Heard great things about Kodawari, and it definitely did NOT disappoint!…read more The interior itself is a little small, but they do manage to fit a good amount of people at a time for the size. The only thing I would say was that the portions were a little small for the price, but the food itself was VERY delicious !!!!

FOOD: 6/10 SERVICE: -5/10…read moreAMBIANCE: 8/10 FOOD: 6/10 Chicken Karaage was the highlight of our meal. Chicken was juicy and with a light crispy batter, paired with the spicy mayo. The Lion King Roll, Cruncy Roll and Beef Katsu were okay. SERVICE: -5/10 Service was pretty much not there. Asked for straws three times and never got them. Ordered hot tea, followed up twice with server to make sure they put the order in. When the tea was served it was not HOT, not even close. It was cold/lukewarm at best. Ordered everything at once but asked for appetizers first and then our entrees and they told us they would accommodate us but then brought our entree first. AMBIANCE: 8/10 Aesthetically pleasing, loved the modern minimal look.

Casual but clean and tidy, this sushi spot is tucked away in a strip mall with a nice parking lot…read more It was not too busy on a Saturday at 5, but my friend told me that was unusual. You can make a reservation ahead just in case! We enjoyed: - green tea: hot and refilled constantly (complimentary too!) - miso soup: comforting - blue fin toro app: tender, melting in my mouth and flavorful! - regular omakase: stunning presentation, each one flavorful and unique. - winter wonderland: crunchy and tasty tempura roll - lion king: melt in your mouth deliciousness Don't be fooled by the casual interior, this place is tasty and some of the freshest tasting fish. Service was quick and polite. They quietly refilled our drinks without us needing to ask. Would definitely return for more.

My husband and I decided to have dinner here after a dragonboat race. I had it bookmarked after my…read morebrother came here a while back. We were able to make reservations before we headed there (15 min) away. The place was packed, but we got seated pretty quickly. Based on reviews, toro was the thing to get. With that in mind and getting recommendations from the waiter, we decided on rolls. They were all very good esp the toro ones. There was one that was not as amazing as the others. I think it was Angry Fish. The service was fast, but maybe not the most friendly. Just seems like they were rushing. They were busy, so that was probably why. Overall, I would come again for good sushi.

A great hidden gem located in San Carlos, Soko Soko is not to be missed. The restaurant has a…read morebeautiful interior and very delicious food. We ordered 2 rolls and a Chirachi Don, and each dish was so so good! The fish was fresh and melted in my mouth, and the rolls were exceptionally tasty! I'm not sure where the fish is sourced from, but it tasted like it was just caught! At an affordable price, the Chirachi Don included so many types of fish and had generous portions. I was so full afterwards! In addition, the service was great! Our server was attentive and friendly and helped us choose between the so many different options. Highly recommend!!

This is the 2nd time we're coming back here and the food is always so good and fresh. The service…read moreis very fast and the servers are all friendly (Thanks Janet!). We're very specific with our sushi and they're always so accommodating. The place is clean and well-decorated. The bathroom was very clean and cute too lol Stephanie the owner checked in with us personally to make sure the food was good. Highly recommended.

Found this cozy Japanese spot after work and really enjoyed it! The Unagi Clay Pot Rice was my…read morefavorite--freshly grilled eel with crispy rice, and you can add tea for ochazuke. Also loved the refreshing Shishito Salad, Yakitori Combo, tender Sizzling Ribeye, and salmon ochazuke with bonito flakes. Great food even if you're not into sashimi or sushi! Around $120 before drinks for everything, plus easy parking. Definitely worth a try!

The lunch prices brought us in, but, I'm, I guess we got what we paid for, which was cheap tasting…read morefood. Think of an overpriced cafeteria and there you have it. Not sure why this place has such high marks when 1. The curry has a very paste like out of the box flavor 2. The service is slow when we were only one of two tables during the whole hour 3. The sushi didn't taste fresh 4. The miso soup is very salty 4. Coworkers noodles tasted like it was from a plastic package with cheap watery broth 5. The meat in my curry was tough. I can't come back here. The roll was very fishy and that curry was sooooooo awful. I would wash it down with water, but it's impossible to get that server over here. I just didn't have a good meal or experience here.

I love this place! I particularly like it because it's open late and the menu offerings are just…read moregreat for a late night spot. Being Japanese, I love skewers! Lots of options here, the seasonings are a little different from Japanese skewers though just FYI. The mentaiko udon is a must!! The menu is quite large and I haven't tried everything (and I have my favorites, all here) but I always look forward to going back and trying something new.

Exactly what you're expecting when you want skewers. Everything was flavorful and well-cooked…read more Favorites were spicy beef skewers, mochi bacon, scallop in butter sauce, grilled oyster with garlic. The mentaiko udon stir fry was ok. I would skip the duck breast as it was kind of dry and not as flavorful as the other options they have. Price is borderline on still being somewhat reasonable but can add up quick if you have a big appetite. Decor made the ambiance nice. Service was fine. Food may be a little slow to come out depending on how busy they are. There is street parking but may be hard to get a spot during dinner time.

Good quality food! Peaceful Ghibli music, friendly service, and cute and clean ambiance…read more From the chirashi, the salmon, shrimp, and Hamachi was super good. Thick generous slices! Rice had good flavor and texture. The salmon was so good (buttery and nutty) we ordered more in sashimi form and got ocean trout which had really good flavor too.

Terrible service, wrong orders, and mandatory 18% tip. Never coming back…read more I don't mind the head count policy. I mind being lied to. The server claimed the Lion King roll was being made to stall us. I had to personally walk up to the sushi chef to cancel it, only then did the server admit they forgot the order. You didn't "cancel it for us"; I had to intervene. You ignored that the server misheard Purple Rain and punched in Rainbow instead. Staff should repeat orders back if unsure, not guess. Tips are for service. An automatic 18% charge for lying, wrong items, and ignored requests is completely unearned.

We easily got reservations for 4 online. When we got to the restaurant the inside looked great. We…read moregot seated very quickly and were given a quick introduction of the restaurant and how it works. We ordered through a digital menu and the wait for the food was a little long. Our server Kan was super helpful. I got the grilled lobster tail and the garlic vermicelli. The lobster was smaller than we thought, but the taste made up for it. The vermicelli was delicious, it was so good. When I finished eating the vermicelli I put the lobster in the sauce and it was amazing. The only downside is it is pretty pricey, the 4 of us ate for around 160, 180 with tip. Otherwise it was amazing would come back!

Ah, the yakitori experience was quintessential! It was a social environment with lots of people…read moresocializing, and it was enjoyable! I could hear the soundtrack going such as the classic "Stay with me" song, and City Hunters theme, and Pokemon - hey, which was on the tele non-stop, indeed! The food was great and tasted good! Tasty morsels for splurging every once in a blue moon for me or several, many moons for me, or if someone is treating! Thanks, bae! The staff were also understanding and friendly. Just note that this is for the casual experience, relaxed, and non-rushed where there is great reward in high quality taste. We got the 7-skewer set and some additional skewers, and it was enough to share in our group! All-in-all, I was satisfied and impressed by the quality.

The food was really good, as well as the service. I came here for the lunch buffet special with my…read morefamily and was really satisfied with what we ate. Would definitely come again!

Once you have good quality meat, it's hard to go back to before-- all the meat selections melt in…read moreyour mouth. The quality is consistent every time I visit. The seafood platter comes with a variety of options, but we typically opt for just scallops. They tailor the amount of scallops based on the party size. Not an extensive variety of vegetables, but it's always fresh. They have a sauce bar, fruit station and ice cream machine. The downside is that sometimes the ice cream machine is down. Occasionally when the restaurant gets busy, the self serve stations get extremely crowded in the small section. Overall, friendly service and high quality food options.

The 18 dollar Pho is the best I've had. The soup is so fantastic…read more Everything else is wonderful.

The beef pho was delicious. And huge portion for $18 well well worth the price. Customer service…read morewas very professional. And food came out fast.

I've come here twice now and I didn't realize I never left a review the first time I came! So now I…read morefeel I have even more to say how you much gotta come to Kajiken! Both times I've come I hadn't had to wait very long and our second time was with a large group including kids. Our server was great in helping us preorder before we could get seated and we only waited 15 minutes. We all ordered the same things: half of us ordered the original aburasoba and the other half ordered the homura aburasoba and the food came out quickly. They kindly gave us little bowls for the kiddos and forks and all the kids loved the noodles and the adults shared a large pitcher of beer. All in all, best aburasoba and one of my favorite spots in San Mateo!

Overall: 4.1/5 [dine in]…read more There was a line on Friday night but it moved fast. The seating inside is pretty tight so your table is basically an inch from the next one, almost like a communal dining experience. Nikumori Aburasoba ($18.50): Spicy pork, pork slices, green onion, and ajitama. The spicy ground pork was delicious and they were generous with the thin pork slices, though those weren't as good as the ground pork. The ajitama was perfectly jammy. The aburasoba flavors were okay but less flavorful than mazesoba, which I now know I prefer. Wagyu Roast Beef Aburasoba ($25.50) + Chashu ($1.75) + Spicy Minced Pork ($3.95) + Ajitama ($2.50): Wagyu roast beef, crispy onions, green onions, butter onion sauce, yogurt sauce, and raw egg yolk. The chashu was average but the wagyu roast beef was thin and incredibly tender. The yogurt sauce and raw egg yolk made this one pretty creamy which I actually liked more than the Nikumori. Ume ($1.50): Did not like this at all. Hard pass.