Izakaya Restaurants near Oakland, CA

“Good food, but expensive for what it is. Very authentic and has a similar flavor profile as some of the noodle places I've had in Japan. I ordered the duck soba and the soup was quite bitter and medicinal. I can see why some people like it but personally not for me.“

“We ordered Salted Boiled Edamame as an appetizer, Unagi Rice Bowl, Tonkatsu Ramen, Miso Tonkatsu Ramen and a bottle of local Nigori Sake. The Tonkatsu soup is very umami delicious paired with seaweed, bamboo shoots, thinly sliced ear mushrooms, half boiled egg and two cuts of boiled pork Chashu. The Unagi Rice Bowl has two skewers of Unagi, which lacks more roasting, it needs to be burned or toasted more. It has a combination of fresh seaweeds, fresh salad and plain rice. There were three of us and we paid a little over $80. We will definitely come back for more Ramen and Yakitori. This place is highly recommended!“

“Great fried chicken, and my friends food truck is there!“

“The food is fabulous, the staff is fabulous. It was a wonderful experience. If I lived here I would go back.“

“Pretty good food. I think we will go back“

“This is one of our favorite places, though the quality/taste of the food is variable. In other words, you need to know what to order because they do some things better than others, which isn't too surprising given the many choices in their menu. My recommendation is to get the mentaiko carbonara, IMHO the best thing they serve.“

“They do a very good job of creating “sushi” dishes to vegan acceptable options. My family really enjoyed the food as did I. And as others have mentioned the restaurant could do better in terms of atmosphere the tables by the window are ok but anything near the entrance sucks.“

“Good for lunch. Really value for your money. I had the sashimi lunch set and my wife had the chicken wing and salmon sushi set and both were really fresh and good. Will definitely come again ! Weekdays - reservations not really needed, but I've come by on weekends and you should make reservations.“

“The food was delicious, especially the veggie dumplings and the vegetable dragon roll. And our server was incredibly nice! Also, the cute fish cup they served us in was for sale, so of course I had to buy it. Overall a great gem in the city.“

“This is a great Japanese restaurant. We had a great time. The food was excellent. The atmosphere is quaint and romantic. You can sit at wooden tables with chairs or sit on a mat at authentic Japanese style tables. I highly recommend this restaurant for fun casual dining or for a romantic date night.“

“Super delicious 👍 I never eat Japan food super good like this before.“

“在美國的日本味道，這是算不錯的“

“Happy hour menu is so good. The skewer platter is a great meal and also much love to the agedashi tofu. I drank a lot of hot sake and enjoyed just hanging out. I would avoid the beef tongue because it was a bit dry. The wagyu beef skewer was spot on.“

“Good food. I wish there was a little more broth, and I'm not a fan of thin noodles (personally), though the noodles were still good. You can add extra broth/noodles/toppings for +$5/ea. I like the location it's at, because it's right by the Embarcedero BART, making it a good option for lunch before the Pier.“

“We had the most wonderful dinner tonight at Noren Izakaya! Everything was fantastic from start to finish! From the service to the cocktails to the variety of food, to the dessert! Japanese yakitori and grilled street food and even sashimi! My new favorite! A must if you live or are visiting San Francisco! Oh! And tonight is not the night to skip dessert! 😘“

“EDIT: I felt its necessary to make the amendment that, although walking in without a reservation was a thing previously, we've now had multiple visits where we've stood at the counter for 2 hours never to be seated.

You can still eat the whole menu there, but its generally very crowded.

Getting reservations seems to be catered towards friends, or some type of mysterious system, as we no longer have been able to get a reservation even weeks in advance. The food is still the same.

Original Review: I can’t believe that I haven’t left a review for Ippuku; this is as close as you can get to a Tokyo alley izakaya, from the sasami raw chicken special menu (to do for), to the epic yakitori, to the massive shochu selection.

By far one of my top 5 favorite restaurants in the Bay Area, we’ve been here a good 30 times over the years and it has never once changed at all, thankfully!!! Never want it to change, it does everything so well.

Hokkaido squid, chicken oyster, chicken tartare, agadashi tofu, crab croquettes, these are some favorites.

Make a reservation if you can, but otherwise we often walk in and are seated within an hour. Fun to hang out at the bar and wait.“

“Bento boxes were great, so many options to chose from. Would definitely go back.“