This was our first visit. Our family lives in Santa Monica, and they recommended this restaurant.It was by far the most authentic delicious cuisine.Really amazing flavors.We all ordered a entrée and sides to share.What a food experience!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Tuna Dip
Zachary Mistry
The service was excellent, but the food was just OK.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Sendhil Kolandaivel
Great food and very friendly wait staff made for a great experience. The blow torched mackerel is a must try item on the menu. The grilled miso salmon was yummy too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blow Torched Mackerel
Savage Sun
Absolutely delicious. High quality authentic bento boxes for take out and great atmosphere for dine in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Henry Servin
Authentic down-home Japanese cuisine. Not your run-of-the-mill food. The quality and presentation are excellent and tasty at an affordable price point. This place reminds me that typical Japanese food is not just sushi and chicken skewers, but widely varied and fresh. A unique and friendly place in Santa Monica.Vegetarian options: Seaweed, mountain vegetables and vegan fare is plentiful.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Saboro Rice Bowl, Blow Torched Mackerel, Asari Clam with Garlic Butter
Zuv Is
The quality of food and service is good but the prices do not justify the amount of food you get. I would come back if the quantity of food increased.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
cv t
Low key, great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joan Stevens
Wow! We had no idea what to expect and were really impressed with the incredible flavors- the torched mackerel, eggplant, and gobo appetizers were amazing! Highly recommend the pork belly entree and Pannacotta dessert - the service, and the prices. We will absolutely be back!Kid-friendliness: We didn’t have our kids with but noticed a lot of families with kids
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blow Torched Mackerel
Isaac L.
Very healthy well rounded lots of veggies seaweed noodles & soupWe enjoyed eating here first time will be back
Rachael Levy
My first bento box delivery is amazing. I had the sweet potato croquette Bento, and it came filled with delicious vegetables and sides, so healthy and satisfying. Also ordered the marinated tofu and it’s very tasty. There was such a variety of flavors, and the portion was so perfect. What a wonderful lunch!
Food is decent, interior is clean, and service is good - maybe a little pushy sometimes? I came as a party of two on a Saturday around 5pm so we were only one of maybe 3 other tables in the entire restaurant. We ordered two appetizers and one entree because we weren't very hungry and couldn't agree on what to order to share. It felt like our server was coming up to us every 5 minutes to check on us throughout the entire meal to see if we wanted to order anything else, not to refill our waters or to see if we needed anything. She would leave for only about 2 minutes after I told her we needed more time to decide and come back again when it was obvious we were still discussing - I think this happened 4 or 5 times before I felt pressured to just randomly choose something. I told her I'd let her know when we were ready but maybe that wasn't communicated right? It just rubbed me the wrong way. Also, for everyone who comes here, MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS! Takuma calculates their suggested tip AFTER tax and not BEFORE. That makes no sense - why am I tipping on top of tax? I calculated a final standard 18% tip based on the subtotal myself (not the suggested after-tax tip) but wasn't super happy about my experience.For food, we got the hijiki seaweed, blow-torched mackerel, and yellowtail sashimi with sumiso dressing. I was prepared for portions to be small based on reviews here but guys the yellowtail entree was only the size of my palm for $15+tax lol. This was also the only dish of the three that I did enjoy. The hijiki seaweed was alright, tasted like something I could throw together at home. The mackerel was good and fun with the blow torch, but still ultimately did not stand out very much to me. This could all possibly be influenced by my initial feelings about the service but I wasn't very impressed. An okay place for Japanese food if you're craving something and don't have anything else nearby, but I've had better izakaya and service.
Kaori Cavallo
The hostess with a heavy makeup was so terribly rude. I understand why so many customers left a bad review about her on Yelp. Although a Japanese waitress was very
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Roll
Liang-Kai Chu
Gohan is my favorite. Toban sukiyaki is a bit expensive in terms of portion.
Bevan C.
One of my normal spots to get my Japanese fix! My favorite dishes here are the 1) Chicken Hot Soba and 2) Sukiyaki. The soba broth isn't too salty and has a mild soy flavor to it. I love how they add soft chicken and whole shishito peppers in the soup. The soba noodles are good too!The sukiyaki dish comes with sliced beef, veggies, bean curd noodles, and tofu. It comes in a cute mini stone pot powered by gelatin. The beef is melt in your mouth quality, and the soup has a nice sweet flavor to it. I also enjoy the sushi rolls here, including the salmon avocado and scallion yellowtail. Service is fast, but you need to find street parking. Def a solid spot worth checking out, menu has a nice variety of items!9.5/10
Angelica Le
We ordered via Postmates; the food came in cute boxes and was delivered in about an hour.Spicy Tuna Dip ($13.95): They give 3 white rice cracker squares which wasn't that good. I would rather have the regular crispy rice. The spicy tuna also tasted weird. Hard pass.Kakuni Bento Box ($19.95): This was a rip off. They gave only one piece of pork belly with two large pieces of steamed potatoes. The pork belly was okay - not very flavorful & also a bit dry.Yakiniku Beef Bento Box ($19.95): The beef was way better than the kakuni but the portion was small.Bento Box Sides: The two shredded side dishes were not edible to us. The potato salad was good. The green beans do not go with the salad.
This was our first visit. Our family lives in Santa Monica, and they recommended this restaurant.It was by far the most authentic delicious cuisine.Really amazing flavors.We all ordered a entrée and sides to share.What a food experience!!!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Spicy Tuna Dip
The service was excellent, but the food was just OK.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 3
Service: 5
Great food and very friendly wait staff made for a great experience. The blow torched mackerel is a must try item on the menu. The grilled miso salmon was yummy too.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blow Torched Mackerel
Absolutely delicious. High quality authentic bento boxes for take out and great atmosphere for dine in.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Authentic down-home Japanese cuisine. Not your run-of-the-mill food. The quality and presentation are excellent and tasty at an affordable price point. This place reminds me that typical Japanese food is not just sushi and chicken skewers, but widely varied and fresh. A unique and friendly place in Santa Monica.Vegetarian options: Seaweed, mountain vegetables and vegan fare is plentiful.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Chicken Saboro Rice Bowl, Blow Torched Mackerel, Asari Clam with Garlic Butter
The quality of food and service is good but the prices do not justify the amount of food you get. I would come back if the quantity of food increased.
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Low key, great
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Wow! We had no idea what to expect and were really impressed with the incredible flavors- the torched mackerel, eggplant, and gobo appetizers were amazing! Highly recommend the pork belly entree and Pannacotta dessert - the service, and the prices. We will absolutely be back!Kid-friendliness: We didn’t have our kids with but noticed a lot of families with kids
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Blow Torched Mackerel
Very healthy well rounded lots of veggies seaweed noodles & soupWe enjoyed eating here first time will be back
My first bento box delivery is amazing. I had the sweet potato croquette Bento, and it came filled with delicious vegetables and sides, so healthy and satisfying. Also ordered the marinated tofu and it’s very tasty. There was such a variety of flavors, and the portion was so perfect. What a wonderful lunch!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Sweet Potato Croquette, Potato Salad
Restaurantji Recommends
Food is decent, interior is clean, and service is good - maybe a little pushy sometimes? I came as a party of two on a Saturday around 5pm so we were only one of maybe 3 other tables in the entire restaurant. We ordered two appetizers and one entree because we weren't very hungry and couldn't agree on what to order to share. It felt like our server was coming up to us every 5 minutes to check on us throughout the entire meal to see if we wanted to order anything else, not to refill our waters or to see if we needed anything. She would leave for only about 2 minutes after I told her we needed more time to decide and come back again when it was obvious we were still discussing - I think this happened 4 or 5 times before I felt pressured to just randomly choose something. I told her I'd let her know when we were ready but maybe that wasn't communicated right? It just rubbed me the wrong way. Also, for everyone who comes here, MAKE SURE TO CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS! Takuma calculates their suggested tip AFTER tax and not BEFORE. That makes no sense - why am I tipping on top of tax? I calculated a final standard 18% tip based on the subtotal myself (not the suggested after-tax tip) but wasn't super happy about my experience.For food, we got the hijiki seaweed, blow-torched mackerel, and yellowtail sashimi with sumiso dressing. I was prepared for portions to be small based on reviews here but guys the yellowtail entree was only the size of my palm for $15+tax lol. This was also the only dish of the three that I did enjoy. The hijiki seaweed was alright, tasted like something I could throw together at home. The mackerel was good and fun with the blow torch, but still ultimately did not stand out very much to me. This could all possibly be influenced by my initial feelings about the service but I wasn't very impressed. An okay place for Japanese food if you're craving something and don't have anything else nearby, but I've had better izakaya and service.
The hostess with a heavy makeup was so terribly rude. I understand why so many customers left a bad review about her on Yelp. Although a Japanese waitress was very
Atmosphere: 3
Food: 4
Service: 1
Recommended dishes: Roll
Gohan is my favorite. Toban sukiyaki is a bit expensive in terms of portion.
One of my normal spots to get my Japanese fix! My favorite dishes here are the 1) Chicken Hot Soba and 2) Sukiyaki. The soba broth isn't too salty and has a mild soy flavor to it. I love how they add soft chicken and whole shishito peppers in the soup. The soba noodles are good too!The sukiyaki dish comes with sliced beef, veggies, bean curd noodles, and tofu. It comes in a cute mini stone pot powered by gelatin. The beef is melt in your mouth quality, and the soup has a nice sweet flavor to it. I also enjoy the sushi rolls here, including the salmon avocado and scallion yellowtail. Service is fast, but you need to find street parking. Def a solid spot worth checking out, menu has a nice variety of items!9.5/10
We ordered via Postmates; the food came in cute boxes and was delivered in about an hour.Spicy Tuna Dip ($13.95): They give 3 white rice cracker squares which wasn't that good. I would rather have the regular crispy rice. The spicy tuna also tasted weird. Hard pass.Kakuni Bento Box ($19.95): This was a rip off. They gave only one piece of pork belly with two large pieces of steamed potatoes. The pork belly was okay - not very flavorful & also a bit dry.Yakiniku Beef Bento Box ($19.95): The beef was way better than the kakuni but the portion was small.Bento Box Sides: The two shredded side dishes were not edible to us. The potato salad was good. The green beans do not go with the salad.
Food: 3