Sumiya Japanese Charcoal Grill - Yakitori — Restaurant in Santa Clara

Coming from LA, I've been looking for a good Japanese izakaya restaurant to get my tapas fix. Sumiya was a friendly and cozy yakitori restaurant that had many of the popular izakaya menu items.

Parking: Because it's located in a plaza, parking was not too difficult to find but you may have to park a bit further away from the restaurant itself but it's just a short walk from one side of the parking lot to the restaurant.

Shop/Staff: I arrived about half an hour after they opened on a Friday night and there was a short 15 minute wait. They were able to squeeze myself and my friend in as long as we stayed for no longer than 45 minutes. I highly recommend making reservations so that you can get in and spend time without being rushed. The staff were very friendly and most were Japanese speaking. They apologized for having to rush us out even though it was my fault for not thinking to make reservations. The shop itself was a bit tiny, but was very clean and well kept. You get to watch the cooks grill the skewered menu items which is a staple for any yakitori restaurant.

Food: We ordered the following:

Skewered Items: chicken wings, meatballs, chicken heart, beef tongue

Hot Menu Items: deep fried chicken cartilage, pork sausages, grilled onigiri (rice ball)

The skewered items were standard menu items and were pretty good. Although I had better in LA, it still hit the spot. The deep fried chicken cartilage was a little too meaty and bland. The pork sausages were good. The grilled onigiri normally should be grilled with some sauce but it seems like they grill it without the sauce so it was a bit bland for my taste.

Other than that, the menu selection itself was a little slim and they were missing many things I normally would expect such as kakuni (stewed pork belly) and cucumber salad but I may come back here again after trying a few more places (and remember to make...

My oh my. When I think of yakitori in Northern California, only one spot comes to mind: Sumiya Yakitori. Year after year, time after time, this has been my go-to spot for some amazingly delicious yakitori, and I still crave it to this day. I remember back in the day when Sumiya was in the smaller location, and unfortunately, a fire brought that place to a close. Even so, they reopened with a larger location, with the same food that you've all come to know and love. Located right on Homestead, this place is a little far from the freeway, but don't worry because this place is well worth the drive.

Now prior to coming here, you might actually want to make a reservation. Without a reservation, you're really rolling the dice here and might not even be able to dine here at all. I've never seen this place empty before, and there's a good reason behind that. The food here, like I've said, is simply amazing. Once you step inside, you'll be greeted with that nice, smokey, charcoal smell.

As far as yakitori itself, I like to stick to a couple of the essentials:

tsukune, hatsu, sasami, kimo, teba, kamo, kalbi, gyutan.

Appetizer-wise:

takowasa, tatsua-age, jagabata, kurobuta sausage, jidori salad.

If you're still hungry after, I do always close off my meal with the Sumiya chazuke. With that said and done, you'll be left incredibly content.

Eating here can get pricey depending on your appetite. There have been times in which I've spent about $30 a person, and other times where it was closer to $60-75 a person. Nonetheless, it's worth every dollar you spend. Even though I moved to NYC, I still reminisce about Sumiya when I think of yakitori. Oh Sumiya, please stay...

Go for the main course and Yakitori and skip the dessert. The meat and veg Yakitori items came in two skewers and the seafood items only came in one skewer. The Sake was done to perfection, crispy skin on one side with just the right amount of salt and a moist center. The Hamachi was slightly over cooked. The center was on the dry side, too much salt was used. If it wasn't for the fat on the outside this would have been a disappointing selection.

Happy hour is from 5:30 to 7, Discount on beer and a small selection of appetizers. We ordered the Tatsuta-age, which is fried chicken thigh with Japanese mayo on the side. Memorable dishes included Yellowtail Carpaccio (enough for two to three) and Beef Tataki. Both were the same price, if I had to choose between the two, I'd go with the Carpaccio. The Yellowtail was a more light and refreshing dish. I'd recommend the Kalbi Don to share. The dish could have done without the minced lettuce as it was more of a distraction. The Kalbi was done to perfection, perfectly cooked medium rare. The bowl consisted of kalbi, rice, kimchi, special sauce and a poached egg.

Skip the dessert. The Black sesame panna cotta was very muted, could barely taste the black sesame. The weird part was that it was only 1/4 black sesame and 3/4 another flavor. The fresh cream on top that came with the dessert was sweater than the panna cotta. The texture was way to firm to be freshly made, felt like it's been in the fridge for a while. The green tea creme brulee also felt like it's been sitting in the fridge for way too long. The sugar on top was cold and previously prepared in advance. The flavoring was very light, void from having any green...