Amami Shima Sushi Info
Amenities
Service options
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No-contact delivery
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Delivery
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Takeout
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Dine-in
Highlights
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Fast service
Popular for
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Lunch
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Dinner
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Solo dining
Accessibility
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Wheelchair accessible entrance
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Wheelchair accessible parking lot
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Wheelchair accessible restroom
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Wheelchair accessible seating
Offerings
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Alcohol
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Beer
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Healthy options
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Small plates
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Wine
Dining options
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Lunch
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Dinner
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Dessert
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Seating
Amenities
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Restroom
Atmosphere
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Casual
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Cozy
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Trendy
Crowd
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Groups
Planning
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Dinner reservations recommended
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Accepts reservations
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Usually a wait
Payments
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Credit cards
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Debit cards
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NFC mobile payments
Children
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Good for kids
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High chairs
Parking
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Free parking lot
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Free street parking
Best WLM Reviews
Was recommended to try this place with a group of friends who raved about this restaurant.
Compared to the other high end sushi restaurants I’ve tried, the experience at Amami was okay. The deluxe is priced decently for a chefs choice. The presentation is beautiful with slender cuts of fish, but the quality of the fish is not as fresh as I would’ve liked.
Restaurant does get busy.
I usually don’t leave negative reviews because I don’t want to hurt someone’s business, but I feel like I need to share my experience. Their food is very poor quality. The special scallop roll and one of the other rolls were mostly filled with crab sticks, and the rice was so oversized and bland that it tastes just like something you’d get at Safeway. For what I paid, I expected much better quality. I’m sure the staff are nice people, but the food just didn’t live up to expectations. My friends and I all agreed that it was one of the worst sushi we’ve had. If you’re looking for overpriced Safeway sushi, this is your spot.
As a Japanese person from Japan, I'd say most Americans may think this is good "sushi" if they've not tried any authentic ones. Just order the rolls and skip the Nigiris. Nigiris are cut pretty but I would almost consider it worthless. The name suggests a Japanese place but the place is entirely ran by Chinese owners, chefs and servers.
Ordered:
- 2 Sushi Deluxe (9 piece + rock'n roll + miso soup per order)
- Ankimo (4 pieces)
- Oyster shots (2 spoons)
- Mix-it-up roll
- Tiger roll
Intro:
First of all, the male receptionist with spiky hair was flat out rude and a liar. We waited an hour outside and he came out and called peoples names on the wait-list. I noticed he skipped my name which was the next in line so I went in and checked with him, he said rudely that he called my name but I wasn't there so he skipped me. I responded by saying that I was there, he didn't call my name. He started mumbling something in Chinese with frustration and kept saying he called my name but I wasn't there. I started laughing because I thought he was joking as I was literally standing by the door, and turns out he was seriously lying to my face. (Maybe he couldn't pronounce my name? Who knows...) So I told him my car parked directly outside the door has a video recording if he wanted to see. Then he goes and speaks to one of the servers and gets me a table. He had a very entitled attitude and told me it happened because I didn't check in. (I walked in, put my name on the tablet wait-list, and spoke with the guy to make sure I'm good, and replied to yelp's text with confirmation, stood outside patiently and went in periodically to check the tablet for status for an hour so I don't know what I did wrong to make him angry?). At this point I was already feeling this was a terrible experience, in terms of service quality, for the money I'll be paying.
Food:
- Sushi Deluxe consisted of:
3 Salmon, 2 Bincho Tuna, 2 Hamachi, 1 Aji and 1 Escolar.
To me, anything that says "Deluxe", I expect at least one piece of Ebi, Ikura, Chutoro, Otoro, or Uni. They provided the lowest and cheapest kind of Tuna ( Bincho Maguro), cheap Salmon (lean cut, no fat), borderline sickening Escolar (full of laxatives, Japanese don't use this for food). Hamachi and Aji were moderately good (when I say good, it's Japanese supermarket sashimi grade). The best part was rock'n roll as well as the wasabi that wasn't the typical paste-style you'd find.
We never got ginger, while other tables were served with it.
Also, we didn't get our Miso soup until we had to ask 30mins into our dining experience.
Marukai market has better salmon, tuna, and hamachi for much cheaper and fresher.
- Ankimo:
Tasted a bit old and stale but ok for the price. You can buy better ones at Korean supermarkets for cheaper and fresher.
-Oyster Shots:
I assume middle to low tier grade oyster, barely fresh. Covered by an overwhelming amount of flavorful toppings to cover/ fancy it up. I'd say ok appetizer for the price but wouldn't have more than 1 for the fear of getting sick from old oyster. Also, one spoon had a tiny piece of Hamachi mixed in it accidentally. Could be extra bang for the buck but also shows the chefs don't care about contamination.
- Mix-it-up roll:
I like it. They have low tier fish so get them fried like Mix-it-up. It has 3 kinds of fish mixed up and lightly fried to cover the cheap taste.
- Tiger roll was shrimp tempura, salmon and avocado, can't go wrong with that. Liked this too.
Overall, you're paying for the premium looking pretty presentation, not sushi quality. I spent $140 for the two of us and the dining service and experience kinda sucked, tables are packed tight and the restaurant is not too clean. I almost regretted taking my date there but I promised her a genuine sushi experience next time.
Came here on a Friday night and joined the waitlist on yelp before arriving. We were able to be seated in a couple minutes despite the restaurant being packed. The service was excellent, with our water being refilled almost every 5 minutes. We got the rainbow and Amami sushi rolls and a set of okakase. The omakase was around $45 and it was honestly super worth it. The pieces of fish were huge. The rolls were also very tasty and reasonably priced, but I liked the omakase more. Highly recommend coming here if you are in the area and craving sushi!
Parking can be a little challenging, but on the side of the restaurant there is more parking.
A decent sushi option in the South Bay.
I like getting either the chirashi or sashimi here, since their omakase is just okay to me.
The rice is served warm, which is a great contrast to the raw fish. I find it a bit strange the sashimi is cut thick and short... Almost like blocks. It doesn't necessarily affect the taste of the fish, but the texture and the temperature is definitely impacted. When slices are cut longer and a bit thinner, I feel like the fish has a more consistent temperature. Here, the center of the fish feels slightly colder than it's exterior.
Check in to the wait-list via Yelp! The parking here is pretty narrow, so watch out for pedestrians and cars backing out of tight spaces. You may need to circle the lot like a shark on busy weekends.
We tried a few Makimono and signature rolls. They taste good. I initially thought the * dishes are the recommended ones but then I noticed that they are actually cooked rolls.
Amami has the most affordable omakase around here at $42. The omakase comes with 10 delicious nigiri. The sushi is so fresh and the presentation is also beautiful. Make sure you check out the white board on the wall for specials as well. I ordered the Santa Barbara uni, sweet shrimp, scallop, and other one that I can't remember but they were all really good.
The service here is excellent. The waiters are very quick to answer any questions you might have and give excellent recommendations.
Unassuming, no-frills sushi with one of my favorite omakase offerings around! My husband and I come here very often, maybe once a week, so we have dined in and taken out many times. The prices are super fair and I am happy with the quality of everything we’ve ordered. If we have any problems (which we rarely ever do) they’re quick to fix them. I have introduced at least 10 people to this restaurant and they’re all now repeat customers. Amami Shima doesn’t take reservations, so I recommend joining the waitlist on their Yelp page before arriving so your wait time is less. They can be very busy!
Quick Facts About Amami Shima Sushi
Today
Opening Hours
| Monday | Closed |
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| Tuesday | 04:30 AM - 09:30 PM |
| Wednesday | 04:30 AM - 09:30 PM |
| Thursday | 04:30 AM - 09:00 PM |
| Friday | 04:30 AM - 09:30 PM |
| Saturday | 04:30 AM - 09:30 PM |
| Sunday | 04:30 AM - 09:00 PM |
How to go there