Gaku Yakitori

One of my friends had been craving Yakitori for the past month or so, but somehow we kept putting it off until, finally, this past Monday, we decided it was time. I actually don’t think I’ve ever had yakitori anywhere in the Bay Area, but I have had it in San Diego, with this friend, who was craving yakitori, and in Japan.
My friend got off work a bit late that day, so he arrived around 6:15pm or so, and the restaurant was already full. Not exactly surprising since the place is pretty small, so we added our name and a phone number to the list for a party of 5. There isn’t waiting space inside since it’s a bit cramped, so we all ended up sitting in my car. We were quoted a 45 minute wait, and I think we got seated around 6:45 or so, so we got a bit lucky, and we were informed that there is a 2 hour time limit, because there was a party with a reservation coming at 9pm. I’m not sure if there is always a time limit, or if we were only given one because of the party coming later, but 2 hours is more than enough time for a meal.
After browsing the menu, I was a bit shocked at the pricing on the yakitori. Initially, I was like ooh this place is cheaper than the places I’ve been too in San Diego, until I realized the restaurants in San Diego charge you for two skewers while the price listed here is for one. Yikes. I’m a pretty big eater, so I knew unless I got like a hundred dollar’s worth of yakitori, I wouldn’t be satiated, so I looked through their menu for something that would fill my belly more. Aside from their normal menu, they also gave a piece of paper titled Winter Menu, so I guess they have an additional menu depending on the season. I don’t remember the exact name of the dish, but I went with some sort of uni soymilk hotpot from the Winter menu, and for yakitori, I got chicken heart, chicken gizzard, chicken thigh, scallop, and beef tongue. Our waiter informed us that the point of yakitori is usually to share between friends, so everything was going to come out slowly, not all together, and we were all fine with that.
True to his word, everything we had ordered probably came over the course of about one and a half hour or so, but I’m not sure if they purposely timed it like that, or that’s just the speed they normally go at. Around the middle of the meal was when our hotpots arrived. Two other friends aside from me also got different hotpots included an oxtail hotpot from the regular menu and some special beef hotpot from the winter menu. Each hotpot actually had amazing flavor. If I had known there would be so much flavor in my uni soymilk hotpot, I probably would have just ordered it alone. The uni itself was extremely fresh. I shared with a few of my frirends, and they agreed. Additionally, the soymilk broth really complimented the freshness of the uni. The broth was savory yet very lightly sweet and also a bit tangy if you will? It had a lot of depth to it, and it’s something I really haven’t had before. Pretty cool.
The yakitori was actually kind of a let down. The «basic» stuff if you will such as the chicken heart, gizzard, etc were cooked well, but it was missing a sort of char/​smoky flavor I usually get when I eat yakitori. And then my scallop skewer came at the very end of my meal and it wasn’t cooked properly. The outside wasn’t really charred enough, and the inside was still a bit chilly. Yikes! Maybe the grill wasn’t hot enough or something, but definitely not impressive.
One of my friends got their Kakuni, which is a braised pork belly. It had decent flavor, but wasn’t as soft as we would have liked. Another friend got something along the lines of duck dipping soba. Again good flavor, but on the pricey side. I guess the dipping broth is made with duck? There were some bits of duck in there too I believe, but not very filling since it’s just soba.
Overall, my experience at Gaku Yakitori was okay. It’s nice to know that there is a yakitori place relatively close to me. I can’t compare to other yakitori places around the bay, but hopefully I will be able to in the future! The yakitori was okay, but pricey considering it’s one skewer each. However, I would definitely recommend their hotpots, just make sure you’re ready for a wait because they take a while to make. Be ready to open your wallets though, and don’t come starving unless you want to spend your whole paycheck!

i think i like this place. Came here on date night with the husband. The place is a little hard to find, in the CVS plaza, if you are walking underneath the awning because there is no sign on the door. I almost walked into the Chinese restaurant next door until i remembered that other Unilocalers said it was a small restaurant.
Started off with some appetizers and drinks since we were both hungry and knew yakitori on its own would not fill us up. Had the soba with dipping sauce and fried chicken wings. Both were delightful. Then we started the yakitori ordering. We decided to play on our adventurous side and ordered most of the organs hearts, gizzards… you know that kind of stuff. Some not so scary stuff as well, beef, chicken. We were hopeful as our first few orders came without delay. As the restaurant got full, our orders still came out without delay… however that did not last long. Towards the end of our meal we did have to wait… what seemed to be a long time (more than 10 minutes)…for our very last yakitori. Good thing we weren’t starving at that point or this review would have gone a very different direction.
Mind you it can get spendy with all the yakitori you would end up ordering to get full… so a dinner date for 2 with drinks but no dessert came out to over $ 120 not including tip. That’s not completely a bad thing if i left there feeling full, but that wasn’t the case. I was satiated but not feeling full to the point of belly extension.
Overall a place to return, but knowing what i know now i may have a snack beforehand.

Maybe I went on an off day, but for some reason, I didn’t have the experience that it seems most people have had at Gaku. Gaku, for me, can be summed up by the Unilocal description for two stars: «Meh. I’ve experienced better.»
The ambience was friendly, but slightly muted. It didn’t have the warmth that I look for in a restaurant, and so I wasn’t able to get too comfortable. The food was ok. Skewers were a hit-​or-​miss: the gyutan (beef toungue) was very hard to chew through, while the mi (chicken thigh meat) was quite tasty. Flavoring was strong across the board — a little too strong? The main dishes (e.g. onigiri, udon) were consistently mediocre to good.
Perhaps if there weren’t so many other yakitori options in South Bay, I’d come back to Gaku. But as it stands today, if I was craving yakitori, I’d choose another.

It was a Saturday and we were craving some Yakitori. I have had this place bookmarked for a while, but always forget to book rezzies. We got there 15 minutes before they opened and made sure we were the first ones in line. If you do not have rezzies, then there is pretty much only 6 spots at the bar that they have for walk-​ins. If you are not in those first 6 seats then… your wait will probably be 1.5 — 2 hours. JUST CALL AND MAKE A RESERVATION!!!
It took us 2 hours to finish our entire meal because we only ordered skewers… and…we ordered A LOT!!! hahah
My faves:
— Soft shell shrimp karage: my bf loved it so much, he got a second order just for himself
— Tongue: sooooo good that i had two just for myself
— Hearts: not the best i have had, but i still enjoyed it
— Knee Cartilage: nomz
— Chicken skin (negi sauce): this one is a must get… get it… get it!!!
I would definitely come back, but just once in a while because it’s not cheap :)

This place is yummy. but small. Love how you could see them grilling your meats. Ordered almost everything from their menu and everything came out good. Oh, and if you’re a big steak eater it might be a problem because portions are pretty small so you might have to order more. Also, we had to wait an hour because we didn’t know it would be that crowded so please remember to make reservations ahead so you don’t have to wait like we did.

Damn. What can I say about this place? For starters, definitely make reservations before coming. The restaurant is small and the food is so good, if you don’t you’re going to be standing in line for quite some time watching people stuff their faces. And if you decide to not heed my warning, then I hope you think of me saying «I told you so» while you stand outside in line since there’s not enough of a wait area in side.
Anyways, Boyfriend and I decided to finally come here this weekend for our 2 year anniversary. Made a reservation the week before and right when we arrived at our reservation time, we were promptly seated.
Must haves: Grilled squid (no sauce, it’s already flavorful enough), spicy oxtail soup (holy crap it’s good. side of rice is $ 3 extra though), garlic chicken thigh, and green tea crème brûlée (that’s right, GREEN TEA crème brûlée. blew my mind)
Also ordered: Fried rice ball (yes, it’s just rice but its sides are nicely fried with a bit of soy sauce coating), garlic chicken breast, kobe beef, kalbi, beef tongue (not at all like lengua from mexican joints but still good), black sesame ice cream (super rich) and Sapporo black (5%)
Total came out to $ 96 which I was really surprised because I thought for sure it would be $ 100+. $ 4 is not much of a difference but still. The meal was under 3 digits.
I think the only thing I can say that was somewhat lacking was in the service department. We had a waitress that didn’t seem to be as friendly or outgoing as the others. Everyone else seemed so warm and «hi, welcome! how are you this evening *smile*». Maybe she was having a bad day, who knows. Nothing terrible to dock off a star but I feel is worth mentioning.
Will still come back again. Especially for dat green tea crème brûlée and spicy oxtail soup, mmmmm…

Honestly, been here so many times, besides Japanese owners can not do kurokuta/​belly delicate & tender, but in comparison to Yakitori kokko, sumiya, or sumika, since they are all owned by Japanese peeps! Gaku is the best due to their variety of sauce on skewers, taste, quality, variety besides yakatori but other delicious tapas & Japanese friendly service.
I usually order:
Tsukune — very soft with Yakatori sauce
Garlic kalbi (Kobe style of beef) — tender delicious
Wings –very tender w/​charcoal taste
Gyutan
Hotate w/​ikura ponzu — very tasty
Ox tail soup — pretty good
Green tea brûlée — so so

Would be a 5 star but it is a bit expensive. Came here the other night around 11, one of the only places that was still open in the area. Great food, especially the beef tongue and the spicy fried chicken. I recommend them as the must haves when you come.
The staff is very polite and will come again soon.

Me and my wife love this place. Great service and good people. Who doesn’t love beer and BBQ? Lol thanks guys keep up the great work.

My man decided to take me out to a spot that came highLy recommended by a friend. Our Last Yakitori restaurant ended up getting shut down so he took it upon himseLf to find us a new eatery.
No joke– this pLace is heLLa smaLL. If you are cLaustrophobic in any way… Gaku may not be the pLace for you.
We waLk in and were immediateLy greeted and Let them know we had reservations under «Terrie». The gentLeman teLLs us they don’t have that name Listed but wouLd be happy to check again just in case.
Lucky for us, they verified our Last 4 digits of our teLephone number because they had mistaken «Terrie» for «Carrie».
The wait, even after the reservations, took a hot minute. Nobody wanted to get up and Leave tonight! They just Lingered and continue to chat even after they were done with their meaL.
The workers were very nice and apoLogized for the Long wait and they even comp’d a tofu dish.
Here’s the run down: dishes here are smaLL. They speciaLize in BBQ street foods in the form of mini skewers. These skewers are made to order and can take some time so be patient. There is a Large range of protein from chicken, beef, pork, and seafood. Gaku aLso offers rice bowLs and udon noodLes.
We mainLy stuck to the skewers and sLowLy but sureLy, we Left with happiLy fuLL beLLies. Between the two of us, we spent over $ 100 (incLuding tip) easiLy.
Food was deLicious and came out piping hot. Customer service was on point and every worker we encountered was very weLcoming.
I wiLL definiteLy be back but not without a reservation.

Really 3.5 if it was up to me it would be 3 stars here but ²⁄₃ of us says they deserve 4 stars. Maybe I’m being a little harsh on them because of the other Unilocalers but here it goes!
We arrive at 9pm on a Thursday and there was a 30 – 45 minutes wait. Aaron whom greet us and called us to let us know our table is ready just happened to also be our server. Once seated we ordered a pitcher of Sapporo which took 15 minutes to come out. Right away I can see this place only caters to their regulars and don’t care for new clients. Anyways I wrote down some stuff on the paper to order from the grill and a couple other dishes.
Shiitake mushroom: came out first but came out COLD. Tasted good but Why is it cold when it came straight from the grill?! We were starving so we are it anyways. 3.5 stars
Pork belly: so chewy! I’m use to tender pork belly so this threw me off. 0 stars, don’t get!
Kobe skewers: good much better than pork belly but I’ve had better 3.5 stars
Blue fin tuna sashimi: best dish of the night and it was a special they don’t usually have sashimi. So good we went for round two and ask for extra pieces to even the portions out between three people. So good but damn $ 90 for two plates. Yikes! 5 stars!!!
Grilled whole SMALL squid: very good but small compare to what I’m use to. 4 stars
Hamachi sashimi salad: very well prepare with the salad and lotus chips 4 stars!
Grilled scallops with ikura and uni: soooooo bomb! At $ 18 for one piece but very tender and flavorful! 5 stars
Oxtail soup: pass! Reminds me of Korean tofu soup but with oxtail.
Roasted garlic: 5 stars!!! Perfect to snack on with beer!
Seared scallops: this dish was first ordered on the paper but took TWO WHOLE HOURS to come out! When asked why? Aaron said because there’s timing on everything. TWO HOURS?! And it came out med rare! How is that possible?!! It was the best yakitori from here but I’ve had better elsewhere 4 stars.
Finished off with green tea cremebrulee which was nice. By 9pm half the stuff on their menu they don’t even have. Water was not refilled til end of the night my fiancé finished his water and mine and still wasn’t refilled. –_​– As you can see you either love it or hate and I don’t hate it but I definitely don’t see a reason to return and have to wait when there are so many other places that’s better nearby!

Returned to Gaku for the first time in years! I would say food quality is the same, but it’s definitely not as amazing as I remember it to be… (see last review).
Also, be sure to ask what market prices are before ordering! We had the uni and ikura hot stone pot and it came out to $ 30 for a TINY BOWL!

The food was very very good. However, the 2 star off was because: 1. The wait time between dishes are waaaay too long. Which makes sense because they only had one griller and one helper. Also the grill was not a big one. So dishes were being made slowly. But we did see other people who sat down after us got their dishes before we got ours. 2. For the price we paid, the experience was not worth it.
I will only come back if I’m not very hungry next time.

Everything here is soooooooo goood! Make sure you make reservations because this place is pretty small, so you’d probably have to wait a bit without one.
Food:
–Mentai Sasami (5 stars)
–Garlic Kobe beef (5 stars)
–Miso Kobe beef (4 stars)
–Kobe w/​sauce (3 stars)
–Shrimp Karage (5 stars)
–Wings (5 stars) perfectly crispy!
–Rice w/​egg & green onion (5 stars)
–Green tea crème brûlée (5 stars)
–Garlic potato (5 stars) YESSSS THIS IS AMAZING!
Service:
Quick & Friendly

I LOVED (MUST GET ITEMS):
— The kobe beef skewer (super tender)
— Ika geso fried calamari (crispy and savory) $ 9.50
— Scallop skewers (great buttery texture)
— Yalu onigiris with salmon (savory and crunchy exterior) $ 5.00
I LIKED:
— Spicy chicken wings $ 7.50
— Mushroom skewers… grilled nice and dry so the flavor really comes out
— Duck prosciutto salad $ 10.50
— Green tea crème brûlée for dessert… a great strong matcha flavor $ 5.50
I WOULD SKIP:
— Miso udon $ 9.50… this was excessively salty and tasted like the noodles were drowning in soy sauce
— Beef tongue skewers… for me, I’m just not a huge fan of beef tongue and I would definitely opt for another kobe beef skewer instead
I think you need to come to this restaurant realizing and expecting to pay about $ 40 – 50 per person, in order to really experience the nice variety of tasty small dishes here and to have a satisfying meal that doesn’t leave you hungry.

My friend suggested gaku because it closes late. I came here on a friday night around 10 pm. Luckily we barely beat the crowd because this place became really packed 20 minutes later.
This place was known for their skewers and we ordered a hefty amount of skewers (4 sets of 3). My favorite skewers was their pork belly and their butter scallop. Even gaku’s shiitake mushroom was shockingly good (it looked really plain) and had had a kick to it.
Beside the skewers, we ordered calamari (i recommend this if you like calamari since this one was a unique meaty texture), the spicy wings (this was pretty spicy), their miso soup (this was by far my least favorite. It was EXTREMELY salty) and their salmon rice ball (it wasn’t unique, but it was filling)
What made gaku very interesting was how much flavoring each dish had. You can definitely see that this place really put a lot of thought in their dishes.
I also highly recommend people to try their green tea crème burleé!!! The crème burleé was extremely creamy and had a strong green tea flavor.

Full disclosure: Didn’t get the chance to eat here.
Walked in at around 6:30 on a Thursday night, saw a list of 3 parties in front of us and was told it would be a 1 hour wait. However there were multiple empty tables and a few open seats at the bar seats surrounding the kitchen. Asked the host about those seats and he said they were reserved for their «regulars,» even though their regulars weren’t there.
Host approached and made a comment that he «feels uncomfortable watching other people eat» in an attempt to ask us to leave. Again mentioned the empty seats and he said «yea, I get how visually it doesn’t make sense.»
Was in the mood to try a new Yakitori in the area, but just felt like they weren’t looking for our business.

This is one of the best Japanese Yakitori place I’ve been to for a while. This place is small and gets extremely busy weekend night. We came here on a Friday night around 8:45pm, but still had to wait about 1 hour. They do take reservation, I will definitely call next time.
Apparently, this place uses Japanese Bincho-​tan or traditional Japanese Charcoal. This type of charcoal has a lower temperature than normal charcoal, but its preferred by many Japanese chefs because it does not release too much smoke or unpleasant odors.
I honestly forgot all the names of the skewers we ordered, but they were all very good!
Chicken breast was very tender!
Beef tongue was flavorful!
Chicken skin was perfect crispy!
Grilled Whole Squid
Chicken Wing
Mushroom
Save room for dessert! My favorite Green Tea Crème Brulee! Love the crispy caramel sugar top!!!
This place is not cheap. This meal was about $ 60 (11 skewers, grill squid, and green tea crème brûlée). I don’t mind coming here once a while.

Nestled in a nondescript strip mall is Gaku Yakitori, serving delectable skewers and a good (and not overwhelming) array of salads, appetizers, soup (nabe), and an additional ever-​changing seasonal menus. Oh, and a nice selection of sake and beers.
We’ve been coming here for a couple of years now and the food is always solid. The skewers are expertly grilled and well-​seasoned. For a given type of meat, you can usually choose between 2 kinds of seasoning (and sometimes more). For most items, like chicken innards and skin, we tend to gravity towards the more simple salt option so that we can taste the freshness of these ingredients and focus on enjoying the textural elements. But for the Kalbi, we like the oroshi — the grated daikon in a slightly tart ponzu soy pairs great with the beef. And the spicy miso on pork belly if you want something richer.
While the yakitori is the star, we love many other items on the menu too. Among our favorites are the takowasa (raw octopus in a wasabi sauce), the beef tataki carpaccio, and the tororo gohan (mountain yam and soft poached egg over rice). But be warned, if you cannot stand okra, do not even think about trying the tororo gohan. You will find it texturally challenging. If you like runny slimy food like I do, this is a very comforting dish to round up the meal before moving onto dessert. Save room for their green tea crème brûlée! Yes, green tea crème brûlée is almost a cliché in Japanese restaurants nowadays but you cannot pass up a nicely done one, can you?
The staff (both front of the house and behind the grills) is young, upbeat and professional. And we like that the place opens relatively late. It’s our go to for a nice meal if we are eating pass 9p or 10p where a lot of other restaurants would either have been closed or be rushing to close.

Très bon restaurant dans lequel nous avons dîné à 6 sans réservation.
Service rapide et de qualité. Les assiettes sont très joliment décorées.
Nos avons toutes aimé nos plats.
Restaurant qui ferme à minuit, gros + !

Made a reservation for dinner a few days prior with Aaron and managed to be seated upon arrival. Gaku is Sumiya’s sister restaurant.
Garlic Pork Belly
— Very fresh and well seasoned, although a tad salty.
Salad
— Very fresh lettuce with a light sesame oil dressing… delightful! :)
Spicy Fried Chicken Wings
— Very fresh chicken wings and the wings were very spicy! :)
Chip with Chicken
— Unique presentation with a huge chip. Fresh and tasty.
Soft Shell Shrimp
— Similar to Soft Shell Crab but with shrimp, very light and well prepared.
Pork Kakuni
— Light and fresh. Well prepared and pork belly wasn’t over-​cooked.
Miso Soup
— Made to order and came out zesty hot towards the end of the meal. Decent.
Garlic Kobe Beef
— Seemed liked American Kobe Beef… very fresh and well prepared.
Green Tea Crème Brulee
— Not too sweet and very smooth… must try for dessert! :)
Unfortunately, the widely raved about Beef Tataki Carpaccio was sold out the night we visited.
Service was excellent throughout the meal. Meal was on the saltier side… I think the dishes are meant to be washed down with beer?!?
~$ 44/​head after tax and tip for dinner.