Hands down the best Korean spot in this area! Mugunghwa is on par with other top notch Korean spots…read morein Santa Clara. The food is authentic and delicious. You can find all the usuals here like kbbq, tofu soup, jeon and kfc, but also specials like bossam, suyuk and seolleongtang. I've been here twice now and have really enjoyed all the different dishes I've tried. I highly recommend the jeon, bossam, kalbi and naengmyeon! In my experience, there's been little to no wait on Saturdays at lunch time, but they do Yelp waitlist here. There's a decent amount of tables inside and a small private parking lot as well.

The food is great, the customer service is not…read more Love their rosy tteokbokki. Also tried their beef bibimbap and that was also good. Side dishes are unique and fresh. They do use sugar on their kimchi, may not be for everyone. Please continue to provide side dishes if a customer is spending $20+ on an item regardless of you call it an entree or not.

My old fav' is back in new clothes. What calls me to this place is that it offers a traditional…read moreversion of Sukiyaki. Most restaurants don't want to take on the burden of setting up the fire! But you will find that this restaurant not only serves Japanese food, but also adheres to the Japanese culture, excellent service and authenticity...right down to the salad dressing. Ask for Sukiyaki, cooked at your table, w/ an raw egg. It will come to you with an intoxicating umami from the thin sliced beef cooking in the broth surrounded by transparent noodles, veggies and alabaster cliffs of tofu. Crack the egg. Take your time with this dish. And finish it off with green tea ice cream! Give a nice tip for the wonderful servers who never complain about the set up.

Service is great. Food is awesome. Right portion-…read more Ambiance is right. Not too busy and too loud inside

We've been here a couple of times now, and my hubby and I really like this place. The atmosphere is…read morevery warm and fairly cozy. Tables are spread out so you are not on top of each other. It appears to be popular with families as well. It was a Friday evening after 9pm, kind of late for us to eat very much but I needed something so we popped in. It was quiet, maybe three or four other tables. Our food server was patient as I looked over the fairly large menu. Ended up with some of my current faves: hamachi nigiri, California roll, yam roll, and salmon skin roll. Everything was thoughtful, well prepared, and delicious. It was just enough food and I was good for the night. On our second visit, my hubby and I brought my dad for lunch to celebrate his 88th birthday. It was pouring rain outside but we were fortunate to get parking right outside the door. We ended up sitting by the window which was the same table we sat at during our first visit. We ordered gyoza (6) for the table. We all ordered bento. Dad had the beef short ribs and California roll, hubby had the Vegetable tempura and California roll, I had the Saba shiyoyaki and hamachi sashimi. All three came with miso soup and salad. Everything was delicious. My fish was well seasoned and moist, dad's beef short ribs were tender, hubby's tempura was light and crisp. Lunch was very reasonably priced for all we ordered. I am definitely a fan of this place and look forward to dining here again.

This is our go-to take out sushi place. We can get the Bento box for the kids, we like how they…read moregive 2 options of protein, rice, salad and miso soup! For the two of us 5 rolls is sufficient for our dinner (sometime enough for someone to have lunch the next day)

Yoshio Sushi is our go-to spot for a late-night dinner. We love coming in during the last hour,…read moreordering a few dishes, and enjoying how intimate and relaxed the space feels -- perfect for a quick date night. The food is always amazing. Our go-to order includes the salmon skin salad, edamame (they should totally do a garlic spicy version -- it's my favorite), miso soup, and the Superman Signature Roll, which never disappoints. We love supporting local businesses, and Yoshio truly feels like a hidden gem. Consistently great food, a cozy atmosphere, and just an all-around solid spot we keep coming back to.

I'm always on the lookout for late night spot & sushi. I stumbled upon this place via Yelp. It's…read moresuch a cute place! I have never been to Japan but I imagine this is what a local traditional sushi bar would be like. It was really clean as well. I read great reviews for the Bento Box - so I got one. Short rib was good. Miso Salmon & steamed egg dish was just okay. I thought it was such a good deal I went back a couple more times. The first it was late night Monday I expected it to be quiet which it definitely was. A table of four & 2 other tables of 2 - then me. Just me. The service was kind of slow. I went a couple more times while on assignment every time the service was just okay.

I loved sushi made using purple rice. It adds a beautiful and tasty punch to pristine delicious…read morefish. The server was very happy to explain to me how the shop came to use the purple rice, which is a combination of White and black rices. It is more influenced by Korean cuisine than Japanese, but you just gotta love the inventiveness and style. This place adds to the wonderful sushi options in this neck of the woods worth the drive, worth everything.

I love sushi and rolls, and this place has such wonderfully creative both. Unfortunately it's not…read morealways consistent in terms of presentation.. But when it's on, it's so on it's worth the gamble. There are options for people who don't like raw fish. I just wish I could convince my companion who doesn't like uncooked seafood that the lion roll is cooked. I had some it was delicious.

Love love love this place! This is my go-to whenever I have family in the area. The fish is fresh,…read moredelicious, and well-presented. I would definitely recommend making a reservation as the space is quite small, but it's never overly crowded or loud. The drinks are good and the food is good. The service is a bit slow but it's very understandable as everything is plated fresh. I can't wait to come back here again! A staple option I would recommend to anyone looking for an East Bay sushi spot.

Enjoying the smoked hamachi roll (5/5) and our Arctic roll (5/5) and it hit me that maybe this is…read morethe best sushi I've ever had. Pacific and Atlantic rolls are 4.5/5, as are the oysters, adjusting for price. Every plate is a work of art, and art is expensive. Seating is limited so if you have a party of 2, you have options, but there's only inside table for four. Service is attentive but if you're starving and they're packed, expect to wait a while for your order. Enjoy watching the other orders coming out and make notes for next time. Can't rush art!

Came here to celebrate a friend's birthday and it was a great choice. Overall the food was good and…read moreportions were good. We each got a handroll set and it was enough with the 4 rolls along with an appetizer for 3 of us to feel full. The SHUNGIKU KAKIAGE appetizer was delicious. Very nice with light batter and flavor. We enjoyed this a lot. Each roll was fresh and had a good amount of meat in it. The home made soy sauce was also delicious and had very interesting umami flavor. Our waitress was friendly and it wasn't very busy but for some reason she didn't notice to fill our water jug for a while. She was very good at clearing dishes. Parking wasn't too bad on a weekday night on the street but street parking is only 2 hours.

A few months back, my boyfriend and I had gone to the Oakland location during restaurant week and…read morethat entire experience was a 10/10. After a hike in Berkeley, we saw we were close to this Albany location so we popped in at 2:30pm (they closed at 3pm). Got seated immediately. It was bigger than the Oakland location and (to my liking) more calm/quiet (though that could have been bc we were there at an off hour instead of prime dinner time, but nonetheless it was very much enjoyed). Similar to the Oakland location, they walk handrolls out one at a time. I don't know if they were short on staff because of the off hour, but every roll we had, the seaweed was soggy/not crisp. Unsure if it was not fresh OR if it was just sitting in the kitchen, and not the biggest deal, but I definitely preferred the seaweed at the Oakland location. That said the fish was good and the rice was well seasoned. I do think if I have a craving for handrolls, I'll prob go to the Oakland location.

Aki-San is decreasing to 2 nights per week starting in June! No more Thursdays. Friday and Saturday…read moreonly. But I am glad he isn't retiring yet!!

Review for dinner service on 6 March 25…read more I had been trying off and on to get a booking but nothing was ever available, so I was pleasantly surprised to snag a seating for two within a week of the reservation because a fellow Yelper cancelled her reservation (thank you Sarah T!) The following week, we were in for a wonderful, delicious and entertaining evening. The two other couples had made their reservations back in December, so I felt very lucky we did not have as long a wait. Chef Aki-san and Michiko-san are a husband and wife team. At 6pm, the door opened and Michiko-san invited the six of us to choose a seat at the sushi bar. We all sat down before a simple place setting: a square ceramic plate, hashioki (chopstick rests), hashi (chopsticks, paper napkin and oshibori (towel for wiping your fingers). She handed us a menu and checked in with everyone to see if there were any dietary restrictions or allergies, took our drink orders and a brought a small bowl of edamame for each couple. We declined ordering any side dishes because I suspected that the 16-item omakase selection would be more than enough for the evening. As it turned out, two salads were added to our already extensive menu. Nommmm ... more tastes for me :D As we drank and munched on edamame, we watched Aki-san stocking the bar with ingredients he would be serving to us. He introduced himself and in turn we introduced ourselves - where we were from, how we learned of the restaurant, etc. It turned out to be the first time for all of us. During the course of the evening, we learned quite a bit about his history and experience working as a sushi chef before opening his own restaurant. Our menu (in order) for the evening: -Tako and Sunomono salad with shiso leaf, drizzled with a light miso sauce -Blue fin toro -Ika/squid -Hokkaido scallop -Ebi/fresh water shrimp -Sake/salmon -Saba/mackerel -Ankimono (Monkfish liver) and Sunomono salad with scallions and tobiko, shiso leaf with a ponzo sauce -Ikura, avocado and tobiko -A5 wagyu -Seared albacore -Hokkaido uni -Buri/ hamachi yellowtail -Blue fin toro -Sake/salmon cold smoked with hickory -Anago (fresh water eel) -Unagi (salt water eel) -Tamagoyaki Everything was incredibly fresh and tasted of the sea. Each piece was carefully prepared, perfectly seasoned, beautiful on the plate. He talked about each item as we tasted and ate. I loved watching as he rubbed the wasabi root against a metal shark skin grater, a tool he has had forever. Chef Aki-san chided me when I confessed I was eating the nigiri in two bites - apparently that is the wrong way to eat! Nigiri is meant to be eaten in one bite, the logic being that you don't get the full experience of the taste and flavour in two bites. My issue is that most nigiri sushi these days have too much rice that my mouth is too full to appreciate the flavour. However, he prepares "low carb" portions so the fish and beef are highlighted, yet all in balance. To sum things up - the food and presentation was perfect. I am not a fan of eel, so those were my least favourite bites. It was my first time eating monkfish liver. I found it quite delicious and would definitely eat it again. Mitchiko-san was very sweet and attentive, noting if we needed refills of water or sake jars. The atmosphere overall was light, friendly and jovial, and we enjoyed the company of who we were dining with. Not to mention that Aki-san is quite entertaining in his own right. Note: There is only one service per evening so you will not feel rushed to eat and dash. We did not get out of there until 9:30pm. He also mentioned that starting in June they will be cutting back to two days a week - Friday and Saturday only - something to keep in mind. Will try our luck getting reservations again in about 7 months to celebrate our birthdays and anniversary.