Leichi is one of the few restaurants in the Bay Area that reminds me of Japan. The foods and the services are excellent.

Food is mediocre, service is friendly but very disorganized. We were given the bill before all the food even come out and they missed two of the dishes. read more

I brought my parents to Leichi for dinner recently. I did not particularly love any of the dishes so I was a little disappointed by that. White tuna sashimi - 5 slices for $12. I think it's pretty worth it. Quality is pretty good but my dad was hoping for the real milky white tuna meat. Instead, we were served the pink/dark pink version of "white tuna" so that was a bummer. Chicken cartilage karaage - I would not order this again. Definitely not what I was expecting. The karaage were little small pieces (about nickel sized in diameter) and totally filled with cartilage. There was barely any chicken meat so it literally felt like you were crunching on fried cartilage. Not good nor pleasant. Skip. Agedashi tofu - I'm sad to say that out of everything we had, this was probably the cheapest item but also my favorite. Can't complain with agedashi tofu done right - crispy on the outside, topped with a generous amount of grated daikon radish and bonito flakes. My one gripe: why was our agedashi tofu served LAST out of everything we got. Isn't it an appetizer and shouldn't it have come out first?? Saba (mackerel) meal - Not sure if this was a miscommunication or that I wasn't aware that they don't have the meal portion of this at dinnertime, but we were fully expecting something else from this dish. A) we thought it was going to be a grilled mackerel. Nowhere on the menu did it mention it was going to be raw! That was unfortunate. B) What happened to the meal part? I thought it came with other small dishes to complete a meal. Instead we got raw mackerel on top of rice in sushi form and that was it. Hot soba with duck - My 2nd favorite dish of the night. Great salty soy-based broth with a hint of yuzu. I enjoyed the soba as it was everything I was hoping for. Too bad there were only 2 small slices of grilled duck in the soup and 1 duck meatball? Or some other meatball type, I'm not sure. To be honest, I don't think it's worth the $18.5 for this if there is only 2 slices of duck.... Chawanmushi with snow crab - My parents really enjoyed the Chawanmushi but note that it's pretty small. Good for sharing between 2 people but no more than that. Grilled kalbi beef - 6 small slices of wagyu kalbi beef that you can grill yourself on the hot stone platter with some onions. It was good but definitely not as melt in your mouth as wagyu could be. I felt the beef was still a bit tendinous and stringy. Perhaps we did not choose the correct items this time. I would be willing to come back for a second visit and try some different dishes to see if my mind could be changed. This time, I was disappointed, not going to lie. read more

Yakitori is authentic, chicken skin was really good. I don't think they have too much options for sake

Wow, one of the best restaurants I've had in the Bay Area. Would recommend trying to get a reservation as we walked in and it was a 2 and a half hour wait. It's a pretty small cozy place and tapas style. My personal favorite was the house made tofu, chicken cartilage karaage, and salmon chazuke, I wouldn't recommend personally the beef tongue as it wasn't as good as everything else we got but WOW. I haven't had food as good as this in the South Bay. Would 100% recommend coming here. read more

I came here for a special lunch to celebrate my wedding anniversary last year.  This year, I came for a special dinner to celebrate my daughter's birthday.  She and I both love noodles and tofu; and both of these items are hand made in house!  We ordered 2 servings of each, the soba noodles were reserved ahead of time via phone because I know they only make 10 servings per evening.   *Cold Soba with grated yam - cold option is better than the hot option, the subtle taste come through better, also more chewy.  I was surprised by the yam which was a paste form, I felt it was one more condiment that made it more complicated. *Hot Soba soup with chicken - it was good, but the hot soup keeps cooking the noodle which then cannot tell it was home made. *Cold Udon - it was also excellent, I wonder if this is home made or not, very simple but perfect. *Grill Beef Tongue - cook at the table over a fired stone, meat was thinly sliced, tasted just OK.  Side note, I feel moving live fire is a hazard.   *Sashimi 6 kind - expensive but very good.  The scallop and smoked octopus was just OK, but all the fishes was so fresh. *Salmon Chazuke - smoked thick salmon over rice, pour dashi soup into rice before eating.  Daughter loves this dish. *Goma Dofu - Home Made Sesame Tofu topped with uni, taste like custard dessert, so wonderful. *Ginger Ale - made in house, pickled sweeten ginger and juice with seltzer water, very nice. *Panna Cotta - just OK, not so special *Soba Crepe - buckwheat crepe is tougher and hardier, wrapper up match ice cream, it was OK *Soba Pudding - looks very plain but taste very special, kind of nutty and earthy like, loved it read more

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The portions are small. Even though some dishes were tasty, the server we had was so rude. He overcharged us and when we asked him about it, he wouldn't remove the charge. You just don't expect 0 star service from a "nice" restaurant like this. Reading other reviews, it seems many experience the same. In the South Bay there are many Japanese eateries you should visit. This isn't one of them. Please, take your hard earned money elsewhere. read more

Very small restaurant with pretty good izakaya style eats. The menu is very extensive. All the dishes are shareable so it's great to order many different things to try. Overall, I'd come back to try more of the unique dishes and the lunch special as well! Dishes I would recommend: fresh yuba with uni was delicious, smoked duck had a wonderful and light texture, any of the grilled fish would be a great choice. The sashimi assortment was a bit of a letdown - the fish weren't as fresh as I expected. All portions sizes were generous, though. The restaurant itself is very small, so it's best to make a reservation in advance. The staff is friendly and pretty efficient. Customer service was as expected. read more

Excellent food, reasonable price . Only need advanced appointments. . Definitely recommend.

Poor service. Overpriced for mediocre quality. My family and I had almost $300 worth of food - the only thing that was memorable was the rock cod. Not going back. read more

The servers were super attentive. And the ambiance was cozy. Food were exceptional. Grilled black cod is a must-order.

Every single dish here blew me away! The attention to detail of the aesthetic and tasting experiences was very apparent. The atmosphere is very relaxed but the dishes have a fine dining vibe. Highlights for me were the housemade tofu, smoked duck, and grilled fish, but honestly you can't go wrong with anything here. The housemade soy sauce was also so good that we bought 2 bottles to bring home - tasty with no preservatives. Great for any special occasions! Service is also amazing - our server gave us amazing recommendations and was very patient with us ordering more as the meal went on. read more

I used to love this place, but my recent three experiences left me disappointed and wonder if there was a change in the ownership. The food remains great (still a bit on the expensive spectrum for the taste) but the services have severely degraded. For three times no host/hostess greeted us after walking in, leaving us standing at the narrow doorway for more than five minutes, and among those three times, booking a reservation didn't guarantee a table despite some empty ones visible in the restaurant. Leichi used to have both great food and great services, but for the first time, I walked out after being informed there's again no table, feeling not missing out. read more

You'd miss it if you weren't looking for it. This places serves authentic, high quality Japanese cuisine. I think all their dishes are made fresh and in small batches, they make their own fresh tofu and soy sauce. What makes this experience extra special is their attention to detail with the condiments and side dishes, so uniquely Japanese. Some of the highlights are their sashimi, curry and grilled salmon. They also have some more exotic dishes (salted innards of sea cucumber?) if that's your thing. read more

Leichi (from the outside) is an unassuming little place but I'm so glad I decided to check it out. The atmosphere is on the more casual side but the food is great quality! What we ordered - Hot soba with duck: solid soba, the duck was very tender and the broth tasted standard for soba broth. Uni tofu: this was amazing. The tofu was so soft it just melted in my mouth with the uni. The sauce is heavenly too and we honestly devoured this one. Chicken cartilage karaage: this was recommended by our server but I wasn't the hugest fan. Maybe my palate is just unrefined lol but I prefer chicken karaage. The cartilage left a weird aftertaste and texture in my mouth :-( Sashimi sampler plate: yummy! Half of the fish came on a salt rock which we thought was such a nice touch (although it did make the fish super salty, a little too salty for my tastes). I'd definitely come back here to try more (or just to eat that uni tofu again...). Solid spot if you're looking for japanese tapas in Santa Clara! read more

Leichi - Uni dofu - Japanese Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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It's unfortunate that their service is not top notch. I called to make a reservation and the guy on the other line stated, "could you make a reservation on yelp because we are very busy now". That's not the type of service you would want to hear, but I'll leave it as that. read more

I had a great dining experience at Leichi! We came around noon time and was seated within ten minutes and received very fast, informative service. My server Raoul was super friendly and welcoming. We ordered the smoked duck, appetizer set, curry katsu, and the beef udon. The appetizer set came with edamame, pickled? octopus, and karaage. The karaage here goes crazyyyyy I don't think I've had any karaage before that was this crispy or juicy!! The smoked duck was also really unique and tender in flavor compared to how I've had it before in bao. It was cool to see it with the smoke under the cup too! Definitely a unique experience for sure. The beef udon was a solid 10/10 and was a good serving size especially for the price, and the curry katsu was huge!! The meat was super thick and tender and the sauce had a really nice flavor to it. I forgot to take a picture but we also had the hojicha panna cotta which made me really happy, it's not often where I can find hojicha flavored desserts besides bingsu or ice cream. I would definitely come back here again. The place also had a really pleasant interior, I would for sure recommend Leichi to anyone looking for a cozy spot for some good japanese food. read more

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10/04/21 Service - 5 / Ambiance - 4 / Food - 5 / Price - 4 Reservations - Yes Outdoor Seating - Yes COVID: All the staff wore masks, and they had outdoor seating as well. I've been missing authentic, warm Japanese dishes. I always used to frequent Wa Okan Dining in San Diego and have been looking for a similar go to spot. Leichi excels in providing a similar experience and quality at a similar price point. I can see myself frequenting back to satisfy my cravings. Hence, I got too excited and forgot to take photos before eating haha. I am looking forward to coming back to try their extensive menu. I also want to sit inside next time; it looked really cute and calming with the low lighting. Food Tempura Seiro - 4/5 Simple, quality handmade soba. It was exactly what I was craving. Steamed sake black cod - 5/5 I usually get my black cod grilled and decided to try the steamed version this time around. It was just as sweet, buttery and delicious. I do prefer the grilled more for that smoky, crispier texture in the skin. *All ratings are out of 5 read more

The black cod is the best! I really love that all the dishes are small portion at Leichi so we could try more different ones lol

I highly recommend the sashimi here. We got the sashimi platter and it comes with a variety of fish. The fish was fresh and I think the salmon and yellow tail were great. The other dishes were decent, but not as great as the sashimi. The price was reasonable for the sashimi as well. Service was great. Nice and polite staffs. This place is a little small, so I would recommend making a reservation if you want to avoid the line. read more

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Been three times for date night and group of 6. Very good service, food is delicious and lots of options to share and pair with drinks. Would definitely go back. End with soba! read more

4.2/5 came here on a Wednesday night with a reservation. Booked 5:30pm and was told my reservation will end till 7pm, which is fare Pros: - love the izakaya atmosphere - tableware are pretty - food are all good! Highly recommend ---- Gindara Saikyo! MVP of the night. ---- hotate uni ---- Tako karaage ---- Tai chatuke - service was good and food comes pretty fast - outside plenty of parking space Cons: - pricy for an izakaya, we four ppl end up paying $70/person...or is it just the new norm in the bay?? - food that I think was just ok ---- Tako Ume, not much Tako but a lot yam :/ barely taste Ume flavor ---- yuba, maybe it's just me, but not a fan of the sweet soy sauce. Also only a little uni ---- chawanmushi, taste was good but not worth for $11 per cup, the cup was just feast size ---- ebi baguette, taste good but I barely taste ebi because it's in the cream :/ a bit overpriced ---- grill tongue, NOT RECOMMEND. First you have to grill it yourself, which your may ruin the nice meat. Second is the hot stone only has one thin layer of fat, once you finished grilling the first 2 pieces, it dries out. And the rest of the meat will start to become very watery like boiling it :/ not my favor read more

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For the longest time, I've been wanting to try Leichi's Special Premium Lunch which consists of a chef chosen set of many small dishes (tapas) called izakaya. When I had it in Japan in a small college town called Tsukuba, I fell in love with this type of lunch and glad I found one local to me. On the day that I went, here were the dishes. (Using the attached photo, begin with the upper left hand corner and continue clockwise) Sukiyaki with two pieces of daikon, yuba (mountain yam with tofu skin), a trio of sashimi, pickles, and Brussels sprouts with mushrooms, miso soup, rice, chawanmushi, and broiled salmon with miso in the center. Everything was tasty. I could have made a meal of the sukiyaki. Accompanying the meal is tea and homemade soy sauce. If you're unfamiliar with Japanese food, the yuba will be the most foreign due to how it looks, but the taste is very mild. After lunch, I tried a dessert of panna cotta with a strawberry drizzle and a flan which the Japanese call purin (like pudding). Both desserts were homemade and YUM! If you want a table for either lunch or dinner, you must make a reservation. Dinner reservations are coveted so read the rules as there are penalties involved. I can't wait to come back. read more

Leichi - Leichi's Special Premium Lunch - Japanese Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Super small spot but amazing food! Hidden Gem for sure. Service can be a mixed as it gets very busy but it's a great place for relaxing & spending the night chatting over beers. read more

I placed a two Stewed Hamburg Steak Bento on 7/22 afternoon. When I was eating the hamburg steak, its texture was soft and mushy. The flavor was low meaty. I took a closed look of the hamburger steak and it was red/raw in the interior. I was expected that the hamburger steak should be well done, rather than rare. Leichi is one of my favorite Japanese bento restaurant. Their side dish and entry are so good. But this doneness of hamburger is unacceptable. So I took action and called the restaurant. The waitress was kind and very helpful; however, the chef's response was like what the fuck. The chef said the meat in their store will be red after cooking or microwave. I know that some meat after reaching the cooking temperature can still be red/pink, but this is not the case (I had a Ph D focused on Meat Science). If the color of meat is red but cooked, the flavor should be meaty. When I ate the hamburger, it was definitely a strong RAW beef flavor. Then, the chef said that I could microwave it. If the color is not red anymore, I could get a refund. But I need to drive to the restaurant and show the chef the picture. I actually did not care about the refund since I had a decent job and ~$30 is not a big deal to me. The part pissed me off is that the chef treated me like a idiot who cannot distinguish RAW beef v.s. cooked beef. I will never order from this restaurant anymore. I attached pictures and you can make your own judgement. One picture is the original hamburger in bento and another one is what it looked like after microwave. NOTE: I never and ever tried to get any refund because I did not feel like to. read more

Leichi - After I microwaved the hamburger, it did look red. However, the taste was way different compared to the raw hamburger. - Japanese Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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Food is delicious. Reasonable priced & very authentic. One tip - make a reservation; they get very very busy

Our go to Japanese Restaurant if we want something special. We have been coming to this restaurant for over 6 years, and they never disappoint. Love their fresh sashimi and specials. read more

The service here always sucks! The food is good I would've liked to give them a better review until I found hair in my bento... I dined here prepandemic times but the service and overall experience was awful. They gave me a used napkin with gum someone spit out. Without complaining I asked for a new napkin but the waitress had the guts to question me like what's wrong with the one you have so then I showed her and only then she was like oh here's a new one. They also gave me the wrong order (I ordered oyster chawanmushi but they gave me some other chawanmushi and was charged for the price of the oyster chawanmushi which costed more) they were very unapologetic I was going to just keep the wrong order they gave me anyways but it was as if they expected me to be okay with and didn't offer to replace the order with the correct dish. I never went back but then during the pandemic I wanted to support local restaurants and decided to give them another chance so I ordered takeout directly by calling them and picked up the order myself. I took the extra effort to call in and pick up since delivery apps take up to 30% commission but I obviously made a mistake here. The other reviews about the poor service are pretty accurate. When I walked in to the restaurant despite the fact that there are several employees and no customers everyone goes out of their way to avoid eye contact with you while you awkwardly wait by the entrance. There is a chef working at the front but he tries the hardest to avoid eye contact lol. After about 5 awkward minutes I finally get the chef's attention but without a word he just points to the waitress hiding by the back. The rest of the employees look so flustered and busy but I was basically the only other customer in the whole restaurant so I can't really understand why everyone was avoiding me for so long. After waiting very long I finally got to pay and pick up my food. I ordered donkatsu bento for takeout. Overall the donkatsu tasted good but the other side dishes included in the bento were okay but it was extra disappointing to find hair in it... I immediately lost my appetite after finding hair in my food but it didn't help that I woke up with food poisoning the very next morning after eating their food for dinner the night before. After discovering hair in my food I wouldn't recommend even ordering delivery with them as they are probably NOT a very hygienic or food safe restaurant especially during a pandemic. I hope that they can step up their game in providing a better service and can maintain basic food hygiene rules. read more

Leichi - Hair included in my bento I ordered for takeout - Japanese Near Me - Santa Clara, California

Very good food. Wonderful service. The restaurant accepts walk-in but, to be safe, make a reservation. Will come again to try their Treasure box/omakase. read more

The food was good. We ordered a 3 different kinds of Sashimi, beef tongue, uni tofu, sushi box, bamboo shoots..... (5 stars) But I don't think I'd go back again due to the lack of the servers' attentiveness.... It was very difficult getting their attention to remove things like the hot stone grill or excess plates. I also tried ordering the soba noddle ( one of the specialties on their menu). They told me they were all sold out. However the couple next to us, who came much later, was able to get the soba noodle - no problem... how come?!?!.... well, I asked the server and her response was that some one canceled their order.... understandable... but what ever happened to first come first serve... I understand it was just a soba... but the feeling was not right.... read more

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Always make a reservation! This restaurant is on the smaller side, but luckily, reservations can be made on Yelp pretty easily. For lunch, I highly recommend the Premium Lunch where you get 7 items for $24. This includes sashimi (fresh & buttery tasting), steamed egg custard, miso grilled fish (such a nice, delicate flavor), marinated veggies, daikon + meat (mine was pork), house-made tofu, pickles, and rice (the fluffiest rice!). My husband got the Poke Lunch special, and while I didn't try everything, the poke was very flavorful with a mix of tobiko and fish. Service is friendly and attentive. I want to come back to try their omakase appetizer during dinner! read more

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Highly recommended if you want to try Japanese foods(not California roll) I have no complaints for any dishes I ordered I'm not tofu lover but the tofu surprised me, And the uni and scallops are amazing, it tastes so fresh i can feel the sweet from the foods itself. Same as sashimi. Gonna visit soon to try other dishes for sure!!!!!!!! read more

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my fav lunch spot!! i come here EVERY weekend! all the lunch bentos are super affordable and so filling. my favorite is the salmon bento, it comes with two salmon, soup, bowl of rice, side dishes, and curry potato balls. there's also $8 cold udon so good! read more

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I've been here a a bunch of times and also ordered some of their food. I think I tried most of the dishes on the menu and everything was delicious. The place is cozy, clean and the service is great. Great place to go on a date. read more

10/10 the food is absolutely delicious, I had the Tempura and the Black Cod Bento. The staff is very nice and easy to talk to.

This is the 3rd time coming here over the span of 2 years. Have to say the quality is consistent. Wide selection of items on their menu which can be a bit overwhelming. There is no photo on the menu so it was a lot of reading. Dishes are tapas portion which is great because you can have many dishes without being overly stuffed. Homemade Goma tofu is a must have. Strong goma flavor yet very refreshing. Sashimi is fresh and the cut is good in portion. Love it that the salmon were served on Himalayan salt block giving the fish a kick in flavor. Highlight is the thinly sliced grill beef tongue. The beef tongues are served raw with a small hot stone over fire. Let alone the presentation is great, it gives you the option to grill to your own liking. Chawanmushi is always good and seasonally changes, this time it is crab meat. Texture is always very silky... just right. Black cod was cooked just right, flavor is good... just wish the portion is a bit bigger. read more

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Very crowded, long waiting time with no one paying you any attention or warning you of the long waiting time. Bad service.

Small izakaya place, great food. Reasonably easy to get a reservation. Wasabi octopus was my favorite. Black cod was well executed. Grilled sardines good. House tofu great texture. Hotate (lightly seared scallops) uni were fine. Will come back to try their well known soba and smoked duck. Nice service. Great technique. Solid 4 stars. Not at all good for small kids. read more

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Leichi has been and continues to be my favorite japanese spot in the south bay. I especially recommend it for the lunch time set meals for amazing quality to price ratio while oozing that authentic japanese approach to simple yet elevated cooking. Try their marinated salmon and their tempura. Trust me, this place would slot right in japan. read more

I was really in the mood for a Chirashi bowl. I came with mu co-worker. We ordered Himachi bowl and sashimi combo. There were a lot of chirashi in my plate and I really enjoyed it! The owner and server were super nice too! Will definitely visit again!! read more

Leichi - Chirashi - Japanese Near Me - Santa Clara, California

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