Tancho Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Castro Valley

The Food Tancho is an omakase restaurant mentioned by my friends many times, and has been meaning to try for a while. I was fortunate enough to get invited for a visit for their holiday menu. It starts off with appetizers, followed by sashimi, main of edomae sushi, then owan, and dessert.

Appetizer Shirako Ponzu (Cod Milt): interesting texture, smooth but soft, like some internal organ Steamed Awabi (Abalone): tender meat with very good flavor

Sashimi Kamasu (Barracuda): refreshing shiso went nice with the fish Seiko Gani (Snow Crab): decorative topped with uni and truffle, many flavors Madai Shabu Shabu (Red Sea Bream): tender with very good umami flavor

Edomae Sushi Kinmedai (Golden Eye Snapper): nice tender fish Akami-zuke (Bluefin Tuna, Lean Flesh): even though it's a lean cut, once of the nicest lean cut I've tasted Chu Toro (Bluefin Tuna, Medium Fat): I can quite taste the fattiness Aji (Horse Mackerel): glisten fish with a bit of crunch topped with shiso chive Shime Saba (Cured Mackerel): tender fish topped with thin seaweed and sweet sauce Ikura (King Salmon Roe): good roe, not as salty as I thought Uni (Superior Grade Hokkaido Uni): very fresh and uni Anago (Salt-water Eel): moist with a very nice sauce Kohada (Gizzard Shad): marinated and cured, have a bit of a chew to it

Owan Akadashi (Red miso soup): more stewy, with variety of ingredients like small shrimp, a bit salty Castella Style Tamagoyaki (House Made Japanese Cake): good egg flavor, more of a castella

Dessert Hojicha Ice Cream and Macaron: ice cream was creamy, strong hojicha flavor, good macaron

All the courses were very good! But the one thing that stood out to me the most was the rice, I quite enjoyed the rice. Would definitely return to try their other selection and menu item.

The Miscellaneous The restaurant is within a decent sized plaza, there was ample parking. The interior is simple but clean, few tables, and a bar area that seats 7 people. The decor and ambiance is also very nice. The staff and service was excellent. We had good interaction with the chef, and the waiter cleared our plate very timely as we finished eating. They also wipe the sushi serving plate, providing nice photos :) I got a chance to try their holiday menu this time, but want to return sometime to try their...

Tancho is such a cute gem in the middle of an old looking strip mall. Walking up, you would never expect what will await you inside!

The first time I had food from Tancho was mid pandemic with their takeout bento boxes. A friend had looked them up based on quality of fish, and we decided to try them out. I was already really impressed by their food then, but once I had their omakase dinner in person, I was blown away.

Inside, the Japanese decor makes you feel like you're somewhere else. It has an elegant but understated feel to it. There are a few tables and then seating right in front of the chef's counter. My husband and I have dined here twice; the first time at a table facing the chef, and the second time at the chef's counter. If you have the opportunity, the counter is the best! You can watch the chef(s) prepare the food and have your nigiri served to you from the chef right after it's made.

The food here is incredible! Even the things I don't like as much otherwise (like squid) were tasty and well prepared. We've also done some of their optional dishes and supplementary nigiri, which were all a wonderful treat. The bowls and plates that the food is served in/on are also really pretty, which adds to the beauty of the dish itself.

I've also done the sake pairing each time we've dined here, which were really nice complements to the food. Junmai daiginjos are my favorite kind of sake, and, unsurprisingly to me, was the style that was my favorite each time. But, even for the ones that I don't tend to prefer as much, they made nice pairings with the food. Here, again, the cups were really pretty.

The service here is also top notch. Our servers have been really attentive. We also always appreciate whenever servers recognize that my husband is left handed and adjust how they place utensils accordingly.

I'm lucky that Tancho is close by, but I would say that it's worth a drive as well! Now I just need to convince my friends it's worth the...

Good omakase in Castro valley overall. Small restaurant with very attentive service. Focus on seasonal ingredients and more unique bites. Menu is interestingly half small plates and half nigiri which was different from what we saw on the reservation page which sample menu comprised more nigiri. I did read from recent reviews they might be changing things up.

Personally really enjoyed the small plates which were unique with seasonal ingredients. Favorites there were: ankimo goma shiraee (creamy ankimo texture complemented the crunchy seasonal veggies), and donburi (overall just a huge fan of donburis and hotaru ika was in season).

Nigiris were quite large, which I didn’t expect. I was initially worried that 6 pc would not be enough, but because of their size, it was. Each bite was quite flavorful and prepared different from how I’ve had it. Squid was chopped up with shiso leaves which I quite liked with the textures. Raw shrimp was also chopped up for even distribution of marinade, but it lost some of the natural sweetness since the marinade was a bit overpowering. Amberjack was also more seasoned than I was used to. Overall good bites, but sometimes the strong flavoring took away from the natural flavor of the seafood that I quite enjoy.

Dessert platter was unique comprising of 3 small dishes. Nothing was too sweet and were all quite enjoyable. My fav was the mochi in red bean soup. The jasmine tea jello was also delicate but had a strong tea aroma.

A couple of people mentioned this but there is an added operational charge of 17% which is outside of tip. This is a bit higher than what I’ve seen in other restaurants esp when we still have to tip another 15%+. I think even if this was baked directly into the menu price, it wouldn’t raise as much of a flag, but was definitely whispered around when the check came.

Overall still a pleasant dining experience with more unique bites than I am used to at omakase. Great staff...