Tomokazu Japanese Cuisine

One of our family fav’s!
Kid friendly + good Sashimi = the best!

Had a lunch special © of sashimi and tonkatsu on a weekday. The place was pretty full at lunch time, so I’m sure it’s a decent place for lunch when you need to eat on your work lunch hour. The tonkatsu was pounded thinly but the breading fell off almost all of my cut strips as soon as I picked it up with my chopsticks and it felt a little tough and not tender at all. They put a good helping of pepper to season the breading, so had it stayed on the meat I think I would have been more satisfied. I asked if they could change the chef’s selection of sashimi to all sake, which they did, and they gave 5 normal slices (thinner rather than fatter, but it’s a lunch special so I’m not complaining).
Considering they were pretty full, it was nice that there were a good number of waitresses so it didn’t feel like there would be long waits trying to get the attention of one or another, although they did look harried.
The lunch special was $ 10.95 for two items, which is OK for the area. I’m used to $ 8.95 in SJ where I used to work, but there’s not a huge selection in this area unfortunately. If you’re looking for good eats, I’d go next door to Coconut Bay for tasty Thai food… they have great roti and flavorful yellow curry.

We are long time customers of this restaurant. We like how they can seat 16 of us most of the time with their private rooms. However, last night was such a disappointment especially with the service. A lady came by rushing us to order and pressuring us to order so much food, kept repeating «there’s so many of you». She kept insisting to order more even though we are not done ordering. We ordered whatever we thought was enough, and sure enough, it was a lot so thank God we didn’t listen to her. Food’s quality wasn’t the same either. From the tempura to sushi to sashimi. When the bill came, it was so much more expensive than how much we usually paid, and it was because of that one order she suggested and we thought was just ok but didn’t think it was $ 100 a plate of sashimi. We will not be coming to this place anytime soon.

Really nothing special, but not bad. It feels like it caters to the Chinese seeking Japanese food in the area. The décor is a bit wanna be traditional Japanese with the waitresses wearing kimonos. I quite like the seating, but I should really be talking about the food.
Tempura udon. A pretty solid dish. Noodles actually quite good, nice texture and good flavor. The broth is standard and the tempura served fresh on the side which I appreciate. Tempura choice is good and tasty.
Cha soba was a bit underwhelming. The dipping sauce is a plus but the bland flavor of the noodles quickly overcomes the big dipping flavor. I’m not sure if I enjoyed this.
Overall just decent. The service is okay, kinda got left in the corner but nothing out of the ordinary. Honestly kinda pricey for what it is. Doubt I’d come back

Likes: complimentary pickled cucumbers, edamame, salad and so many different flavors of ice cream (green tea, jasmine, lychee, taro, mango, vanilla bean, etc). Spider roll and Lion King rolls were delicious. Portions are good. Beef shabu shabu was also huge and delicious (can serve two). nice atmosphere, love the traditional Japanese clothing the chefs and servers wear. I’m definitely coming back!

Things to order here are the beef suriyaki, udon of any sort cuz it’s huge, and the four seasons roll. The spicy scallop roll is expensive and will be disappointing. But I come back regularly for the four seasons roll. There is usually no wait and the staff wears cute kimono’s. And they offer tons of icream flavors. Jasmine tea icecream is super good.

I’ve eaten here for lunch a few times. There’s usually parking and the lunch rush isn’t too bad.
They’re very nice and food is always served quickly. –1 star because we felt a little rushed to order.

The interior is really nice and spacious and it’s refreshing to see the waitresses in Yukata. The restaurant is owned by Chinese people but that doesn’t have much against the taste of the food in the restaurant. The rolls are pretty good and are at a pretty decent price. I personally do not like the katsu that much. The katsu itself is crunchy but the katsu sauce could be worked on. What I do recommend are the Salmon Skin Maki and the Beef Sukiyaki. The Salmon Skin Maki is really crispy and flavorful and with a bit of wasabi with a piece it’s like an explosion of heavenly flavor in your mouth. The Beef Sukiyaki had tofu, clear noodles, a large amount of meat, and a delicious broth. It actually has even more ingredients than what I said. It’s a really large portion and it’s definitely worth the money. Oh, and to top it off, free ice cream after the meal. Definitely will return again.

Great food and stellar customer service! My family and I come here pretty frequently, and it never disappoints!

For some reason I feel like I wrote a review for this place already since I’ve been here before.
Anyways the only thing I can say about the food here is it is mediocre. That’s how I feel every single time. Every time I walk in, I have this little hope that it would be better but I’m always disappointed.
Our table had edamame, fresh oyster, seaweed salad, cucumber salad, hamachi Kama, 2 orders of salmon sashimi, Spider Roll, California Special and Kani Salad Nigiri.
I didn’t eat any oyster so I can’t give my opinion but we specifically came here for my mom’s birthday because she claims they are her favorite oysters that she’s ever had.
You can’t ever go wrong with seaweed salad and edamame. The cucumber salad is marinated with a sauce that taste like kimchi so it has a slight kick to it.
The Salmon Sashimi was just okay. It didn’t seem very fresh. When I bit into it it wasn’t very silky and has a slight fishy taste. I’m glad that at the last minute I only got the 4 pieces appetizer.
I don’t usually eat Spider Rolls so I can’t compare. When everyone tried to pick a piece it almost just broke apart though it might be because of its large size. However that mostly contributed to the fact that there was a lot of rice. Half of the roll if not more was mostly just rice. I could barely taste any soft shell crab.
The same could be said for the California Special. There was a bit too much rice. The baked salmon on top was dry. The only good thing about it is I think they use real crab in the California roll.
I love Hamachi Kama and was looking forward to digging into some but when it was finally placed on our table and I dug in, it was salty and dry. There was also a lot of bones. After one bite I couldn’t swallow the rest. It was probably the most disappointing course of the meal.
At the last minute I ordered a Kani Salad Nigiri after hearing that it was made with real crab. It was my favorite thing I ate so far besides the ice cream.
I believe dessert is free. I got green tea and it was sweet and a wonderful end to the mediocre dinner.
Although the food is always subpar the service is always superb! They often come around to give us clean plates, fill our tea, refill the tea pot, ask us if everything was good, asked if we wanted more food… etc. I wish other restaurants were as attentive.
I’ll give this place a 2 star since they gave us free edamame and ice cream and awesome service. Food-​wise though I probably won’t be back until next year for someone else’s birthday since that’s usually the only time I frequent this place.

I like the Rainbow Roll here, because it has sashimi inside the roll and not just a California Roll filling. In addition, they don’t just throw on a piece of cooked shrimp on top.
Be mindful that take out is a bit slow.
Sesame ice cream is good.

Porridge is good
Also Ordered 49ers and Rainbow roll
Love the green tea Ice cream
But the chicken wing and sashimi are soso

My take out lunch today was one of the saddest lunch experiences I’ve ever had on Howard Avenue (of all the Asian restaurants present). I had ordered the lunch special with sashimi and salmon teriyaki. I am not a big woman, but good lord the portions were miniscule. As in the 3 tuna sashimi pieces were no bigger that my thumb and the 2 other indecipherable fish were not even the size of my index finger :-/​I’ve seen child chicken nuggets that were way bigger!
Also, they can’t be bothered to include the miso soup that normally accompanies any of the lunch specials if it is togo. Seriously? Almost $ 12.00 for a load of white, nutrition impaired rice, sad, wilted, tasteless salad with mystery dressing (ranch?), with a piece of barely appetizing salmon the size of a small palm.

So I wanted to give this place another try, this time, it wasn’t super busy like before and it was just what I expected. We sat at a table and started off with the raw oysters which were great. So great we ended up getting another order. For dinner, we just ordered a bunch of sushi along with the blue fin toro sashimi which was also very good. The pieces weren’t as big as places like the Zen Bistro but that didn’t bother me. And for those of you who love raw sushi, you have to try it. It’s heaven on a small slab of rice.
The service was great. Empty dishes were collected quick and we got everything we needed in a timely fashion. Even got some complimentary ice cream at the end. All in all, a night and day difference from my first visit which I was expecting. I may not frequent this place but I won’t hesitate to return.

I prefer Sakae around the corner for the best and freshest fish on the Peninsula but with 8 people they couldn’t accommodate that large of a party so we headed over to Tomakazu, a large restaurant featuring zashiki style seating in private rooms which are perfect for small parties. They feature sunken floors and pillows in which to sit on. Very cool.
I have been here before and everything was normally average but this time they knocked it out of the park. They feature a sushi boat filled with any items you like and we chose the four suggested fresh fish, added our favorite, kani (crab) salad, and a few rolls. The fish was super fresh and delicious.
Their items off the grill also kicked butt. Spare ribs, lamb chops and beef wrapped around asparagus were amazing. This was all polished off with a bottle of dry, filtered sake. If your large group wants a great Japanese dinner experience, I suggest dining here.

Ate there previously and enjoyed it.
Tonight witnessed kitchen staff mixing wasabe in the alley behind restaurant. He did so while sitting on the ground, talking on the phone, with the bowl on the ground. When I informed front of house staff they followed me outside to witness for themselves and only reprimanded him for doing this in plain sight… meaning it’s ok, just don’t get caught.

Hidden away from the busy street of Downtown Burlingame, my boyfriend and I came on a whim, deciding whether we should eat at Tomokazu or the Thai restaurant next door. Other than the décor of this restaurant, I was not impressed.
After walking in, I was immediately surprised at how big this restaurant really was from the outside view. The décor was beautiful and had all the nice touches of Japan. We were seated right away and given the menu and lunch menu. The lady was nice and friendly and took our orders and left.
The food itself was meh. For the expensive price they had for sashimi, sushi, and even the bento boxes alone, I would have imagined the food/​fish to be more spectacular, more ‘fresh’. I did enjoyed the miso soup that was served because they had extra tofu in it! Other than that, the food was just average.
Overall, I would take my money elsewhere for the same kind and amount of food for a more reasonable price.

Totally didn’t expect to come here for dinner with my dad’s family, but they ended up changing the location last minute and I went along with it because you can’t say no to sushi right?
The inside of this place looks really nice. The waitresses are wearing the typical outfits of Japanese women and they look gorgeous. The restaurant is also pretty big with a large amount of tables and there’s even a separate waiting room so people don’t have to stand around the hostess’ table.
The menu itself gives you a good variety of food options from appetizers to hand rolls to sushi to noodles to bentos… seriously, everyone can find something to eat here. Unfortunately, while the selection of food was good… the service was somewhat bad. It was a busy night, I’ll give them that, but when the ladies came to take empty plates away at our table, they saw our teapots with the lids off signaling a need for a refill and they still chose to ignore it. I had to flag down a lady just to get a refill on tea. Not cool, yo.
The check came out to about $ 500 before tax I think and that was with around 15 people. Honestly, not really sure if this place is worth the money because I don’t feel like we ate $ 500 worth of food, but eh… if you are gonna come here then I would recommend getting the grilled whole squid as an appetizer. For $ 10, that’s a pretty good deal.

One of the best places in the area for fresh sushi/​sashimi!
My family has been going here for years but it was my first time! Boy, have I been missing out! The restaurant is large with a sushi bar, open dining area and private rooms. The ladies in their Kimonos are friendly and welcoming, promptly bringing a very hot towel to use to freshen up, etc. Everyone was very attentive with them frequently changing out the small dish that was holding the empty edamame pods.
They serve complimentary edamame which was a bit slimy to touch, because it either had been sitting too long or was overcooked. Still, the beans themselves tasted fine and were not overly salted.
The entrée portions and specialty sushi (caterpillar roll, deep fried CA roll, spider roll) were spot on and reasonably priced. I was especially surprised by the price given the high quality of the fish. My sashimi dinner had fish that was «melt in your mouth» delicious!
Complementary ice cream was provided to round out our dinner. I will definitely be back to try their Kani Butteryaki ($ 40)!

Tomokazu in Burlingame lunch special was $ 10.95. (Rice, soup, salad, orange slices, choice of two mains and crabmeat in cali rolls — poo they used to offer free ice cream to complete the meal.) Now the new price is +$ 1 making my lunch $ 11.95. *sniff*sniff* Still yummy grilled hamachi and California rolls.
A good place to go for lunch. Friendly service, it gets slightly slow as lunch hour fills up. It’s understandable since the servers are older kawaii ladies.
Place is owned by Chinese often playing a mix medley of music from K-​pop, Chinese and J-​pop songs.
Parking is street and with some located at the back of the restaurant. The nigiri is «ok» I go for the lunch specials and fresh California crabmeat rolls.
Once you’re done with lunch take a brisk walk and grab some T-​Pumps. ;)
What you need to know:
— Caltrain is across the street
— Most likely there is no wait
— Best value at lunch
— Pass on nigiri a la carte