Zame Fusion Sushi

Unfortunately — they are closed :(. I really enjoyed coming here, but I knew this day was coming.

No don’t go.

Contrary to what their posted hours say, they were not open for lunch today (Friday). Not sure if they are shut down, or simply wanted a day off, but I’m severely disappointed/​annoyed.

Great visit! Got here a like 30mins before closing and the service was great. They did not rush us out or give us horrible sushi. Amazing! Must try!

As a former student at UCR I have always wondered how the Inland Empire has had so very many AYCE sushi places scattered across Riverside. I have tried my fair share of all the competitive sushi restaurants in this area, like Joe’s, Cabin, and Asahi and I would have to say that I enjoyed my meal here at Zame.
I came here for lunch with another friend so it was just the both of us in the restaurant. The interior of Zame is clean and very modern yet it does not seem to fit the location or plaza it is located in because it may be so easily overlooked. I spent about $ 20 for the AYCE lunch including tip. The server was very attentive as well as the sushi chef who also came to check on our table, though this may have also been because we were the only ones in the restaurant it still made my experience that much more personable.
The quality in the fish itself is not lacking and they have all the ordinary rolls that most would expect for AYCE sushi but what stood out to me the most was their own creative take on rolls like the pesto salmon, among others. They also have a number of hot items that you may choose from, which I really enjoyed because they had salmon kama (salmon collar) included in the AYCE. I would recommend others to try this place if they are looking to venture out on trying a newer variety of rolls they may not be used to. Though I wouldn’t recommend this place if you are bringing a large party because I am not so sure how the dinner crowd may be…

I would like to start this review off by saying: I LITERALLY ALMOST VOMITED AFTER EATING HERE. I felt so nauseous and sick after eating here and felt that way for about an hour afterward. Ugh. Also, the waitress said that free soda check in offer isn’t available anymore. Wish they would take that down then!
Anyway, went here on Valentine’s Day. Waited to be seated for like ten minutes because the only waitress working there was in the back making tea. I tacked up our wait to her being the only one working, so I cut her some slack and didn’t make a big deal out of it. She sat us at the bar because she said if we sat at the only available table left, we’d be sitting in the dark. Wtf. Okay, fine. We sit at the bar and she leaves us there with menus for thirty minutes without ever checking back in on us. We wanted to just ask her for ayce, so we could order directly from the chef in front of us, but she kept walking past us. She totally forgot about us and all the other customers were complaining, too
I understand that it’s difficult being the only one working, but she was SO SLOW and the restaurant is SO TINY. It wasn’t the fact that the restaurant was packed (it wasn’t) that the service was so slow, it was because she dragged her feet everywhere she went and it seemed like she just didn’t care. She just shuffled around everywhere and took her time. Saw some people waiting at the front to be seated and she was dragging a rag around a clean table for an eternity. She didn’t rush at all and sushi plates would sit waiting to be served at the counter. That group ended up leaving (I wish I had).
The sushi chef took his time, too. At one point, he disappeared for thirty+ minutes to make a table chicken teriyaki to placate them. They were angry because they’d only gotten three rolls in two hours. I must have gotten one roll in about two hours, so they did a lot better than I did, at least. Another table was angry, too, and told the chef, «Your rolls were fine, but we can’t wait like three hours for food.» Another table left because they were upset at the terrible service. They are seriously understaffed here and need to hire people that can get people in and out quickly.
But okay, the food was REALLY bad. The fish made me want to gag. It tasted old, like it wasn’t fresh and was left out too long. I ended up spitting a lot of my food into my napkin because the fish was just putrid. Their ideas for the rolls were good, but the fish was GROSS.
I really, really wanted to like this place. Their menu sounded good and their rolls sounded tasty. What a shame.

It shocks me that this place has 4 stars. I don’t write many 1 star reviews, but I must be honest and tell it as it is. Sorry, Zame Fusion.
Came here on a Wednesday night, not knowing this was an AYCE restaurant. Two lady friends and I were in the area and browsed Unilocal in search of a place to eat. Zame Fusion had yummy looking photos + decent price $$ + close by = good choice. Boy, we were in for a rude awakening!
Upon arrival to the restaurant, it seemed clean and nicely decorated but strangely empty. We were the only table in the entire restaurant at 6pm on a Wednesday. I knew this restaurant was semi-​new, so attributed this to bad publicity and the slow economy. Although we weren’t planning on doing all you can eat, the rolls were priced at ~ $ 13 – 15 each, and with AYCE being $ 21 for dinner, it seemed more wise to do AYCE.
We decided to go for it and began marking items on the AYCE menu. The first problem we encountered was that the sushi-​making rate was incredibly slow. It took about 30 minutes for us to get our first plate of sushi. My chopsticks instinctively lunged for the octopus but as soon as I put it in my mouth, I wanted to spit it out. I’ve had a lot of sushi in my life and know what tastes good and what tastes bad. This tasted absolutely foul. I started to get worried as more plates came out. Some of the sashimi was acceptable but a few others came out also tasting like the fish had gone bad. Every time I picked up a piece of sushi to eat, I felt a jolt of fear. I didn’t want to get food poisoning!
The specialty rolls were slightly better, but not by much. We ordered a shrimp tempura cut roll that came out cold and tasteless. The shrimp tempura batter was hard and chewy. Even the edamame was overly salted. The only thing I enjoyed was miso soup and gyoza. During our second round, we decided to scale back and order a pizza roll. This is a baked roll, so we felt it was safe. Downside was that this also took another 30 minutes to come out. Although it was actually pretty decent, it was not enough to redeem the meal. We mentioned to our waitress that some of the fish did not taste fresh, and after consulting with the chef, we were told that since the fish was cut from a fattier portion of the main piece, it’s common for that piece to taste a bit more salty. I didn’t really buy this explanation and would’ve instead appreciated an honest reply. With an AYCE restaurant servicing 1 – 2 tables per night, I’m not surprised that their sushi isn’t fresh.
Anyway, if you are reading this review, please save your $ 21 and do not come here.

A few months ago I came across a groupon deal for this place. Being one that doesn’t pass up a good deal, I hopped on it. So, groupon brought me in, the chef (owner?), Jay, brings me back. Walking in, I immediate notice someone went through a great deal of effort in dressing this place (menu, plates, cutlery); I really like the design.
What I really like about the food is their rolls are much more inventive than other AYCE’s. Typically, AYCE’s have the same menu with very little variation, this place has those same «traditional» rolls but they have much greater variation in their menu. The only down side about the AYCE is you can’t order some of the other things on their menu, like the mellow yellow or the pesto salmon.
I am a fan of this sushi spot and I will definitely return. The cost is $ 21.95 for AYCE but I think only $ 16.95 for AYCE lunch.

Definitely not my first choice… wouldnt even be my 2^nd or 3^rd… went on a friday night, only 2 other tables were occupied and we waited almost 30mins to get our first order of sushi… round 1 took an hour… there was one sushi chef. Also the sushi was poorly made, it fell apart the minute you tried to pick it up.
Ive read other reviews on this place before trying it out and Im sorry but we were not impressed with anything. The décor was boring and plain, the service was okay in that the waitress kept our tea full.
More than likely will not go back.

Clean fresh friendly and a great value. Definitely give them a try. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit. I will definitely be returning. On a side note: I’ve never seen a sushi chef more approachable or more willing to talk to you about the different dishes. Wonderful experience!

I went to Zame Fusion Sushi after reading the reviews and understanding that it was, indeed, Fusion Sushi. I didn’t want to try the place because it didn’t have AYCE, and I wasn’t convinced to try it out until it did get AYCE. Seeing as it looked like a place that was more about looks than taste (all the «good» Sushi restaurants I’ve been to aren’t usually snazzy unless they are super overpriced and in the 626 area) with that in mind, I was reluctant to try it.
My boyfriend (Le Pug) and I got a table and there were only two other occupied tables there. One couple and a group of five people. So around 7:30 on a Saturday night, it was pretty empty.
We wanted to try a lot of the rolls there, so we ordered a decent amount of the rolls.
Fried Tofu–
Was very oily and so poorly made. The chef apparently was an amateur making this and the sauce that came along with it didn’t have any flavor, so we couldn’t eat it. I was very sad because I love fried tofu.
White Tuna «Ono»
Was WARM and was the wrong cut of ono for sushi. The chef must not know what is the right cut because the texture and flavor was off. (We have a friend who is a sushi chef, that is why we know about the cut of the fish)
Unagi/​Eel
One of the better pieces we had. No complaints~!
«O» Hot Roll
Best part of it was the jalapeño. It wasn’t bad, only mediocre
Tamago/​Egg
Wrong flavor and the egg wouldn’t stay together. They couldn’t even do tamago right.
Chicken Teriyaki
Thin shreds of breast meat that had been pan fried and had teriyaki sauce poured over it. Very dry, but compared to the fish, was something that we knew wouldn’t give us salmonella.
Vegetable Gyoza
Not enough stuffing and the sauce was weird. It was pretty cool seeing green colored gyoza wrapper~
Salmon Egg
This piece like all of them was filled with rice and only had a few eggs. Very disappointing. The piece had less than ten eggs.
Spider Handroll
Also filled with rice and didn’t taste like soft-​shell crab. We weren’t sure as it was strange.
Caliente Roll
More like Jalapeño tempura appetizer. Would have been better if it wasn’t so oily.
We had a few more rolls, 2 with mango, another deep fried with salmon etc.
I had one piece of half eaten tamago on my plate and they told us they would charge if we didn’t finish. 1 piece of tamago. They would charge for the WHOLE ROLL.
I have been to so many sushi restaurants before and never had this much tasteless food and threatened to be charged for half a piece of uneaten sushi. NEVER.
I ate it not wanting to pay the extra dollars, but the table of 5 people had about 8 random pieces of sushi they didn’t finish. I overheard their conversation and the waiter to them that the manager would charge them for the pieces. They would be charged for the whole roll even if there was just one piece. About 30 extra dollars.
The only good part about going to Zame Fusion Sushi was the waiter and waitress always kept our glasses full and that the bathroom was well scented. I like my bathrooms well scented with sprays and plug-​ins. Le Pug tells me that there was a pile of rocks next to the Men’s toilet. That sounds charming.
All in all, I won’t be coming back. Should have never gone and wasn’t worth the $ 51.61 with a $ 3 tip.
Do not go just because it looks classy/​trendy/​snazzy. The fish isn’t fresh and it rolls aren’t good.

Wow, just got home from eating here and had to write this right away!
We purchased a Living Social deal for this place a few months back and decided we better use to before it expired. So we scheduled a date night, and I started reading the reviews on Unilocal to find out about the place. After reading a bit, I really started looking forward to it! Fast forward to today, we got there and immediately were seated. There was one couple there as well, but they finished and left before we even ordered our drinks. We were the only ones there for two whole hours! What a shame that they are so dead, when their food is just amazing. Here’s what we got and what we thought:
Crunchy Shrimp: Great flavor, large in size, perfect Crunch Roll.
Gold California: Oh my word, favorite of the night! Great combo of flavor, size, and spice. This will be a must for every visit.
«O» Hot: Oh was it hot LOL. Good «bite» if you like spicy stuff. Good flavor to go along with it.
Pizza Hot: Very unique. «Odd, but strangely good» is what my Fiancé said. Flavor was good, but definitely not your average roll.
Zame Moon: First time I’ve tried Yellowtail and it was decent. For somebody who doesn’t do much «fish» stuff, it wasn’t bad. Combo of favors were good and the size was perfect.
Red Dragon: Great flavor, and the spicy tuna had a good kick.
Fried Ice Cream: I personally loved it, but my Fiancé said it was just OK. The ice cream actually has a thin cake-​like layer, then the harder fried outside. It was served with some pear and strawberry purée that was quite good on its own. The spoons they bring you to eat with are tiny though. Makes it hard to separate into bites.
I have to mention too that all the dishes were beautifully presented. They really put a lot of thought into the way their food is served. Everything we had was great. This is our new Sushi spot for sure! I just hope word gets out and they become busier so we don’t loose such a great place! We’ll be coming back for All You Can Eat (AYCE) soon!

I went there to test it out and it was yummy! I appreciated the fact that the place was quiet because sushi places can get really busy and noisy. It may not last that long like that but the food has quality and the service was friendly. The chef took a minute to come and check on us which was really nice.
After when we were finished, the waitress told us that they would be starting AYCE soon. A couple of weeks later, they personally emailed us and told us it was open for AYCE and of course, we ran over there! Everything was the same but it included AYCE (they took out a couple of rolls on their menu for this but I was happy with what I chose).
The location is easily overlooked but I wouldn’t complain for the quiet atmosphere, quality and price now!

I have been wanting to eat here ever since I heard it was open a few months ago. In April they offered a Groupon and I immediately bought it. So far, I think this may have been my best Groupon purchase.
My husband and I went this past Tuesday around 5:00. As soon as we walked in the server immediately seated us and took our drink order. We looked over the menu and decided on the «O» Hot roll and a philly roll (hubby has to have it when ever we have sushi) The «O» Hot roll was good, but I was expecting it to be a little spicier. We then decided to order the Baked Volcanic Mango Shrimp roll which was incredibly delicious. All of the flavors went together well. It was so yummy that my husband jokingly asked if he could lick the plate. We also shared the deep fried banana for desert. I have to admit, a deep fried banana sounded kinda strange, but with vanilla ice cream, honey and fruit it was delicious.
As we were getting ready to leave the server, who was very attentive and sweet, gave us a to go menu and informed us there are coupons on the back. Coupons for next time YAAAY! We will definitely be coming back to this restaurant and we will definitely order the Baked Volcanic Mango Shrimp roll.
I almost forgot to mention, the fish is extremely fresh. It’s better than Joe’s or Asahi. They don’t do AYCE here, but the quality is so much better! If you are looking for a good sushi restaurant then go here.

Went to Zame for the 3^rd time and the sushi is just as good as it was the first time! This is my favorite sushi place ever! I can’t get enough.

Review Based on box lunch only.
Food:
Ordered pork katsu box lunch which came with:
–miso soup — Possibly the best miso soup I’ve ever had. Plenty of miso, seaweed, and tofu. Normally its very bland and restaurants skimp on the seaweed and tofu. That isn’t the case here.
–salad — Very watery. The dressing seemed to have just been dumped on. I’d prefer it be tossed and the lettuce dried before placing into a bowl.
–rice — Its rice. It came with nori flakes sprinkled on top.
–gyoza — These must be restaurant made. They were the best gyoza I’d ever had and fried to perfect. My only complaint is that the chef or cook must have fried them in advance because when they got to me they were cold. :/​
–california roll — Too much avocado. I hate avocado so I can tolerate small pieces. This can be a pro or con depending on your tastes.
–cabbage and bonito flake roll — Looked like a steamed stripe of cabbage wrapped up and topped with bonito flakes. Interesting idea. Not bad but not particularly tasty.
–Veggie and shrimp tempura — Shrimp tempura was overly breaded. More shrimp, less tempura. Veggie tempura was good. Comes with and eggplant piece too. Complaint is that tempura sauce was pointless. The sauce was super bland.
–pork katsu — What would have been a 3 star review became a 4 star review because of the katsu. Keep up the good work on this one. This is the most moist and flavorful pork katsu I’ve ever had. They’re normally dry and bland at other places but here they’re perfect.
Service:
A little slow but the restaurant just opened and there was only one server on the floor.
Ambience:
From the outside, Zame Sushi looks like a bad idea. Shady plaza. Little parking until you realize there’s parking in the back. The windows are covered in bamboo/​straw mats to block out the sunlight. Step inside and its a complete 180. Based on looks alone, this is a good place for date night. Soft lighting. Dark hard wood floors. Tables nicely spaced for a more intimate meal.
Verdict: The miso soup and pork katsu won me. I would come back but I’m expecting that they get their act together on future visits.

Came here on a Monday night for dinner with 2 friends. We were seated right away; the place just open so it looks like it’s a bit slow. Service was excellent! Our waiter was a little unfamiliar with the drink menu but he was super friendly and awesome. Total was $ 125.00 for 5 appetizers 5 rolls 3 large sake 1 small sake and 2 beers which I thought it was really good for the amount of food we ordered. Overall service was excellent and sushi is one of the better places in Riverside. We’re already planning a second visit here!
Below is a quick description of our meal.
Ratings 5 – 0, (5 being I want to eat this everyday forever, 0 being please don’t even feed it to the dog)
Appetizer
Baked Mussels (4 piece) — 5 AMAZING!!! Please order this!
Sashimi (7 piece appetizer) 3
Sushi (4 piece appetizer) 3 — fish was fresh enough but didn’t blow my mind
Honey Walnut Shrimp 2 — It was tempura shrimp covered in a mayo honey dressing, it tasted like something you got at a Chinese fast food.
Crab legs 3.5 — It tasted really good, but got a bit soggy
Rolls (I forgot the exact names of the rolls, sorry!)
Zame Eel Tempura Shrimp Roll — 4 Tempura shrimp inside with eel and avocado outside. They used ripped avocado and made the whole roll real buttery and delicious.
Zame Spicy Salmon Mango Roll — 4 There were no actual mango but a sweet mango sauce drizzle on top that made the roll really interesting.
Spicy tuna and Salmon Roll — 3 real good, but didn’t blow my mind
Tuna cut roll — Friend had it, didn’t get to try
Pizza Roll — 4 It’s got a tempura based and salmon in the middle and a mayo-​y sauce baked on top garnished with a thin slice of jalapeño. It was really yummy! Warm, spicy and very savory, it would have gotten a 5 but it was really heavy at the same time.
Drinks
We also got 3 large 1 small hot house sake — drinks were fine but it was real cheap $ 4 for large and $ 2 for small — what a deal! and 2 Sapporo beers.
The host brought was sample of «natural lychee flavor sake» They place a lychee and a little lychee syrup in the bottom of a clear sake cup and let it soak while you drink the sake… at the end of the meal you eat the sake soaked lychee. REALLY GOOD, gonna go back and get that one for sure.

1 – 10 (1 being worst, 10 the best)
Zame eel tempura: a solid 8, fresh and delicious
Zame sun: 9.2 very unique and flavorful, came with a house «dip» very, very good =]
Boston: 8 a great appetizer
Snow: 7 great flavors, a little too «wet»
Salmon skin: 8.5 nice and smoky
Spicy tuna: 7 expected
Spicy salmon: 4 a little too fishy for my taste
An overall a great experience, REALLY friendly staff and clean environment. Excellent for mall employees seeing as its 2 min away from the Tyler mall and they close at 10pm weekly. i will definitely be back =]

I’ve been to many sushi bars in the IE and there all the same. Zame doesn’t have the variety I’m looking for when I eat sushi. What I did have was fresh and flavorful. I ordered albacore and hamachi sashimi. I also had a seaweed salad and edaname.
I was still hungry so I ordered a yellow tail collar and some spicy mussels. The mussels were chewy. The yellow tail collar was tasty but a little dry.
My green tea ice tea was continuously refreshed, that was nice. The service was good and the atmosphere was new and clean. It has very calming color scheme.

EATING OUT TIPS FOR STAYING LEAN :)
I had a great meal with great company. I ordered a sea weed salad with 2 salmon hand rolls with no rice. That is one of my favorite thing things to order when eating Japanese. It is a very lean nutritious meal :)
Not all seaweed salads taste good. But Zame defiantly did! My taste bud approve.
My friend had an assortment of sashimi with ponzu sauce and seemed to enjoy it.
After that we had yellowtail collar and spicy tai oysters. The yellowtail was really good! Another fav…
There fish tasted fresh! I hate going to a sushi restaurant where the fish is not fresh…
The serves was very pleasant and likable.
I’m going back for sure.