Kaisen don

The food was great! I was so happy to see that they had a rice bowl of Toro. Their cuts were so buttery that it practically melted in my mouth. The amount of rice, and other toppings they put that I don't know the names of made the whole bowl worth it. We also got the lion king and baked scallops roll which was warm with a slight kick of spice in each bite. The restaurant itself is beautifully designed inside as if you stepped into a traditional Japanese restaurant. Our waiter was very attentive and kind throughout our meal. Will definitely be coming back for more!

Stumbled across this place after looking for a sushi restaurant that was open late. I do not regret my decision at all -- I had such a good time and I highly recommend!!

We were seated quickly with our party of 6 and the staff were very welcoming and friendly. Not only is the interior decor of this space something to admire, but the overall feel and ambiance feels very authentic.

Food is 12/10!!!! I enjoyed some of these rolls that I've never had before and I like that they're named locally. I personally had two sushi rolls and my family members got udon and rice bowls-- I did not get a chance to try theirs but it sure looked delicious.
Another thing I like is that it seems like they have a specific late night menu. There's lots of shareables and a wide drink menu.
The best roll I tried BY FAR was the Estudillo roll but I forgot to take a picture. You need to try this roll.

Overall, I have recommended this place to close friends and plan to return back.

First time here. The sushi is delicious, fresh, tasty, and well plated. I enjoyed the calm environment which all made for a wonderful dining experience. Just missed happy hour which ended at 6:30.

Food: 4/5
Service: 5/5
Price: 3.5/5
Atmosphere: 5/5

TL;DR: This place has such a cute, traditional Japanese aesthetic -- most of the seating are regular tables but they have a tatami styled seating that fits larger groups. It does get a little chilly in there are lots of fans that are running throughout the restaurant. The service is great, everyone was really nice and patient. The quality of the fish is really good -- comparable to some of my favorite sushi spots in SF but does fall on the more expensive side. But for a restaurant in San Leandro, it's such a hidden gem. (also their wasabi is so good and strong, big fan lol)

Nankotsu: *5/5*: Fried chicken knee cartilage. This was so so so good. If you like cartilage, you must try it. The batter & seasoning were delicious. It's pretty much like standard chicken karaage with pieces of chewy, crunchy cartilage pieces. Wish it came with some sort of sauce or aioli (but sauce isn't needed)

Tuna Carpaccio: *4/5*: The tuna is delicious -- really fresh and soft, melt in your mouth. Pairs really well with the fresh greens and citrus-y sesame garlic dressing. The tuna was really thin and for the price, would've been nice if it was thicker.

Salmon Sashimi: 4*/5*: 3 pieces of fresh soft, tender and melt in your mouth salmon. Can't go wrong with this (kind of expensive though)

O Toro Nigiri: *5/5*: Such thick buttery soft pieces of tuna. The sushi rice was pretty good as well but not the best ever. Throw some wasabi on this and it's the perfect bite.

Sunset Roll: *3/5*: the spicy crab and pieces of sashimi on top of the roll was good; however there was barely any tempura shrimp inside the roll. Some pieces either had just tempura batter (no shrimp) or such tiny pieces of shrimp so it feels like you're eating veggies, rice, and the fish on top. Also wished there was a sauce drizzles on top.

Chicken Skin Skewer: *4/5*: pretty good, crunchy yet chewy. But for the price, probably won't order it again unless I'm really craving it.

Pork Belly Nigiri: *2/5*: the pieces we got were way too overcooked so it was super dry and tough to eat -- disappointing that it was that bad, especially given the price too

Tempura Udon: *5/5/*: this is SOOO good. we loved how the udon noodles were actually thinner than typical, and it was super soft yet chewy. The broth was perfectly savory and so addicting. Tempura is fried really well and it came with a "sauce" which was essentially the broth with grated radish in it. Would definitely order this again, we were so impressed.

WHEN: Sun @5:30pm

I was craving a Chirashi Bowl, when I stumbled upon this place. They seem to have a wonderful selection. They have their own small parking lot, and their restaurant is huge. It's well decorated, and I was hoping to sit in one of the tatami rooms, but that appears to be for only larger parties.

Maybe because it was Sunday early evening, but the place was pretty empty. There was maybe 2 other parties that dined here.

My partner and I shared 2 kinds of Chiarshi Bowls:

KAISEN DON - $30
Sea Scallops, Crab, "Salmon Caviar" and Sides of Rice.
Oh boy, this is everything I would love! So glad I had this. Everything tasted fresh.

NEGITORO DON (limited item) - $39
Chopped Fatty Blue Fin Tuna w/Scallions, Side of Pickles, Avocado.
I'm always a sucker for menu items that are for a limited time, as though this is my one and only chance to have it. And it sounded really good. This was a yummy dish too.

They each come with some MISO SOUP which appears to also have cubes of daikon in it. It was hearty and delicious!

Overall this was a wonderful experience, everything was good, and if I were to pick a favorite it would be the Kaiser Don. The bowls were hearty and we actually went home with leftovers. I know it's not ideal for Chiarshi but I dont care, we paid good money for these quality food.

Oh and since I made reservations online, I was instantly added to their mailing list, and they always have take-out and delivery specials!

Glad I finally got to try this place! I went here for lunch on a Saturday with friends and it wasn't busy. The restaurant was so nice and a lot more spacious than I expected!

I got the combo B and it was so good. It comes with miso soup, tuna rolls, and nigiri. The service was great as well. They checked up on us throughout our lunch. Will definitely come back here to try the other items on the menu!

What a cute gem in San Leandro. I loved the interior and the traditional Japanese style seating.

I think their food was pretty good overall but the sushi/raw items were the best. It was super fresh and very filling.

Their miso soup was different... wasn't used to the way they prepare it.
The unagi box was decent.
We had a sunset roll and that one was decent as well.

I would definitely come back for the Kaisen don and the Omakase don.

Glad that they open on Christmas! We call to ensure that they open and was told that we should have made reservation and then told us be able to take us in if we went there in 10-15 minutes. We came in and saw the restaurant mostly empty with about maybe 1-2 table.. so we thought then why need reservation....

We all ordered the mini chirashi and a few rolls. The cooked rolls were pretty decent/good. The studio roll was ok too, just a little fishy. The highlight was the chirashi, presentation was pretty but my bowl was pack with a fuji mountain of rice lol.... Some of the fish was good and some weren't .. we got semi cook sea bass piece which was my least favorite ... no flavor, rough and totally not worth eating. The trout was good along with the shrimp. Is it worth the $39.99? I think is ok if you really want some sashimi over huge bowl of rice. I wouldn't now about this place if I hadn't looking for something open for Xmas.

The best type of restaurants are those that serve good food at reasonable costs in large portions.

The worst types of restaurants are those that serve bad food at high costs.

Kaisen Don falls somewhere in between those. It is good--but the portions are small and prices are high.

Examples? Nigiris have small cuts of fish.
Chirashi bowls are expensive but too much rice and not enough fish. (Salmon don only had 4 pieces of salmon sashimi on it; I wasn't half way done with the rice when all the fish were gone.) Grilled squid was dry.

Kaisen Don is a good place to try once or twice but nothing is remarkable enough to warrant a return visit.

Came for the ambiance stayed for the delicious quality fish!

love that you can make reservations and choose seating style-- there's a range of tatami seating and normal seating!

We got a range of dons and the fish was such high quality! It's on the pricey side but I can see why. The toro carpaccio and age dashi tofu were also very tasty