Tori Tori Kushiyaki Snack Bar — Restaurant in San Juan

My partner has been living in San Juan since birth and we were both surprised that he has never visited this place. We decided to have a sponty dinner date here and to our surprise, it was the best decision we've made.

🥢 Angus Belly Kushiyaki Not a huge fan of "bbqs" but this is Jap style bbq aka Kushiyaki, and this specific Angus Belly one is a MUST order. I repeat, a MUST. If all bbqs tasted like this, i'll probably have more interest in bbqs. It has a smoky charcoal taste and was so so tender, very flavorful.

🥢 ToriTori Roll Another thing i'm not a huge fan of, sushi rolls. For me it's a hit or miss. And this one is a HIT! It's the most expensive sushi roll in the menu and we ordered it cause we thought it was their specialty so we should give it a try, boy oh boy, it didn't disappoint. What's unique about this is the cream cheese. I've never had cream cheese in my sushi roll before and it added depth to the flavors and made it more interesting. I'd order this again even with the price.

🥢 Spicy Salmon Sashimi This is my go-to order in every Jap restau. A good Jap restau should have a good spicy salmon sashimi. I judge restaus based on this item. And again, it might not be the best but it's worth ordering. Especially if you love salmon. Surprised with the amount of serving and it was only ₱335. Nakakabusog siya and hindi tinipid yung Salmon.

🥢 Gyudon Prolly the meal that I can pass on. The beef was tender, the sauce had nice umaminess. It was good but I won't go back for it anymore. Simply good but nothing outta this world. Well priced for the big serving.

🥢 Ebi Tempura Aaahhh! I'd say this tempura goes #1 on my list of all the Tempuras i've ever eaten in my life. It was perfectly crispy. The shrimp was so tender and not overcooked. Just the right amount of doneness that it would even slide out of the crust. The shrimp size was big so you get what you pay for unlike other Jap restau that serves theirs in small shrimps and just load it with breading. This one had the right balance. I'm obsessed!

🥢 Aburi Cheese Oyster & Garlic Cheese Oyster For ₱50 a piece, it's worth giving a shot. I ordered both types and the only diff. would be the other one had garlic. I don't usually eat oysters but this one is not malansa. Love the cheesiness that's not nakaka-umay. One or a couple is enuf for me.

🍹 NEW Yakult Lime Sour Drink I knew I needed a good palette cleanser and glad I ordered this new item on the menu. I just randomly saw it on their poster and gave it a try. It's an iced drink with lime mixed in yakult. Very refreshing, sour and citrusy! It tasted like a cocktail without alchohol.

🏮Ambiance It's giving Little Tokyo vibes. Restau is surprisingly big inside. It can accommodate a lot of people. Only downside is parking could be challenging cause they only have four slots in front. Don't go in peak hours if you wanna park in front.

👩🏻‍💼 Customer Service The staff are all so accommodating and attentive. Food serving time was so fast too!

I can't believe this is the first time we're dining here! We have been missing a lot! I'll definitely be back and brining my friends...

We were disappointed by the service during our recent visit, especially since this was the first time we had a bad experience at this restaurant. The place was not full. Despite several attempts to call the attention of our server, she repeatedly told us to wait and made no effort to take our order. When another staff member approached to assist us, the same server intervened and told them not to take our order either. When another staff member approached to assist us, the same server intervened and told them not to take our order either.

AS A RESPONSE TO YOUR REPLY:

Thank you for taking the time to respond; however, we would like to clarify that the explanation provided does not accurately reflect what actually happened.

We had already called the attention of the assigned server multiple times to take our order. She told us to “wait” each time. A few minutes later, we observed the table behind us call her attention, and she immediately approached them and took their order, even though we had called her first. When we pointed this out, she said it was because it was “just an additional order.”

Despite our patience, she continued to ignore our repeated attempts. I even went to the restroom and returned, and she was still near the cashier, not attending to us. When we called her attention again, she still said, “Wait.” At one point, another table called her to follow up on their soup, and she served them promptly.

When a male staff passed by, we tried to hand him our order slip, but he said he couldn’t take our order. Later, when he passed again and saw that we still hadn’t been attended to, we gave him our order slip out of frustration. He took it and handed it to the female server, but we overheard her raise her voice at him, saying “Bakit mo kinuha, sabi ko wait lang,” clearly annoyed.

At that point, we decided to speak to her directly and leave. It felt as though we were being deliberately de-prioritized, perhaps because we looked younger and she assumed we were not serious customers.

We also tried to request the manager’s contact details to report the incident, but when we messaged the number, we received no response.

This was very disappointing, especially since we had previously had good experiences dining here. We will never dine here again after...

From looking for a casual place to unwind a Friday night, a simple question of "Saan tayo tonight? Tara San Juan" led us to find this amazing down-to-earth Japanese spot, "Tori Tori Kushiyaki Snack Bar".

This place is a homerun hit to what we were looking for, a casual Friday hangout spot, where the food is simply delicious and a very inviting atmosphere where you can welcomly sit down and enjoy the night without any pretence.

The food is simply amazing. We ordered an array of grilled skewers and rolls/sushi to satisy our curiousity of trying different items as everything looks great to try in their menu selection. We ordered a DIY skewer sampler consisting of (1) Wagyu cubes (2) Bacon quail egg (3) Duck blood (4) Angus beef (5) Chicken skin (6) Chicken liver, and everything did not disappoint. We also ordered rolls and sushi, which the serving proportions caught us by surprise! We got (1) Salmon cheese rolls (2) Beef teriyaki rolls and (3) Steak aburi sushi, which left us full and satisfied.

Happy and satisfied, we asked for our bill and got a chance to talk the the managers (Sir Ralph and Maam Sheryl -- it was a bit loud and busy at this time, so hopefully I got your name right 😅) to leave a compliment that I was extremely impressed with the food and service and would definitely like to come back to try the other items in their menu. They let me know that I should have tried one of their best sellers "grilled salmon skin", and was very generous enough to offer a complementary order which we waited in excitement and anticipation. They were right, it was a banger! The skin was light and crispy, with a pleasing grilled charcoal taste, and also surpirsingly has a thin layer of meat which pleasantly melts in your mouth with each bite. The squeeze of calamansi on top with some togarashi powder takes it to another level.

Afterwards, we paid for our meal and sent our appreciation to the crew and was left with an unforgettable impression on this place. I am quite sure, that this will be one of my top spots to bring my friends each Friday night hangouts!...