Rantei Japanese Cuisine

Excellent food and great service!
We had sushi omakase and chirashi don special. Both were fresh and delicious.
Will come back definitely.

This place is really good my boyfriend and I enjoyed it! We got the miso soup, deep fried California roll, takoyaki, and the beef skewers.

Super delicious vegetarian rolls! Nice atmosphere with no wait on a Monday night. Cute decor and very friendly staff!

Mmm rantei was so good!

Their salmon belly and hamachi belly was super fresh! I would love to try their other fish. As for the Kaisen Don, that's what everyone comes here for. Uni was a smaller portion but never fails to satisfy me. Underneath was rice which I had no idea! Presentation was amazing.

We also had sake that was recommended by our server. Not my cup of tea, but had to try it! Also got another roll which was not pictured here but it was good.

Additionally, they do not take waitlist over the phone. Go into the restaurant and scan the QR code. Came on a Saturday and the wait was about 20 min or so. The server was nice enough to let us change our seats as it was kind of awkward having one person eat on the side of the table... ending up getting a corner table tucked away in the restaurant! (:

You've seen the reviews, the line outside, the social posts. They're really good.

My sister came to babysit so of course that means sushi for our date night.

We ordered the:
1. Softshell crab. Delicious.
2. Agedashi tofu. Also delicious.
3. One kaisendon. Ditto.
4. Two omakase sashimi. Ditto.

We could've gone with one omakase sashimi instead of two. I'm glad we didn't get the nigiri. It didn't look as nice as the sashimi from a presentation perspective in my opinion. We had so much rice from our kaisendon that it all balanced out.

This is my second time here and I decided that I needed to finally place a review. To accurately impart why I am leaving 5 stars the review will be broken into the following sections: ambience, service, and lastly the food itself. However to encapsulate into a sentence why I believe it earned 5 stars was the depth of flavor and consistency.

Now to begin the TLDR:

Ambience:
The decor and overall aesthetic is very warm and welcoming. The various blinds, curtains, paintings, as well as the sushi bar itself feel very inviting. It is very reminiscent of a feudal era Japan aesthetic. However it does not feel campy or over played. The various private booths in the back also seem very inviting and great for an intimate family and friends gathering. The overall floor plan can be a little enclosed, so depending on your feelings to close quarters your mileage may very. It did not matter much to me however and I enjoyed the coziness that the restaurant had to offer. Great ambience.

Service:
The service was great and we constantly had people coming to check in on us! This is our second time so the service in my experience has been consistently great!

Food:
The food and more importantly the quality of the fish was amazing. I recently lost my go to spot and this is a great place! The fish is very fresh and doesn't have that overt salty brininess that may turn people off to fish. The rolls were very flavorful and had a great sweet umami flavor. The sake nigiri had a slight soy sauce which add a great depth of flavor. Lastly the chicken karage appetizer was great!! It was lightly coated so it wasn't too heavy and the chicken was very juicy!

Overall great experience, I will be back!

On a Saturday night, we only waited around 10 min at 7:30pm for a party of 2.

Kaisen Don: 4.5/5. Seafood spread over a bed of rice. I wish they had a little more uni for the price.

We also ordered 2 other rolls. They were ok.

Will be back for other items!

Ordered some new items from last time: curry udon, ankimo, amaebi nigiri. All good! I'd get the curry udon one again along with kaisen don and temaki (hand rolls). My review still stands and I enjoyed the is place as a date spot or special occasion.

Hidden Sushi

Quality options for sushi are more challenging to find in the South Bay so I'm always on the lookout for spots

Rantei Sushi, in a quiet strip mall in Santa Clara, is known locally for their sushi donburi

I stopped by on a quiet weeknight for a very early dinner and happily ordered a few of their most popular items

I loved the ikura don, salmon belly, and Housemade ankimo

For those down in this area, it's a solid spot if you're not able to go to options further North in the SF Bay Area

Service was quick and they have a very extensive menu. I sampled some nigiri but feel your best bets are the Sushi & Sashimi Combination

Housemade Ankimo / Omakase Sashimi $63.95 ~ Chef's Choice of Special Fish in eight mini bowls (16 pieces) includes one ikura mini don / Kaisen Don $63.95 ~ Uni, Hotate, Bluefin Tuna, Kani, Ikura over Sushi Rice / Cold Soba $13.95

Rantei Sushi (Santa Clara, CA)

Rantei is indoor dining only and all credit cards are accepted. Dining without reservations is an option with their opening hours.

This is one of mine and my partner's favorite sushi places! It's our go-to place whenever we're celebrating something - this time, it was our anniversary. We came on a Friday night and it was definitely super busy. We got lucky and got seated pretty fast. They don't take reservations unless it's 6+ people.

We ordered the beef sukiyaki udon, rantei roll and Kaisen don. We were disappointed to hear they no longer had their seafood udon but the beef was just as good. Their udons are super flavorful! My mouth is watering thinking about it... The Rantei roll was also yummy - the sauce wasn't too overpowering which I enjoyed. We tried for the kaisen don for the first time and it was okay - I'm not sure if it was worth the price. It was nice to try but I don't think we would order it again.