TANTO Japanese Restaurant — Restaurant in Sunnyvale

This is a different style of Japanese food, not sushi or the bento box style stuff. They're more like a tapas place, serving up small delicious dishes. The restaurant is really small so call ahead and reserve if you want a big table. There is a parking lot so you don't have to scramble to find parking :)

I loved the cozy and intimate setting of this restaurant. They have awesome private booths that you and your party can sit down and enjoy their meal. It would be an awesome place to just catch up and have some food and drinks. Their menu is quite extensive. They had a lot of options. They are smaller dishes so you would need to order more to fill up. The prices here are expensive but it's a japanese restaurant, so don't expect it to be cheap. I came here with a party of 3 and we called ahead for a table. It was pretty busy on a friday evening. What's great is, this place open late till 11 pm so you can enjoy a late dinner if you wanted to.

The Food: (what I noticed is the dishes come perfect for a group of three! we were able to split everything evenly :D)

Grilled Beef Tongue: YUMMY! The beef tongue was thinly sliced and that's the first time i've had it like that. But the beef was full of flavor. It had a certain richness to it plus combined with a lemon they provided with the dish, it made for a killer combo. It's the perfect savory starter.

Tako Potato: HOLY moly these are hugee! These are way bigger than what i was used to for takoyaki. but they were delicious nonetheless. It had a lot of potato in it, so it was pretty heavy for a dish. The octopus pieces were cooked perfectly and they were the right amount of chewy and firmness. I would get this dish again if you're looking a for a good filler dish.

Sashimi (18 pieces) platter: I forgot what this what called but its listed under the sashimi section and it comes with 6 different types of sashimi and 3 pieces of each type. this was such a STEAL. Because splitting this with 3 people was perfect and the cost of this dish was $22 dollars, so essentially we each paid about $7 bucks for 6 pieces of sashimi which a good deal. The sashimi pieces were wonderful, they were fresh and the fish was on point. I would definitely recommend getting this if you were in the mood for sashimi!

Yaki Onigiri or Roasted Rice Balls ( with Salmon ): Definitely can't go here without ordering some of the rice balls and it better be roasted. The dish comes with 2 rice balls that are HUGE. They are really filling because of the amount of rice that is used for this dish. So I would recommend this dish as a great filler dish! We ordered the rice ball with salmon instead of the spicy cod roe because we heard it was a better choice. I can't speak for the other choices, but the Salmon was SOOOO GOOD! It was salted so it balanced the crisp roasted rice perfectly. The flavor combination was delicious and I loved every bite of it!

Braised Pork Nagasaki style: If you loveeee fatty pork and addicting sauces than get this dish. It was AMAZING. The pork was so tender that it practically melted in my mouth. Not to mention the broth/sauce that came with this dish was one of the best things I've ever tasted. It came close to the broth/sauce used in Kunjip's braised short ribs and that was freaking amazing. I would highly recommend this dish to anyone that was pork fan, it was simply the best dish of the night.

Overall the food here was spectacular. The service was just as good. Our food came out in minutes after we had ordered. I think we only waited 2 minutes after we ordered before our first dish was served to us. It was awesome since we were so hungry! I would definitely come back again, one of the best Japanese restaurants in...

My favorite izakaya/Japanese comfort food restaurant!

You can't go wrong with any choice. Everything else is good, but some are just amazing!

Here are some dishes I would recommend:

Ika meshi (rice stuffed in a jumbo squid) - 5 stars. You can definitely taste the "squid innard sauce", reminds me of the yellow part of the crab. I'm not a fan of giant squid because the chewy texture gets boring and no longer enjoyable after a while. However, this squid was tender, and the rice

Gyutan (salted broiled beef tongue) - 5 stars. If you are a fan of grilled beef tongue, you should give this version a try. Pieces of thinly sliced beef tongue came on a plate (not skewers) perfectly seasoned. Eat it while it's hot!

Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice ball with spicy cod row) - 4.5 stars. When rice balls are seasoned and grilled right (crispy shell and soft rice inside), it's the best. We ordered one serving first, which came with 2 rice balls. My friend mentioned "extra crispy", and they came nicely grilled on all sides. I loved it so much I ordered a second serving, which was NOT grilled as well. So if you enjoy the crunchy rice, make sure to let your waiter know.

Uni Shiso (raw uni with shiso and roasted seaweed) - 4 stars. I admit that I had doubts about wrapping uni in shiso leave. But the flavor combo is nothing I've tasted before. Here's how you do it: put the shiso on the seaweed, and put a little wasabi on the shiso, then grab one (or more) piece of uni, and roll it up. It's optional to dip it in soy sauce. Last step, breathe through your nose while you continue to chew, and enjoy!

Toro Tataki (seared fatty tuna) - 4 stars. It came with vinaigrette dressing, thinly sliced onion and cucumber, which made it a light and refreshing appetizer.

Batu kakuni (braised pork Nagasaki-style) - 4 stars. The meat is so soft and melts as soon as you put it in your mouth. It comes with some gentle mustard on the side, which pairs great with the meat and cuts down the fattiness significantly. There's always a wait and you will walk out smelling like food, be warned.

Tip:

1. Make a reservation to avoid the wait. Try to call a few days in advance, or else you may not eat until late (after 8PM). If you call early, you can also ask to be seated at the booth instead of regular tables.
2. Parking can be a pain cuz the parking lot is quite small. There are street parking on...

Update: Recently went back to Tanto and was not super impressed. Maybe we just ordered incorrectly.

GOOD At 6:30pm on a Tuesday, there were some free tables. Pleasantly surprised since I assumed it would be packed all the time. Portions are on the large side. Take this into account when you order! Love the yaki onigiri

BAD Large portions! IMHO the upside of an izakaya is that you can order small dishes and taste a lot of different things. Tempura - just not good. Not crispy and no flavor.

NOT GREAT Yuan-style gindara: 2 small pieces, flavor was okay but didn't feel broiled (crispy charred edges) Miso eggplant with cheese: mostly good, but a little on the salty side

Tanto is a pretty legit izakaya-style restaurant. They have a variety of Japanese food - sashimi salads, yakitori, different kinds of donburi, and "tapas" style Japanese eats.

My recommendations:

Uni yakimeshi. I really can't say no to uni. And add a poached egg? I'm enchanted.

Beef in hot stone pot. This was really cool. Kinda like bibimbap but it's just beef. Tender and flavorful. Such a good dish.

Salmon and ikura salad. Love the dressing. Large portion. Yum.

I wasn't a huge fan of the gyutan and duck breast. Though the duck was over cooked. And beef tongue was served slightly lukewarm.

If you're in the neighborhood, come EARLY. You don't wanna be one of those fools waiting for an hour while smelling the deliciousness that other people...