Octopus Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Menlo Park

My review seems to be hitting the owner's nerve and causing a knee-jerk reaction. For actually decent Japanese food, check out Kyosho just a block away. Menlo Park is still needing more high-quality restaurants, but this is not your only option for Japanese food.

Here's the details:

The sushi rolls are okay, but that's about the only thing that's okay about this restaurant. Service is incredibly slow. It took 15 minutes to get some water on our table, and I had to ask twice for it. One of the water cups were quite sticky on the outside and I was sure it was not cleaned properly. Rolls came before our cold appetizer. A bento box took 40 minutes when the restaurant wasn't packed at all. The taste of everything other than the rolls was quite bland and a bit weird if I'm honest. Servers also had this numb expression on their faces. I can't tell if they have an owner that's too harsh on everyone or doesn't care. It's one of those.

UPDATE: The owner made many claims about my visit, but it doesn't look like the owner actually remembers who I am, now that it's been several days since my visit when I wrote the review. The owner claims that I raised my voice to the servers, which I never did. The owner also claims that the restaurant was packed when I was there, which is also not true. The owner also used the covid as an excuse for having a slow kitchen, but it's been three years and it's hard to imagine someone not able to adapt to a post-covid era. From the level of gaslighting the owner is doing to me, I can only imagine the same type of gaslighting the owner could be doing to its employees, blaming their own fault onto others, causing their faces to be numb. I originally gave the restaurant a two star. I'm changing it to a one-star. I will also do everything I can to expose the owner's malpractice...

There's not much parking space with at most around 30 spots, but other than that this place is really good. The fish is fresh and good quality, the different rolls are unique and very filling since each piece of a roll is quite large. The bentos have a variety of foods on them and the udon had great flavor. The interior is somewhat small and narrow but has a warm vibe to it. Also, there are tables close to the entrance, and farther in is where they prepare the food and the bathrooms, then there are more places to be seated all the way in. The staff are very friendly and polite. There are 2 small unisex bathrooms, and it was nice that the soap, faucet, and paper towels were all close together and automatic so a person can go in then out efficiently hopefully preventing any lines. The foods are presently nicely and look pleasing to the eye, making the experience that...

-A good amount of parking in the back which is nice​. Back door entrance which made it even better. -Restaurant felt and looked clean. -Bathroom was kept well - always a nice bonus. -Wait wasn't long for us as we came later in the night - this really depends on the time. -Servers were very attentive and helpful - great service. -Really interesting selection of rolls that looked good on the menu. -The rolls actually not only looked good but tasted very good and you can sense quality. We had the Sundaze and SNK roll. Both were solid. I really liked the taste of the SNK roll - the sauce was good. Their tempura is also tasty. Not too oily and the broccoli, sweet potato, etc seemed fresh. Their water taste fine/like regular drinking water. Mochi mango ice cream was delicious. -Bill came out to be reasonably priced for the quality. -We most likely will stop by again...