Top Japanese Restaurant in San Mateo
Hotaru Restaurant
33 E 3rd Ave #4010, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
San Mateo is more than just a sister city to Toyonaka, Japan. It is literally one of the best places in the world to eat Japanese food outside of the land of the rising sun. San Mateo has amazing restaurants like Santa Ramen, Ramen Dojo, Ramen Parlor and Sushi Sams. Hotaru is at home here in San Mateo offering authentically Japanese food, atmosphere and decor. If you are looking for a real deal Japanese dinner or lunch look no further!
Gyu-Kaku Japanese BBQ
329 S Ellsworth Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
A very small chain (read that: mom and pop that has systems and service in place), hip, contemporary, and DELICIOUS. Its a Japanese Bento vs Korean BBQ spot, and every single thing is delicious. The Wasabi shrimp are as near to Shrimp Tempura that they have, but delicious. The Gyoza are brutally fried but tasty. The Miso Ramen was A+. The Waekame salad was delicious (a big plus compared to jarred/canned/old seaweed). Edamame was cooked perfectly and tasty. The Ahi Poke was fresh, and you could taste the freshness of the fish rather than spices to cover old fish. The BBQ shrimp and Filet Mignon were SO YUMMY.San Mateo has a glut of dirty, low end Japanese places. Let alone Thai, Chinese, etc. For every 10 restaurants, there is 1 consistent, solid, always delicious spot....and that is this one. You wont be upset. Apparently dinner reservations are impossible, but daytime happy hour lunches will kill the rest of your business day with tasty food and revelry.
Sushi Sams Edomata
218 E 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
Located in busy downtown San Mateo, this is an outstanding Japanese restaurant! Traditional preparation and high quality seafood. Be sure to try call in for a reservation, as this place is very popular. In fact, we had a 5:00 pm reservation and learned that the fresh oysters were already sold out(fortunately, they spared one order for us). Highly recommend their 8 piece sushi omakase. Loved their agadeshi tofu: fried tofu in warm broth. Their chawan mushi is another great starter, steam egg with chicken, fish cake.
Dash Japanese Tapas and Sushi
204A 2nd Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
AMAZING OMAKASE!Small, adorable, modern sushi shop nestled in between the movie theater and Pacific Catch. It was a little hard to find because its in an alley, but go towards the entrance of Century Theater and you should see it. Its a small restaurant with a couple of seats at the bar and then about 8-10 tables. If you have a large party, I recommend calling ahead.I came here with only one intention, and that was to try the omakase. Ive heard and read good things about it. They have fish shipped fresh every day from Japan which is almost too good to be true. The omakase 10 piece is $40! which is not bad, I would even say cheap because most omakase is more expensive. You can choose to get 10 piece sashimi or nigiri and the half portion is half the price. My boyfriend and I both got the 10 piece nigiri omakase. All the sashimi/sushi is prepared by one chef, George! So it takes a bit of time but you can tell that he takes his time and really dedicates himself to every piece of fish he puts on your plate. I watched him carefully as he prepared our dish since I sat right in front of the bar. I was completely mesmerized by every detail he put into each piece of sushi. When our dish came out, it was beautiful! Each piece of sushi had a different topping to compliment the fish, and majority of the fish used was the special/fresh items of the day. So if you get the omakase, you dont need to order off the fresh items of the day menu, itll probably be on your plate already (: I especially loved the blue shrimp, which was one of the special of the day, the shrimp was firm but slightly sweet and George topped it off with a creamy sauce and some pine nuts which went really well with the shrimp. Each piece is meant to be eaten without anything else so you dont need to worry about extra sauces. Both my boyfriend and I were blown away with the dish from the quality of the fish to the unique taste. I can now see why George is so revered by his many customers!The service here was good, the servers were friendly. I highly recommend this place to any sushi lovers :) Definitely get the omakase, I dont think youll be disappointed!
Old Town Sushi
100 S B St, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
Its one of my favorite Japanese restaurants in Bay Area. I gave 4 stars b/c the resturant is kind of small， and decoration is old， BUT the dishes are really GOOD.I like their sashimi dish, really suggest their Saba shioyaki and Hamachi kama.I heard people complained hard to find parking, here are some tips:1. There is a parking structure just right cross the street.2. San Mateo downtown has a Caltrain station, its kind of fun walking in San Mateo downtown, and you dont have to worry about finding parking.
NI-MO Japanese Cuisine
73 E 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
Were in Best Western visiting in San Mateo for my birthday wknd celebration . Love San Francisco to Monterey! Out of all the Japanese Restaurants we ate on the road, Ni Mo is definitely the best ever!!! The sushi were bigger than the average size, the teriyaki salmon was really delicious, along with the miso soup, salad and edamame, and the sake! We definitely will be back when in this area again...definitely!!
Taishoken Ramen
47 E 4th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
Came here to try the tsukemen noodles. Only experience was Tsujita in LA so thats my barometer, for what its worth. We were on the Waitlist so we didnt experince long lines. Staff is friendly, seated right away. Ordered the potato salad, supposedly a popular appetizer. It tastes like, well, I dont know what its supposed to taste like and for $7-8 I shouldnt have to be guessing, right? Mashed potatoes I got, but is there a smoky flavor? Does it taste like tuna? Or none of the above? It wasnt bad, but should be obvious.We all ordered the Tokusei tsukemen. Came with buckwheat noodles, a dipping broth, a soft boiled egg, pork belly, and two rare slices of beef(?). The egg was perfectly cooked, the pork belly (definitely not cha siu) was soft, a bit sweet, but not much flavor or texture. The sliced meat was, well, sliced meat. The broth was thicker than ramen broth as it should be, not very salty, but didnt have much distinct flavor. There was a powder of some sort sprinkled on top-no explanation of what to do with it. Do we mix it into the broth, do we coat something, or just eat it? Broth had a citrus taste tasted ... Id prefer it as an option.The buckwheat noodles are difficult to grab with the chopsticks. Cooked well, but you either have to use the spoon to help lift and carry into the broth, or lift the noodles high and partially drag the out of the bowl and into the broth without looking like a 6 year old. At the end, they were going to clear our bowls but we had to remind them that they were supposed to dilute the dipping broth. Wasnt that part of the experience of tsukemen?Again, having had tsukemen at Tsujita in LA we were disappointed. We kinda had to fight the noodles because they were difficult to eat. The broth isnt bad, but not the robust flavor youd expect from a concentrated broth. And the diluted the thick broth with water vs. clear broth at Tsujita. Theyre new so Ill cut them some slack, but these arent service issues, theyre fundamental to Taishoken.
Minako Organic-ish Japanese Cuisine
360 Peninsula Ave, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
Ive had Minakos on my list for a while since seeing the homemade, organic vegan Japanese options that they provide. As someone who loves Japanese food, its always nice to see a place that offers more than just an avocado cucumber roll for someone like me.We ordered three items: my mom got the Chirashi bowl, I went with their Tofu Kaarage, and a Mushroom Avo Roll. They told us it would be a 30-40 minute wait due to the number of orders, and we said wed be okay waiting. When they realized we were dining in, they even brought out a small bowl of rice crackers for us to enjoy while the food was being prepared.To my surprise, the kaarage came like a set so there was rice, pickled veggies, and their daily side included. The tofu kaarage was fantastic and a nice change of pace from the standard tofu katsu I often see at Japanese restaurants. My maki roll was good too but was a bit small for me. My mom also enjoyed her chirashi but felt it wasnt a lot of food, and the wait probably made it a bit harder to justify the full cost.Service here was great and I did appreciate talking to the owner and daughter about their business and seeing how many vegans have stopped by to share their recommendations on plant-based spots around the country. They were very attentive and kept coming out to check on us even if it meant leaving the restaurant.As of October 2023, they are still very much take-out only but have a few small tables outside to dine on site. I recommend ordering to-go since its not guaranteed youll have a table and there isnt a whole lot of activity situated on a street corner with a gas station next door.
Totoro Ramen
856 N Delaware St, San Mateo, CA 94401, United States
Amazing food at an amazing price point. The service at this new restaurant was completely above and beyond. To start, the tablet service to order food was very seamless; when prompted, the waiter would immediately be there to address any concern, to which there were none. Once the order was made on the tablet, the food arrived with haste. The ramen was especially stunning, although I do like my eggs a little on the runnier side. The broth was so smooth, not to salty and had all the distinct flavor profiles of a house broth. The pork was very tender to my surprise, and the noodles had that insatiable bite that had me coming at it again and again, until the bowl was empty. The rice bowl was very good as well, the price point of it is the main attraction there. One small concern with the usage of the tablet system is how it impedes on the dining experience, especially because the space is already so small in terms of square footage, having the tablet mounted over the table impedes upon the dining experience, especially when it is a on a table for a party of two. But in hindsight, the arm of the tablet can easily be adjusted so I don't think it is a concern at all. I think this restaurant really takes an interesting twist on instead of using technology to make eating alone easier, it chooses to make the social aspect of eating easier, as you no longer have waiters breathing down your neck, but when they are required for a quick refill of tea, they are right there (without much ado). This place got off on the right foot and it contributes a much needed unique flair to the newly renovated Woodlake Shopping Centre. I highly encourage anyone, whether youre on a budget, or frequent the likes of Espetus to try this place, you will not regret it! 5/5
Furagu Sushi
116 W 25th Ave, San Mateo, CA 94403, United States
Excellent little Japanese restaurant close to the San Mateo mall that we visited. We had not researched the area prior to arrival, and this place was the first place that was op at the time. We wanted Japanese. Food was great, the kids enjoyed it and the staff were friendly and helpful. Would go back in future in in the area. Service was also fast, but they had just opened so no one else was in there yet.