Gochi Japanese Fusion Tapas

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…

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.

Located inside a strip mall with a very unassuming exterior, Gochi doesn’t look like anything special. But, their unique take on “Japanese fusion” food is definitely worth checking out.

Much of the menu has the traditional japanese fare: sashimi, udon/soba, tempura… and then there are the more eye-popping dishes like the tofu cheesesteak, curry potatoes gratin, and miso pizza.

We ordered curry croquettes, salmon and tuna crispy onigiri, kimchee beef clay pot rice, and a pork miso pizza (I don’t remember their exact names, so I’ll refrain from adding them to the menu). To make a long story short, everything we ordered was delicious.
The croquettes were perfectly crispy with a tasty filling. The crispy onigiri is like regular onigiri (rice balls) but they toast the rice on the outside, giving it a great texture and flavor. The kimchee beef clay pot is pretty much their version of the korean dolsot bibimbap- I think I liked this dish the best (better than Koryo’s and Secret Garden’s dolsot, imo). Admittedly, it’s a very simple dish, but they execute it very well. Finally, the pizza was probably the most unique dish we ate because it had a rice paper crust. If I had to do it over again, I would have ordered another pizza flavor. The pork miso (or whatever it’s called) was good, but nothing that spectacular.
But all in all, we had a great meal here and we’re definitely coming back.

Note: We got lost on our way here because the map is WRONG (both google maps and mapquest). It’s actually on Homestead and Blaney (btwn Wolfe and De Anza) and NOT right next to the 85 freeway.

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!!

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.

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).