851 Cherry Ave #34, San Bruno, CA

Jack R.

This Chawanmushi was Michelin quality. It  almost made me forget the fact that this restaurant is in a strip mall in San Bruno. Eating this crab and roe Chawanmushi made me feel that, for a second, I was in Las Vegas or something. Simply outstanding dish.

Their fried corn, though it sounds simple, was sweet and packed with tons of flavor. You know how I always complain that fried food or hot food isn’t hot? Not here. Everything was fresh, hot, and fried food was freshly fried. Their oyster with uni was great. Not briny or stale. Their nigiri had fresh fish. Their spicy tuna over rice had just enough spice.

Their sunomono salad was a great balance or sweet and sour. Their flan was amazing. The perfect dessert.

Their softshell crab and prawn tempura could have used some sauce. Also, it’s weird that the prawns are like popcorn shrimp prawns lol. I would skip this next time. Their beef tataki which has a longer wait time (see menu) and was a no-go. Think of some kind of medium rare cooked beef at a Chinese banquet with that soy sauce…this wasn’t a Japanese beef tataki served rare. Wouldn’t order this again.

Overall, I liked almost everything we ordered.

$2 charge for tea, just warning you. They said it’s their own tea with matcha blend. Tastes regular to me. Wish it was stronger, really. Reminds me of a light Chinese tea.

Service was attentive and great. Music was even better. They had some remix Maroon 5, Drake, etc tunes on.

Just comes to show that you can get some great Japanese food in a boring strip mall.

Photo of Ichika Izakaya - San Bruno, CA, United States