Kemuri Japanese Barú — Restaurant in Redwood City

Update (June 2023): Oh how far things have fallen and deteriorated. The initial Japanese tapas spirit is difficult to find. Food hangs on the last remaining laurels of the original recipes. They served stale uni (that reeks of ammonia) which could make people sick. The meat was cooked without soul. Oh, and the tonkatsu simply was a pork tempura. The beef curry udon - senseless with drapes of pulled beef. This is really becoming a joke. And yes, the prices are still quite high. We won't be returning.

Update (Sep 2022): Still absolutely a wonderful experience. Amazing food, well done Japanese fusion that brings out a mouth full of flavors. Wagyu and garlic and ikura all harmonize in a lovely concoction. Delicious all over!

What a pleasant surprise and discovery. This is a perfect fusion Japanese tapas bar in Redwood City, where you do not find Santa Clara and Cupertino caliber Japanese cuisine. It is right up there with the likes of Gochi but leaning a bit more towards fusion than traditional. Regardless it is a wonderful dining experience, perfectly complementing beer and sake. The chicken karaage was crispy and tender. The wagyu fried rice was out of this world with the roasted garlic topping. The salmon ikura benedict was something that I've never tasted before. And the kids dug the tsukemen although the dip was a bit more on the sour side. Whoever the chef is, they are experimental just to the right extent and preserving Japanese flavors with fresh ingredients. Oh, did I mention that ingenious fish & chips? My god... culinary creativity oozing out. This place is a gem....

Showed up tonight and tried to get seated. We were ignored for 15 minutes. Since no one seemed to care we were waiting we politely asked a server if there were any available tables and we were told "give me a minute" in a super sude tone of voice before the server walked away and ignored us again. We waited there for another 10 minutes before we gave up and left.

We would have gladly waited if the server had seemed like she actually cared about us.

We were excited to eat here again after a long time away but this experience turned us off. Such a bummer. We used to love this place but won't be coming back. So sad that they're treating people like they could care less about their business. I can't imagine how terrible the service would have been if we had sat down given the poor showing we had just asking a simple question.

We are locals that live within walking distance and we supported them during lockdown with quite a few takeout orders. Before covid we had come here for many special occasions... anniversaries, valentine's day, birthdays and many others. We were so excited to sit down in person for our first meal back in their restaurant in a long time and we got rewarded for our loyalty during covid lockdown with a rude greeting from a server that could have cared less who we were or why we were there.

It really seemed like they didn't want our business. They got their wish and we won't be coming back.

Spend your money elsewhere with a business that cares about you. This place...

We had a reservation at 7 PM for 2 on a Friday night. Went in and got seated right away. Love the food and ambiance here! Service was great as well—attentive, informative, and not intrusive.

This is a good place to come for a special occasion or a night out for drinks, but keep in mind that it's tapas-style restaurant, so it's a bit on the expensive side. Each dish is too small to be an entree, so you'll end up ordering 2-3 dishes per person, each costing ~$12-$20 per plate before you're satisfied. For 2 people, we ended up paying a bit over $100 for our meal.

Our order and food ratings Kemuri Garlic Pizza [5/5]: I could eat this forever. Garlicky, cheesey, crunchy. Wish I ordered another. Kemuri Unagi Slider [3/5]: Not bad, but hard to eat as it falls apart. Oyako-don [4/5]: Super juicy chicken, flavorful onion, perfect egg, but a little too salty Washu Aburi Steak [4/5]: Wasabi with steak is the best! This was cooked perfectly to medium. I only wish the portion was a bit bigger. Charcoal-grilled salmon [5/5]: Perfectly cooked, melt-in-your-mouth...