after reading and hearing much, i finally got to try some gochi dinner during my short visit to the bay. the japanese fusion cuisine definitely satisfied my palate, and overall, left me one very happy camper.

the beautifully understated japanese wood interior is a far cry from its unassuming exterior, which apparently hasn’t kept it hidden from local diners. on a thursday night when i went, the place was packed and bustling. as i was w/a large group, we got to have one of the sliding door rooms on the side, and got a more private dining experience (although it did get a little warm inside).

service was friendly and helpful, and the only thing that might keep me from returning are the prices – that tend to run on the higher end.

I often go here for lunch since they have 20-25 different donburis and I’ve tried maybe 10 of them. I definitely would like to try the rest 15 before summer ends :p Food is great, staffs are very friendly, and (at least for lunches) I never have to wait for long.
I want to gather a group of 6-7 friends and try their dinner (which is often regarded as one of the 3 best Japanese restaurants in South Bay — the other two being Tanto and Saizo which I’ve tried).

best there is to offer in Cupertino and the daily lunch specials have me zzzzz’ing all afternoon in food bliss.

the owners are also incredibly nice and though the waits can be a while, just take your time and enjoy.

I LOVE THIS PLACE! great little izakaya. I was impressed with all the dishes we ordered. The only two things I didn’t think that highly of were the fish ceviche and the yuzu cheesecake.
Some of my favorite items there are the braised beef guitam with mashed potatos, Buda Meshi, Seared salmon carpaccio, duck steak, daikon salad, and the black sesame ice cream.
It is, however, pricey. Seperate menus for lunch and dinner. Lunch specials are priced pretty reasonably, and the dinner menu has hundreds of items on there. Reservations are highly recommended because they’re so busy!!

My follow-up review for this restaurant. Read my previous review for this restaurant here

So, I just ate at this restaurant 4 days ago, and I ate at it again yesterday. I was afraid that maybe I just lucked out and hit some really great dishes that first time, but the second trip was just as good as the first! I was especially impressed by the risotto croquettes. That stuff was SO GOOD.

Unfortunately, I don’t really remember the names for everything, so I’ll have to just describe most of them…

After reading all the rave reviews, I had to try this japanese tapa-style restaurant. However, it was a bit difficult, b/c the first two times I tried to go, it was closed! Once was the day after Thanksgiving (or maybe it was Christmas? in any case, the restaurant was closed for the entire week!), and once was on a Sunday (like many Japanese restaurants, it’s closed every Sunday). But I finally made it there, and I was definitely not disappointed.

First of all, like others have mentioned, the location is totally inconspicuous in a strip mall – it might have a sign now, but the main neon lettering up top just labels the restaurant as “Japanese Tapas”. However, despite the slightly odd location, the interior was cute, casual, and cozy. i was surprised by how large the restaurant was, and thought it was a nice touch that the majority of the seating was (fake) tatami style. It really did set this restaurant apart from other places I’ve eaten at. I went at 9 pm on a Saturday (when they close at 9:30), and there were about 2-3 available tables, so I would suggest if you forget to make a reservation like others have suggested, just go eat late.

I went with just one other person, and between the two of us we knew we couldn’t order too much food. the first thing we decided was to get 2 desserts… so we were even more limited in our main food selection. This was extremely difficult to do, b/c the menu is MASSIVE and full of unique dishes that I’ve never seen before, so there was so much I wanted to try! We went with the salmon carpaccio, salmon onigiri, and a special for the day, salmon and potato croquettes. I know, we kind of ODed on the salmon, but I couldn’t resist the truffle oil in the carpaccio, the croquettes sounded yummy, and the waiter recommended the salmon onigiri. And for dessert, green tea creme brulee and green tea tiramisu. Yeah, so we like salmon and green tea. :) Anyway, the entire meal was very tasty (except i was a little disappointed by the croquettes), and I will definitely be coming back! The only thing that kind of sucked is that it was a little expensive… for the 5 small dishes we got, the bill came out to $42 (before tip and tax)… which I suppose is actually cheap for a dinner for two, but we really didn’t have that much food. I would love to come back with a larger group of people and sample more dishes though!

Overall, i thought this place was one of the most exciting places i’ve been to in a long time – very unique dishes, a different take on “fusion” food, and i’m still dreaming about that salmon carpaccio!

I haven’t been to too many izakaya style japanese restaurants in the bay area, but I wouldn’t hesitate to put Gochi at the top of my list. Reservations are highly recommended and should be made well in advance as I tried unsuccessfully to make friday night reservations on a thursday night. Nonetheless I ventured in knowing there would be a wait (45 min), but I knew I had to check this place out after hearing nothing but rave reviews.

The food was simply outstanding. Every dish was fresh and had it’s own unique flavors. The menu offers a wide variety of items from clay pot rice dishes to carpaccio salads.

Our waitress was super friendly and gave great recommendations.

The ambiance was very casual where most tables were filled with groups of friends and families. Decor was very simple, but with great food there’s no need to attract a crowd with fancy decor. Most seating is tatami style with 5 or so tables for “regular” seating.

I will definitely come back and try out the other enticing items on the menu.

The website isn’t all too informative and lacks a menu so I don’t remember the exact names of the dishes we had, but I do make a feeble attempt below.

This restaurant is hidden but a great find! Too bad a lot of people know about this place already as it is quite crowded.

I agree with mandeelish. This place was awesome, but the service wasn’t outstanding. I understand it was busy but after waiting 30+ minutes for a table I wanted foood!

Next time i’ll try some of their fusion dishes like their twist on pizza!

First off, make a reservation! This place can get crowded.

Also, the seating is mainly tatami style. Which surprised me since I figured it was a fusion restaurant, that it would be less traditional. But it has a clean, minimalist atmosphere.

We were seated in one of the tatami booths, after a 30+ minute wait (we didn’t make reservations). However, during our wait we got a chance to peruse the menu.

There is a lot on the menu. We tried to get one dish from each category, but there weren’t enough of us to eat all of it. So the waitress was very helpful in giving her opinions on what we ordered. Although it did take awhile to flag her down to take our order.

The dishes came out fairly quickly and all were delicious. I’d give it 5 stars, but they need to improve their service quality. We always needed to flag down a waitress to refill our water and tea.