Recently I found myself up on the north side of Pleasant Hill. After running my errands I remembered seeing something about a possible Asian market and some sushi in the area. As luck would have it, it was dinner time, so investigation ensued. What I found was Damo Sushi. Pleasant Hill on the whole is a decent and somewhat upscale suburb, compared to say Concord. That being said, Damo is on the north end right at the border with Pacheco which makes it a little less “upscale”. This actually is not a bad thing. The place was nice enough, not fancy, but not a run into the ground hole in the wall.
I order a dinner bento box with chicken terriyaki and gyoza. I also ordered a side Tekka (tuna) roll so I could get a try at their sushi. I know a lot of people are thinking “chicken terriyaki, how pedestrian”, which may be true, but I like to have a basis for comparison with the simple things. Really, if they screw up something simple… do you want to get involved with the more complex dishes? In Damo’s case the food was overall fairly tasty. It wasn’t the best Japanese food I’d ever had but it certainly wasn’t bad. I thought their gyoza was quite good actually.
What really caught my attention about this place was the price. It is cheap! My total bill (pictured left) after tax was $14.15 . Most Japanese places in the area will charge on the average of about $16-18 for a dinner bento of two items. Then sushi rolls typically start at about $5 and go up to $15. Tekka rolls are simple, but still. I got out with a dinner bento and a sushi roll (which was more than enough food for me, since soup and salad was also included) for less than I do for lunch at some places.
The one caveat that might bother some is that their liquor license is currently suspended (you can see part of the sign in the first picture). Personally, I don’t drink much, so I don’t find this a problem. Besides, all booze in restaurants is overpriced. I’ll definitely be going back to Damo Sushi and enjoying their fantastic prices. Sure, I can get some of the best quality sushi elsewhere in the area, but I’d have to pay for that. Give me some of the basics (like tonkatsu or chicken terriyaki) and I’m perfectly content. Oh, and they only have one small TV, so I’m not assaulted by that while I’m try to eat (which I absolutely hate).