Walking around Japantown in San Jose, we wanted to eat Japanese food. Surprisingly, there really…read morearen't that many options. And don't forget, most restaurants do close for the afternoon. Kaita Restaurant was one of the few that was still open and had a large menu selection to choose from. We walked in around 1:30 pm and was able to grab the last available table as it was packed on this weekday. They pride themselves as being a family-owned restaurant offering comfort food. There is a simple 2-page menu and a specials board. Do take note of it as you enter though. They also offer complimentary hot tea, which is unheard of these days. * Tempura Soba $14.95 Both of my kids ordered this, and it was quite generous. However, the tempura batter was a bit heavy and the Little Gal struggled to eat hers. (In retrospect, she would have been satisfied with just the soba on its own.) The Little Guy ate his and said it was alright. 3/5 * Small Negitoro Don & Small Tanuki Udon $18.95 This also came with a side salad. I enjoyed the negitoro don more so than the udon. The udon wasn't anything special, but I guess it's not supposed to be. 4/5 The price point really is something that can't be ignored because I'm sure it contributes to their cult following and the mere fact that they have been around for over twenty years. Service is quick and efficient. The staff work quietly and quickly throughout this tight restaurant.

I love Japantown, and I love Kaita!…read more My group and I were wandering Japantown after a bit of shopping and stumbled upon Kaita. We got there around 6pm on a Friday and for a group of 3, we got seated within 5 minutes. Service was excellent! They were quick to take our orders and refill our waters. One of us accidentally spilled our water, but they kindly cleaned it up for us and reassured us it was okay. I ended up ordering the broiled salmon, which I thought was a perfect serving! They gave me the salad first separately, which I finished pretty quickly. Out came the rest of the meal in moritsuke style. The broiled salmon was cooked perfectly, with the nice charred taste while still maintaining its juiciness. They plated it with macaroni salad and sweet oranges. I was able to finish everything without feeling too overstuffed, and left the restaurant feeling satiated. I would love to come back again and try their kaisen don! Overall, I highly recommend if you want a cozy Japanense eatery in Japantown.

When they said this is your favorite sushi chef's favorite sushi place, I was skeptical…read more They were correct!!! All their sushi was amazing! Regular Sushi platter: normal name but delicious game!!! Assortment of tuna, yellowtail, shrimp, white fish, salmon, eel, and smelt roe nigiri, and 3 pieces of California roll. Philly roll was a perfect balance of cream cheese and fresh salmon. All seafood was so fresh, I thought their gills were still flapping! Rice was sticky and light. Seaweed was not too tough nor tough like leather, and nicely seasoned. Dining area was intimate and nice. Staff was friendly and attentive. I recommend this restaurant to anyone who keeps the main thing the main thing. There is no substitute for great food!

The small plates are great for sharing, especially the yakitori and appetizers, which are flavorful…read moreand well-prepared. Food comes out fresh and pairs well with their drink selection. Service is generally friendly, though it can slow down a bit when it's busy. Overall, a nice spot for a laid-back meal with good comfort-style Japanese food.

Now that I know I can have them mix the sukiyaki and garlic miso broths together without an extra…read morecharge, it tastes sooo much better and is honestly a game changer. A waitress there had told me there would be a $7 charge to do that and I paid anyway, but a waiter from our most recent visit assured us there's no charge to mix broths and that there may have been a miscommunication. Glad I asked! We always order 2 sumos: Black Angus Prime Ribeye and the Premium American Kobe Beef but we decided we love the Kobe beef more and would stick to that moving forward as it is more marbled and tastes fattier. Don't forget to ask them for the spicy drops if you also love spicy! This continues to be our favorite place for shabu.

I'm not the biggest shabu shabu fan and One Pot isn't going to change that…read more My group ordered the angus ribeye and lamb entrees, the mushroom platter, and two of the rice beer pilsners. Food quality is good, all the veggies and meat were fresh. They sadly didn't have enoki mushrooms, but they had shiitake and some others so that was fine. The beers were very refreshing and light, sort of like if cheap American beer was made to actually taste good. Like imagine Budweiser without the hint of cigarette filters and moldy socks. Especially on a hot day this was very nice. Service was fast and the servers were very nice, coming by many times to check on us and promptly refilling. Although the restaurant was pretty empty at 5 pm on a Saturday, not too surprising as it was a while before the dinner rush I guess. So... why 3 stars? It all comes down to the flavorless broth and sauce that seems to be de rigueur for shabu shabu. We tried both the "original" soy/seaweed flavor, which just tastes like water, and garlic miso, which has a very mild flavor. And then we used the two dipping sauces which I are a creamy sesame and I guess a ponzu, which I added some green onion and garlic to. The combination of the very light broths and the very light sauces is... very light. I guess someone might say you "taste the ingredients" more compared to the vastly superior hot pot where you add some flavor via the cooking medium and have a wide variety of flavorful ingredients to make a customized sauce. I can somewhat understand the perspective of wanting to mostly taste the flavors of the raw ingredients... but I don't agree with it. To me shabu shabu is basically hot pot minus flavor, and hence kind of a waste. I will say, pricing is relatively good here. Our bill was under $150 for a ton of food with everyone feeling very full. The restaurant itself is very clean and they have a large and convenient parking lot. If only it was a hot pot restaurant it definitely had all the ingredients for a 5 star review.

I grew up on box curry, even when I would visit my family in Japan haha. I made it from scratch…read moreonce. My Japanese mom said it was good, and she's picky soooo. Anyway those are my qualifications. And I prefer JapaCurry over the other places (even Izakaya!!) because the curry is not WATERY. I really appreciate that this has body to it lol. And thank you, Masa, for taking good care of your customers. We went to Naglee Park Garage for years and were so sad when the new owner (Mark) officially had to close down. I now trust whatever Masa will do with the space haha.

Last time I was picking up bagels next door, I saw people coming out of the back building. I didn't…read morerealize that japacurry had moved in. I had only been to the downtown location. The curry here seems thicker than other places. Also I feel that it tastes sweeter. I like it better this way. The chicken katsu was fried so the chicken was crispy,but not dry. I finally tried the potato croquet. It was ok. It's tasted like a crispy crunchy mashed potato. I only wished that they would put more curry on the rice. I didn't know if I should have went and ask for more. When they serve a big portion of rice, I feel you should get more sauce. It's bigger than it looks from the outside. We were able to find a table. They only have an electric kiosk to take orders. So no cash accepted

Excellent sushi chefs, I go about every other week and sit at the bar. The staff is great very…read moreattentive. The sushi is always very fresh, the rice is never over cooked and the fish clean and vibrant. The house tea always hits the spot as well. The ginger is even fresh not that awful pink stuff. I am a Culinarian by trade, and I would come here over most places in the bay 9 times out of 10. I highly recommend this spot and will be back many times over the coming years.

Our visit was unfortunate. The only thing that both my husband and I liked was the sashimi. The…read moretempura, the salmon in the bento, the agadashi tofu, and the sorbet were all quite lackluster. The salmon was the one that really got us: it was literally just the throw away cut...just the bone meat. It was overcooked at that. The complimentary sorbet which was nice of them, unfortunately was incredibly bitter. As if they took all the pith from the citrus and incorporated it...not adding anything sweet to counter it. The two piece salmon skin roll that I had was also not tasty at all. A little like sawdust wrapped in rice. I will say that service was good though. I would stick to the sashimi if you decide to eat here.

Shabuway has been one of my favorite restaurants since I was in high school (12 years ago). The…read morefood is excellent, the ambiance is a vibe, the price is always comparatively low for how expensive food is becoming in the Bay Area. This is the last Shabuway location standing. The San Mateo location (the oldest one) recently shut down. I've been going here since they had the location that was open in Mountain View. I really hope this San Jose location stays open. I've introduced my family and countless friends to Shabuway. It's become tradition for me and some of my friends to come here. People I know who have complained that they're not the biggest fan of hot pot end up loving Shabuway and saying that it's delicious. It's my favorite hot pot in the Bay Area and I really hope it continues to stay open. Please come visit this Shabuway location. It's genuinely amazing. I get the spicy miso broth with the American Kobe Beef and a side of rice. I have yet to meet a person that doesn't like that particular combination. Toss the vegetables into the broth, swish the meat in until it's cooked, and then dip everything in the ponzu first and then the sesame sauce. Literally incredible. Chefs kiss. Also, I'm genuinely such a picky eater that my friends make fun of me while we're here because of how many vegetables I consume at this place. The combination of the broth + sauces even makes vegetables taste incredible. I don't even like vegetables and I'll eat the whole plate here. 10/10. Been loving it for over a decade. Try it out :)

I love hot pot and this place was clean, not Smokey, not loud from vents and I had a great filling…read moredinner here. I ordered a medium beef plate and my boyfriend got the Kobe beef. I got the curry broth which was yummy! And my boyfriend got the.... I actually forgot which broth he got medium but I got mine mild and everything was perfect. Service was great, food was fresh, meat was sliced per order. I'd definitely come back.

This place is self-service, you pick the ingredients you want, then everything is weighed before…read moreyou choose your soup base and pay according to the weight. I chose the dry-style stir fries, it's great. The best part is that all the dishes come with free noodles. My friend ordered the pork broth, which was served in a clay pot. It was boiling hot when it arrived and stayed nice and hot. This is definitely something I would order again, especially in the winter I also ordered the Cuttlefish Tentacles (10 pcs for $7). They were very flavorful, and I was happy that the cuttlefish wasn't too tough or chewy. Overall, a fun and convenient way to enjoy a variety of soup base. I'll definitely be back to try more items

Originally, my friend and I were going to the Boiling Point place next door. My friend doesn't eat…read moreanything beef related, and apparently almost all dishes have a beef broth base or is cooked in a beef based, even the pork belly, etc, So I decided to come here, as I saw this place and wanted to check it out, as I was approaching Boiling Point. This is a self serve type spot. Soup isn't too greasy and it was 3pm on the Sunday or Labor Day weekend. It was a super quiet place. Think like an office style lunch room quiet / super quiet cafe. The vibes were different than Boiling Point. All the food was quality ingredients, felt like China (as my friend used to live there), was not too greasy, very functional type restaurant vibes, a tad on the pricer side, super hot temperature personal soup dish, etc. A type of hot pot place, where you can come on your own, vs like a Haidilao spot whee you would go with a larger group. This was more of a 1-2 person type spot, vs a 3-5+ person spot. Worth coming back. Tasty food, without being too overpowering. I did wish there was ponzu or other dipping sauce flavors. My friend wanted some music in the background, the AC or overall venue would be cooler, as the soup temperature is super hot, where you can almost burn your tongue, etc

Came back again! This honestly is my "secret" spot, while other people go to the more mainstream…read morespots. Ilbunjee is such a great spot for vibes and great cuts of meat. Parking can be rough, which is why I always park In the neighborhoods, but I love this spot.

We enjoyed the meal including the banchan and sides. Good quality ingredients. Each table minimum…read moreis to order two grilled meats and we ended up very full First the salad and hot fish broth soup arrived. I really enjoyed how crunchy and fresh the salad greens were and this light sesame dressing. The cold kimchi noodle was very refreshing. I wish it had some more kimchi pieces or vegetable We ordered the Ribeye and Wagyu Skirt Steak. Our server was friendly to help us cut the ribeye sections upon grilling. The Wagyu was delicious and so tender! The banchan cucumber, radish, and kimchi were my favorite accompaniments. The kimchi is not very fermented here Overall a positive dining experience. Think more of an upscale meal and prepare for a lux bill at the end