Food was salty. Ramen soup: salty, Tofu& vegetable tempura: the smoked shoyu was way too unnecessarily salty; beef tongue ochazuke: soup was very salty So we drank a lot of cold water. Service was meh. We finished a few dishes during the meal, and the table was getting crowded. But the waitress was in no interest to help take those empty huge plates away while running past our table. Btw the rest room was super dark--the light was super dimmed, I don't understand...as if they wouldn't like you to see the cleanliness of the rest room 😂
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Jenn Jiang
Kemuri is definitely not a typical American Japanese restaurant; if you’re not raw fish eater you can enjoy much broader range of different cooked and uncooked Japanese food beyond sushi rolls and sashimi at this restaurant. However it is far from providing an authentic Japanese food experience. Which authentic Japanese restaurant does not provide tempura sauce but soy sauce for a vegetable tempura dish? And their smoked soy sauce, the staple of Japanese cuisine basic sauce is very salty and dark, another mistake. Other disappointment included real tough overcooked beef tongue and thick fried pork chop not juicy due to problems with the flours. The only dish we truly enjoyed is sardine with cheese, a fusion of east and west. That is probably the strength of this restaurant’s cooking but when I ordered simply traditional Japanese food, it is far from perfect. All that being said if someone wants atypical American Japanese food, this is the place to go.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Mako Cheng
Kemuri is GREAT! I normally come with my family, and Kemuri never disappoints. I think its known for Japanese food, and it is absolutely great. I love the oxtail and wagyu, and we normally have the same waiter. She gave us a free ice cream coupon for across the street! I wish I could give service, and this whole place, over 5 stars. I come very often and I will continue to.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Chloe Fang
$20 udon had only 1 piece of veggie and 1 piece of meat (the meat tastes bad like too hard) ……..sashimi plate is better
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
Ashley Hung
The grilled veggies were seasoned soooo well but didn’t feel too heavy either. Corn was good, but drunken monk did it better. I think kemuri’s was overfried just a bit and hardened more than it should have. Still so good though. But the star of the show was the WAGYU GARLIC RICE. I thought it would be fried rice but it was more of a charred sticky rice situation and it exceeded my expectations by so much. The steak was also extremely tender and YUM, great combo. I’m not the biggest fan of udon but they did a really nice job with the chewiness of the udon and the thin yet flavorful broth. Their menu is extensive (but not overwhelmingly so), and I want to come back to try everything else!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Xiang Li
Good food and vibe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Morris Saypanya
Japanese style wagyu rice dishes i believe its what they are known for They make a sort.of wagyu with garlic chips and then toast the rice with an offering of i believe a tea to be added after or in small portions
Unique flavors but very simple Nice vibe and the waitresses were friendly and knowledgeable
They have classic dishes as well and very good appetizers
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
James Groeneveld
Food was difficult to eat atmosphere was dead.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Marc Beban
Still my favorite place in town!
One of my top three in Redwood City. An izakaya style place with signature smoked dishes. The smoked sashimi is a staple for me, as is the yaki oni benedict. You gotta try this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joshua Green
Vibes are immaculate at night. The mood lighting and the food are perfect! Would recommend the Wagyu and Rice dish that comes with dashi broth!
I also walked away a bit disappointed. The service stood out in a negative way. Host insisted on sitting us at the bar even though half the tables were empty and remained that way throughout our meal. The food did not make up for that. The uni was not fresh in the paella. The beef tongue was decent although a bit salty at times. The takoyaki was also slightly too salty. The fish collar of the day wasn't bad though. Overall, if they just tighten the ship up a bit I think they have something decent to build off of.
Daniel Long
Food good. Service bland. Music atrocious and too loud.
Till Chen
The portion size is way too small
northmatt
The food had a couple vegan options and several vegetarian options with modifications. It would be great to have more explicit instructions on the menu to the items that could be modified, for now only vegetarian ones are noted.
Ken Dax
First time here and had no expectations. I was blown away by the food - started with the anchovy garlic edamame which elevated humble edamame in a big way. Skewers were all delicious, minus is they’re small so savor each bite. Unagi paella was so flavorful with amazing textures - how did they do that!
Food was salty. Ramen soup: salty, Tofu& vegetable tempura: the smoked shoyu was way too unnecessarily salty; beef tongue ochazuke: soup was very salty
So we drank a lot of cold water.
Service was meh. We finished a few dishes during the meal, and the table was getting crowded. But the waitress was in no interest to help take those empty huge plates away while running past our table.
Btw the rest room was super dark--the light was super dimmed, I don't understand...as if they wouldn't like you to see the cleanliness of the rest room 😂
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 3
Kemuri is definitely not a typical American Japanese restaurant; if you’re not raw fish eater you can enjoy much broader range of different cooked and uncooked Japanese food beyond sushi rolls and sashimi at this restaurant. However it is far from providing an authentic Japanese food experience. Which authentic Japanese restaurant does not provide tempura sauce but soy sauce for a vegetable tempura dish? And their smoked soy sauce, the staple of Japanese cuisine basic sauce is very salty and dark, another mistake. Other disappointment included real tough overcooked beef tongue and thick fried pork chop not juicy due to problems with the flours. The only dish we truly enjoyed is sardine with cheese, a fusion of east and west. That is probably the strength of this restaurant’s cooking but when I ordered simply traditional Japanese food, it is far from perfect. All that being said if someone wants atypical American Japanese food, this is the place to go.
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 4
Kemuri is GREAT!
I normally come with my family, and Kemuri never disappoints. I think its known for Japanese food, and it is absolutely great. I love the oxtail and wagyu, and we normally have the same waiter. She gave us a free ice cream coupon for across the street! I wish I could give service, and this whole place, over 5 stars. I come very often and I will continue to.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
$20 udon had only 1 piece of veggie and 1 piece of meat (the meat tastes bad like too hard) ……..sashimi plate is better
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 1
Service: 3
The grilled veggies were seasoned soooo well but didn’t feel too heavy either. Corn was good, but drunken monk did it better. I think kemuri’s was overfried just a bit and hardened more than it should have. Still so good though. But the star of the show was the WAGYU GARLIC RICE. I thought it would be fried rice but it was more of a charred sticky rice situation and it exceeded my expectations by so much. The steak was also extremely tender and YUM, great combo. I’m not the biggest fan of udon but they did a really nice job with the chewiness of the udon and the thin yet flavorful broth. Their menu is extensive (but not overwhelmingly so), and I want to come back to try everything else!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Good food and vibe
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Japanese style wagyu rice dishes i believe its what they are known for
They make a sort.of wagyu with garlic chips and then toast the rice with an offering of i believe a tea to be added after or in small portions
Unique flavors but very simple
Nice vibe and the waitresses were friendly and knowledgeable
They have classic dishes as well and very good appetizers
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 4
Service: 4
Food was difficult to eat atmosphere was dead.
Atmosphere: 2
Food: 1
Service: 3
Still my favorite place in town!
One of my top three in Redwood City. An izakaya style place with signature smoked dishes. The smoked sashimi is a staple for me, as is the yaki oni benedict. You gotta try this place.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Vibes are immaculate at night. The mood lighting and the food are perfect! Would recommend the Wagyu and Rice dish that comes with dashi broth!
Restaurantji Recommends
I also walked away a bit disappointed. The service stood out in a negative way. Host insisted on sitting us at the bar even though half the tables were empty and remained that way throughout our meal. The food did not make up for that. The uni was not fresh in the paella. The beef tongue was decent although a bit salty at times. The takoyaki was also slightly too salty. The fish collar of the day wasn't bad though. Overall, if they just tighten the ship up a bit I think they have something decent to build off of.
Food good. Service bland. Music atrocious and too loud.
The portion size is way too small
The food had a couple vegan options and several vegetarian options with modifications. It would be great to have more explicit instructions on the menu to the items that could be modified, for now only vegetarian ones are noted.
First time here and had no expectations. I was blown away by the food - started with the anchovy garlic edamame which elevated humble edamame in a big way. Skewers were all delicious, minus is they’re small so savor each bite. Unagi paella was so flavorful with amazing textures - how did they do that!
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