Kazu Japanese Restaurant
| Address: | 9965 San Jose Blvd #35, Jacksonville, FL 32257, USA |
| Phone: | +1 904-683-9903 |
| Site: | kazujapaneserestaurant.com |
| Rating: | 4.3 |
| Working: | 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 11AM–3PM 12–3PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
PH
Phistandantilus
for those of you with short attention spans, the TL;DR version of this is "their food is an overpriced travesty that mocks your taste-buds and mercilessly assaults your wallet in a thinly veiled attempt to pass off low quality food as anything else." the only reason I gave them one star is because zero stars, or a fraction of a star, isnt an option. for those of you whod like to know why I feel that way, Gather round, boys and girls, its story time. I received a gift card to Kazu Sushi in December at the "Christmas in Avondale" raffle event as the only part of a "gift" basket of any perceived value (why that gift basket sucked is another story entirely). Kazu is clear on the other side of the river from me, so it was weeks before we made our first attempt to use it. when we arrived, they were closed in the middle of the day to prep for dinner hours. this is a fairly common practice in sushi restaurants, but was not posted on their literature that we received with the card, or their google business bio. our first trip there was a bust, as we had to turn around and go home to meet other obligations that evening. our second trip out had to wait until tonight. upon examining the menu, the prices ranged from average for a sushi joint to outrageous from any restaurant. furthermore, nearly every sushi item contained cucumber, a flavor I hate and a tactic that smacks of adding cheap filler. my wife settled on the Unagi-don at $15, and I decided to have the steak, a 10 oz ribeye for $17 which still felt pricey to me despite the gift card. both came with soup and salad. we also both had tea, hers sweet and mine unsweetened. when the soup and salad arrived, the salad had cucumber in it, despite me having made clear I dislike it. no big deal though, my wife eats it, so I give it to her. the ginger salad dressing tastes and feels "watered down," with a faint hint of a mayo flavor. I felt like the kitchen was cutting corners, but the salad, while disappointing, was inoffensive enough to get a pass. my wife comments to me about the soup. we both ordered the clear soup, but before us sat a dark brown concoction. one of the greatest pleasures of clear soup is the tempura batter bits, and the medley of green onion and mushroom that dance on the surface of the soup. I notice an immediate lack of the green onion, and the tempura bits look like plain old panko bread crumbs floating on the oily surface of what appears to be (and we confirmed by taste to be) primarily beef broth. hidden in the murky depths of this "clear" soup were a sad and scant few shavings of mushroom, literally 2 tiny, paper thin scraps of mushroom, and something chewy I bit into that I immediately regretted. it tasted like burnt cooking oil and artificial onion. it was rubbery and hard. I spat it out. when my wife found the same in her soup, we theorized we had been given something the kitchen either completely screwed up and attempted very unsuccessfully to salvage, or they were cutting corners. when my second glass of tea came out murky and sour-tasting, I asked my wife how she felt, and made it known Id like to leave. she agreed. we notified our server and said simply wed like to cancel our order and pay for what wed had (and not finished). for the 2 soups, 2 salads, and 2 teas, we were still charged $14. I was appalled. my wife handed them the gift card. the hostess ringing us up seemed to roll her eyes at the gift card, but ran it and handed it back to us. my wife took the gift card and remaining balance receipt, and promptly deposited it on the nearest table, giving another couple of diners $11 off their dinner, and we left, sorely disappointed with Kazus performance. so yeah, judging by how badly theyd failed with the meals openers, we didnt stick around to find out how badly they could screw up Eel or Steak. Clear soup is a staple of Sushi and Oriental restaurants all over, and if this place can screw it up that badly, Id hate to have felt the results of finishing the meal.
CH
ChampagneWayne Reviews
First thing to note is that with ANY business establishment, the service is usually as only as good as the management that forsees it. Ive had the pleasure of dining with David Chens establishment on 2 seperate occasions both business and pleasure. This particular occasion Im reviewing about the server was very pleasant and not only offered some suggested appetizers as I mentioned I brought along a friend that had never tried sushi be, namely offered the ones I had initially mentioned to start with before even arriving which was a nice touch and showed. The wine selection was pretty standard as you would expect from a wine bar and had great sake selections to choose from (shout out to all the pear). We both ordered the Seafood teriyaki, Dynamite & california roll (when it came to sashimi she wasnt bout that life). The fish came out perfectly seared topped with teriyaki sauce as well as the rice and shrimp being on point, thoughougly pleased enought to take a picture you can view from the gallery. They frequently do events so this is definitely one restaurant to make reservations for before you come unless your feeling lucky, just know that you are definitely in for a treat, new sushi endeavors or vererans alike, put this at the top of your to-do list.
BR
Brandon George
We ordered the omakase, "chefs tasting" which supposedly includes 5 unique pieces of sushi/nigiri for $12. I cannot fathom a worse way to spend my money. We received 1 piece of mediocre tuna and four pieces of "grouper" with a leaf of cilantro on one and chopped scallions on another. When we asked the sushi chef what the "different" pieces were, we were given random names. The fish was so frozen it sang "Let it go." The highlight of our meal was the lady who constantly asked us for a water refill. If they cared half as much about the quality of their sushi as they do how full my glass of water is then this review would be 5 stars.
SE
sethjohnson80
My wife and I love Kazu sushi. We think it is by far the best in Jacksonville as far as quality is concerned. I recommend trying the specials as they are always a treat. The only negatives that I can think of is that their wine selection is limited and their red wine seems to be stored in a hot area. That being said, I have been getting mostly take out for the past year, so the wine storage may have changed. Also, they are a great "go to" for take out. Favorites are yellowtail and jalapeño appetizer, any roll "naruto style" (wrapped in cucumber instead of seaweed and rice), alaska roll, and godzilla roll.
TO
Tom Pham
I had a horrible experience with the staff. Our party was there 6:07pm well before 6:30PM, however our waitress did not take our order until it was passed 6:52pm. They had only 3 wait staff to serve everyone, which I totally understood. However, my party of 4 adults noted that four other parties were served before us, despite they came in after us. So, we were informed that we missed the happy hour special. So after paying $196.06 with 10% tip (instead of my usually 25%). Sorry, folks, I wont be coming back here again nor recommend to everyone else.
