An Izakaya is first and foremost a neighborhood bar that serves drinks and bar food. This place did…read morea great job making me feel welcome, offering me a menu in English as we greeted. There were certainly plenty of Japanese speaking customers mixed in with Portuguese. And I, the odd tourist, felt right at home. The bamboo shoot and shitake mushroom appetizers were delectable. The chicken broth ramen was insipid. The Gyukatsu Kare (breaded fried beef with curry sauce over rice) was better, but not the ultra crispy panko planks I've had in some places. Maybe it was because I ordered it at the end of the night. The Brazilian brewed cold sake was really good. Could hardly tell the difference from Japanese sake. But, the highlight of the dinner of Sanma Shio--grilled pike mackerel with sea salt. Inexpensive for Sanma, uber fresh, grilled crispy so that you could crunch up the head and tail! The service was prompt, efficient and very warm. Even the owner came by to chat several times. Arigato gozaimasu! Obrigado! Thank you.

It's not bad... We went here at night and to be totally honest we didn't feel that great about the…read morerelative safety of the neighborhood we were in. It felt a bit sketchy. Something to keep in mind if you're considering going here and you're a visitor. Other than that, the food is pretty standard izakaya fare- not that much of a Brazilian influence from what we could tell. And we're very familiar with the genre (tons of these in the NYC) so we knew what to expect. The food is pretty tasty and the service was pretty good. The restaurant kinda feels like you walked into someone's kitchen which is pretty interesting. But overall we've actually had much better Japanese food. So there's that. But not a bad option if you're looking for something completely different in São Paulo.

OMG. I had lived in Sao Paul for some years in the past but never knew this great izakaya exists…read moreright next to the ramen shop I used to go. Well I do not have to talk about menu because everything they have on the day is in the display. Only some 10 seats are available so you might have to wait. But foods are really great and so homemade and you can talk forever with other people in the counter.

Amazing service and REAL food. Cozy atmosphere with very attentive staff. Totally recommended!read more

We had an incredible experience at this restaurant. Their tasting menu was fantastic, you could…read morefeel the ingredients were very fresh. Service was also excellent, everybody was polite and explained each dish in detail. It was pricy but worth it.

Definetly a hidden gem, and if you are driving or passing by, you might just pass by since it's…read morealmost hidden and next door to a sushi restaurant, don't get confused, calm down and you'll see on the left side, a dark door with bamboos around it... Anyway, this place co-founder was a sumo wrestler in Japan but Brazilian born. You'll find food that sumo wrestlers eat, chankonake! But I didn't spin for an hour at Velocity to eat Chankonabe, instead, I'd ordered their version of bibimbap and I was expecting more, more everything, more meat veggies, too much rice for little toppings, plus they are kind of stingy about their sauce, it comes with a little plus if you want more gochujang you have to pay for it... Everything else on their menu are pretty much main stream dishes found at izakaya restaurants in SP, nothing extra ordinary called for attention, but I will be back for their Japanese dishes someday.

One of those hidden gems that really catches you by surprise - this discreet door reveals one of…read morethe most interesting combinations of japanese/korean cuisine in this part of town - there isn't any sushi or sashimi - all the food is practically hot and if you're in the mood for spicy...well this is the right place. Go for the nasu and the ishiyaki bibimbap...I just can't help but return !!!

The mini tekkadon was surprisingly good--I am not a fan of mayonnaise drizzled on raw fish, but the…read moreearthy toasted sesame seeds underneath the creamy sweet mayo balanced each other. The ramen... broth was too salty and the noodles too squishy and starchy. Very pretty set up, but this is not the ramen shop I am looking for.

Serviço rápido e eficiente, ambiente agradável e a comida excelente! Drinks incríveis também…read more Recomendo!

Okuyama, located in the Liberdade neighborhood of São Paulo, is a Japanese restaurant with a…read morekaraoke bar and private boxes to rent for parties up to 15 people. I came here with a party of 9 for some late night karaoke. The boxes are spacious and plain, which is fine with me since renting a room is very affordable. Our room had two different karaoke players, which can get confusing. While they both have many similar songs in their catalog, they also have songs that the other doesn't have. Instead of switching back and forth from each machine, we just flipped through both catalogs and stuck with the one that had more songs we wanted to sing. A server is assigned to each room to take orders for food and drinks. We ended up ordering rounds of pitchers of beer as well as izakaya snacks such as grilled chicken hearts, fried chicken, and some other appetizers I can't remember at the moment. The best part is that karaoke is available until 4 am. This was definitely our favorite late night spot in the city.

I'm visiting a friend who lives in Sao Paulo, and she took me here as a must-try! The ambience is…read morean authentic Izakaya Experience, which made it really fun and special to dine here. (We don't have a place like this in DC, at least not yet). We ate in private area shared with another party. We didn't mind as it still felt separate from each other. Around the restaurant there are a lot of photos of Japan, and there was a displayed video of those Walk-tours of Japan on the tv screen. Overall a fun vibe! The food itself was very good. We enjoyed the katsu sando! Very crispy fried bread on the outside, juicy chicken inside. The sara udon was not your typical large noodle but rather pan fried noodle in sauce, so once submerged in the sauce the noodles turn from crispy to soft. It had a lot of good veggies and the squid and pork was tasty too. My favorite dish was the tempura udon. It was a classic dish, and it hit the spot for me. The sashimi bowl was good too, but I've had better. The pieces I had were bit dry and chewy, so it didn't taste very fresh; to be honest, it was not the best sashimi I've had. Good service as well! We got our drink orders and food rather quickly, aside from the tempura udon which came last. It is really busy - you sign up on the waitlist outside. But the line goes fast!

As far as to-go options go, this Izakaya has pared down its menu to have items that travel well…read moreeither for pick up at their window or delivery by numerous options. I got the Karaage Bento--tasty well seasoned boneless fried chicken pieces with finely shredded cabbage, garlic chives with egg, thinly slice marinated bamboo shoot, 2 pieces of tempura roll, kimchi, and sushi rice with a sour plum . I tried to order another bento next evening via food delivery but the restaurant had closed

This is more an izakaya than a restaurant. So do not expect to have eat as much as you can sushi…read morehere and they only accept cash as payment. Try the deep fried dishes together with sake, shochu or beer. The taste is like Japanese homemade mom's comfort food.