San Jose, CA — Kubota

Kubota 593 N. Fifth Street San Jose, CA

(408)279-8440 map

Kubota is one of the first California sushi restaurants I ever visited. I was in San Jose on business and when I heard about Japantown I had to go check it out. Japantown is a section of San Jose just off of First Street and near downtown. It is located a short distance from the San Jose airport and a couple of blocks from the light rail system.

I have been to Kubota several times both for dinner and lunch and it seems that the place is always busy. Kubota has a parking lot with room for about 12 cars but today I had to park on the street. Be careful if you do so, I got a $28.00 parking ticket to go along with lunch!

Kubota has both indoor and outdoor seating in season. On this visit I sat at the sushi bar. The array of fish looked very fresh and the selection was good. I was seated directly in from of some Giant Clam so I knew what I was going to have.

I ordered a Chirashi combination from the menu. I asked the chef whether I could add mirugai to my combination and he obliged. The chirashi came on a plate served on a tray along with a light noodle soup and a lettuce and tofu salad. The salad was very good with the ginger dressing. The soup was a nice change from basic miso. The Chirashi was garnished with some rather large pieces of head lettuce. I found this detracted from an otherwise nice presentation.

As for the fish itself it was firm and fresh — exactly what I expect from a California sushi bar. The service seemed rather perfunctory, both from my waitress and from the sushi chef who did not even ask me whether I enjoyed my chirashi. Kubota has good sushi but the mediocre service kept their score from being any better.

Kubota: 3 rice bowls