Drunken Monk

The stars of this show was the corn tempura (10/10) and chicken meatball with marinated egg yolk (10/10). The corn was perfectly crispy and seasoned. We were amazed on how they made such a simple ingredient into such an intricate dish. The chicken meatball was to die for. It melted in your mouth and paired perfectly with the marinated egg yolk. We had this meal weeks ago and are still dreaming about these dishes! The scallop carpaccio (9/10) was refreshing and we loved the zesty / yuzu flavor of the sauce. Sake clam was not too memorable and a little salty, but was very flavorful (7/10). Chicken oyster was so tender and crisp on top, amazing with the radish and pepper (8/10).The service was amazing, with our waitress checking in with us frequently and giving us recommendations as it was our first time there. Loved the ambiance was well. Interior was nicely decorated and dim, perfect for date night. We would 100% come back!

The restaurant parking is in a narrow driveway which we had to turn back around to find. We made dinner reservations at 7PM and waited for 40 minutes to get seated.We ordered the peach chu-hai which was extremely sweet. For appetizers we ordered the corn kakiage (corn tempura), tori kawa (fried chicken skin) and kaki fry (oyster tempura). The starters were all equally great and fried to perfection. Later we ordered the gyudon, yakitori (momo, quail, scallops, kurobuta sausage), akami sushi and sukiyaki nabe w/ American wagyu. The gyudon was delicious. The yakitori here is definitely the star of the show. Everything was so tender and delicious especially the momo. The akami sushi was fresh but the rice had a mushy texture. I was super disappointed in the sukiyaki nabe especially for $78, I was expecting something more flavorful - it was mainly just cabbage. Overall, everything here is great for sharing and a nice intimate setting!

A small Japanese Izakaya in the Bay, with very limited parking. We had to find street parking and walk to the restaurant. We have reservations for Valentine's and it was a cozy ambiance! Our server didn't have the Valentine's special menu and explained it all to us. Thankfully, another server had the menu and let us look at it.We tried a variety of dishes, from the chefs choice nigiri, to the special A5 Hokkaido wagyu dish. The corn tempura can use some sort of sauce to go along with it. We really enjoyed the nigiri and chicken meatballs! The A5 Hokkaido wagyu serving size looked smaller than the picture. It was sweet of them to provide a rose cut hand soap & candies for Valentine's Day

Came here for a birthday celebration and it did not disappoint. They have a variety of options to choose from - sushi, yakitori, sukiyaki, and other small bites. To start, we got the following items:-corn kakiage - tempura fresh corn. It was crispy, and absolutely delicious! (must get, esp if you love corn as much as I do)-scallop carpaccio - light and refreshing-tori kawa - deep fried chicken skin. Do I need to say more? Loved it!!!-kaki fry - deep fried oyster. If you love oysters, this is great!Under the munchies category:-ochazuke - nice and warm rice, eel, and broth mixed together. It was great to share. Sushi:-Got the 6 piece omakase to share. Chef's choice on nigiris. Yakitori:-negima - chicken thigh with leek-hatsu - chicken heart-soriresu - chicken oyster-sunagimo - chicken gizzardOf all the skewers we got, the chicken oyster was our favorite. Kind of sad that they only had one skewer left for the four of us to share, but it was delicious. Highly recommend that skewer!Sykiyaki:We got the American wagyu with udon. It was a great way to end our meal. Something about ending with a broth and meat with veggie dish is so comforting. The portion for this was is a good size, that we were already so full off all the other items too. By this time, we were beyond full for dessert. Definitely will have to come back to try it. Parking can be kind of difficult if it's all taken. We lucked out with someone leaving, but otherwise we were going to park along the fence as one of the workers instructed us to.

Small izakaya with friendly waiters and cute ambiance! Second time coming here but liked how the changed the dishes. Rotating special items as well during lunch/dinner. Hot sake was nice and they gave a bit extra for free as well!FOOD:Scallop Carpaccio (8/10) - One of my favorite dishes here and got it both times. The scallop is super fresh! Must tryOchazuke (7/10) - Super sweet eel over rice with a broth. I actually preferred the rice and eel without the broth, but they recommend mixing it together.Chef Choice Nigiri (6/10) - Not the best I've had, but still decentGyu Tongue Skewers (7/10) - A solid skewer! Would get if you like beef tongue

Loved this place; tasteful decor, vibrant ambiance, quality ingredients and friendly service! The wagyu sukiyaki was so good, the beef had beautiful marbling and was melt in your mouth. Along with a kaarage appetizer and don rice bowl, this was the perfect amount to share between four people. We came by to celebrate my parent's birthday and although I mentioned it I don't think Drunken Monk is the type of establishment to acknowledge it. Parking is super limited, might need to settle for street spots along El Camino.

Drunken Monk is my latest favorite find. Not only is the food presentation on point, but the food is high quality and service is exceptional. Tucked in Menlo Park, this unassuming spot can be easily missed if you're driving down El Camino Real. The parking lot is perhaps the smallest lot I've ever seen with no more than 7 or 8 spots, and in addition to that, it's very tight. So make sure you park within the lines or maybe if you're lucky enough you'll snag a spot along the narrow driveway. We didn't have reservations but after reading the reviews, it seems like this spot isn't too busy for lunch so we tried our luck right at opening. We arrived at noon and we were seated immediately. The interior is warm with wood accents, decorated with a zen ambiance. It is a bit dimly lit so it does feel a bit more intimate. The menu features a few lunch exclusives, in addition to some daily specials so ask your server if you're looking to try something new. The menu does offer a wide variety of yakitori items, sashimi bowls, rice bowls, sukiyaki, as well as an alcohol/mocktail menu stacked with some creative drinks. We ordered two rice bowls and a few skewers and everything came out delicious! The presentation here is impeccable and the quality of each dish truly impressed us. * Beef tongue- this is a special so I'm not sure if this will be permanent on the menu. But this was delicious! The tongue had a nice chew to it but wasn't hard too too tough. The meat had a nice smoky charcoal flavor and when paired with a drizzle of lemon juice, it just hits that perfect savory acidic bite. * Tuna bowl- This is a beautifully presented dish filled with various tuna cuts and topped off with ikura. The seared tuna is honestly the best part. Sashimi quality is fantastic and each bite was absolutely buttery. I love how the sushi rice was already seasoned with a soy flavor so you don't really even need to dip soy sauce. I love that they add that fresh wasabi- it really makes a huge difference. *Gyudon bowl- Beef was tender and the runny egg just melts into the rice beautifully. Each bite was tasty- just missing some chili and it would be perfect. *chicken meatball- this was good. I do feel like it was already pretty greasy and heavy on its own and could be done without the egg dipping. However the chicken meatball was cooked perfectly as it was juicy and smoky. It was good but I would skip it next time. *wagyu nigiri- We loved this. The wagyu really does melt effortlessly on your tongue. Meat quality does reflect the heavy price tag. It was worth the try. Something I would improve is how slippery and greasy the floor is in the bathroom, which could be a huge safety concern. So please do be careful! My father and I both almost slipped when we took turns using the restroom. Other than that, the food was executed so well and the service was kind and courteous. Due to the higher prices, I would come back for my next special occasion I'm looking to celebrate. Thank you Drunken Monk!

Came for a birthday dinner and it was amazing. We were warmly welcomed to the space which is warmly lit and instantly smells of yakitori. Food was delicious. Everything was cooked perfectly. It was honestly the juiciest chicken I've had for chicken yakitori. The tsukune was my favorite. It had the perfect texture and the egg yolk sauce was The service was so nice and checked in frequently. Note that parking was kind of a pain in front, park on the parallel street of the block if you can't find anything!

We made advanced reservations in this small Japanese restaurant for dinner in a Friday night.. they have about 10 tables and the best way to try the food is to try small sharing plates for the party. Lived the interior serene and authentic modern Japanese decor.We started with a couple of mocktail matcha drinks. Love the MATCHA YUZU AMAZAKE and the way it was served!! We tried the MAPO TOFUOMELET DON ($23) which was delicious with rice topped with spicy tofu and minced wagyu beef garnished with green. The most delicious mapo tofu I have ever tried!! Next was Wagyu Beef yakitoti and as expected it was so soft and delicate!! We also tried the CORN KAKIAGE Fresh Corn Tempura, ochazuke topped with unagi, a selection on hotate and hamachi sashimi. All presented in perfection with delicate taste. And last but not least the most memorable desserts which included Miso Panna Cotta w/Yuzu Shaved Ice and Matcha Mochi!!The dinner was not cheap but neither is the ingredients and quality of the meat and seafood present in each dish. We loved the experience and ambiance and will try it again for a special occasion,

Food was really good, only complaint is that, there was a lot of cabbage in the sukiyaki ( half of the sukiyaki was cabbage). Yakitori flavor was amazing and chicken was juicy. Service was good nothing to complain about. Staff were really nice. This place is amazing especially as a hang out spot. If you want to go somewhere to drink and eat tapas, this is definitely the place. If you are trying to find something filling, you might need to splurge. Overally 4/5