Mujiri

I first tried Mujiri at the Oakland location with friends and was blown away that I was super ecstatic they opened one in Hayward closer to me! They were take out only for awhile but now they have dine in as of mid-November! There's a parking lot across the street where you can park to dine; and the restaurant is small but cozy and has bar seating. It took a little while for our food to come out when we dined in, but I think it's because the Presentation is spectacular, even for the takeout! And you can preorder a week in advance for a pick up time. I love the nigiri set ($25) and you can choose your fish or upgrade too. It's great to take away for a picnic and I've taken it to the Hayward Japanese gardens nearby for lunch! The sashimi set is also great ($35) but I kinda like having a bit of rice with my fish so you can also order a side of rice. The spicy salmon roll is also EXCELLENT and a favorite of mine.

For a splurge, try the uni. Their sake sampler we tried in Oakland was great as well! Overall, this is my favorite Japanese restaurant in the area now. Super fresh fish that melts in your mouth and totally worth it!! I've been there 3 times in two months to celebrate things :D I'm not sure how busy it gets since we dined in on a weekday lunch over Christmas break but I think the Hayward location seems less busy than Oakland (for now!!)

Super affordable and great quality nigiri and sashimi! It's located next to the auto shop and it's a very small restaurant so you may miss it. The city is performing sidewalk construction, but they are opened!

We arrived at 5:30 pm when they opened and was greeted immediately. Super friendly staff.

We ordered the sashimi combo ($35 for 16 pieces) nigiri combo (7 pieces, your choice) which comes with chef's choice maki roll ($25), and the spicy tuna roll ($10).

The fish is very fresh and presentation was beautiful. I thought I wasn't going to be full, but it settled in afterwards.

I've been remiss in not reviewing Mujiri earlier.
They are the best sushi in the east bay. Don't go, because I still want to be able to get a table.

These guys act like they're on the hunt for a Michelin.

Oh and I like the music.

We come with our 3-yr old and they do a great job with him as well.

OMG what a great fit for me. Pretty legit sushi (definitely the best from Hayward to Fremont) in a not-so-hot spot in Dtown Hayward. Put it this way, if this were in a posh neighborhood of Oakland or SF, the prices would be close to double, I remember they opened this location around the pandemic years of 20-21' and they were strictly doing take-out boxes of quality sushi. They started to do in-house table service within this year, and that's what eventually got me in.

Small place but very cool. Reminds me of hip yet not crazy traditional sushi places in urban areas. Decent sake list, super small menu and awesome playlist. I just couldn't help but have an awesome time eating the style of sushi I prefer to the mellow vibe of Lenny Kravitz's "It ain't over til its over" and MJ's Thriller's 'The Girl is Mine'. Not your average sushi outing playlist and I was diggin' it.

Anyhoo here are some tips that'll either make you a fan of this place (if you're a legit OG foodie) or dislike it (you're a cheapie and eat for quantity). You do you.

-Only nigiris and sashimi here. Oh and some simple maki/rolls (3-4 ingredients max)

-Zero Americanized monster rolls. No Lion Kings, no Caterpillars, no Philly, no Cherry Blossom. You can't even get a Cali or Spider Roll here...AND I ain't mad at that!

-No cooked foods, so no bentos or tempura. I think the only thing cooked here is a Chawanmushi a la carte, which is a savory steamed custard. Other than that, you betta be down for RAW-ness. (yes I'm tryna scare a segment of the masses).

General digs laid out, here are some specific tries to be rated:

Nigiri Combo ($25/5+*) I think this is what the majority of people get here as it is such an incredible find. For this price, you get 7 petite nigiris. They'll offer about 8-10 different fishes per day. You can choose your set up or just choose 'chef's choice'. Now when you do choose on your own, you can't repeat fishes, like get 5 toro and 2 blue fins. Again, I ain't mad at this.

You'll also get one of their small rolls, which now makes this $25 tag to be quite special. The roll I got for the evening was their Salmon Roll with supposedly Shiso leaf, but I tasted no Shiso. But even tho their rolls and nigiri are crazy petite, like literal one-biters, they are almost perfect in construction and composition.

First their rice texture is perfect. It is seasoned nicely and the rice even has a darker tint to it, so it isn't straight white. Not sure if it is a different type of vinegar used or a touch of soy sauce but it isn't salty.

Chef's offerings the night I went were Blue Fin Tuna (OG maguro), Kanpachi, Salmon, Ocean Trout, Scallop, Arctic Char and Toro. All very nicely cut and super fresh and formed perfectly onto the shari (formed seasoned rice).

Dassai Junmai Daiginjo Sake 300ml ($45/5*) Perfect sake for such an outing and perfect size too. It's double the price of my main plate, but I wouldn't hesitate in repeating this every time.

Negi Toro Hosomaki ($15/4*) Got this as an ender, and even though it is what stuffed me, it wasn't as mind blowing as expected. First off they use actual chunks so it isn't minced up like 90% of other places. This also isn't the crazy marbled toro, not crazy fatty or oily, so to me it just seemed like a high grade tuna. Still super delish tho as their proportioning to rice to fish to crisp nori is high level.

I'm curious to see how this place evolves. It seems they are still trying to figure out their in-house dining scheme, and I'm sure they already have some serious fans lined up. It's just that I'm not sure if the suburban masses are down for this. I could be wrong, and I'm actually hoping that I am, as I really don't want this to go away.

**tightly crosses fingers**

Fantastic sushi place. It's not cheap by any means, but I think the price for the quality and variety you get is unbeatable. The restaurant itself is tiny, with a couple small tables and bar seating. I went on a weekday evening and it wasn't crowded. Sake selection is very nice. I think it's a really cute date spot or a nice night out with a friend or two.

Small but mighty restaurant, neighborhood favorite vibe.

Fresh sashimi and nigiri sets. Nigiri set has 7 pieces and a roll (cut into 6 pieces). The Sashimi set has 14 pieces.

Street Parking can be challenging near Main Street, suggest to find a nearby parking lot and walk over.

EXQUISITE!
That word sums it all up. Very fresh and beautiful presentation. It looks like a whole in the wall from the outside and I'd say it is rather "quaint" inside.
But the food here is very grown up and top notch. I ate until there was no room for even a sip of water! It was so so so so good, don't sleep on this spot!

After a hot day picking berries super inland, we wanted to stop by Mujiri on the way home.

I got the sashimi platter whereas friends got the omakase. We were bummed out as many appetizers we wanted to order were unavailable.

The food is extremely fresh ~ However, as many places are, they work better as appetizers. In order to be more satiated and to not feel like we're eating a snack, we would have had to ordered another 7 or so dishes, which we passed on since the food was great, but not worth the prices.

Prices are steep here and it was worth a try! I'd say this works best as a first small meal before going into another restaurant for a main meal.

Came in for dinner at about 7 on a Tuesday evening, wasn't busy yet. Got a table fast in a very small restaurant. Seats about 10 people and about 7 or 8 at the sushi bar.

We had the Sashimi Combo, Nigiri Combo, & Trio Toro, all the fish was very fresh. The brown sushi rice was good.

Here is the reason why I only gave them a 4 stars instead of 5.

Limited small menu, no appetizers, small portions.

I was really craving a great sushi meal to celebrate a friend's birthday with her, and Yelp led me to Mujiri.

In downtown Hayward, it doesn't look like much from the outside, but once we entered the restaurant, we were met with a welcoming cozy atmosphere, excellent service, and very delicious sushi.

We got the nigiri combo (2 orders), and the toro trio, and loved every bite. The very fresh fish had an impeccable texture and taste, most notably the Amber Jack and Arctic Char. The rice was seasoned expertly, so that you can pop each one into your mouth and get a symphony of sushi goodness - flavor without adding anything more to it - with the perfect amount of fresh wasabi already integrated. Each fish type was accentuated with its own complementary flavors (subtle citrus notes, smokiness... yum)! It was our first visit and definitely not our last - will also check out the Oakland location.

We had the best waiter (darn I didn't catch his name) and the sushi was made to order with care but in a timely fashion. Parking was easy in smallish lot across the street or along the streets nearby - all free.

They now have indoor dining with limited table and bar seating. I made reservations for dine in with my family. They do not have high chairs fyi, if you plan on brining your little ones. Luckily we have a portable one for my son.

My husband and I shared the sashimi combo, toro trio, and a few ala carte nigiri selections. We ordered the tamago nigiri for my son. The price for the tamago was quite hefty compared to some of the raw fish nigiri options. You would think the fish would cost more than egg! As my husband and I was working through the meal, one of the sushi chef came by and asked if he could swap our uni nigiri out. I thought that was really odd. Was the original uni he served bad? What if we ate that before he could swap it out? Was kinda sus. But the uni he swapped was delicious nonetheless.

Anyways, we got the bill and to our surprise, they charged us $1.50 each for water. WTF??? We did not order any special water nor did then menu state they would charge for water. For the price we paid for this meal, it seemed like they were tryna nickel and dime people. Minus 1 star for that.

I probably won't be back for dine in. I would stick to take out for the nigiri combos if I ever do decide to eat here.