August Moon Sushi Cafe

So sad to see them go, but alas all is not lost, they shall return with a bigger and better location. Stay tuned for more details when I get them. For now check out the new Wasabi Tapas serving a fusion of Thai & Japanese food.

Delicious. It’s funny how good strip mall restaurants can be.

I have been here a couple of times. Overpriced, small portions, and they keep weird hours. The fish was fresh but the menu is lackluster. I enjoyed the pork belly appetizer (I snagged the last portion of it finally at 6 pm on my last visit!) but have had much better sushi in the area. They run out of items early. I hate that you have to go to Bed Bath and Beyond to use the toilet. This also means that they have to close earlier than a lot of eateries.

A but overpriced for the quality of food. The place was empty when I went in. Good customer service. I got the lion king and California crunch. They were both just okay. I think I’m gonna continue my search for better sushi in SC.

Drove to Capitola on my day off to get some sunrays, sushi and shopping (time). My first sushi option was closed due to «unusual circumstances» (walked up and posted on the door was this sign) but I remembered there was a sushi café across from the mall so we decided to satisfy our sushi craving at August Moon.
The lunch specials are $ 10 but you get a rather paltry lunch spread. Lunch specials consist of a salad, miso soup and a 6-​piece small maki roll. We had to eat slow so we could try to stretch our meal out to 5 minutes. My Rainbow Roll and Philly Roll were the most substantial of all our lunches but I still left hungry. Hungry enough to walk over to the neighboring Chinese restaurant, Mayflower, and grab a full lunch special and some dim sum. I can’t recall the last time I’ve ever had to do that. Three of us walked over to the Mayflower to have our second lunch of the day.
Everything I ordered tasted right in line with your standard sushi rolls. They also make a nice salad dressing. No complaints about the taste of the food; it is just hard to shell out close to $ 50 and leave hungry.
I’ll be moving along to a new spot when I come to Capitola.

Sushi is good, vegetarian gyoza is ok. I was disappointed that they were out of chicken teriyaki on a Saturday evening. Service was fine. Small restaurant in a strip mall.

Last weekend we went to a lovely home wedding. Sushi Café’ catered the appetizers. Guests (100) «fell over themselves» reaching for 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th pieces! Last night we went there
for «dinner»: their sushi was outstanding (again), my seaweed salad, dragon roll and cherry blossom roll were the best ever! Service is friendly, efficient. Everything was fresh and nicely «plated». Ambiance is basic. Had it not been for the wedding we’d have totally overlooked this gem of «sushi gourmet». We’re ditching our other spot — we’re hooked on Sushi Café’!! The 1 — 2 star reviews are opposite of our experience.

Our experience was not fantastic, but it was just okay. We ordered 2 rolls and felt they were small and not very filling for the price of 14 $ per roll. However, both rolls were flavorful and tasted pretty fresh, but they weren’t anywhere as good as we’ve had in other places so we won’t be back. It’s a very small place in a little shopping center type area. The service was not very good though. At the time, the sushi from this place satisfied our craving, but it’s definitely not a place I would return to.

Went there on a Groupon. So close to home and lots of parking — was hoping for good sushi. They get ONE star because the waitperson was very sweet. Asked what was «fresh» and was told it’s all fresh. NOT TRUE. Nothing worse than old sashimi. Smelled fishy; Cut wrong; Tiny portion for too much money; Tough membrane throughout. Won’t go back.

New owners. I can’t remember ever having such mediocre and unimpressive Japanese food.

Three words of advice: «Don’t come hungry.»
Yesterday, we came in for a sushi lunch. First request was an order of char siu (bbq pork): not available. After an output of nearly $ 50 at August Moon’s «mini-​sushi», we literally beelined it to the Mayflower, a couple doors down in the same shopping center, and bought two Chinese lunch specials (kung pao with rice; and chicken chow mein with fried rice) PLUS two pork buns and an order of sesame/​red bean paste balls… then sat ourselves down in the outdoor patio area and ate it ALL. TRUE STORY!

Have to concur with Sharon — while the fish on our $ 12-​$ 15 rolls was fairly fresh, they were the smallest rolls we’ve ever had for the price. Even my 8 year old daughter was still hungry after what we expected would at least be worth what we paid for the Groupon. We will not be returning.

We came to this restaraunt after purchasing a groupon. The name of the place is different. It was tucked into a strip mall and did not even have a bathroom for customers. We had to use the restrooms at bed, bath and beyond. We asked to sit outside and they refused to unlock the tables and chairs for us to eat with our dogs. They were about to close in 35 minutes and that was there excuse. Their specialty menu was not even close to being special. The rolls were over priced. My boyfriend is allergic to avocado and they made it difficult to substitute items. They had a $ 10 minimum for credit card use so not having cash and using a groupon was not worth the hassle. I would never return here even if offered a free meal.

We were tricked by the positive reviews.
Learn from our experience.
This was one of the worst sushi experiences we’ve ever had.
The quality was very poor. We compare our worst meals to this one.
And it was WAY pricier than we imagined.
I hope they take note of the quality that they are serving. That was by and large the biggest problem. Service was very good.

We had sushi rolls: Dragon, Negi Hama spicy tuna, and crunchy roll. We substituted avocado for the cucumber in a couple of the rolls and left the Unagi off of it, as well. The fish is fresh, the service is friendly. However, the sushi chef is good but works a little slow. Overall, even though the menu is small it is tasty.

Good:
The sashimi was fantastic, probably the highlight of my dinner (especially the salmon). The tropical roll was good as well, but really small considering it was 13 or 14 bucks. Overall the sushi was really good, service was friendly and prompt.
Bad:
This restaurant gives off the vibe of a fast food sushi place. Which, coming from Southern california, I generally really like. But for the prices this place is asking for 13 – 15 dollars per specialty roll where my regular place asks for 9 – 12 for the same rolls. Maki rolls were pretty much priced decently and so where the appetizers (note that the smaller prices mean smaller servings size. Green muscles are 3 pieces for 6 bucks etc).
Overall:
If you budget right, you can get a cheap quick meal. Don’t plan on ordering the special plates or special rolls though. And don’t expect a four star atmosphere. If they repainted, adjusted the prices, and added a few more special rolls; I would be more inclined to go back. Definitely more of a lunch place.

This is the second time my son and I have come here. We were impressed the first time and were not disappointed this time either. We love the seaweed app and any of the maki rolls. I had the tropical roll for the first time and was very pleased. My son always gets the veggie rolls and he enjoys his immensely. We end with the mochi ice cream. They have a variety of flavors. I had the kona coffee and my son had the mango. Both were great. My only complaint is that for $ 2 you only get one mochi cut in four parts. I think last time we were given two. The chef takes great care in his preparation and execution. We will def come back.

I went back after a very bad experience last time I ate here, this time it was as if they made a change to everything! All I know is my friend was begging me to go with her. I said I would go but not eat. When I tried some of what she had ordered I must say it was great! I then ordered for myself and bought a groupon! Well worth it!

I was really looking forward to this place, given the Unilocal reviews, and because I was starving at the time and craving sushi, but I just did not like it at ALL. Food should taste better when you’re hungry, but this did not. The fish was really truly the worst that I’ve ever had. It left such a bad taste in my mouth that my boyfriend and I went to immediately cleanse our mouths with coffee and muffins. We both felt slightly gross afterward (not nauseated — it wasn’t food poisoning or anything, it was just gross). I had the chirashi, of which the rice was the best part (and even that wasn’t that good), while my boyfriend had some sort of tuna roll and the poki salad. The poki salad had very little flavor, and the lettuce that they used was not very fresh looking. He really did not like the roll. The miso soup was okay. Even the tap water didn’t taste that good.
The service was fine, however. Friendly and relatively attentive. Still, I would not go back. My boyfriend has gone before, when it was owned by different people, and he said that it was mediocre then and has only gotten worse. Hopefully, they pick up their game and get better quality fish.

So I’ve only been here once since the new owners took over. I’m sad to see the original couple go but glad to taste the original awesomeness of their sushi again! This is a very small establishment, only 2 employees working, so my to go order took about 20 minutes but their portions are larger than most sushi places, the pictures of the Sashimi platter give you some idea. The Maki rolls are perfectly proportional with rice/​fish etc. the menu is small and traditional, but they seem to be open to making what ever you’re craving. Their Miso soup is one of the best with lots of tofu and seaweed.
If you’re looking for just simple, great tasting, worth your money, very fresh sushi, this is your first stop!