Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar

Taro San has become one of my favorite restaurants at Stanford shopping center. The menu is extensive and creative with something for everyone in your the family (including my picky eater) to enjoy! I've enjoyed everything I've tried thus far. Some of my favorites:Crispy spicy salmonEbi fryTakoyaki Hiyashi chuka (udon salad for when I want something a little lighter)Truffle udon (so delicious and indulgent)Curry udon (my hubby's fave)Looking forward to our next trip back!!

Looking for freshly made soup noodles on a cold day or a refreshing noodle salad filled with vibrant flavors? Look no further than Taro San situated at the heart of the Stanford shopping center! Al dente house made noodles topped with fresh uni & ikura, truffle infused mushroom noodles, or crispy rice topped with the perfect blend of spicy salmon & avocado - you really can't go wrong with any of the Japanese fusion flavors in this noodle house. This is a beautifully designed fast casual fusion restaurant with great prices, fast & friendly service, & amazing food.

Sadly, this wasn't quite the place for me. It's cute and fun and they have a really good happy hour so I'd definitely recommend going then.The karage chicken was good yet nothing noteworthy. For some reason, I really didn't like the flavor of the udon and I typically love udon! Even with the simplest of broths. The noodles were perfectly cooked but there was something about the soup that tasted weird to me. This was just the plain udon from the Happy Hour menu.The service was decent and everyone was friendly.

Lunch with friends on a Sunday afternoon - 5 adults, 1 toddler and a baby. * Uni Ikura Udon - uni mentaiko creom souce, topped with uni, ikura, nori $35 * Classic Bento Box - 8 pieces of California roll with roasted garlic edamame, house salad with fried udon crisps, and fried chicken karaage $21 * Japanese Potato Salad - Topped with salmon skin and tobiko $11 * Salmon Wing Tips - charbroiled salmon wings, green onion, ponzu sauce 5 for $14 x 2 * Duck Tsuke Udon - Seared duck breast, chives, with a rich duck and dashi dipping broth $21 * Cold Uni Ikura Udon - dashi and soy ponzu citrus cold soup with uni, Ikura, shiso, neri, ond thin cut udon $32I'm only knocking a star down because service was ok - didn't refill our waters but they were busy. Don't forget that they charge gratuity for a party of 6+ which does include kids. We forgot and didn't realize afterwards that where we added an additional gratuity - our fault. Overall would still come back here amd recommend!

Had the opportunity to try Taro San with my family on a Sunday afternoon around 12 pm for lunch! A part of the Stanford shopping center that's a bit hidden. We were sat immediately for a table for 3 the moment we walked in. Great interior that's clean and classy. We ordered two bento boxes, one with a classic California Roll and a Salmon Skin Roll, a Niku Udon, and Cauliflower kaarage. The cauliflower had a great golden brown color from the light fry, crunch, light, and deliciously well with the lemon and mayo. The Niku Udon had a rich broth with soft noodles and tender slices of beef. Very filling and hearty on a cold morning. The bento boxes had lots of edamame, a great Asian salad, and the rolls were a bit smaller than expected... Service was quick and easy! Good experience over all.

I like going here for their baked miso salmon bento. The perfect smallamounts of salmon, salad, karaage, and edamame. I like their karaage and aioli dipping sauce. I have eaten here in person and takeout. Sometimes you can be seated within 15 minutes or maybe up to an hour depending how busy they are. It's a small restaurant. So there's a table for two or more. Depending on how many are eating with you.

Quick service, which is exactly what we needed since we were starving when we came in for a late dinner. It was almost a bit too quick... The restaurant was clean and the staff was nice, but the food was just ok. The tori udon was nice and light, while the niku udon was more flavorful, but neither were great.

First time I came here was like 2 years ago. I wanted to try their duck but I was denied due to it only being served for dinner. Now, I was able to try it and sadly it was disappointing. You can see how tiny the duck pieces are and I personally did not like the sauce on the duck. Noodles were fine. The broth was just ok. I prefer Taishoken for tsukemen. Also, the tables are so low and the chairs are high. Definitely did not like it.

We stopped by just before noon on MLKJ Day and the poor host was running around hosting, serving and cleaning. I felt so bad for the young worker! He needed help aside from one person helping him to bust and serve. Server was attentive as he could be with a full house when we came in. We ordered the risotto, two drinks, Wagyu niku udon and the dipping duck udon. The risotto came out within 3 minutes and our drinks another 8 to 15 minutes with one drink being served at a time as the host/server was running around.After awhile, I noticed the back half of the restaurant had all finished their food and left. People that arrived 10 to 15 minutes after us had their food already and were paying to leave. At this point, there were maybe 5 tables left and we still didn't have our entrees, so we flagged our poor server around 33 minutes after we ordered to check in on our food and the kitchen unfortunately forgot or missed our food.... Our food came promptly afterwards one by one within 4 minutes with an apology from the kitchen staff. Almost 40 minutes later!Food wasn't that hot and by then, I had lost my appetite waiting around after we had finished our risotto. The duck plate had small pieces of meat while the Wagyu had some hard cartilage pieces that we couldn't chew and that ruined the meal. The drinks were good, well the lychee one at least and I'd pass on the raspberry one. I don't think we'll be back unfortunately after this. But I truly felt bad for our host/server though. I'm just disappointed at our forgotten food and then a so so meal.

unagi don was fishy and tasted off, stick to the pork belly don which has been consistently good quality.