Kuriya Japanese Kitchen: Authentic Japanese Cuisine in Albany, CA

Sushi bar runs by Chinese? Why not? The origin of sushi has to trace the sushi’s roots back to China—and even further, to Southeast Asia. The earliest form of sushi, called narezushi, was a method of preserving fish by fermenting it with rice. This technique likely developed in the Mekong and Irrawaddy River basins and was adopted by the Baiyue people of southern China. The Han Chinese documented it as early as the 4th century BCE. So yes, Chi ese gave sushi the practice beginning. Twice we dined here, savoring sushi not from a Japanese bar, but from a Chinese family’s hands—gentle, precise, and quietly proud. The flavors whispered of history: from riverbanks in southern China to the bustling streets of Edo. Sushi, reborn and reimagined.

lovely place to sushi. The food is very delicious. The fish is very fresh and they have a great variety. Have many species sushi rolls, nigiri and appetizers you must to try. We sat at the bar. Chef Jackie made all our food and explained each fish to us. The potato toro tartar special recommended by the waiter, very delicious. The service and atmosphere were amazing. serves were fast and waiter was nice too.I had a wonderful experience and will definitely coming back. I recommend this place to everyone!

LOVE this place—we’ll be back again for sure! Top notch food, and Service was super-fast & polite. Really outstanding sushi rolls. Beautiful presentation, fresh popping flavor, High quality tender fish. Miso soup was simple but tasty, not too salty. The *cloudy sake* was nice, a more earthy version of the typical sake flavor i’m used to.

The sushi platter was absolutely amazing! The presentation was stunning, with vibrant colors and an eye-catching arrangement. Every piece of sushi was fresh, flavorful, and prepared with care. The rolls were creative, with a perfect balance of texture and taste, while the nigiri was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The variety offered in this platter truly caters to every sushi lover. I especially loved the unique floral-shaped rolls—both beautiful and delicious! Highly recommend for anyone looking for high-quality sushi. Will definitely order again!

Incredible place. The nigiri was to die for, buttery and fresh. Came here with a big group and a big appetite. The sake flowed all night. Edit- came back the next day for more. Spectacular. Edit part 2- it’s my FAVORITE sushi restaurant in the area. Great service.

Go here!!! This is the best sushi restaurant in the Berkeley / Albany area hands down. My partner and I love sushi and we've eaten at most of the sushi restaurants in the area and this is our absolute favorite. We actually eat here about once a week. High quality sushi at a great price. The owners are sweet and the vibe is casual and cozy. Highly recommend!

Awesome food and great service. Fish is fresh and they haven a great variety. Have so many special sushi rolls and appetizers you must to try. So tasty and amazing. Highly recommend to anyone.

This little japanese restaurant close to the entrance of Solano Avenue's eclectic food and unique shops offers a very cozy dining experience. On a nice cool Summer evening we decided to go out for a nice birthday dinner with the entire family. Normally we go to our usual japanese restaurants nearby or order out but since this was a special birthday dinner for our daughter it was a nice treat for all of us to experience a new place. We came in a bit after 7pm, most tables were already filled with only a couple two seaters available. We opted for the counter seats which was fine and a new experience for us as we usually eat at a table. The wait staff were attentive and gave us our menus and water to start. We placed our order which was a Lion king roll, Hot night roll, black garlic tonkatsu ramen, tonkatsu curry rice and a Chirashi bowl. It took awhile for the food to come due to the Chirashi and probably the curry too but the dishes all came in about the same time and we were eating pretty much the same time. The lion king roll was very filling and I heard that it had a fishy taste to it, probably from the excess salmon fat and pieces of skin. The tonkatsu curry was okay and it too was filling. It had plenty of vegetables and the tonkatsu was a good portioned size. I wish there was a bit more curry sauce. To me it seemed like it was a bit too little for the amount of rice included. I'm glad they didn't pour the curry sauce over the tonkatsu and kept the crispness of the panko coating. The black garlic tonkatsu ramen looked great and for the first few bits it was delicious. Somewhere in the middle of eating the flavors of the soup just started to become plain like the char siu pork. Speaking of the char siu pork, I was disappointed with the flavors of the pork. It seemed like they just rolled up a piece of pork belly and straight up boiled it in water and that was all. There was the pork flavor but no seasoning whatsoever, no soy sauce, no mirin , no brown sugar, etc. Classic japanese style char siu seasonings. However, the half boiled egg was delicious. Too bad they only give you half an egg. The rest of the ramen was just okay. The Hot Night sushi roll was good and I was able to watch the sushi chef make it in front of me. The spicy tuna topping was fresh and had a good amount of heat but not too much. The shrimp tempura inside was okay for a mass produced frozen ingredient. Sushi rice was fresh and was well proportioned to the amount of filling and topping. The Charashi bowl was impressive looking but my daughter said it could have used something else.. I mean it's a bowl with rice a few pieces of vegetables and sashimi.... not sure what my daughter was expecting...*shrug* Overall, the dining experience at Kuriya was good. Food was okay, service was great, restaurant decor and atmosphere was excellent and cozy. Pretty good for a nice date location. Eat here and then take a small stroll up Solano for some after dinner ice cream or look at the little shops along the way.