Came with a party of 3 on a Saturday night around 6:30 and we managed to snag the last empty table! We noticed there was quite a few parties waiting on our way out. However they do have a Yelp waitlist to put your name down. We ordered: - salmon sashimi (6pc): fresh fish and hits the spot - beef tongue: most skewers come with 2pieces but this one came with only 1. We didn't notice until after we got our order. The meat was still tender and good - fried chicken knee: nice and crispy - okonomiyaki: recommend you let the bottom heat up a bit before you eat it bc the crispy bottom made it taste better. The sauce on top was not too much - Mentaiko carbonara: star of the night for me! Prob one of the best versions of this dish that I've tried Great ambience. The staff is quite busy so it might take a while to get w staff's attention. Street parking only. Can't wait to come back and try the other dishes! read more

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Vibrant and lively atmosphere with great songs playing back to back! The Unagi Donburi had great flavour and the unagi was so delicate and sweet! The okonomoyuki was such a comfort dish - lovely balance between crunch and sauciness. The yellowtail was great quality but I would have preferred them to be cut it in thinner slices. Shrimp tempura was good. Overall, it's a great spot for a date or to bring friends for a great time! read more

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Way to expensive for the food to be mid ! And it's hella dark in there! Probably so you don't see what you spent $139 on ! Trash

Such a fun spot I was by myself and had some big big beers! Service was fantastic everyone was so nice! read more

Kinda Izakaya - Big Sapporo ! - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Berkeley, California

Cute fun ambience atmosphere. Service was good. Food wise, lots of improvements needed. 1. Ramen- the broth was definitely diluted from the concentrated pork broth that you can buy in bulk bottles. That was not the issue but it was wayyy diluted that it simply tasted watery. 2. The sushi rice was mushy and the portion was small. 3. You can skip their desserts 4. The tempura shrimps tasted good to my surprise read more

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What a Great Place to Experience different "small" plates of the different Japanese cuisine. We had a group of 6 so we came during the week and not on the weekends so it was easy to get a table at 6pm. Because our group was large we were able to experience more of a cuisine. the Clams were served in a "smoky" seasoned broth. Sauteed mushroom platter cooked with Mirin gave it the Richness & Earthyness of the mushrooms, the sashimi sampler the fish was fresh and generous portions, The Squid Tentacles were deeply fried and so tasty, Grilled Steak Skewers were so tender and flavorful from the Grill. Chicken skewers were good but beef more tasty. My favorite was the "japanese pancake" Okonomiyaki was delicious flavorful and packed with lots of vegetables and a GENEROUS portion. Parking is limited and you may chose to take UBER or park on the side steets and walk. Service was good, they could hire an extra food server to assist with getting the orders out. We will definitely be coming back for this TAPAS bar food. read more

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A solid izakaya with plenty of variety without compromising quality -- highly recommend the pork belly appetizer, mentaiko cream udon, and sweet potato fries. chicken karaage and sukiyaki are solid too. Food comes out pretty slowly -- the place is consistently busy, and there are not many servers. Interior is so quaint and cute though and all the posters and props and decorations on the walls make you feel like you're in Japan. read more

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What a complete disappointment! My group made a dinner reservation here because we saw the good reviews, but we ended up having a terrible experience. If you're looking for a solid izakaya spot in Berkeley, go to Kiraku instead of here. We arrived early for our reservation but still had to wait an extra 20 minutes waiting outside before getting seated. I ordered the sukiyaki and had to wait well over 75 minutes before I even got my food! For context, by then every single person at my table had already completely finished their meals and were just waiting on me (as seen in my video). I have never been at a restaurant where I had to wait this long for my order. Service was not only slow (they probably forgot my order), but no one even checked in or apologized for this error. At any other restaurant, we would've gotten comped for this sukiyaki instead of getting $4 off a total order of $293. Everyone at my table was completely shocked by how unprofessional the staff was in this ordeal, and we all agreed that this is not a place we would ever come back to. I highly urge this restaurant to please evaluate its current practices and to do better to not make this same mistake again. Additionally, I have a food intolerance to green onions and cannot physically consume any green onions without getting sick. I didn't see green onions listed as an ingredient on the menu for this sukiyaki dish, otherwise I most definitely would've asked for no green onions. I recommend this restaurant to please update their menu to include all ingredients because there are enough folks out there with allergies/food intolerances to warrant this. Someone can get very sick from accidentally consuming something they shouldn't here! Aside from my own personal experience here, I asked how the others in my group of 8 enjoyed their food here. They all said their food was disappointing and not that tasty. The only thing we enjoyed was the sake we ordered and the decor inside the restaurant. read more

Kinda Izakaya - Sukiyaki was not good. I couldn't finish it. - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Berkeley, California

Food was delish 10/10. Cocktails not so good but the beer was crisp ice cold. I would recommend to try the yellow tail and the rolls.

Kinda Izakaya is kinda on fiya! Located on University Avenue in the heart of downtown Berkeley, Kinda Izakaya opened last summer replacing the previous home of The Butcher's Son, which moved across the street. Going to Kinda Izakaya is like entering a portal and finding yourself transported to a casual street market restaurant in the heart of Tokyo, as you must enter their front door through curtains at their entryway, and then their walls are covered in ads for various Japanese products and modern art posters representing Japanese culture, with banners and Japanese flags hanging throughout. Although their name is a play on the traditional Japanese Izakaya, they actually serve every type of traditional Japanese cuisine possible here at Kinda Izakaya, with ramen, udon, tempura being served alongside grilled Japanese fish and grilled chicken hearts and gizzards on skewers. What brought me here on a warm weekend evening was the fact that a friend asked to go out for dinner that night and asked if they had any preferences. Then I instantly thought about Kinda Izakaya and how it was brought up in a number of articles and blogs online about their opening last year, and after suggesting we go here, we were both game. Finding parking on a weekend evening in Berkeley is a major challenge but on this evening I managed to get lucky with a space on nearby MLK Way. They take reservations at Kinda Izakaya via a tablet near their entranceway, and it is through Yelp as you request if you want to share a table or not, and they text you when your table is ready. It took about ten minutes for us to be seated and not unlike many restaurants throughout Asia, they have wooden tables with backless wooden stools as chairs here at Kinda Izakaya, which can be a bit uncomfortable if you plan on staying awhile. Although they have a QR code at each table to access their menu, they also have a paper menu that has multiple pages and would be to look at in depth as they have a lot of options to choose from. In addition to their beverage menu, they have sections including Salad, Fried, Grilled, Chaco Bar, Cold Kitchen, Nigiri, Chirachi, From the Kitchen, Side and Dessert. So many options to choose from but we ordered their Kinoko Butter, which was assorted mushrooms with butter garlic on a sizzling hot plate; their Sukiyaki, which is sliced angus beef alongside vegetables, tofu, potatoes, and noodles simmered in a sweet soy sauce broth served in a hot shallow iron pot; and their Hamachi Carpaccio which was yellowtail sashimi dressed with citrusy yuzu wasabi sauce and topped with freshly sliced jalapeño and garlic. All three dishes were brought to our table in succession, and the highlight had to have been their Sukiyaki, which was rich in flavor and warmth thanks to the abundance of fresh ingredients in a large enough bowl for four people to enjoy. I liked both the Carpaccio and the Kinoko Butter entrées, as they were both fresh and hearty and really gave the feel and flavor of authentic Japanese cuisine. We still weren't completely full from our meal yet, so we also ordered their Kara Age, which is their Japanese style fried crispy chicken. Served on a bed of cabbage and with spicy aioli dipping sauce, this final dish was the perfect way to end our meal. Our total bill was a little under eight dollars before gratuity was added in, and we found that quite reasonable considering the amount of dishes and the overall quality of food and service we enjoyed this evening. Open late every night, even midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, I can't imagine a better place to go for that late night bite after a movie or concert when you have a craving for something deeper and more nuanced. Perfect for the college crowd and locals alike, Kinda Izakaya is kinda perfect for downtown Berkeley, and I for one am so grateful that they have brought a little bit of Tokyo to Berkeley! read more

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This place took me for a spin! I know it's wrong to compare places(ipukku) but Kinda was a good experience. The food: 4 Service: 5 Atmosphere: 5 The restaurant itself was beautiful on the inside. Anime and cultural Japanese images all over. Which I thought was pretty cool. The food for me it was a four my mom and partner would say a 5. Again I was being bias. I actually enjoy the cocktails the list is expressive. Do hope they get a whiskey list soon. The service was A plus. My child was being a handful and they definitely made him feel welcomed because he calmed down when the waiters interacted with him. A must go to when in Berkeley! It can get packed so be sure to make a reservation. read more

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Pretty good. We had the sukiyaki, yaki onigiri, sashimi salad, two different special maki rolls, fried squid, agedashi tofu, and hamachi Kama. I thought everything was pretty well done. The freshness and flavors were all good. The sashimi was fresh and so were the greens for the salad. The agedashi tofu was really well-friend, very crunchy and the dashi sauce was very nice. The sukiyaki may have been the winner. The flavoring was really good and not overly sweet like many. The beef was also very flavorful. The yaki onigiri was not crunchy, but the flavor was good. The squid was also nicely fried. The hamachi Kama was good but a little bit short on meat (it was a small Kama). If I had to provide a critique, the sushi rice was a little bit hard. Overall, good meal. read more

Kinda Izakaya has the vibe set just right! The energy is lively the moment you walk up with chatter outside and inside the restaurant of people excited to try their food. We waiting an hour for our table though the wait time said 20 minutes. It was a bit frustrating, but not as frustrating as waiting an hour for our food after we sat down inside. I really wanted to enjoy my time here, but the food was so spaced out upon arriving at our table that it made it difficult the enjoy the food as a whole. We recognize that it was a busy night and large parties so I understand. I do wish they acknowledged that the food was taking extra long for our table while others who arrived after us received theirs much faster. The fish overall was tasty and all of the dishes were excellent- very clean cut. The food was good, but nothing notable. Overall a kinda okay experience. read more

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More like 4.5, because we've had a few misses, but the things they do right, which is most of their offerings, they do really right. For example, highly recommend their mentaiko udon. It gets crowded for dinner, but we've been able to walk in and not have too long of a wait, though it can be if you get unlucky with timing. Friendly staff, and a nice vibe. read more

Loved the decor and vibes inside, service was great, I think some items just fell short of what I was expecting but happy to come back when they've been open a bit longer to see if things are refined! The menu is pretty diverse so lots of options Takowasa - 4/5, def a hit of wasabi if you like wasabi get it Sliced beef tongue with egg yolk - 4/5, tender and juicy Uni & scallop spoons - 3/5 Sukiyaki - 3/5, umami was good, but it was with potato noodles which really soaks up the soup so the ratio was off. Would be better with udon! Combo 3 set special of sushi roll - 2/5, fish selection wasn't that great, the sauces didn't work it made it really heavy and not fresh Chicken thigh skewers - 3/5, needed more sat Chicken gizzard - 4/5 Oyster mushroom - 3/5, was a bit too charred so mushroom flavor didn't come through as much read more

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I enjoyed Kinda Izakaya so much that I came twice within a few days! It's a lot of fun with just one friend or multiple. The service, food, and vibes are great. My favorite dishes have been the Sake Roasted Pork Belly, Yellow Tail Carpaccio, and Ikura & Salmon Bowl. I also tried the Mentai Udon which is on the special menu. It was interesting and lived up to its description, but not necessarily my cup of tea. The drinks are delicious and aesthetic (though not super strong). I ordered the Soju Cocktail Pitcher with just one friend, but we weren't feeling the alcohol, so we ended up getting a few more cocktails, including the Tokyo Highball and the blue drink with a cute duck (I forget the name, but it's on the special menu!). I also really appreciate that Kinda is open pretty late by Berkeley standards. It's easy to get to with street parking and various public transportation options. read more

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GEM IN BERKELEY!! Tried out this izakaya place in Berkeley and it was amazing. There are so many other great Japanese places in Berkeley but there's always a long wait. Came here on a Saturday night and the wait was around 15-20 minutes for 4 people. The servers were a bit slow, but the service was still great and food came quickly. The inside is so cute with an intimate Japanese look! The food blew me away. We started off the beef tongue, takowasa, and the chicken heart skewers. The skewers were nothing but the other two were so good!! Every dish afterwards is a must-get. Super flavorful and great Japanese staples. Takowasa - Raw octopus in fresh wasabi, so refreshing (10/10) Beef Tongue - Savory and bouncy with a side of fresh wasabi and egg yolk (10/10) Chicken Heart Skewers - (7/10) Sukiyaki - Such a hearty broth and loved how sweet it was (9/10) Ochazuke - Seared salmon with rice with dashi broth poured overtop (10/10) Mentaiko Carbonara - Full of so much flavor!! If you like cod roe and creamy pastas, this is perfect. (10/10) Pork belly over rice - Surprisingly so good and flavorful if you're looking for a meaty dish! (9/10) read more

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Definitely a great new spot to open up in Berkeley. Kinda is a fresh twist for an area that mostly has more traditional Japanese sushi fare. Visited with a few friends on a Saturday night, maybe a few weeks after they first opened, and would definitely come back. Service: unfortunately it took a while to get seated, and then another while to actually get to order. I think they were understaffed at the time (1 server?) and still figuring things out after opening, so I'll cut Kinda some slack here. Food: super good! Lots of classic izakaya style dishes, skewers, ramen, etc. Drinks: some very tasty and creative drinks on the menu here. I almost get a bit of the "Tap Haus cocktails before they could serve hard alcohol" vibe from these. Creative combinations that focus on shochu, sake, etc. read more

If the line outside restaurant before they opened was any indicator, dining at Kinda Izakaya did not disappoint. I made a reservation by DM'ing the restaurant on their website, but most other eager diners were gathered at the entrance to snag one of the highly-coveted tables. Upon being seated, my group and I placed our order for an array of skewers and small plates to share. Our food was brought out quickly, and our tiny table could barely contain the steady stream of dishes we ordered. We ordered what looked good from others' Yelp reviews, which included: sake-roasted pork belly, mentaiko udon, chicken thigh skewer, eggplant skewer, and grilled corn skewer. Each dish was delicious, although the sake-roasted pork belly and mentaiko udon stood out to me. I'm usually not a huge fan of pork belly (it's often too fatty or too dry), but the pork was prepared in a way that was flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth tender. The mentaiko udon was probably the most unique dish on the table. At first, it reminded me of carbonara noodles since the udon is smothered in a creamy sauce and topped with crispy bacon. After this initial impression, I began to sense several dimensions of seafood with the fish eggs and bonito flakes. If this dish is on the menu, it's definitely worth a try. The chicken thigh and eggplant skewers had a nice, smoky flavor, and yet they still retained their juiciness. The grilled corn was slightly dry, but it was nice to finish the meal with something lighter. The tiny restaurant is charmingly decorated with colorful posters and lights, and the atmosphere is lively with the chatter of diners in the cozy seating area and around the bar. I noticed there was only one server attending to the tables and seating new parties, and it took while to track them down to pay the bill. Once we got their attention, however, we were set and ready to go in a couple of minutes. I really enjoyed dining at Kinda Izakaya and am looking forward to bringing my friends back for round two. read more

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Food is pretty decent but need to warn diners that if you order via DoorDash or delivery, they are stupidly slow in making your food. Ordered twice, both times they took so long the drivers bailed multiple times while waiting. Not acceptable. Both times took close to 2 hours to deliver. read more

Food: the creamy mentaiko udon: 5/5 Sake roasted pork belly: 5/5 Beef tongue 4/5 Gyo don set: 4/5 Love the creamy mentaiko udon and sake seared pork belly. There's so much rich flavor. The beef tongue was pretty good but not my favorite and same goes for the gyo don set. A little on the pricier side considering the portion size u receive. Service: very nice, a little hard to get the wait staffs attention sometimes Ambiance: very casual and cozy. read more

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found this place while staying in the area, happy we did! Such a good spot! we had a lot of appetizers so that was nice to eat family style amongst the 2 of us eating. we had gyoza, shumai, ramen, chicken skewers, seaweed salad. everything tasted really great! pang was our server she was very nice & served our food in a timely manner always making sure we are good. read more

Simply delicious and good service! The food was flavorful. Bathroom was clean and had nice wallpaper too! read more

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I really enjoy the vibe of this place! It really makes you feel like you're in an izakaya in Japan. The decor is impeccable and the service is great. The only downside is that it's not the best for large parties unless you make a reservation in advance. It's very cozy inside but not built for more than 2-4 people. The have bar seating and usually those are kind of the unwanted seats because it's hard for larger parties. This place is more for cocktails and nibbles instead of a full-course meal, however they do offer rice bowls, sashimi, sushi, noodles, and much more! I love their takoyaki here and want to go back to try the okonomiyaki too! I've tried their sukiyaki, and rice bowls and they're both great. Cocktails are also delicious, and cute! One of their drinks has a duck in it and it's so cute and yummy! Highly recommend checking this place out! I also recommend going early to find parking since it can be hard to find! read more

Absolutely amazing, great vibe and better food! Theres nothing on the menu I wouldn't recommend (and we've tried almost everything). Also pretty decent pricing. read more

A seemingly busy college town izakaya artificially inflated by a horrific wait. While the inside decor is nice and they have good music playing, the wait for our seat and food on a sunday before the majority of students were back from break is a bad showing for when students actually arrive in the area. Our party of 4 arrived at 7pm and put our names down on the list. We were near the top of people waiting but weren't seated until about 8. We ordered 2 appetizers and 4 mains and waited till about 9:20 to get our food, with there seemingly only being one person doing all the cooking and one person handling raw fish. By the time we finished the place was closing. The food was mediocre. The best dish we ordered were the tempura battered sweet potato fries. Our tables kaarage ramen came out lukewarm, with cold chasiu and noodles so soft it felt like they were just sitting in the broth for a while. My yosenabe at least was hot, with a decent broth and sukiyaki meat, but the inclusion of seafood meant 2 shrimp and some slices of fishcake. There was a good amount of mushrooms and veggies though. I wouldn't recommend this restaurant both for the high prices and the service. A showing this terrible on a night where few students are in town does not bode well for later when the semester is in full swing. read more

What a great spot to pop in to! Nice menu offering both sushi (Monday-Thursday I believe) and ramen. Various crispy chicken available, etc. Atmosphere is intimate- good place for a date. Service was attentive and kinda. Will be back for seconds! read more

The golden spoons dish was good. Service was with a smile but there was a huge gap i between the golden spoons coming out and the first shiitake mushroom skewers. We then got the church thigh skewers and the shishito peppers skewers. The hand roll combination looked good though. Cute spot with nice ambiance and lighting and music. Would come back back to try tie their hand roll and noodle dishes. read more

Kinda Izakaya - Shishito pepper skewers - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I happened to find this spot during their soft opening, and I'm so glad I did! I really enjoyed the ambiance and the food/drinks! I highly recommend, and I will definitely be back. My favorite was the hamachi kama (fish was very soft and delicious) and chicken karage. For drinks, we got the lychee cocktail (very good) and the yuzu soda (also very good, and not too sweet). There is a lot of anime reference throughout the restaurant, and they played good music. It gives it a young and hip yet calm vibe, which I enjoyed. Service was great - it wasn't too busy when I went but the server often checked in on my table. Parking is street parking. I will definitely be back! read more

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We stopped in before going to Berkeley Rep. Low key, relaxed atmosphere. Delicious broth with the tempura udon; really nice yakitori (chicken heart and shiitakes) and sashimi. Adding it to favorites in central Berkeley. read more

First time visiting this restaurant and it was a great experience. Came on a Tuesday at around 6 so there was no line when we got there, but when we left at like 8, there was a pretty big line so I would recommend coming earlier for no wait. The overall ambiance of the restaurant was nice, felt authentic and gave off great vibes for a dinner. My first time trying beef tongue and it's amazing, would highly recommend for that portion size. Sashimi and skewers were pretty standard but still very delicious. Would highly recommend if in the Berkeley area and would want some decently priced izakaya. read more

Love this place, very unique food items and enough variety for everyone to find something they enjoy

Good atmosphere, like in Tokyo. Sashimi selection is limited. But not bad. I like the house Sake. Better than many other JP restaurants. There is no Uni in the menu. read more

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Drinks, ambiance, and grilled items were A+. Highlights were the chicken, shishito, shitake and eggplant. Each skewer plate was about $8 and had two skewers. $7 for a beer or $24 for a giant pitcher. Tuna tataki and tamago, however, were really disappointing The tamago was like a scratchy folded scrambled egg, and the tuna didn't have any evidence of a sear - it was just all soft and brown. Definitely wouldn't get that one again at $18. read more

Kinda Izakaya - Tuna tataki. Not seared. Definitely skip this one. - Tapas/Small Plates Near Me - Berkeley, California

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Came in on a Saturday night around 8. Around 715 called in to know what the wait time was and was told "maybe 1 hour, 90 minutes or even 2 hours. Bar seating might be available sooner" From that point, reconsidered going because of how hungry we were. But we went because we've been wanting to try them and would be open to bar seating. Got there and was seated within 5 minutes. Servers were friendly and welcoming. Inside had a variety of seating options that could be rearranged in different configurations (wood and box crates) and bar seating, slightly/dimly lit. Not super loud. Cabbage salad - very light and refreshing, tasty, crispy 5/5 Miso soup - hard to mess this one up, generous tofu and seaweed only downfall was that it wasn't piping hot 4/5 Garlic butter mushrooms - super flavorful, buttery and garlicky. Wish there was more of a variety of mushrooms. Also had a ton of onions. I love onions but it was almost as if the onion:mushroom ration was 1.5:1 4/5 Angus beef skewers - I'd pass on these. Meat itself not flavorful but the glaze/sauce on top was sweet/savory. Texture/consistency was close to a dry patty 1/5 Shishito peppers - very good, not spicy. Crispy. 5/5 Assorted sashimi - good variety of sashimi. Not super fresh but not super fishy either 3/5 Handroll set - good variety and tasty but were prepared as tacos vs handrolls. This made it really difficult to eat 4/5 Mentai udon carbonara - highlight. Creamy, tasty, very umami. Not too salty/fishy. At the end you can see the butter/oils hanging out at the bottom. That's when we knew it was very tasty but not good for us 5/5 Overall, would recommend trying but i personally won't go out of my way to try them or wait more than 15-20 minutes to eat there. read more

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The most legit izakaya place in the east bay!!! My partner and I stumbled upon this place by luck and we were both blown away!! It was packed even though it's only been open for a month. We were seated promptly at the bar and while it took a bit long to get our order taken, once the order was in the food came out at the perfect pace. The service was top notch and everyone was super friendly and professional. The food was INCREDIBLE. We got the sake grilled pork belly, takoyaki, salmon ikura bowl, and sukiyaki. Each dish was done to perfection and the quality of the sashimi surprised me. Everything felt fresh and seasoned perfectly. I also enjoyed the yuzu sparkling soda--not too sweet! I loved finding out this place is owned by women of color- even more reasons to love them. This is definitely one of our favorite places now and we'll be back very soon. read more

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This is an amazing authentic Izakaya place in the heart of downtown Berkeley. The grilled squid is perfect and the chicken skin crispies are not to be missed, but honestly everything on the menu is good-great. it's friendly, quick, and reasonably priced especially considering the high quality. sorry - no photos. read more

Walk through the curtain and you are in a Tokyo side street casual isakaya. Manga comics and posters on the walls. Lots of small plates to share. Reasonably priced. Open late for Berkeley. Food is tasty. They recently revised the menu and there are a few less choices but this is becoming a regular stop for us. read more

I didnt even get sat and one of the servers flat out refused us, erased our name off the list and told us no wait time after we asked for one read more

I went here for my birthday last night and IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT!! I found my new fav place in Berkeley. We pretty much ate the whole menu and I loved every single thing I put in my mouth lol. The ikura was fresh and burst with umami. The beef tongue was so tender and flavorful!! They also served it with a raw egg yolk and a house soy sauce that made it a 12/10. Ugh we ended up ordering 4 of them lol. I loved the atmosphere and the drinks!! You can come here for a fancy date or just a casual late night bite with amazing drinks and nice ambiance. I loved the posters on the wall and the Japanese music in the background. Apparently, it was our server's 1st and he was so nice and attentive. I will be definitely be a regular here lol. read more

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