Kamakura Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Los Gatos

Rainy Days are for Udon Soup at Kamakura Los Gatos

Los Gatos & Bay Area just had a marvelous rain storm this past week, with drops as big as crocodile tears. Feeling cold and sleepy, a little under the weather, nothing sounded more delicious than a big bowl of udon soup. Where would I find an authentic, good quality, clean, and tasty Udon? Kamakura Los Gatos of course (Downtown Los Gatos, across the street from Wells Fargo Bank, red lanterns outside hanging).

The restaurant is open for both lunch and dinner. I reccomend the Bento Box for lunch as you can choose from options such as sashimi, rolls, tempura, and potstickers alongside soup & salad and a meal choice of salmon, chicken skewers, beef, or tempura. Make sure to get in to lunch before 2pm as the restaurant closes for a few hours in between lunch and dinner shifts (to prepare for the dinner crowd).

Pictured below is the Beef & Veggie Udon soup. The bowl is very large and can serve anywhere from 2-4 people (depending on how hungry you are). Broth is salty and mild, not spicy. Packed with thick udon noodles and meat of choice (beef, shrimp, or tofu). The pot comes out very hot so make sure to let the soup sit for a little, maybe put an ice cube in the personalized serving bowls provided to let it cool before eating. I burned the tip of my tongue because some noodles under the veggies were still in the steeping hot broth. Go easy. I got an avocado roll on the side, serves as a good appetizer if you are hungry as the soup takes a bit to prepare - I reccomend getting an appetizer for the table while you wait.

Out of the rolls, I really love the 49er roll and the lotus roll (lotus roll is wrapped in cucumber instead of rice). I usually get a miso soup on the side of whatever I order. I really love their sashimi appetizer plates too. Can choose from a choice of fish (my favorite is salmon and hamachi). The cuts are thick and take work to life with chopsticks - just as it should be.

I am thirty-one years old now and me and my family have been going here since I was a child. I had my first sushi rol (California roll) at age six with my dad at their sushi bar, fond memories. Not only is this place nostalgic or me because it reminds me of my childhood and because I am a local, it also maintains excellent quality and choice cuts, delicous meals, and recipes that are not too busy or complicated for the tastebuds - simple, yet lux. If you want a fancy roll or something different, they have these too. Everyone wins at Kamakura, something for every sushi eater. One of my favorite go-to’s and I am so thankful they have maintained their quality and homely style as Los Gatos grows and expands (modernizes).

If you have any food allergies, make sure to inform your server to use clean gloves and cutting board,...

Was feeling like BBQ and ended up with Japanese food, how does that happen? “Don’t try and understand, just go with it” Found myself in “the Cats” you all know it as Los Gatos, Walking around when suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a Samurai! His shining sword nearly blinding me! My jaw dropped wide open in pure aw, my feet turned and walked towards him “HAY IT’S MY STORY I CAN TELL IT ANYWAY I WANT” So like I was saying I walked in and was seated immediately “the place was about 1/2 full the whole time I was there” the waitress spoke with the typical “slang-lish” Japanese, American accent. Sometimes I wonder if they really speak like that or if it’s to just mess with our head, You’ll have herd it and know what I’m talking about. Anyway I looked at the menu and saw it had some really cool whimsical names for their sushi dishes “like X Men” that’s kind of fitting I guess cuz all the X Men are dead now... hmmm Sushi, you think?.... I ordered the Dragon eye roll and the Godzilla roll. Wifey ordered the Tempura & Salmon teriyaki “ comes with a bowl of rice, soup and salad” Even though I poke fun at the place, in reality the device and the food was quite good, the price point is a little on the high side but I’m thinking that’s just the sign of the times here in lovely CA. Overall they are very solid in the 3 star range, getting into the 4s. The atmosphere is ok also at 3 stars and for us (older) yelpers with sensitive hearing, this place will...

We came by for a late Monday night dinner. It was busy but luckily there was one table open for two indoors.

Flies constantly annoyed us during our meal, one star off for that. Aside from comfort, a potential health concern.

Husband said his tempura was oily, which may happen because the frying oil was too cool.

My beef sukiyaki was a huge disappointment. The tofu slices on top, since they weren’t completely submerged, were still cold. Instead of using konyaku noodle knots, which is more typical, they used regular glass noodles. There was also generally a lot of filler as well, between the glass noodles and heaps of napa cabbage. The beef itself (not much of it) was cut too thick and tough, another star off for that. The broth was too sweet, heavy on the mirin. If you want good sukiyaki (with the semi-poached egg and everything), go to Yayoi.

The agedashi tofu was served separately from the broth, but the fry on the tofu was limpy and wet despite not being in the broth (again, I think the frying oil was too cool). The broth again was too sweet, we put soy sauce in it to give it some oomph. I would recommend Gochi in Cupertino for agedashi tofu.

It was difficult to flag down someone when we wanted to order or...