Came here for dinner with my sister and brother-in-law at their recommendation, and I can…read moredefinitely see why they keep coming back. The restaurant was packed and seating is pretty limited, so I'd highly recommend making a reservation ahead of time. The atmosphere is lively and energetic with casual Japanese eatery vibes, and service was friendly throughout the meal. Everything felt creative, rich in flavor, and very texture-focused. Here are the highlights: * Ankimo Mousse (monkfish liver) with sweet potato chips - Made with truffle paste, capers, and chives. Absolutely delicious. The mousse was rich and savory but surprisingly fluffy in texture -- honestly a savory girl's dream. The sweet potato chips added just enough sweetness and a snap to balance the richness of the liver. 9/10 * Bluefin Tuna & Tsubugai Sashimi Nuta - Bluefin tuna, sea snail, broccolini, and fresh wakame tossed in a sweet Kyoto yuzu miso vinaigrette. Kind of like a sashimi-seaweed salad. I really liked the vinaigrette and especially the texture of the sea snail. I'm not sure all the ingredients fully came together cohesively, but it was still enjoyable overall. 7.5/10 * Yuba (house-made tofu skin with ikura and uni) - Served as single bites on spoons. SO good. You can really taste the difference between house-made tofu skin and store-bought. It's much more delicate, creamy, and tender, with a mild soybean flavor that balanced the richness of the uni and salmon roe beautifully. The textures in this bite were incredible. 9.5/10 * Iberico Pork Jowl Skewer with miso marinade - I honestly prefer pork jowl over pork belly. The fat and meat are more integrated instead of layered, so every bite is tender, juicy, and flavorful with just the right amount of chew. So good. 9/10 * Clam & Cilantro Ramen - I've never had a ramen broth quite like this. It was slightly creamy and deeply flavored from the clams, and the cilantro added a lot of depth and freshness. The noodles had a great texture too -- chewy and bouncy. Everything worked together perfectly. 9/10 * Uni Carbonara Pasta - Pasta with parmesan, uni, and ikura. They do not skimp on the uni or roe here. Super creamy and rich with bursts of saltiness from the ikura. The texture was great, but I honestly wished it had just a tiny bit more salt to really make all the flavors pop. It was almost there for me. 7.5/10 * Desserts - We tried two desserts, including the sweet potato brûlée. Both were delicious. One had a silky panna cotta-like texture, while the sweet potato brûlée was creamy, lightly sweet, and had the perfect crackly sugar top. 9/10 Overall, such a fun meal with a lot of unique dishes and flavor combinations. There are still so many things on the menu I want to try next time. I'll definitely be back.

I've been to Kiraku twice before this visit, and I felt like the food quality was stronger prior…read more The food comes in a timely manner, staff is mindful to not fill your table as it's a small space. The standouts were the corn tempura, the sushi and the beef okonomiyaki. The skewers were good but not great; I felt the pork belly was a tad salty, and some of the pieces of the beef were slightly overcooked + chewy. The black cod was flaky but I wish it was marinated a bit more with the miso for stronger flavor. I wish I did not order the spring roll or the foil wrapped salmon. The spring roll was soggy bc the filling inside was so damp and lacked seasoning & flavor. The salmon was very dry, but the mushrooms were flavorful and juicy. Definitely recommend reservations or be ready to wait at least 45 minutes. The inside is quite small, tables as well, so be ready to sit pretty close to your neighboring patrons. Very lively atmosphere that can get loud, but could also be fun!

Butterfish is the absolute best sushi around!!! I adore the recipes, combination of foods and…read moreflavors and the presentation is beautiful.

Absolutely loved both visits to this terrific restaurant, and it's definitely top five now -- of…read morethe hundreds I've been to The service was good, but the creativity and quality of the dishes is wonderful. The fish was very good and the combination of flavors they put together are what really makes this place special. The style and decorations are also really nice, and help you feel how special this place is.

Walk-in at Ippuku in Berkeley came with a pretty long wait, and there is no online waitlist which…read moremakes planning difficult. We were seated around 7:30 (which is still prime dinner time imo) only to be told that many of the menu items had already sold out, which was disappointing. The items that were still available were good and we still had a nice time overall. FYI, the non-alcoholic beverage selection is quite limited. At this price point, the wait plus the number of sold out dishes makes us question whether we would come back.

This place has been on my want to go list for a while, and I finally got to try it! We didn't make…read morea reservation and walked in instead. We waited for about 30 min and the restaurant texted us once the table was ready. We ordered quite a few dishes and started with Omakase gushi, which came with chicken breast, thigh with leek, heart, cartilage, and minced chicken. We also ordered the oden set, sasami, tori tataki, gyu-tan, enoki bacon, and buta bara. Evertyhing tasted pretty good, but the most impressive dish was sasami with umeboshi, which was inner bresat with umehad was the inner breast with umeboshi. It was my first time trying raw chicken, and it tasted really good. The chicken breast was really tender, with a tuna-like texture, and without any slimy or odd flavors. Ever since then, I've been telling my friends to try it. The Tori Tataki was seared chicken breast sashimi with ponzu, which tasted a bit plain compared to the sasami. So I would highly recommended to get theeir sasami!

Started with a drink and the iyasare kakiage tempura which has burdock root, onion, sweet potato,…read moreshiitake, enoki, carrot, shungiku, and bonito soy dipping sauce. Highly recommend the iyasare kakiage tempura, wish it had some less sweet potatoes and more of the other ingredients, but overall it was savory and very sweet from the sweet potatoes. I enjoyed the kara-age curry rice which is a japanese style fried chicken thighs in a tokyo style curry sauce, a small salad, and koshihikari rice. They gave sooooo much kara-age chicken and it was quite filling. Good dish to share with others. Lastly, we had to try the iyasare mentaiko pasta which is a spicy cod ros, spaghetti, ikura, shiso, and kaiware. It's quite heavy and creamy, but definitely worth trying if you like the ingredients!

Saw this on the Michelin Guide so wanted to give it a try. On the edge of Berkeley, the location…read moreand ambience makes it a nice spot for a date. The food itself was solid, with the best dishes being the Chef's Recommended tuna tartare and branzino. The rolls were fine, nothing out of the ordinary. While the dishes were enjoyable, the price was on the more expensive side. For the quality of the food ultimately it's difficult to say that it's entirely worth it. For a dinner for two, you're looking northward of $150 and while that's fairly common in the Bay, you can find better restaurants at that price point.

We've loved Kirala for years. We went last night and I was a little grossed-out by the (new?) table…read moremenus. I don't know how long they've had the new ones, but they were green paper covered in folding plastic, like you might get at any side-of-the-road diner. The menus aren't beautiful or special anymore. That change might be cost effective for them, but it's not the reason we go to Kirala.

Delicious food and attentive service. This is definitely a treat meal - it is a pricey option. Get…read moreon the yelp waitlist ahead of time! Very fresh and delicious sashimi - great flavor and texture. I had a special uni and ikura roll ($10 ea!) that were perfect. No fishiness, just silky smooth texture. Grilled saba is flavorful and juicy Chawanmushi was super smooth with a delicate seafood flavor - delicious.

Really Good Japanese ramen. A must try. Great service…read more Relaxing ambiance. Great for any size party and occasion.

What can I say, when my go to sushi restaurant of many years went down hill , i was forced to find…read moreanother restaurant. 5 stars later this was the best thing that could have happened! we always order delivery and everything was packaged beautifully and very well. they were very generous with the soy sauce and chopsticks. The sushi was sooo much better and fish was fresher and tastier and delicious. The rolls were well made absolutely the best I have had in east bay !!!! the Rainbow roll was outstanding. Salmon , escobar ( white tuna) and tuna were so creamy and made my mouth sing ! The gyoza was great! everything we ordered was superb!

Delicious ramen! The chopped onions were a really nice, refreshing touch. Portion sizes were just…read moreright. The matcha panna cotta was delicious too. We walked over on a weekday night at 5:30 pm and were seated immediately with no wait. Restaurant started getting crowded around 6/6:30.

I went here with my friends around 6:30pm for dinner. There was fortunately no wait and we were…read moreseated immediately. We were given the option of sitting at a table or at the bar, but we chose to sit at a table. I ordered the Deluxe Spicy Tori Paitan which is their chicken option. They also serve each ramen base with tonkotsu/pork as well. You can choose between having Hakata (thin, straight) or Sapporo (medium thick, wavy) noodles. I chose to get the Sapporo noodles. The spice level was good, however besides the name, there was no other spice indicator for this menu item. The only item that had spice indicators was their spiciest option which had 3 flame symbols next to it. The spice was good and didn't mask the flavor of the ramen. The waitress came around a lot to refill water as needed. The restaurant is small, but the food is really good. I'd love to try their tonkotsu options next time. Parking is a bit difficult to get, especially in downtown Berkeley. You may have to find street parking a block or two down depending on the time you come to eat.

The food was so good! The ramen broth, amazing. We continue to come back for more!…read more My husband loves the garlic Ramen and I always get the signature. Raman never fails. It's amazing.

So glad I found this hidden gem in Piedmont. I came with two friends on a Friday night around 7pm,…read moreand as expected for a small spot, there was a long wait. We were seated about an hour later, but once we got in, the service was quick and efficient. We ordered a mix of items to share: * Enoki chips - absolutely addicting. Perfectly crispy with a great crunch, and the umami spice on the side took them to another level. * Chicken karaage - tasty overall, but the glaze was poured over everything. I would've preferred it on the side to keep the texture crisp. * Kani hand roll - super fresh and flavorful; didn't even need soy sauce. * Ikura & hotate hand roll - generous portion and very fresh, again no soy needed. * Garlic Knockout ramen - lives up to the name. Rich, deeply garlicky broth that was bold and delicious. * Signature smoked toripaitan ramen - flavorful without being overly heavy (which I prefer). The chashu was tender and the noodles tasted fresh. I was blown away by the food, I haven't had ramen this good in a long time. The restaurant clearly runs efficiently, turning tables quickly despite the wait. I'll definitely be back

Top contender for Japanese cuisine in Berkeley--equal parts sophisticated and scrumptious…read more Highlights include: - Sea Bean & Corn Tempura: a savory funnel cake worthy of a Michelin star thanks to its texture and the side of matcha salt - Salmon sashimi: succulent with fresh wasabi - Wagyu Shime Special: insane price for insane flavor--a generous portion of veggies and wagyu in a big ol' iron bowl of bubblin' broth

Ate Christmas dinner here with my mom as our celebration tradition is usually a Japanese…read morerestaurant. The ambience was intimate and cozy yet elegant, and the staff was very attentive and kind. I loved the decorations, the plates and silverware, and the food was just as intentional in flavor and selection. For appetizers we had: Anchovy Stuffed Olives Tempura - Tempura Spanish alives stuffed with anchovies $9 Kombu Tsukudani - Premium Hokkaldo kelp, say sauce, bonito, shiso, sesame seeds, enjoy with sake or rice $6 For our meal we had: Saba Bouzushi - House-cured saba mackerel bouzushi - stick-shaped sushi, also called battera, served with shiso, sesame, scallions, topped with Hokkaido shiraita kombu, ten pieces $29 Gindara Yuanyaki - Local black cod marinated in soy sauce and shikuwasa Okinawan citrus juice served grilled $34 Steelhead Trout Nabe - Norwegian ocean trout raised sustainably in the clear, cold ford where the seawater meets fresh meltwater from the glaciers in the mountains. Enjoy the rich flavored, melt-in-your-mouth fish, hotpot with dashi broth, mushrooms, napa cabbage, burdock, clear noodles, tofu, mizuna, scallions, yuzu kosho $39 We've been to many izakaya spots and this place had some of the most unique flavors I've tasted. The Saba Bouzushi stood out to me because it reminded of Filipino paksiw but as a roll! The Gindara was buttery and soft and had a yummy smoky flavor. The Nabe was perfect for a rainy evening - hearty, fresh, and so well balanced in flavor (I loved the yuzu kosho the had us add for a citrusy, peppery flavor)

Overall 4.5/5 stars…read more Pros: The quality of the fish was very fresh. They have unique purple rice in their sushi rolls. The sakana roll was definitely unique in flavor and had chunks of mango in it. Portions are huge. (For 2 ppl I think 3 rolls shared would be enough) Amazing service from staff. Cozy small mom and pa spot. Cons: Parking is small and very limited. Space is small not too much seating. Some rolls were too saucy like the Bay Scallop (Baked) one

Cute little place hidden in Kensington. The place is small they are opening another one in Albany…read morethey do have outdoor seating as well. We really enjoyed the sushi all the sushi rice is made with blue. Rice service was good. We will definitely return again.