Taro San

Japanese Fusion food. The food is not your usual picks in a regular Japanese resto, which is refreshing. It’s good to try something different once in a while. Probably one of those restos in this mall that is a place you’d miss every once in a while, the kind of place you’d think about and say, let’s go back there again.

+1

Went on a friday night and the environment was great. Seating is limited but we didnt have to wait too long. We ordered the udon with shaved beef and onions and it was perfect, lots of meat, noodles and tempura flakes, super comforting and cozy. I have seen several reviews complaining about the portions but we were stuffed after finishing our meal. Prices were quite reasonable, will be coming back again when im in the area.

Great food, excellent location and cool interior. The food is definitely prepared thoughtfully and with love. The udon noodles (their specialty) are great and come with different meat options. Both the chicken and the cauliflower karaage are delicious. Finally, the mixed-mushroom truffle risotto is outstanding. Really delicious and savory and we just couldn't get enough. It's one of those dishes you dream about for a long time.

I love this place! It's one of my go-to spots in the Bay! The food is always delicious and the service is fast. We're usually able to get a seat for 2 pretty much immediately and the food comes out in a timely manner too (we never wait too long). The restaurant itself is a narrow building, but there's seating in the back. The restaurant is a mix of modern with a homey and warm vibe, so it's also a good place to take friends. Some of the portions are a bit small (ex: salmon ikura don for $22) so it can be a bit pricey for the volume, but I think the food is quality. Their signature Duck tsuke udon is so savory and delicious. I've also recently discovered Hiyashi Chuka is a nice Asian-style upgrade from a Cesar salad. My boyfriend loves their pork belly rice bowl and their chicken karaage

We had the truffle mushroom cream udon and the uni cream udon. Both tasted good, the flat style udon they used was nice. I also really liked the chicken karaage, takoyaki, and bacon wrapped mochi. The karaage was super crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. For dessert we wanted to try the creme brulee but both flavors were out of stock. We tried the mochi donut holes instead with the 3 different dips. They were alright but nothing crazy, I think I prefer just regular mochi donuts. My favorite sauce is the caramel one. Also recommend the yuzu lemonade drink, it was very refreshing.

This is a gem. Great udon, great chicken (crispy and not oily), great sushi, great tempura, great salad. This place is all around good. The food is good and the servers are fast and attentive. We ordered a variety of food here and it was all around excellent. We were shocked at how good it was, especially because the place had great prices and great value. I highly recommend eating here.

May 4, 2024: * Their mochi donut holes are the best. More texture and chewiness than other places, probably a bit denser than the average mochi donut in this area but my entire family loves them. We usually get 3 or more orders of 6 donut holes to go. They offer 3 sauces but I like the donut holes without anything. - I like their fresh udon a lot. The zaru udon is good but I have to admit the service size is a bit small. - the fish collar (hamachi or salmon) is nicely grilled and good value for the price. - I like the rolls too. They do a good job with all of the fried items. Sometimes they can be slow or forget an item but they're nice and the food quality is consistently high. Visit #3 2020: Splitting a salad and an order of noodles is a good way to get more veggies in. Most of the servers are excellent, but there was one who wasn't up to the same standard. Visit #2: The seared salmon sashimi was really good. No photos because we inhaled it. Visit #1: The pork belly kakuni is a generous portion size! Kakuni could be a bit more tender but good flavor. I think my picky parents would like this place too. Wow, I'm so happy that I live near this branch! Kaarage is really good and it's the authentic Japanese breading that I am used to - although a bit sweeter than normal. I'll be bringing my husband back for this. Enjoyed the authentic kaki fry too. Ebi fry was solid too. Tried the uni ikura udon - it's the Japanese mentaiko pasta with uni and ikura on top - yum! Soft udon but with a nice chewiness. Kid friendly too. My toddler and my friend's daughter both finished their kid-sized udon. - fast service, friendly staff

Not sure why this place gets bad ratings about anything other than service, and our service was fine for the most part. Food was great, while the prices are high, the portions are good and the ingredients are excellent. Just be smart and don't order the bento box at an udon place... Uni ikura risotto - delicious also came with some mentaiko. Needed a tiny bit of shoyu. Duck tsuke udon - Really good broth, noodles were great consistency for it, duck was good, but broth could a been hotter Niku udon - Solid staple nothing special about their broth but still fine, the noodles were what made this stand out, thick as hell. Deep fried soft boiled egg - while I've had better, this is still really good and a hard to find optional add-on.

David Sopkin

Great food, excellent location and cool interior. The food is definitely prepared thoughtfully and with love. The udon noodles (their specialty) are great and come with different meat options. Both the chicken and the cauliflower karaage are delicious. Finally, the mixed-mushroom truffle risotto is outstanding. Really delicious and savory and we just couldn't get enough. It's one of those dishes you dream about for a long time.

Fareed K

Pretty good restaurant The noodles there were delicious The portions are very big so I’d recommend you share The staff were nice and helpful and the food came quickly The place is a bit dark Good experience

Monica

I love this place! It's one of my go-to spots in the Bay! The food is always delicious and the service is fast. We're usually able to get a seat for 2 pretty much immediately and the food comes out in a timely manner too (we never wait too long). The restaurant itself is a narrow building, but there's seating in the back. The restaurant is a mix of modern with a homey and warm vibe, so it's also a good place to take friends. Some of the portions are a bit small (ex: salmon ikura don for $22) so it can be a bit pricey for the volume, but I think the food is quality. Their signature Duck tsuke udon is so savory and delicious. I've also recently discovered Hiyashi Chuka is a nice Asian-style upgrade from a Cesar salad. My boyfriend loves their pork belly rice bowl and their chicken karaage

Elaine Wang

We had the truffle mushroom cream udon and the uni cream udon. Both tasted good, the flat style udon they used was nice. I also really liked the chicken karaage, takoyaki, and bacon wrapped mochi. The karaage was super crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. For dessert we wanted to try the creme brulee but both flavors were out of stock. We tried the mochi donut holes instead with the 3 different dips. They were alright but nothing crazy, I think I prefer just regular mochi donuts. My favorite sauce is the caramel one. Also recommend the yuzu lemonade drink, it was very refreshing.

Irfan Syed

Really liked the food, and if you're looking for a place to take a break from shopping at Stanford mall and grab some food, this is right up there. We tried the edamame, chicken karaage as appetizers. We also liked the sushi, the best meal was the udon, honestly all the udon dishes are the ones to try here. Overall highly recommend this place.

Kyle Yoshida

This is a gem. Great udon, great chicken (crispy and not oily), great sushi, great tempura, great salad. This place is all around good. The food is good and the servers are fast and attentive. We ordered a variety of food here and it was all around excellent. We were shocked at how good it was, especially because the place had great prices and great value. I highly recommend eating here.

Clare Lee

May 4, 2024: * Their mochi donut holes are the best. More texture and chewiness than other places, probably a bit denser than the average mochi donut in this area but my entire family loves them. We usually get 3 or more orders of 6 donut holes to go. They offer 3 sauces but I like the donut holes without anything. - I like their fresh udon a lot. The zaru udon is good but I have to admit the service size is a bit small. - the fish collar (hamachi or salmon) is nicely grilled and good value for the price. - I like the rolls too. They do a good job with all of the fried items. Sometimes they can be slow or forget an item but they're nice and the food quality is consistently high. Visit #3 2020: Splitting a salad and an order of noodles is a good way to get more veggies in. Most of the servers are excellent, but there was one who wasn't up to the same standard. Visit #2: The seared salmon sashimi was really good. No photos because we inhaled it. Visit #1: The pork belly kakuni is a generous portion size! Kakuni could be a bit more tender but good flavor. I think my picky parents would like this place too. Wow, I'm so happy that I live near this branch! Kaarage is really good and it's the authentic Japanese breading that I am used to - although a bit sweeter than normal. I'll be bringing my husband back for this. Enjoyed the authentic kaki fry too. Ebi fry was solid too. Tried the uni ikura udon - it's the Japanese mentaiko pasta with uni and ikura on top - yum! Soft udon but with a nice chewiness. Kid friendly too. My toddler and my friend's daughter both finished their kid-sized udon. - fast service, friendly staff

Solid lunch spot for something casual. A little bit on the high side but this is an expensive area after all. Food and service was good. You can definitely get better quality elsewhere though.

+2

Cauliflower karage- flavored well, hoped for a better crunch. Truffle udon- I really like the thick udon, very chewy and pairs well with the creamy sauce. The shisho sprinkled was a good touch, wish there was more to help balance out the heaviness of the cream

The meat quality was really high. I was impressed by the short rib and the sliced beef. Udon was fresh and the texture was good too. However the broth is so boring. Based on the price, I was expecting way better broth.

Came here for dinner with friends, the wait does get a bit long so try to book in advance. You can do it through yelp so pretty convenient in that sense. Had the udon with uni, girlfriend really liked it but I don't it a bit too rich with the truffle udon. Also had the chicken karage which was really good! The desserts (strawberry cheesecake) was mediocre. Service was good, staff are attentive and location wise it's in the shopping mall so easy to find parking and lots of other shops around to see and wander if you like.

+1

I don't understand the low ratings. They're pretty good

Tried this place today and liked it! There was a long wait (15 parties), so I recommend checking in through Yelp before getting there if you're going on a weekend. They prepare the udon at the restaurant from scratch. The Nikku udon ($13) was delicious, with a good amount of veggies and not too overpowering broth. The rice bowl with kakuni ($12) came with a tempura soft boiled egg, which was so interesting, although I think I prefer a regular boiled egg. The bowl didnt have much rice, but had a lot of meat-to-rice proportion. The chicken karaage was a bit sweet and the mayo didnt taste like the typical Japanese mayo, so I didnt enjoy it as much as I usually do, but not saying it's bad, it just wasnt my style. You have a small screen where you can order not only your meal, but also service for water, water refill, extra utensils, etc., so you dont need to stress about flagging down a waiter; I thought that was pretty cool. Other Japanese restaurants of this modern style like yayoi dont ask for tips, so at first I thought we wouldnt need to pay tips here, but the bill did come with the recommended 15-22% tip. They have happy hour on weekdays with drinks and izakaya appetizers that might be worth checking out. Veredict: cool restaurant with good food options, a bit of a wait and a but pricey once you add everything up, but worth visiting when craving udon and other Japanese food.

+4

Good casual dining place for udon. The restaurant uses bar stools and tables, so it works well for quick lunch or dinner. The food is ready quickly too. We really liked both the udon options we ordered - Niku udon with chili oil and duck mushroom udon. Niku one has a more clear dashi broth. Duck and mushroom udon is little creamier duck broth.

Small Japanese restaurant that is focused on udon, sushi, and donburi. They have both table and bar seating and there might be a wait during peak lunch hours on the weekends. The wagyu udon had a great flavor and I want to try the duck one next time! Price was about $50 for 2 people.

Was here for a weekday lunch - have been here several times and remembered the food to be pretty good. The menu has expanded since last visit and there’s a good array of udon, donburi and appetizers. We had the cold udon with dipping broth and seared duck breast, and the uni ikura udon - both were very tasty and well done. A great option while shopping at SSC.

The foods are okay, and the udon noodles are little bit of firm, but the duck breast is tender.

Mid Dec2024 Japanese resto in SSC that specializes in noodles. The menu is varied with usual staples. Their claim is the specialized broth preparation of their dishes which pair well with their alcoholic drinks. Food prep was standard. Serving sizes are a bit small compared to other American restaurants. Service staff were a bit unattentive but efficient when serving. The place was clean and generally a good place for small groups.

Went there for dinner on a Friday night with some work friends. Just an important information, they require that your entire party be present before they will seat you. Once seated, though, they're fairly quick to bring out our orders. I had the panko shrimp roll and the pork belly kakuni don. I liked the dishes well enough. I had also ordered a raspberry yuku saketini, which was also okay. I had also tried the chicken kraage; this one was delicious. They had excellent customer service, and service staff check on you at least once. The restaurant is also very clean. I think they are a pretty popular place because they turn the tables over pretty quickly and were seating groups steadily. Overall, pretty good experience. I may come back and try other dishes!

Laura Perkins

Small Japanese restaurant that is focused on udon, sushi, and donburi. They have both table and bar seating and there might be a wait during peak lunch hours on the weekends. The wagyu udon had a great flavor and I want to try the duck one next time! Price was about $50 for 2 people.

Wee Khim Lee

Was here for a weekday lunch - have been here several times and remembered the food to be pretty good. The menu has expanded since last visit and there’s a good array of udon, donburi and appetizers. We had the cold udon with dipping broth and seared duck breast, and the uni ikura udon - both were very tasty and well done. A great option while shopping at SSC.

Emily S

The foods are okay, and the udon noodles are little bit of firm, but the duck breast is tender.

Oliver Pe

Mid Dec2024 Japanese resto in SSC that specializes in noodles. The menu is varied with usual staples. Their claim is the specialized broth preparation of their dishes which pair well with their alcoholic drinks. Food prep was standard. Serving sizes are a bit small compared to other American restaurants. Service staff were a bit unattentive but efficient when serving. The place was clean and generally a good place for small groups.

Char P.

Went there for dinner on a Friday night with some work friends. Just an important information, they require that your entire party be present before they will seat you. Once seated, though, they're fairly quick to bring out our orders. I had the panko shrimp roll and the pork belly kakuni don. I liked the dishes well enough. I had also ordered a raspberry yuku saketini, which was also okay. I had also tried the chicken kraage; this one was delicious. They had excellent customer service, and service staff check on you at least once. The restaurant is also very clean. I think they are a pretty popular place because they turn the tables over pretty quickly and were seating groups steadily. Overall, pretty good experience. I may come back and try other dishes!

My rating is 3.5 The dining environment is great except a light on ceiling flashing all the time. They need to fix it. The Niku Udon is good. There two types of duck udons. The menu is not clear for their differences so it is easy to order the wrong one. The $16 duck tsuke udon comes with COLD noddle. This information is totally missing from the menu. Only the $17 duck and Japanese mushroom udon is not cold noddle. Hopefully this helps.

+3

This place is convenient for its location and the food is decent. It seems pretty popular as we had to wait for about 20 minutes for a table. We tried two of their udons and they were yummy but nothing too special. Everything from the meat and the noodles were pretty decent. For a mediocre meal, I think it is a bit pricey. I haven't tried other dishes besides the udons so maybe those stand out more. Come again? No, probably not. I think there are better options for a meal at the Stanford Shopping Center and better udon places around the bay area.

Food was mediocre. We got seared tuna spicy salmon rolls. It was a little bit smoky but lacked flavors otherwise. My friend got uni ikura udon and she didn't finish it. She said it was okay. I ordered seasonal truffle udon, which was creamy as told by our server, but still, it was very underwhelming overall. I didn't finish it either.

Ambience was great but chairs were a bit scary , flimsy and slides on floor. Service was friendly and fast. We had a pork dish, a crab salad and 2 kinds of udon. My least favorite was the udon, unfortunately it can definitely use more flavour. The other dishes though were actually quite delicious.

Nice atmosphere and friendly staff, however food was below expectation. Chicken Karaage was too sweet. We had the burgundy truffle udon and the duck breast udon - not impressed and we prefer the more traditional taste. Mochi donuts with the miso caramel sauce were good.

The Udon noodle soup was alright. The salad was delicious! For the high price of Udon noodle soup I was expecting more.... Like one of the best thing I ever had, especially they are making the noodles there. Ans it didn't deliver that expectations. OveralIs probably would come back.

+2

If you are in the area, good place to stop by for udon. I would not drive out of my way to eat here. One thing good is that, it is located in Standford mall so the wait for a table is easier.

+3

I was excited to try this place but I was disappointed at the food. Udon: both order of udon came out within 5 mins of ordering. I got the Niku Udon, added a soft egg. The udon itself was undercooked for me, so it tasted a bit too doughy. The Broth wasn't too salty but was not that hot. The soft egg was not executed well because it looked like the egg stuck to the shell and someone had to peel it by hand. The egg yolk was still soft, just not the best presentation. The rib eye tasted overcooked and chewy even though it still looked a bit pink when it was first served. My friend got the Wagyu Niku and it tasted much better. Her noodles were more cooked than mine. We also ordered the Ebi fry. It looked a bit too burnt when it was served, but one of the Ebi looked undercooked, which means the oil was too hot. They remade it for us. But I probably won't get it again. Overall the food was disappointing, luckily there was no wait at 12:30 on Saturday. There was a line at the door around 1:30p

Cute place. Nice vibe, but I had a hair on my sushi. However, they did replace the order in a timely manner. Both hostess and manager were apologetic and gave free dessert with our meal.

Niku udon portion has gotten noticeably smaller. I only got three slices of beef and was told it was 3 oz, which didn’t seem accurate. They added more after I complained, but the quality/consistency has clearly gone downhill.

Decent food, but nothing special. The Unagi Ebi Don was ridiculously tiny for a don (and I have eaten quite a few around). The Wagyu Niku Udon had a good flavor, but barely any meat at all. The noodles also felt subpar. At the end of the day it comes down to the price. Overpriced, no doubts. Despite the location being cute and service polite, it just doesn't deliver on what you are paying for.

Came for a weekend lunch and since a couple of years ago the quality has declined. The salmon donburi was so small and not filling, not worth the price. The salmon was fresh but included only 3 thin slices, roe was not fresh- had sour taste and the rice was mushy and too sweet. Udon noodles are good but the flavor lacks depth it used to have and the quality of ingredients is not great. Again, not with the price. The karaage was the best out of these three items.

Quick service, which is exactly what we needed since we were starving when we came in for a late dinner. It was almost a bit too quick… The restaurant was clean and the staff was nice, but the food was just ok. The tori udon was nice and light, while the niku udon was more flavorful, but neither were great.

Hand made udon is pretty good. Niku udon is recommended. Ingredients are fresh. The beef is very high quality. However the duck udon is strongly not recommended. Price is very high but the duck meat is just one bite. I feel I have been robbed.

Vicky Leung

I was excited to try this place but I was disappointed at the food. Udon: both order of udon came out within 5 mins of ordering. I got the Niku Udon, added a soft egg. The udon itself was undercooked for me, so it tasted a bit too doughy. The Broth wasn't too salty but was not that hot. The soft egg was not executed well because it looked like the egg stuck to the shell and someone had to peel it by hand. The egg yolk was still soft, just not the best presentation. The rib eye tasted overcooked and chewy even though it still looked a bit pink when it was first served. My friend got the Wagyu Niku and it tasted much better. Her noodles were more cooked than mine. We also ordered the Ebi fry. It looked a bit too burnt when it was served, but one of the Ebi looked undercooked, which means the oil was too hot. They remade it for us. But I probably won't get it again. Overall the food was disappointing, luckily there was no wait at 12:30 on Saturday. There was a line at the door around 1:30p

Evan Lee

Niku udon portion has gotten noticeably smaller. I only got three slices of beef and was told it was 3 oz, which didn’t seem accurate. They added more after I complained, but the quality/consistency has clearly gone downhill.

Wolf Fivousix

Decent food, but nothing special. The Unagi Ebi Don was ridiculously tiny for a don (and I have eaten quite a few around). The Wagyu Niku Udon had a good flavor, but barely any meat at all. The noodles also felt subpar. At the end of the day it comes down to the price. Overpriced, no doubts. Despite the location being cute and service polite, it just doesn't deliver on what you are paying for.

Aiko T

Came for a weekend lunch and since a couple of years ago the quality has declined. The salmon donburi was so small and not filling, not worth the price. The salmon was fresh but included only 3 thin slices, roe was not fresh- had sour taste and the rice was mushy and too sweet. Udon noodles are good but the flavor lacks depth it used to have and the quality of ingredients is not great. Again, not with the price. The karaage was the best out of these three items.

yung-chin Chen

Hand made udon is pretty good. Niku udon is recommended. Ingredients are fresh. The beef is very high quality. However the duck udon is strongly not recommended. Price is very high but the duck meat is just one bite. I feel I have been robbed.

Jason Xiahou

Quick service, which is exactly what we needed since we were starving when we came in for a late dinner. It was almost a bit too quick… The restaurant was clean and the staff was nice, but the food was just ok. The tori udon was nice and light, while the niku udon was more flavorful, but neither were great.

flavors and freshness are great hut portions are ridiculous. i ordered a salmon bento as delivery and it was paper thin lol check out the images - the salmon thickness is about as thick as a disposable spoon and as long as maybe two edamame hahahaha and literally u get only one “filet” if thats what u wanna call it lol

This was our first visit — and likely the last. We ordered two bowls of hot udon, with sashimi and gyoza as appetizers. Unfortunately, the appetizers arrived only after we had finished our noodles. At that point, I honestly wanted to cancel them. The sashimi was not fresh, and the gyoza were tiny with a strong oily aftertaste. As for the udon, the broth was decent and I appreciated the generous amount of vegetables, but the noodles themselves lacked chewiness and didn’t feel authentic at all. The staff were friendly, which I appreciated, but if you’re looking for high-quality udon, I wouldn’t recommend this place — especially given the higher-than-average prices.

I will definitely not recommend. Save your money and dine somewhere else. Plenty of other much better choices in the mall. - Food quality is very mediocre to say the best. We ordered the thin sliced beef udon and duck udon. There were very few pieces of duck meat and the meat was very dry. One of the worst duck slices I’ve tasted in Bay Area Japanese restaurants. Beef slices were also pretty thick. - I ordered truffle as addon to the duck udon. It cost 10 dollars. However when my udon was served, I tasted zero truffle flavor at all. I assumed they might have forgotten about the add-on so I waited for a while but no add-on truffle was served. So I asked the server about it. Server checked with kitchen and insisted the truffle was already in the noodle. There absolutely was no truffle flavor at all, from the first bite till I finished the whole bowl. I was super confused. So, either the truffle flavor was so weak and nowhere worth the insane 10$ price tag, or the kitchen made a mistake and didn’t realize. - Expensive, expensive, expensive. As others have pointed out. We had two simple udons, a (invisible) truffle add-on, a desert and it cost almost $80 after tax and tip. With this price you can find many better udon restaurants with much better and more authentic quality. - The soup base. This is more of a personal taste so I won’t fault the restaurant. The flavor and ingredients are more of a Japanese-American fusion type of taste. Nothing like what you normally find in Japan. The unusual cabbage and lemon in the soup base gave it a bit weird sweet/sour taste. In a nutshell, not worth it. You are paying a high premium for location and very mediocre food.

Rosina Su

This was our first visit — and likely the last. We ordered two bowls of hot udon, with sashimi and gyoza as appetizers. Unfortunately, the appetizers arrived only after we had finished our noodles. At that point, I honestly wanted to cancel them. The sashimi was not fresh, and the gyoza were tiny with a strong oily aftertaste. As for the udon, the broth was decent and I appreciated the generous amount of vegetables, but the noodles themselves lacked chewiness and didn’t feel authentic at all. The staff were friendly, which I appreciated, but if you’re looking for high-quality udon, I wouldn’t recommend this place — especially given the higher-than-average prices.

Su

flavors and freshness are great hut portions are ridiculous. i ordered a salmon bento as delivery and it was paper thin lol check out the images - the salmon thickness is about as thick as a disposable spoon and as long as maybe two edamame hahahaha and literally u get only one “filet” if thats what u wanna call it lol

Server today who was packing the to-go oders was really unfriendly and unprofessional. There was an older guy picking up an order for what I am guessing was uber eats/doordash. She was very unfriendly and inpatient with him, not how you treat a costumer. The pick up order was like 7 large bags full of food, very heavy and he was obviously struggling. No offer to help him or anything, in fact she had an attitude with him and kept rolling her eyes. In general the whole vibe she gave off wasn’t great and ruined our experience. The girl serving us was very friendly and professional, good job!

I ordered a Bento Box from Menu - miso salmon, the print is $20.99 and ordered nothing else for lunch. Came the check out time it shows a $26.xx as total before tip. I was shocked, the waitress told me it actually is $24 and the menu is not updated! What a rip off!! How do I know what is real? Besides, there is only a very thin slice of fish, NOT WORTH IT AT ALL! Tasted very dry. Worker in dirty clothes walking around the main hall and not a nice place to dine. 👎🏿

Udon noodle texture is not like normal Japanese udon, too hard Food just average, but over $100 for 2 person 2 drink , one salad , one tempura , 2 bowl of udon ….