Homma's Brown Rice Sushi

What a great find! Unplanned trip led me and Ari to Homma's. It wasn't easy to locate this awesome place. It's in an alley between two restaurants and behind one of them.

Apparently they've been around for 27-28 years! That alone wow! Impressive! Very simple down to earth establishment. No frills. Just really fresh sushi wrapped in bite size brown rice.

The brown rice was perfectly cooked. With that special crunch that only a brown rice is allowed to exhibit. In fact it lis necessary.

We had the brown rice salad. This was listed on the board as one of the special of the day. This dish had the same perfectly cooked brown rice under fresh greens. Cubes of fresh fish and house dressing. Perfect healthy meal! We had some nigiris and Ca. rolls too.

The inside is small with about four or five tables. We sat outside. Under a plastic covering that served as the roof attached/stapled between two buildings. We didn't care. We sat there ate, talked and stayed past their two o'clock closing time. No one shoo'd us.

They served food on nice plates. One guy takes the order and there's a dedicated sushi chef. He was a nice older gentleman.

Both of us never had brown rice with sushi. I've been curious for a while now. Totally loved it! I'm ready for more.

Cash only and no ATM on site. We didn't know. Wasn't ready. Across the street at a peanut shell filled floor bar there is a machine.

Its worth checking this place out. Parking is easier in this side of town btw which is a plus!

Better hurry, Mr. Homma is retiring and closing 8/31/2016.

It is definitely out of the way, but I always stop by after visiting Keeble & Shuchat. The brown rice helps minimize the carb coma and sushi always tastes better than other restaurants.

It is a little pricey and cash only, and it was always worth it to support this hidden gem of Cal Ave.

Man, I really want to give this place a solid 4 stars, even tethering on 5 stars because of their whole brown rice concept (love love love brown rice, why don't more places do this?) and because their fish is decently priced and is fresh. I got the Chirashi donburi but if I come back, I'll get the brown rice salad next time.

Why the 3 stars? Well the main reason being that my party of 3 waited an hour for our food. How did that happen? This place is small and has a first come first serve policy. Typical and understandable for small hole-in-the-wall joints. But they LITERALLY mean first come first serve, as in even people dining in have to wait behind everyone who had placed to-go orders in front of them.

If I'm around the area again, I would pick it up to-go, but would never dine in here again. Or if you are dying to dine in here, I'd suggest calling in to place an order ahead of time then just eating at one of the tables outside.

Also don't forget it's cash only!

Chirashi Chronicles #10

I've actually been to Homma's Brown rice many times and am a fan of their unique brown rice combination. However, in terms of their chirashi, I'd say it's perhaps the most literal of preparations as the sushi chef literally takes left-over pieces from other nigiri cuts and mixes it with brown rice.

These pieces can be incredibly small and the only additional garnish is a sprinkling of ikura and some pea sprout.

All in all, it's a low value chirashi, despite the price, and I will always order the nigiri instead.

Yay for brown rice, wait was 20-25min for my takeout but it's so cheap!!!!

- Tamago: made fresh, yum!
- California roll: I asked is there mayo? he said it's fresh fish...there's mayo. Just beware if you don't like the mixed crab.
- Veggie roll: choose 2 veggies - I got gourd and mushrooms, but I guess they ran out of gourd.. so hey gave me mushroom and cucumber. Not what I wanted but oh well.

All three items = $10.60. SWEET deal, yes please. Coming back.

Tip:
- Call ahead to order since there's only 1 dude who makes the sushi here.
- They have a small outdoor seating area.

Tucked away down a small alleyway in Palo Alto lives Homma's Brown Rice Sushi. Although the space is small, it be mighty!

Now to insert a disclaimer, I am new to the sushi loving world, however I know good food when it touches my palate, and this place makes good grub.

I was introduced to this place relatively recently, although it has been in the same location off California Avenue for quite some time (the owner was able to put his son through college from this business to give you a ballpark time frame). My love kept raving and raving, about the Brown Rice Salad from Homma's. At first, I was thinking, and asking: "...Brown rice? Brown rice in Sushi? A brown rice sushi salad? Is that good? Really?" All the responses were an energetic "YES!". To me, it sounded a little... Well, strange... I decided to try it anyway, since I trust her judgment. Off we went to grab a couple of salads to go.

Now, the salad is blanketed on a bed of brown rice, but not just any brown rice. Whatever they do to it, that rice is magic. I mean really darn good rice as rice goes. Unsure, of the seasoning or broth that may be used to make it unfortunately. Following that, it is topped with lettuce, apple, cucumber, asparagus, avocado, ahi, and salmon. A creamy vinaigrette dressing is given on the side, but the flavors sans dressing were so good, I opted not to use any. It was quite refreshing alone.

Along with the salad, we also ordered California Rolls. They were very tasty as well. I also liked that they were smaller in size than your traditional roll pieces, but there was 16 instead of eight. Much easier to manage. I always feel so barbaric eating sushi since you have to stuff the whole piece in your mouth at once. Not cute. Homma's seems to keep cuteness in mind while preparing their rolls.

We opted out order for take home, but there are several tables inside the restaurant, and a couple on the patio if you wish to dine in.

Support a small business and stop in and try Homma's! It is cash only however, so make sure you have enough before you go!

Like other reviewers had said the wait time is really long so try to call in your order even if you plan to eat in.

Enjoyed the brown rice salad, portions were large and it was tasty. What I liked most though was the unagi avo roll. It was perfectly seasoned and had a (surprisingly) nice crunch to it.

Would come again, but probably for take out.

My most recent discovery is...I actually like brown rice! That is...thanks to the wonderful chef at Homma's Brown Rice Sushi!!

When you think of brown rice, you think of something very healthy and grainy so why bother right...?!? Well...don't be so quick to judge until you try brown rice sushi. I think it's a genius idea to make something already pretty healthy (fresh fish) with brown rice. It's a great combination of healthy + delicious!

Their una-avo is my absolute all time fav...I can easily inhale 2 rolls of those baby in one sitting! I especially appreciate how they broiled the unagi before rolling it into their sushi, giving it a nice char taste.

Upon talking to the chef, we've discovered that they've been around for 20+ years! What a genius idea, the chef was way ahead of the game even before the brown rice craze. If this is worth anything, my okasan, who usually does not care for brown rice, even thought this place was oishii! :)

This is a small establishment and everything is made to order. The wait is well worth it, but if you are in a rush, definitely call in your order ahead of time. Bring cash too, they do not accept credit cards, only cash or checks.

3/5 solid stars
Wasn't very impressive to be honest.

I was surprised this place has been opened for 20+ years. It is definitely hidden from the main street.

Ordered:
Brown rice salad with sashimi: 3/5 for some reason, the salad dressing was a bit off for me.

We came here on a Tuesday night for dinner around 7pm, and there is only one sushi chef and one cashier. Definitely your typical mom and pop store.

If you're in a rush, there's a good chance they may have a large takeout order, so expect to wait about 25 minutes for your meal. From memory, there are about 5 tables that seat about 25 ppl or less.

Got some takeout here - as before, like the concept, but everything was a bit on the stale side and didn't seem very fresh (taking into account the fact that we had it take out). Plus, both my boyfriend and I had some stomach issues a few hours after eating our dinner from Homma's.

The donburi is still one of the best things here though!

We tried several rolls, and from what I remember:
Donburi - 4 stars
Egg - 3 stars
Scallop - 3.5 stars