to you. If you havent been to Japan, you should also think about the above.

We had an amazing anniversary dinner here last night. Its very underground - you think you got to the wrong place as its in the middle of a strip mall and the decor is underwhelming. But once you sit down Chef Steve showers you with an amazing sashimi dinner. He noticed what I was eating more of and made more dishes of that. Great if youre adventurous and love sashimi, not great if youre looking for something specific like rolls or spicy tuna.

Chef Steve is a master at combining highest quality sashimi with homemade sauces. He has a way of combining flavors and bringing new sensations to life on your palate! He has an eccentric personality that made for wonderful entertainment. The decor is simplistic and as unassuming as the chef. Sit at the sushi bar if you can!

It was a quiet night at Sawa Sushi and the chef treated us to a really wonderful evening. Each of his courses was prepared with care and had unusual and complex flavours. The scallops and salmon each with his secret, special sauces were particularly delicious. He even had special high-quality sea urchin behind the counter that was a real treat.