Gochi - Cupertino

What a delicious spot for Japanese tapas! We stopped by on a Friday evening for dinner. Surprisingly, it wasn't too crowded and we were able to be seated without a wait. We ordered the Hamachi Carpaccio, Hotate Uni, and Unagi Meshi. Hamachi Carpaccio (3.5/5): This one is okay, certainly not the best carpaccio I've had. The garlic-ginger ponzu and garlic oil drizzle playfully tickled my mouth with umami. The hamachi (yellowtail) has a firm, fresh texture but quite a noticeable fishy aftertaste. Hotate Uni (4/5): These scallops might make you go into credit card debt (each one is 6$) but your tastebuds will be in raw shellfish heaven! The scallops are oh so bouncy, sweet, and fleshy. Then the charred and smoky uni on top melts in your mouth like a briny butter to go with the scallop. The yuzu truffle oil just further punches your mouth with umami! Unagi Meshi (5/5): Wow this dish is amazing and was by far our favorite one! The sizzling hot clay pot crisps up the rice on the bottom for the perfect textural contrast to the rich, luxurious unagi. This eel meat just dissolves in your mouth for a harmonious concoction of crispiness and savoriness like none I've experienced before. If you only get one thing, I recommend this one! The interior feels very traditional, maybe even approaching a bit outdated. There's lots of parking in the sleepy plaza it's located in as well.Overall, very pricey but that unagi clay pot rice is a worthy splurge!

First time seeing Japanese style seating where ppl sit on the ground w a low table and the floor is sunken for your legs outside of Asia !! Kinda a vibe but tbh it's not that comfy cuz you're just sitting on hard ground and we went on a rainy day so to think ab everyone's soggy feet just walking around on the very place I'm sitting is kind of an L...The shochu cocktails here were dangerous. They were so yummy and very affordable ($8 for a big cup). The clay pot rice was my fav thing we ordered. We got the one with salmon and salmon roe. The rice is crispy on the bottom and the dashi soup on the side was sooo good. I mixed the dashi soup with the rice (kinda like what they do at Raisu in Vancouver) and it added even more umami to the overall dish. I will say the flavours are mostly natural and mild, nothing too salty, spicy, or sweet. (I know this isn't for everyone). I think there was some dashi cooked with the rice too cuz there was some notes of it.The curry potato cheese gratin was really yummy but it kinda didn't go with the rest of the dishes we ordered (that were a lot lighter). It was just the right amount of curry and there was soooo much cheese. The creamy korokke was exactly what we were both craving. The crab and cream filling was soooo rich and soft. The outside was the perfect thickness and crispiness. It came w the classic brown katsu sauce that's kind of sour to cut through all the richness. The Hamachi carpaccio was the classic Nobu dupe with chopped jalapeños and ponzu sauce. It was yummy and they gave a good amount of fish which I appreciated. Nothing too special though, I feel like every restaurant does this now.

The only dish I think I would get again is the unagi meshi. Large portions of eel and crispy rice is hard to beat. However, the pizza I get was supposed to be experimental but we couldn't taste any of the seafood supposedly in it and was just too heavy on the cheese flavor. It was also greasy which isn't something usually experienced with Japanese food. The hamachi carpaccio had good flavor if you chose a piece on the side with less soy sauce. But if you eat from the side doused in sauce, it's much too salty and you lose the flavor of the hamachi :(I do think the service was great and ambiance was a nice experience but for the price and food we got, I don't think I would return unfortunately.

Came by for dinner the other night and it was a tasty experience. Made a reservation via Yelp and our seats were ready once our party was complete. Parking is available inside the private strip mall lot or on the street. Dining is available inside private rooms, at tables, or inside a below floor seating, quite unique. Reservations are highly recommended.Started off with the salmon carpaccio and it was decent. The salmon was seared lightly, served over a bed of soy sauce, and served with what appeared to be chimchurri.The pan seared black cod was tasty as well. The fish was fresh and served with a light sauce and complemented with a couple pieces of green beans.The crab cake mochi and eggplant in dashi broth was a unique small plate. The dashi broth was super fragrant and our server even brought us a couple small bowls to enjoy this small plate.The hamburg meatballs served on a hot plate with tomato sauce reminded me of economy class meals flying with ANA.The maitake tempura mushrooms were excellent. Lightly fried and served with matcha salt and soy sauce.The unagi pizza was also quite tasty. Crispy on the bottom, cheesy unagi toppings made this a fantastic small plate!~$70/head after tax and gratuity for dinner with plenty of leftovers.

Delicious Japanese food!We had a work lunch here and Gochi was able to accommodate our group of 12 with a reservation. We all sat together in a private booth with tatami seating. Really enjoyed this experience. We were able to get privacy, feel cozy with each other and have enough space. Please note that with tatami seating you will have to take your shoes off.I split the sake oyako meshi with dashi broth and salmon aburi carpaccio with a coworker. Both were just wonderful. We both ended up being pretty full with these two items. The clay pot rice was so flavorful and delicious. Love the crispy/slightly charred bottom. I highly recommend adding the dashi broth. The salmon carpaccio was fresh and a great appetizer.Staffs were nice and experienced with big groups. He took everyone's orders seamlessly and when the orders come out, it was pretty smooth as well. Looking forward to coming back! :)

Had an amazing experience at Gochi - the food, experience and service all contributed to a great meal! The ambiance and cozy, tatami style seating arrangement are the obvious standouts here, and it was a pretty fun experience to be able to dine on the floor mats. We enjoyed all the food items we ordered too - even with so many food items on the menu to choose from, everything we tried was yummy! We overall enjoyed our experience here and I'll definitely be back to try the variety of other items:) this would be a great spot to bring family or friends too.

Food is 4 stars, but SLOW service is why would would not come back to this Cupertino one. Mountain View one seems to have better/faster service. Went in for our 5:30pm reservation, got seated immediately. But didn't get someone to take our order until 6pm. Not one person came by to check on us or offered water. We finally flagged someone down to let them now that: "we're ready to order". Our experience was not unique as we saw other tables struggling to get order taken. One table walked back to the front desk to tell them to come take order.Food was all just OK. Our favorite was the udon and clay pot. The rest were just average.Def would not recommend or come back to the Cupertino one. But we would give Mountain View one another try.

Hidden traditional Japanese gem! This spot is really popular, so I made a reservation. There was a long line when I arrived, but with the reservation, I got seated immediately.Some seating areas require you to take off your shoes, but I was seated in a section where that wasn't necessary.I ordered the grilled squid, mentaiko potato cheese gratin, risotto korokke, and salmon chazuke. The squid was my favorite, and the sauce for the risotto korokke was really nice. The gratin was good but a bit heavy, and the chazuke was a perfect finish.

Ordered to go right when they opened and they kept delaying the pick up time. The latest update is that we'll get our food by 7pm so let's see when we actually end up eating lol

Any night is pretty packed so reservations are a must, maybe 1-2 person tables can walk in but waitlist also long. Some tables you may need to take off your shoes. Uni stone pot rice is 10/10 must try!!! I ask for their recommendations for appetizers or get their shortlist/special menu items. Would take visitors here, this is a tried and true place for me!