It's been a million years since I've been back! We had a girls night and decided to do izakaya. It used to be really hard to get a table and the waits were crazy! But now, it's much easier and not as crowded. Yay for us but sad for them. Also the clientele has vastly changed. They have more families coming in with kids. Guess that just means I can bring mine next time! All the things we ordered were just as I remembered! Tasty and hit the spot! Tuna tartare and the hamachi carpaccio were very tasty. We had a couple skewers, tried the uni scallop udon which was good. The pork belly curry special was fun to eat! A deconstructed banh mi. The pickled veggies were a nice touch. Service was wonderful and food came out quick. We did get a bowl of ramen to share at the end of the meal. Broth was a tad bit too salty but I like their springy noodles. Get the kikusui sake if you go! Easy and smooth to go with the food. I'll be back with the kids! Satisfied! read more

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Izakaya Sozai is a quaint Izakaya located in the Sunset District on busy Irving Street. Street parking can be a challenge in the semi commercial and residential area. Went on a Wednesday night for early dinner right when they opened at 5pm. QRCode menu for their specials and a hard copy menu also available that lists most of their items but not all. They were out of Shisito peppers, miso clams, and fried sea bass Kaarage that night. No worries as the menu is extensive. We had: - Chili Fried Crab Appetizer, which was nice and crunchy, with a good sweet chili garnish. Perfect with a pitcher of beer - Chicken Kaarage, nice large chunks of fried chicken, also good with beer - Eggplant Miso, the chunks of eggplant are roasted in the oven and comes out on a hot sizzling platter, my wife loves eggplant whereas I like but don't care for the chewiness of the outer skin - The Early Bird Tonkatsu Ramen and Veggie Gyoza Combo, like the soup stock, didn't care for the veggie gyoza - Spicy Tuna on Crispy Rice, wished it was Poki versus very chopped up tuna - Bone Marrow with Toasted Bread, decadent and a dish to be shared by at least four people because it is rich - Miso Cod, wish there was more tasty fish, my MIL loved the fish... - Kinako Mochi with Matcha Ice Cream and Red Beans, the fried mochi was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, complemented by the creamy matcha ice cream, not a fan of red beans though.... Ambiance was dark, with plenty of windows since the restaurant is on a corner. It gets dark early after switching to daylight savings in California. Can get pricey...Service was excellent by the lone front end employee that night. Liked the chili fried crab, chicken Kaarage, and miso cod... read more

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I love coming here. I have come here for two past birthdays and various other special events, but also nights when i just need a cozy meal in. I usually make reservations (sometimes days out, sometimes day of). I like getting an assortment of dishes - gyudon, dipping ramen, fries, meatball skewer with egg, bacon wrapped enoki, squid, there are so many more dishes i want to try. I find this place very comforting and warm. read more

Izakaya Sozai - gyudon - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

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When we arrived we were greeted by the only server of the night. She was diligent while the kitchen of 3 people had a hard time getting orders out. We weren't impacted but the server was incredibly apologetic/ bless her. We wish we'd know the portion sizes a bit better because we had a ramen, pork cheeks, and pickles for around $55! Which is steep even for sf. It was a 2/3 filling meal for 2 people who weren't even that hungry to begin with. Also feels like a crime to have one small piece of chashu pork on a $19 bowl of ramen, and then for other common toppings to charge minimum $1.50 to add. See bowl below this is a $23 bowl with added mushroom and bamboo shoots. read more

Izakaya Sozai - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

Their dip noodle is nice as well as the service. Skewers were a bit more pricey and taste fine.

Friendly and quick service, everything was yummy! No wait for a table of 2 later on a Thurs night. Will definitely come back. read more

Izakaya Sozai - Shishamo Skewer - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Came here for the ramen on a chilly night and it truly hit the spot. The broth was hearty and full of flavor and the noodles the perfect texture (sometimes ramen noods seem a little undercooked to me). I loved that the broth had cracked black pepper in it, don't think I've ever had/noticed it in ramen before but it was a nice addition. We also tried one of the yakitoris, the chicken thigh, it was good but the ramen was the showstopper for me. The menu had a nice variety of yakitori, fried options, and even some sashimi. The restaurant has a very cozy and intimate feel to it. It's fairly small with the tables close together and has pretty dark lighting, there was only one server, and she did a great job taking care of everyone. Would definitely come back for the ramen and to try some of the other yakitori. read more

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They have excellent food and a family-friendly environment! It was already packed and busy at 5:30 pm, so plan ahead! It is an intimate setting, for sure. The people there are wonderful! It is a lively place hustling and bustling. It is a local joint. The izakaya and tapas were amazing! It is perfect for sharing. Get the gizzards, cartilage, beef tongue in a savory broth - spicy, and spicy tuna rice crisp!! It was all amazing! read more

Izakaya Sozai - Fried cheese and cartilage! - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Love this spot the service is alway very good and quick. Ramen broth is out of this world it's hard to eat ramen anywhere else. read more

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We are not sure what's going on but the food quality and taste has been slowly declining. I love to support small businesses, however we came here on a Monday night and the place was empty. We were optimistic that maybe we had a quick, quiet and lovely dinner to look forward too. We order the Tonkatsu ramen. Extremely salty and small portions. We order the Beef Niki Donburi. Was decent but lacking flavor. The Amiko Liver pate appetizer was not good at all and for $25.00 it's an easy pass up. The Tuna rice cake was good but kid size servings. The place either changed ownership or new support staff attempting to make the food that used to good. I definitely don't recommend eating at this place until they make some major improvements. We were saddened by the high prices for low quality food being served. I understand why this place has lost business because you always needed to make reservations in advance. read more

Went here this past weekend because my boyfriend was craving some good ramen. We placed an order of tonkotsu ramen for takeout at the restaurant and they didn't give us an exact time for how long it would be but said they prioritize their dining in customers which is totally fine and actually I really respected! Their noodles were obviously homemade and sooooo delicious! The broth was a bit on the salty side but still good! Their menu looked very fun and unique so I definitely want to try dining in on my next visit. read more

A bunch of misses....let's start with the Tonkatsu Ramen: This has to be one of the saltiest broths I've had in ramen in awhile. Noodles were mediocre, but for us it was basically I edible due to the high salt content. 0/5 Uni pasta: tasteless and very small uni pieces for around $30. Definitely a skip. 1/5 Bone marrow: thin sliver of bone marrow not enough for 3 small pieces of bread. It was tasty though 4/5. Duck skewer: 2/5 chewy duck with a strawberry sauce. Spicy tuna crispy rice: 5/5 best dish of the night with a good spicy and good portion People kept slamming into our table, this is a crowded place which isn't good for children running around which happened since so many parents brought their children on the weekend. $150 later and a meh dinner.... read more

Izakaya Sozai - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Izakaya means "stay-drink-place" in Japanese. One of the few Japanese restaurants I have been to that showcases the full palate of Japanese cuisine, my friends and I shared seaweed salad, chicken skin skewers, and soft shell crab bao. We especially liked the soft shell crab bao and the chicken skewers. For my main I got the grilled squid, which came with a spicy dipping sauce. It was cooked just right, not very flavorful without the dipping sauce. My friends got the Tonkotsu Chasu Rice Bowl and ramen. For dessert, we tried the green tea cheesecake, the yuzu cheesecake, and the black sesame mochi. The green tea cheesecake was our favorite with the mochi as a close second. Overall, great dining experience with excellent service (the server was attentive and made recommendations on her favorites). Definitely worth the trip to the sunset. read more

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What can I say, it never misses a beat. The food, the ambience and the service. I just came back from Japan and I swear, this place is better than most Izakaya's I went to in Japan. read more

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It seems like it's been some years since my last review was posted so I wanted to share an update - tl;dr: still 5 stars for me :) I don't come to this neighbourhood often, but the last few times I found myself here was after some outdoorsy hours around Golden Gate Park or Ocean Beach with friends on relatively chilly nights, so the ramen and other hot dishes here were perfect accompaniments! The last time I came here was with my husband. We easily booked a reservation online for that same evening and showed up within the grace period (10 min I think). We each ordered a tonkatsu ramen (he added braised pork belly to his which was delicious but would've been too much for me if I had added a whole portion to my ramen) and we shared the shishito peppers with bonito flakes and the chicken karaage. We also added hot yuzu sake which was tasty and, again, perfect for the chilly weather in the Sunset that night. The staff were friendly and fast, and it was also fun to get a glimpse into the kitchen and all the activity going on there, so great experience overall. read more

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Fantastic flavors and great quality. Highly enjoyed the shishito peppers, tuna on crispy rice, and pork jowl yakitori. Looking forward to trying the uni scallop bowl next time. read more

You feel like you stepped into another part of the world. Team was attentive, thoughtful and provided optimal options. Excellent place to enjoy with friends and family over authentic skewers and saki. read more

As a San Francisco native I am quite embarassed that I have not been to Izakaya Sozai until recently. It is an amazing Japanese meal especially on a cold day where I was craving some ramen. I came in at night without needing a reservation which was nice although this is a restaurant on the smaller side. Service is solid, but the parking situation can be pretty rough because its SF. I ordered: - Tonkotsu Ramen ($18.50) - Tuna Katsu ($13) - Beef Tongue Skewer ($12) The Tonkotsu Ramen has a really rich and creamy broth that I liked a lot. Noodles were the perfect texture and the chashu pork just melted into my mouth. So good. It's one of the better ramens I have had in a while. In terms of the appetizers, the Beef Tongue Skewer was a big hit, but the Tuna Katsu could have been better personally. The beef tongue is delicious though. Perfect texture and packed with flavor. $12 is steep, but standard and the quality can't be denied. It was also very juicy. The Tuna Katsu did look like it was fried too long and was very heavy to eat. The tuna kinda tasted like a tuna salad you put in a tuna sandwich. It was solid, but I wasn't blown away especially for $13. Overall, it was still an amazing meal and for special occassions I definitely want to come back again to explore more of their menu. It was certainly close to a 10/10 experience. read more

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After a few years of returning, this place still is my favorite izakaya place in SF. Everything I had was fabulous. For all the skewers, my ranking was 1) sea bass, 2) beef tongue, 3) sausage, 4) mochi bacon, 5) chicken heart, and 6) duck. I like all of them, however, my favorite dish was the tuna tartar. The chips were crispy and sweet, paired with juicy tartar, it is so heavily. The place is tiny and squeezy, but I like its dark ambiance. It's a perfect place for dinner and dates. The people here are nice as well. This is a popular spot, I recommend people to try it. read more

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Such a great dining experience! I came here with one of my supervisors who frequents this restaurant. She did all the ordering and it felt as though we shared the majority of the menu! We (party of 5) came on a Tuesday around 5:30 PM and were seated right away. Happy hour was going on I think from 5-6ish so there were reduced price dishes and alcoholic beverages. It was pretty easy to find free street parking but there was also plenty of metered parking nearby as well. Everything was absolutely delicious so I don't think you can go wrong with anything in the menu. My favorite dishes were the tuna tartare (the best I've ever had), spicy tuna crispy rice (definitely has a kick that creeps up on you so be prepared), tonkatsu ramen, and tempura mushroom with truffle (can't remember what it's actually called). The employees made sure they took away our numerous plates as we finished them and made sure we stayed satisfied. I'd love to come back and get my favorites + try the rest of the menu! read more

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I've always been wanting to try this place. I was surprised that this place wasn't crazy busy on a Thursday night. Some of the food i got were: 1. Chicken heart 2, fried octopus 3. Spicy tuna crispy rice 4. Hamachi carpaccio 5. Scallops with saikyo miso 6. Bacon mochi 7. Chicken skin 8. Duck chashu tataki 9. Beef tongue daikon soup Pretty decent place for yatikori. Most of their items are average. Small plate. It can be expensive since a lot of their yakitori comes in one stick especially if you order a lot. The restaurant is pretty small. Friendly staffs. read more

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Our go-to neighborhood Izakaya and one of my favorite restaurants in San Francisco. We have been regulars here for years and can always rely on this place for super tasty eats. Some of our reliable favorites--maitake fritters, white pepper chicken wings, tonkotsu ramen, beef fyi-don, bacon wrapped mochi, fried karage, hamachi, shisito peppers, fried chicken skin, mochi desserts and so much more! Service is very attentive and the restaurant is cozy and welcoming. Make a reservation and/or arrive a little before opening to avoid a wait. Highly recommend! read more

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The chicken ramen was an 11/10! A very flavorful and saucy ramen! The fried egg and chicken meatballs were amazing! The cheesy bread was good, reminded me of mozzarella sticks, but a very mild cheese. Service was ok, but the poor girl was the waitress for all 8 tables. We had the matcha ice cream. The ice cream was good but the mochi was terrible. Was very dry and had no flavor. The ambiance was trying to be intimate, but it gets very very loud. A little on the pricy side. $49 a person including an entree and side each (no drink). read more

Izakaya Sozai - Mochi ice cream - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

Made a reservation for a weekday evening although might not have needed one. Better to be safe, though, as the restaurant is small and has limited seating. The staff were friendly and you can look into the kitchen to watch the food being prepared. We tried a few different things, including the spicy tuna on crispy rice, which came with a nice balsamic soy reduction. I actually wish I kept the sauce to go with the other dishes! The salmon onigiri was grilled. I'm not the biggest yaki onigiri fan but it was solid and came with refreshing pieces of takuan (pickled radish). The wings were good, nice and crispy with the house teriyaki-like glaze. The ramen was the most unique dish we tried. The tonkotsu has a strong pepper flavor, which I haven't had at other ramen places. It was rich without being overly heavy, and the chashu was nice and tender. Overall a very nice experience. Next time, I'll try some of the skewers. read more

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We ordered Salmon Sashimi, Tonkotsu Ramen, and Gyudon. The salmon was buttery and tasted fresh. The ramen included tender meat, a well marinated egg, and a tasty broth. The gyudon was fatty and had a lot of flavor. Our server was very attentive and comforting. When entering the restaurant you are presented with a warm and inviting environment. read more

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Amazing food and service!!! Staff were very friendly! Took a friend out here to try, because we love izakayas, and we loved it! read more

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After a long afternoon of hiking in Marin, my best friend tried taking me to some Chinese chicken wing spot, but it was closed. No one wanted to drive around to find something else, so we hit up a hot pot place that was too busy before settling down at Izakaya Sozai. I was on the verge of freezing to death, so I ordered the ramen and my friend got a bunch of skewers. We were given a small portion of spicy garlic edamame as a complimentary appetizer at the tiny bar, which was nice. I didn't try any of my friend's skewers, but she seemed to enjoy them. I did try her eggplant. Although well-flavored, the skin was really tough and not very pleasant to eat. My ramen was okay, but nothing I'd come back for again in the future. read more

This place is great. The food really good. We tried the whole squid, the hamachi Kama, chicken skin, and the Gyu-don. The chicken skin is nice and crunchy. The gyu-don is very good but the beef is a little bit dry. I definitely recommend the whole squid and Gyu-don. The service was good. The ambiance was nice, I like how you have a look of the kitchen. I recommend this place if you are craving Japanese food. -S9yo read more

Went in person and had great izakaya experience! Loved the special fish, scallop, and beef tongue. Overall food was tasty and service was pretty quick for the amount of food we ordered. The house wings took the longest and were brought waaay after everything else, but would still recommend! Small staff and small place but great overall. It does however get loud so just depends what you want! read more

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Izakayas are one of my top venues for food, and wanted to check this place out while i was in the area. Overall this felt like a solid 4 stars for me. Overall good food, great to go with friends, but not a place I'd go out of my way or crave. Tako wasa - I like wasabi, and this was a good appetizer. Ankimo toast plate - Wow! this was killer good imo. For $25, there was a wealth of ankimo, good flavor, and warm bread. Agedashi mochi - Dont see this very often. Solid. Squid ink Okonomiyaki - Was an interesting concept, overall good. Tai Konbujime - Fish was dry. Dont recommend. Bacon Enoki - recommend. Bacon and enoki had a nice bit of crispiness, which was a great contrast to the softer parts. Chicken skin - Just ok. Medium texture, but nothing memorable. Chicken meat ball (tsukune) - don't recommend. Reasonably cooked and not dry, but flavor profile more on bland side. Arabiki Sausage - strong flavor, little on oily side. This is a recommend for me, but will caveat that sausage is one of the less popular dishes for most people. Tonkotsu ramen - recommend. it had a good medium flavor, not too thick or oily. Service was good. Street parking in this area is a pain. Also, the place is kind of small, so suggest booking reservations or coming early. Also this area gets cold at night so bring a jacket. read more

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Wow. Just wow. I felt like Anthony Bourdain discovering the best place I've eaten at in years. read more

Izakaya Sozai - Good good food - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

Haven't been here in awhile but I used to come here all the time in college (about 10 years ago now). Decided to come here to celebrate an anniversary. We ate so many skewers. My favorite skewers were the Seabass, scallop, and beef tongue. Besides that we also got pork jowl, chicken skin, meatball with jidori egg, eggplant with miso glaze, and beef don buri. Another favorite is the don buri, great flavor. The service was very attentive and they were very helpful. The server accidentally dropped one of my chicken skin skewers and she brought me a whole another set! Inside is tiny and intimate with very nice hip music. Didn't get it this time since I ate so much already but the ramen is solid, at least from what I remember. Don't forget the fried braised pork belly. read more

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The restaurant is a tight fit, so it's very cozy and loud. The door is kept open, so make sure you dress warm. I had the red snapper ramen. Very light and mellow. The only protein in here is a scant portion of ikura and an egg. The salt and pepper I was provided wasn't enough to give the broth that flavor I was accustomed to such as in the beef/chicken broths. I wasn't a fan except for their egg and ramen noodles. Will stick to the other ramen in the future. read more

Izakaya Sozai - Red snapper broth ramen with ikura and egg - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

10/10 ramen! We were surprised and impressed with this place. My husband raved about how good the ramen was (it even dethroned his forever favorite ramen nagi!!) and no line when you go at opening! I got the uni udon pasta and it was also delicious. It wasn't amazing, but still enjoyable nonetheless. The duck skewer was juicy, and not gamey tasting at all. Loved it! Perhaps the most unique and interesting dish was the maitake (mushroom) fritters with truffle. They were so savory and yummy to snack on as a side for our meal. Only thing is that the restaurant was quite small, and didn't have many tables. Also, no high chairs available (only booster seats). Will definitely return! read more

Izakaya Sozai - Uni udon - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Was turned on to this place by a friend probably close to 7-8 years ago and back then, it was a stellar experience. Today, it feels a bit like a sad, hollow shell trying to hang on to its former glory days. To be clear, you can still get decent food here, but it is nowhere near the same level of quality and execution as when they first opened. We found ourselves in the area, on our way home from being in downtown SF and decided to stop in. We had a few skewers (chicken heart, chicken skin, pork jowl, and tsukune), tsukemen, and an udon special with scallops and uni. The skewers were decent but lacking the smokey aroma you get from binchotan at more authentic shops. There were no perceptible aromas of live fire cooking so I can only guess they were cooked over a gas grill. Again, it's okay, but far from being amazing. The tsukemen was pretty disappointing. Aside from the bouncy noodle texture (which was awesome), everything else just fell short. The broth was thin and didn't coat the noodles well, which IMHO, defeats the entire purpose of tsukemen. The udon special was terrible. A few small pieces of uni and small bay scallops, which were delicious on their own, but the udon itself had absolutely no flavor. This just missed the mark completely for us. Service was okay, though they interpreted my order of "tsukemen with spicy miso" as tsukemen AND a spicy miso ramen, which, while I certainly love noodles, is just absolutely insane. A 2-top with three bowls of noodles (including the uni and scallop udon)?! lol In general, just super disappointing. read more

When you're wandering around the city and don't know what to eat... izakaya's a pretty good place cause there's a lot of little bites of variety! But this is SF on a Saturday night... so many popular asian restaurants are packed. But surprisingly we called, reserved seats on the drive here, and snagged a table easily on 7PM on a Saturday?! Amazing. UNI UDON PASTA -- $24 with fresh pieces of creamy sweet uni? Def coming back for this alone!!! I've had a share of uni pastas, but I love their take on it for actually having uni pieces. The rest of the pasta is more of a savory cream sauce, but like I'd rather have the real uni than the blended saucy version. If you wish to have a more uni-infused cream, you could just take it in one bite together! Plus you even have scallops in here! Joy CHICKEN THIGH YAKITORI - $8.5 - another good deal, you get two pieces. Sauce and flavor felt just right - savory, not too salty - and they grilled it juicy. Solid. SCALLOP w SAIKYO MISO - $9 The miso sauce was pretty interesting. It had a strong sake flavor to it? Interesting. And they give you all the parts of the scallop. Liked it. BACON MOCHI - $9.5 I honestly just wanted grilled mochi but this was the closest. I took out some bacon since it was just a bit too heavy/salty, but overall great... chewy mochi! read more

Izakaya Sozai - Chicken & Scallop Yakitori - Ramen Near Me - San Francisco, California

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Make a reservation if possible. The inside of Izakaya Sozai is small, so there aren't many tables to go around. There's only one large table if you have a party of more than four people. On the plus side, that table was an outlet for charging devices close by. I needed an outlet badly for dinner, so the outlet was appreciated. Unfortunately the food is nothing special. Honestly, the seafood dishes were significantly better than most of the dishes that are common in Izakayas. Izakaya Sozai would be better off as a casual sushi restaurant than an izakaya. The Hamachi carpaccio and the tuna tartare were the highlights of my dinner. For some reason the Ramen was more expensive than a good portion of the meat dishes. So don't get the Ramen. It's not worth it. read more

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Pretty good. Maybe 3+/4- we had the tonkotsu ramen and fried oysters. I thought the oysters were really good. Very crunchy exterior and the mustard was both very authentic and a nice touch. My ramen broth was oddly a little lukewarm. The noodles were perfectly cooked, nice and chewy. The chasu was really nice. It had a smokey flavor that was unique but nice. The broth was flavorful but not real memorable. The accompaniments were also good. It would have been really good if hotter and a little more depth in the soup. Overall, it was solid. Kinda pricey and small portions (we got Gordos afterwards). read more

Haven't eaten here since pre covid and decided to go tonight with my wife..arrived around 530ish, no customers so seated easily - service was good and both host were very attentive with our water, orders and check. I thought the food was pretty awesome..my favorite was the sea bass yakitori (comes in 2) tasty, melt in mouth and 3 large chunks per skewer..I wanted to get another one but opted for the scallop (only one skewer on this order) but was equally delicious with the saikyu miso ..beef tendon stew was good. The crispy rice tuna was just ok..too much tuna and not much flavor but the crispy rice part of it was good. Wife got the gizzard skewer -her favorite - I had a few bites and it was pretty good. Overall, good service, great food. Will be back again. read more

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We absolutely loved everything we ordered and highly recommend it all--the tuna tartare, monkfish liver, eggplant, and mochi were outstanding. The sea bass was perfectly cooked, and the noodles in the tonkotsu ramen were incredible, with a rich, decadent broth that was full of flavor. Beyond the amazing food, the owner was incredibly friendly and brought such great, positive energy to the experience. We'll definitely be coming back! read more

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