Yakitori Hiroshi

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Changing the name out to Yakitori something else. Or whatnot. Sad to see them go, but it is what it is.

My family and I decided to avoid the madness that is called «Mother’s Day brunch/​lunch/​dinner, so my hubby said find a new place you’re want to try for lunch in Dublin since we would be in the area on Saturday. With my handy dandy Unilocal app, I found this little gem nestled in a mecca of a mini-​mall full of Asian culinary delights!
Just to let you know folks, this is my first foray in a Japanese restaurant where sushi, teppanyaki or ramen was not the main. I have to say that it was definitely an experience that I enjoyed, but if I had to do it again, I would NOT come here starving.
We started off with a few skewers; namely chicken heart, shrimp, squid, pork belly, chicken thigh, meat ball, and mixed veggie. All were delicious but with very light seasoning, which I really liked. Apparently, this is how yakitori is supposed to be so you taste the flavors of the meats/​veggie and not the spices Itself.
I also had the chawan mushi (steamed egg soup), which was my absolute fav! It had such a subtle flavor and the texture was like silk! I only wish the uni that topped it was a little bigger.
All in all, I am excited to go back. Just gotta make sure that I have a little snack first and bring the credit card cuz this place ain’t cheap. $ 5 for ONE prawn on a skewer? Believe it!

First visit was a Saturday night. Was able to get a roomy booth where you take off you shoes and feels like home. Prices were on the high side considering the sizes. Nice restaurant feel and clean. Staff and owner were friendly.
Interesting menu, ordered:
— fried oysters (very good)
— pork belly (good, tad salty)
— tontoro (good but similar to pork belly and bacon wrapped tomatoes)
— bacon wrapped tomatoes (very good, would double or triple up on this and pass on other pork skewers next time)
— boneless beef rib (tough, wouldn’t recommend but one of the cheapest skewers)
— corn (good)
— uni and salmon roe rice (good but small for price)
— chicken karage (good but needs salt or more flavorful dip)
— chicken skin (good and ordered extra crispy)
— hamachi Kama (ok, had better)
— shiitake mushrooms (very good)
— steamed egg custard with uni (very good)
— pitcher of draft Sapporo served with frozen mugs (nice touch)
Overall good and interested to try more daring things on menu. Will come back fairly soon.

Husband wanted yakitori instead of ramen, so we skipped out on Men-​Oh in Union City to come here. Really glad we did.
We ordered:
— Pork + Kimchi
— Chicken Thigh
— Butabara
— Bell peppers
— Chicken kamameshi (takes 20min to make)
It took a while for food to come out, but it wasn’t really an issue. We enjoyed chatting while waiting for the next skewer to come out. In the future, we’ll skip on the kamameshi and go straight for the meat skewers. Four skewers would have been enough for both of us as a lunch meal.
I loved the atmosphere although the seating arrangements are a little tight for the couples. We’ll definitely be coming back here and eating again — just different stuff next time.

Yakitori Hiroshi is a little restaurant tucked away on the first floor of the Ulferts Plaza. Seating is quite tight. We were sandwiched between two couples with kids. Décor is rustic modern and ventilation is surprisingly good. The grill is not exposed… it is in the back of the restaurant.
We were seated right away, but the restaurant filled up quickly. I ordered a unagi clay pot rice and DH ordered the chef’s special skewer selection. Say that 3 times fast! Food took a long time to reach our table. The rice was tasty and the unagi was surprisingly good. Sauce was not overwhelmingly sweet. Portion size was small.
The skewers we got were chicken thigh, chicken thigh with scallions, meatball, pork belly, and mixed vegetable. Chicken thigh was probably the best one. Packed with flavor and juice. Nice char taste. Meatball was «fine», nothing special there. Pork belly was okay, but we’ve had better. Seemed a bit underseasoned. Veggies were kind of bland and slightly undercooked on the inside, but too blackened on the outside. They also had a lighter fluid-​like aftertaste.
We were still hungry, so we ordered 3 more skewers. DH had high hopes for the chicken heart skewers, which were okay, but not as flavorful as expected and didn’t have that distinctive «crunchiness». I had them before in Peru and they were so awesome there. That’s a pretty high bar, though! The eggplant skewer was fine, but not outstanding. The bacon wrapped asparagus was also okay, but could use more finesse. The bacon was overly charred (see photo) in some areas and overall flavor wasn’t as savory as expected. We’ve had these at other yakitori places and this place didn’t seem quite as good.
The meal was about $ 25/​head, no alcohol, after tax and tip, which seemed pricey given that we, light eaters, were still hungry afterwards. The regular sized folks next to us kept adding more food to their order. I’m guessing they spent around $ 40−50/head. Overall, a good experience if you haven’t had yakitori before, but not a good value.

Went for a light dinner on a Tuesday evening with my boyfriend because he was craving some yakitori. The only good places we knew of was all the way in San jose, so we went on Unilocal and decided to give this place a try. Got there at approximately 7:30pm and it was completely empty, which seemed odd considering how the location seemed to be in a fairly new and modern plaza.
I ordered all the veggies-​shittake mushroom, corn, eggplant, zucchini, and onigiris. The corn was really good, especially the sauce that came with it. Zucchini and eggplant was a little bland and the onigiri seemed to be missing something (or perhaps I am just used to more heavy-​flavored foods). Boyfriend ordered all the meat– pork belly, beef ribs, chicken thighs with leek, and chicken wings. He said they were all really good and flavorful and enjoyed the chicken wings the most. Overall, good service and pretty good food.

Cute addition to the Tri-​Valley area. I am no yakitori expert but there was a guy sitting next to me that was asking about the type of stones they use and apparently this place is somewhat legit from what I could gather.
Stingray fin karaage –Special appetizer of the day. I think they might have even run out as I overheard another table try to order it. It was my first time having stingray and I wasn’t sure what to expect but what I got were tough fish pieces. A little on the greasy side too. Comes with a lemon strong mayo.
Chicken heart — Tender and tasty with the sauce.
Smelt — You get 5 little fishes and they are filled with eggs. I guess that’s the nature of smelt? It didn’t have much flavor so you can dip it in the side of mayo.
Beef ribs — These are boneless pieces that were a little on the chewy side.
Shishito peppers — The waitress warned us that these were spicy but they were not at all.
Chawan mushi — Pleasantly surprised at the effort put into this dish. Usually you can quick steam an egg dish like this in 7 minutes but this took a full 15 minutes to come out super silky. They top it with a piece of uni that ends up cooking so you don’t get to enjoy the beauty of it raw.
Lamb chop — Priciest item at $ 7 for one chop. We asked for it to be cooked medium, it looked medium well, but still tasted tender. Impressive!
Dessert mochi — Okay, this is not what it’s called on the menu. There are three types of mocha in the dessert section: one contains ice cream and the other two are regular. This is one of the regular ones, made from vegetables, covered in red bean powder, and drizzled with some sauce that tastes both savory and sweet. It comes out from the fridge so it’s quite cold.
Service was all over the place but not in a bad way. Everyone serves every table so you can ask anyone for anything.

We needed a light dinner for Friday night and chose Hiroshi for a second outing. It was about 645pm and pretty empty, but in about 15 minutes later it filled up quickly. Luckily we placed our order in! We tried a few new items this time:
1. Momo — basically a skewer of six small pieces from chicken thigh that was our favorite of the night. Meat was incredibly juicy and they had a nice smoky charred flavor that hardly needed any sauce. It’s how chicken is meant to be eaten!
2. Both the grilled eggplant and zucchini were excellent. Both had some seasoning — the eggplant was slightly sweet while the zucchini had some spiciness.
3. Chicken meatball (Actually ground chicken shaped into a mini corndog) was good also and had similar smoky grilled flavor as the Momo, but the texture was softer.
4. The iron seafood pot was worth the 15 minute wait — basically clams, shrimp, small scallops, and enoki-​like brown mushrooms all baked together and presented in a nice wooden box with recessed iron bowl. Flavors were mild but we really liked it.
5. Probably the only disappointment of the evening was the chicken breast with pumpkin sauce. It was a bit dry and overcooked while the plum sauce was way too tart. Next time it’s Momo all the way!
In addition to these we got the usual chicken karaage (highly recommended — fried chicken pieces that are incredibly juicy) and the grilled rice patties (they come two per order!)
Upping my review to five stars since this time, I felt they executed well on most of out selections and service was friendly and quick.

The best place I have eaten at in the Dublin/​Pleasanton area! It’s very new, but I know they will get popular fast: D
The setting is super clean, with a modern/​traditional fusion interior design. One side has smaller tables with chair seating, the other has more traditional tables where you may sit kneeling or normally. It’s a cozy spot, and I expect that they will soon have a very busy schedule with waitlist. My visit today was very comfortable and not crowded, though.
Tea is served. I got the Ika (squid) and some skewers: grilled zucchini, shiitake mushroom, and pork belly. There is one skewer per order. The squid was a huge one! I love this simple tapas style dining, because it’s easy to sample a large variety of food and introduce people to something new. The flavor of all the dishes I ordered was GREAT, and I would compare it to Ippuku in Berkeley. The menu is a little smaller to what I’m used to for yakitori, but the quality is excellent :-) This is definitely going to become my favorite spot to eat and to show to people.
The waiter was SUPER nice and always refilled my tea without it going empty. Great food, great service, beautiful interior. I’m so happy to have found Yakitori Hiroshi, I hope more people discover it.

Hello Yakitori Hiroshi! I want to start off by saying the service here is outstanding! From the moment my friends and I walked in, to the moment we left, we were treated like rockstars! Service here is impeccable from the way we were treated to our questions answered thoroughly. The staff was always smiling and made the experience so well worth it! Big thanks to Tomiko who I believe is the owner of the restaurant. She was very nice and encouraged us to try new things along with on how to enjoy the food at the restaurant. Now, let’s not forget about the food!
My friends and I ordered one of the most unique dishes I ever had. It is called «kami nabe» and it is basically a mini hot pot with raw seafood, veggies and broth. It is served inside a coffee filter looking type of paper over a flame. You let it cook for at least 15 minutes plus and after that, the broth is intense in flavor! I highly recommend it if they serve it again. Just to remind you, it is a special. I also ordered the meatball, chicken thigh and pork belly yakitori skewers. The chicken thigh skewer was my favorite and went perfectly with my steamed rice. There is an awesome deal where you can get 5 different skewers for $ 15. I wish I did it because I ordered 3 and wished I had ordered more. So good, so good! Try Yakitori Hiroshi out if you’re in the area or grab a bite after shopping at the Livermore outlets!

Hidden in this Asian Strip mall is this small yakitori place.
Authentic Japanese …
Only place in the east bay that serves the specialty rice dishes — you need to wait for 20 minutes but its worth it.
The flavor of the grilled skewers are very tasty.
Love the butabara and the salmon skin salad.
Will definitely come here again to try other small plate.
Prices are definitely reasonable and service is excellent.

This place is an excellent addition to the Ulferts center. I have to say that I quite like their new presence and what they’re trying to bring to the table, but the overall experience is still somewhat lacking and could use improvement.
Service was not great, but not bad. We sat and waited a bit too long before ordering – the table next to us was seated after us and had their order taken first for some irrational reason, and it wasn’t like we were indecisive or still poring over the menus. It was a good five minutes of waiting around hoping for someone to notice before we flagged them down like a first grader raising their hand in class to go potty. Refills on tea were not done unless asked, and the cups were quite small.
Minor quibbles aside, there were some good dishes. The salmon carpaccio was better than expected. The fried lotus root slices were great and offered a balance against the more savory items. The grilled pork belly was good. Unfortunately, the portions were pretty small, so be sure to order some fillers if you are bringing your appetite.
Speaking of fillers: their rice balls were pretty disappointing. Lacking in flavor and a bit too hardened and crisped on the edges. I’d avoid those as they don’t taste anything like the ones available at other izakayas.
All in all, a good initial effort, but they definitely need to step up the game a bit. Looks like another restaurant is suffering the Ulferts plaza curse of mediocrity.

Second time here. First time for lunch.
Our first meal here was dinner and we ordered a bunch of food. The grilled chicken skin and karaage stood out the most for me. My kids really liked their salmon in a claypot. There were a bunch of items to choose from their Yakitori menu.
Today we stopped in to try their lunch service. My son was super excited to order their curry. He said it was delicious. I ordered the combo with karaage and breaded pork. They were both delicious.
I also ordered their meat yakitori. That tasted really good. I was told at the end of my meal that I could have also ordered from the dinner yakitori menu. Wish I knew that then I would have ordered more variety.
It was obvious that the hostess kept talking loudly to her staff in Japanese while they were serving. I’m sure she was telling them what to do even though I don’t speak Japanese. It was a little distracting and unprofessional. I’m sure it would have been better if she spoke to them privately.
My four stars rating is primarily based on the food.
I recommend that you stop by. It’s nice to have another authentic Japanese restaurant in the area.

Yakitori there was just okay… quite bland. But all the fried food there on the other hands, awesome! They use good panko. The prawns were good, kaarage was good – really recommend those two dishes! On the down side though, everything there seems overpriced! For example, two fried prawns for $ 9! Yikes!
The service was very good! The waitresses were super attentive.

Tsk tsk Yakitori Hiroshi. My husband wanted to have lunch here on Tuesday. Unilocal indicated they are not opened for lunch, but their website said they ARE opened for lunch. He assumed their own website would be correct, so we went. Nope — it was wrong. We gave our money to another restaurant in the Ulferts Center instead.
Refer to my past review for the food review.

Service is stellar, they were quick, friendly, and accommodated us and our sleeping 3 month old in her car seat, making sure we had seating in a place that was safe and out of the way for her. That won me over before we even tried the food!
Luckily the food was great! It is expensive, they use top quality ingredients, like free range chicken.
There were a few not winner dishes for me, I didn’t like the cartilidge or gizzards, too chewy. Everything else we really enjoyed. The squid was smoky and perfectly cooked on the grill. Loved the salmon roe and sea urchin clay pot. The sashimi of the day was so fresh and sweet. Definitely get the liver, asparagus, fried chicken, chicken and leeks.
One of our favorite places in Shinjuku is a smoky izakaya down a dubious flight of stairs, in the basement. We ate there a lot, and this food reminds us of that experience. Hiroshi has a more refined setting, nobody is smoking at the tables, no boxes of sake poured to overflowing, no drunk men in business suits out for a bite and booze after a hard day in the office. The food is good enough for us to come back. Be prepared to wait, it’s small and has limited seating.

This is the first yakitori restaurant I’ve been to, but I absolutely loved this place. There are a few things that really blew my mind though. first off is the Pork Shoulder. I got this both times I’ve been here and it was a juicy tangy explosion of perfection both times. Second is the Bacon Wrapped Asparagus… I know it sounds generic, but its mind blowingly delicious, just talking about it now is making me want it and its 7:30 AM. The chicken wings are also very good, the salmon iron pot (I would have liked it more without the ikura, but that’s just me), and my husband loves the chicken hearts. The older woman who owns the place tends to linger a tad too long, but that’s really my only complaint. I don’t have another yakitori restaurant to compare them to, but I know good food, and this place has it.

Very good Japanese grilled skewered food. It’s a Japanese pub if you will.
We got seven small dishes and we were full! Didn’t even leave room for Dango dessert. But we will be back.
Try the salmon (sweetly grilled), mackerel (smokey), cuddle fish (crispy), pumpkin salad (like potato salad), and eggplant (caramelized grilled). Those were my favorite.

Went to newly opened Yakitori Hiroshi to try their cuisine on Tuesday night at 8 pm. The small new restaurant was about ¹⁄₃ full of customers and an army of kitchen, wait staff and managers/​owners. The menu had many items including a omakase yakitori with 5 skewers for $ 15. We asked the waitress what 5 skewers comes with the omakase, she mentioned a bunch of $ 3 ala carte items. Not a very good deal so we decided instead of getting skewers we did not want we would order ala carte.
Salmon Carpaccio
Salmon Skin Salad
Uni and Salmon Rice $ 18
Yakitori:
Chicken Hearts
Chicken Gizzards
Duck
Beef Rib
Pork Belly
Beef Tongue
Lamb
Large Squid
Egg plant
Mushrooms
Smelt
see pics
Everything came out at the same time one skewer per dish. In every good Yakitori place that I have been to each dish comes after you have just finished the one before. Also, the last dish was the Salmon Skin Salad and the second to last dish was the appetizer Salmon Carpaccio. Yakitori skewers are best when they are just off the grilled coals but since all of them came at once we were guessing which was what. The tongue was defiantly burnt and was the worst. The tiny FOUR chicken hearts comes out to be $ 1 a heart. humm… The veggies are not a value either $ 3 for 3 tiny mushrooms. I don’t mind the pricing if it were upscale, the service being impeccable and the restaurant took me to a zen state, but it was far from that.
The dishes were stacked 4 high before some one took them away. The tea was filled once. We had to wait to get the attention of our waitress to get the check. I really want this place to succeed and my tip to the waitress and or Unilocalers order your dishes one or two at a time.
The best three items were not even the Yakitori.
#1 best Uni and Salmon Roe $ 18 portions are small but excellent taste
#2 ” ” Salmon Carpaccio with a hint of ponzu and daikon, nice portions
#3 ” ” Salmon Skin Salad lots ingredients.
Yakitori Hiroshi is a nice addition to the Ulferts Center but they might have some fine tuning before they will get me back. Hopefully, the rent, payroll and overhead does not get them first. Good Luck ! $ 88 buck before tip

Best authentic Yakitori specialty restaurant in the east bay (probably the ONLY authentic Yakitori in the east bay)
When you see and meet Japanese expatriates having dinner there, its a good sign.
Other good signs — no pictures of the food on the menu. and NO rolls!!!
5 stars on the quality, taste, service and restaurant ambiance.
Open for dinner only at this time — prices are medium to high but you pay for quality and taste.
Recommend your teenager at home unless you wanna pay $$$$ for all sticks they will inhale — just kidding. The kids loved the place.
Highly recommend. Glad to see that they are doing well and busy since opening.
Will be back very soon to try the rest of the dishes and menu.