Takoyaki Yama-chan — Restaurant in San Jose

What a let down. The management or owners of this location need a refresher course at Yama-chan academy. First time I came here, the Okonomiyaki equipment was down, fair enough, it happens. Decided to stop by again and was happy to hear they were serving it so I order one and an order of Takoyaki.

First the Takoyaki was the Negi (green onion) version but I thought they gave me the wrong order because there were no green onions. I go back to the counter and tell them so they take it back and return it with an excessive amount (you had that feeling it was a vindictive amount) and you could tell they were prepped a long time prior because the ends of the cuts were already partially dried out. The Takoyaki itself was good enough.

The Okonomiyaki was a failure. Let's start with the cabbage, either lazy prep, lack of pride, or poor training. It's supposed to be shredded, what I received was larger pieces of chopped, undercooked cabbage (when the pieces are too large they don't cook properly and become nice and tender). The rest just wasn't a cohesive dish that wasn't bound together like it should be. What a disappointment.

I know what this company's product should taste like, I've had it several times in HI and they make it well. This location, but in the same category, you'd think it was made by some other entity. Thankfully there's a great place in the south bay for Okonomiyaki which I'll go to, it's more expensive but worth the extra cost over this. I hope Yama-chan can address the product quality and serve what I know they...

Let me start by defining what an omelette is.

Omelette - beaten eggs cooked without stirring until set and served folded in half.

I have to do this because the some of the staff doesn't know what it is. I visited this place four times. Three times I ordered the Yakisoba omelette. It takes them about 15-30 min to make. The first time they forgot the egg and it took them 30 minutes to make. I brought it back and asked if it will take another 30 min. He said "No, we will put the egg on top of the noodles". This is not an omelette. So, disappointed, I asked for a refund. They looked at me like I was the problem and reluctantly issued the refund.

The second time I went with a co-worker. There was a different set of people working and everything was perfect. It was an actual Yakisoba omelet w/ the perfect topings etc. It also only took them 15 minutes to make.

The third time I went, it appears I got the original group again and they failed to make an omelet yet again. At least they didn't forget the egg this time. They just put a piece of egg on top though. Not an omelette.

It should be noted that they frequently forget the Mayo and even the pickled ginger.

The last time I went I decided to try the Okonomiyaki. It was not an Okonomiyaki by traditional standards and definitely weirded me out.

There is a clear diffrence in cooking expertise here. I wondered why people mostly avoid the place, now I know. The food could be good, if they can fix the quality...

My wife waited for 45 minutes for eight takoyaki balls. Clearly Takoyaki is not their top priority any more, since I can see them on stove through the window but somehow they have no one packing them. It’s close to their closing time and we had our final protest for a refund, and finally the cashier entered the kitchen and came out with the long overdue takoyaki balls. The only deed to compensate is that they gave us a free donut.

Guys, if you have your significant other who just came back from work and need some tasty food asap, please think twice...