Gintei Japanese restaurant — Restaurant in San Bruno

After my wife and I dropped off my mother-in-law at SFO airport, my stepson wanted good Japanese food. I wanted to drive back to the East Bay to this spot in El Cerrito, but we were a bit famished and searched online for the closest spot. I saw how many stars Gintei had online and decided that we go ahead and try it (that was my mistake). This is not a regular Japanese restaurant... this is an "elegant" Japanese restaurant, which basically means high prices for little portions. I knew we should've bounced when they didn't have a "bento box" on the menu. What they did have sounded delicious and even though they were quite pricey, my wife figured it was okay since we were all together as a family. I know that sounded cheesy, but I appreciated her trying to make me feel better for picking this horrible restaurant. I ordered the Dragon Roll and pork belly... my stepson got the steak, and my wife got the tempura. When we asked if rice came with the order, the server giggled and said "no"... I have no idea why she giggled... we still ordered rice for the each of us. I was thinking maybe she giggled because rice would cost as much as one of their entrees (since it wasn't shown in the menu) or that we were eating their elegant food incorrectly and to the server we became the joke of the night... but the joke was on us... the portions were small, individual-appetizer-small... I hesitated to ask if I could taste what my wife and stepson had because that would've practically devoured their plate so I decided to just take a picture of it as proof... I should have put a dollar bill or a quarter next to the item when taking the pictures but the server was eyeing us and we had another plate coming and we didn't want any "secret sauce". Instead, if you peep out my pork belly dish, there's a boiled egg sliced in half. Next time you eat a boiled egg, peep out the picture I took for comparison and you'll see what I am talking about. When the check came, the only one thing that got stuffed was their cash register because we spent the equivalent of a week of groceries. Hahahaha! Wow, did I make a mistake of choosing this place or what? This spot used to be Tribu restaurant and before Tribu started going downhill with their quality which eventually led to them closing, we could've fed a family of 8 at Tribu with the price we paid at Gintei. I gave one star because I can't give "no" stars... the food was just "okay"... nothing to write about... I usually don't give bad reviews so don't take this as one... take it...

Second time visiting this place.

First, Its unreasonably expensive: A glass of wine is $20, and that’s a cheap one, my wife ordered plum wine which we have bought before and a whole bottle is less than $15. Quality of the fish is fabulous though, a little skimpy on the portions. What really set me up was that they added a 20% service charge for our party of 5 without mentioning it anywhere in the menu. Did not leave tip. Why? Read below.

Second, which it actually was what bothered me the most. They did not have any AC on: Made a reservation through OpenTable, and then we called in to make sure it was opened since it was Black Friday I believe and we weren’t sure many restaurants would be open. They did not warn us over the phone that the heater was not operational and it could be a little cold inside. Least they could’ve done, specially if they are charging premium $$$ for food. We arrived and it was freezing inside, to the point where the only table eating there that night were wearing jackets. Had to give my thin windbreaker to my daughter! We asked the host and his reply was “Sorry it’s not working we’ve had issues since Wednesday” (it was Friday). We would’ve left but it was already 7pm and finding another good place to take my family on Black Friday would probably not work too well.

Several minutes into our dinner, we noticed a woman (that seemed to be the owner) park in front, walk in, say something to the waiters I couldn’t understand and proceed to touch the screen of the thermostat and turn something on before she disappeared into the back of the business.

By the time this happened we were almost done so we don’t know if they lied and were being cheap not putting the heater on or if what the woman did made any difference. We don’t care.

I don’t mind spending premium $ in a place that makes sense, but this outrageous 20% service charge on a party of 5 with two children under 11 with no previous warning and no courtesy of letting us know previously that there was no heater in this cold weather...

Gintei is scratching the heels of being truly special. The sushi is top notch and made with professionalism, passion and homage to authentic Japanese minimalism. It's almost textbook perfect. Tastes great. The entire store gives that restrained vibe. They want to keep it low key. All good.

Go for the Omakase. That's the only way to understand the chef. What he has to offer and the energy he puts into each craft.

I do think though that Gintei should think about the "art" side of things to break the next level. It already is one of our favorite sushi places as is, but with just a sprinkle of artistic creations I do think we are looking at a Michelin star here. It may be a bit of presentation or possibly the temperature of the rice. I can't put a pulse on it but something doesn't fully come together at the top level.

This is a wonderful sushi joint. Just wish they had a better parking solution. Easy to miss while driving by. Make the trip....