I may be biased, but this is my favorite Japanese restaurant. It is always very good and when I'm here in Japantown, I make it a point to come here for lunch or dinner.
The BEST Japanese Resturant I had the pleasure to share with my daughter. MINATO’S located in Japan Town. Todays lunch experience took me back to Hawaii when I was a child, 40+ years at Maui Palms Resturant. Oyako Don Buri was to die for. The taste is so flavorful and steamed to perfection. The portions is phenomenal and filling. The Shrimp Tempura was “Onolicious” and plentiful �. The staff was friendly and very attentive. Customer Service is a PLUS, and prices are reasonable for the amount of food and that savory taste served. I very recommend MINATO to anyone looking for a great meal and awesome food experience. Will definitely return when I visit San Jose.
Absolutely the best service the best food the best hot Sake. Thank you Minatos! We love ❤️ you!!
People are so nice esp the owner . Am so picky when it comes to food but I enjoyed the food serve especially the sushi.Almost everyone finished what they ordered---Want to go there again---
We have dinner at Minato often and love it! This is a long time neighborhood gem, offering a variety of options. I especially enjoy the seafood steamer basket, filled with tasty and healthy salmon, shrimp, and mussels, along with a variety of lovely vegetables. The restaurant has great friendly service - recommended!
One of our favorite Japanese places on Earth. Lots of great food, awesome owner, friendly staff, and Japantown is just nice to wander around. Been there 100 times...and will go 100 more times!
In town for a few days had to do it!
Got a Minato roll, very good!!
Nice missing the work crowd for lunch �
The Katsu Curry is second to none. The best authentic Japanese food restaurant in Japantown. Gene and his wife make sure you're well taken care of.
Always one of my favorites for consistent and friendly service! The curry rocks!
Great place, excellent food, good service and friendly owners �
Love this place! Best Saba Shioyaki in the Bay Area ... Bar none!
Good Eats with Wonderful People! Japanese curry, yummy rice. Love you guys, Gene and Jo Ann.
The steamer baskets are super! Also great nabe options, especially on stormy days. Service is friendly and fast. Dishes served in correct order. The agedashi is tasty. The staff checks often if anything else is wanted. The plain rice 🍚 is good!
The food at this place is excellent, offering generous portions for a fair price. The taste is delightful, and the service is commendable. However, the seating area may be a bit tight for large groups, and it seems like they could use more staff. Nonetheless, the existing staff is courteous and polite. While the ambiance may not be the most appealing, the food quality and pricing make it a worthwhile choice.
The food here is great, big plate portions and very fair for the price. Taste is good and service is good too. I feel that there is not sufficient room for big groups and also there is enough people to serve, but they are kind and polite.
The place is not the pretties but food is great and also is price.
This was my first visit to Minato, but others in my group had been there many times, and I can see why. Minato is a small, family-owned/operated business with an extremely hospitable staff. During our dinner, we felt very well attended to, as the staff would make sure to stop by on occasion to make sure we had everything we needed. I think the potstickers were some of the best I’ve ever had anywhere. The dinner “boxes” have a big variety of food that you can customize. The tempura entree was like a piece of art, not to mention delicious (see photo). And when I needed to take some of it to go, they automatically offered a small container for the sauce. I might be mentioning small details, but I appreciate the staff and their efforts, because it’s hard to find places and people that are so attentive to those details these days. Any time I’m in San Jose with an opportunity to dine, I am DEFINITELY going to recommend and visit Minato!
My husband and I ate dinner here about a year ago, during vacation. We were walking around exploring J-town that evening, but most stores had closed so we came here to eat. It was homey and charming with nice staff. I think I had a dinner combo bento plate, with Plum wine. Everything was delicious and I dream of going back some day to eat the most delicious Japanese food of my life.
Suggested as one of the best sushi in the area on Yelp and by a suggestion from the hotel we stayed at in the area.
We ordered sushi apps as the staff suggested it. plus tempura plates, eggplant, and gyoza steamed.
For my main course, I had the world famous (not) Ribs. Let's start with the staff.
Staff was AMAZING! Kelly was one of the best servers in a long time.
the food was good and fresh, the ribs were just ok. I have had much better. the apps were excellent!
Atmosphere was to be desired. needed a clean up and fix up as there were piles of stuff in corner tables.
photos of different food on the table we ordered everything from tempura meals to udon meals. Katsu seemed to be a big hit. but what made this place get 4 stars was the service.
Really excellent service paired with quality food. Loved it here. The sushi rolls were tender & flavorful, with the perfect amount of rice and you could tell they were fresh. The chicken katsu was served hot and was cooked perfectly. We will be back for sure!
First of all, the hospitality is excellent, and they back it up with very tasty and affordable food. I ordered the dinner special combo (priced slightly less than twenty bucks) and am fully satisfied. But I really gotta mention the level of great service we received this evening…it was top notch. Clear communication from the moment we arrived, crazy polite and nice, very attentive and overall superb attitudes. We’ve dined here several times, and appreciate the Bourdian sighting, and we’ll be back, but tonight’s visit and level of care was a good reminder that this place deserves a big bravo! Highly recommended.
the minato and hamachi rolls were amazing! fresh fish and seasoned rice, best paired with a cold beer!
FIRST TIME HERE. NICE AND BIG INSIDE WITH PLENTY OF SITTING. NICE BATHROOMS 🚻. SERVERS WERE NICE AND KIND. OWNER WAS VERY NICE. FOOD WAS DELICIOUS 😋. PLENTY OF PARKING .
This restaurant makes you feel like you're eating in Japan. The chicken teriyaki (spicy sauce) was amazing! The tempura was one of the best I have ever had. They have nicely priced lunch specials. The service is fast and friendly.
Really nice place to have a smooth and nice lunch/dinner.
The owners are friendly and make sure that you are taken care of. The staff is very polite and don't get you the feeling of rushing to finish your meal, pay and leave.
The place smells good and looks clean (you can see how they disinfect the tables that are being vacated).
For lunch, today I had:
- Steamer basket of tofu and veggies (include soup, salad, rice, and two dipping sauces)
- World-famous teriyaki spareribs (include soup, salad, rice)
I appreciated the fact that the miso soup temperature was just right, and the speed with which they brought our food.
My friend told me that the ribs were tender, with great flavor, and easy to handle.
Good portion of my tofu and veggies and I loved the two dipping sauces, also, the rice had flavor, texture, and consistency.
Carl Pocket (Carl Pocket)
+5
You want authentic Japanese food then come here. Lunch specials with Miso soup, salad, rice, Chicken teriyaki (get the spicy as the put ginger in it and it is amazing) with two sides of choice (I did the prawns which were the size of my hand and forearm) and gyoza.
Price is LESS than a Big Mac meal at McDonald's in San Jose and is wayyyy more tasty.
Curry Katsu tastes good! It comes up with a huge plate. I like its source, yummy! The dinner bento box has different options of food so you can have chicken, fish, gyoza, rice in one bento! Yea, you can also choose the California roll which is kinda tiny to me.
A friendly family restaurant. My favorites are the steamed dishes, followed by the Donburi. Restaurant has not yet recovered from COVID-19 in terms of fully reopening. A portion of the restaurant is still used for storage and order pickups. The tired and worn-out signs are a sad reminder of the pandemic.
Went here for lunch on a Saturday. Got there near the end of the lunch service so it wasn't difficult to get a seat. We were seated right away.
Feels like you're going into a relatives home. Not fancy but the food is good and the price is very affordable.
I had a combination lunch box. Tempura, sashimi and teriyaki chicken. Came with miso soup as well.
Waitress was very nice and efficient. either the owner or manager stopped in to check in on us a couple of times. Will definitely be back when visiting family.
Ordered the Gene's special with the mini chirashi, and the 2 pieces of croquette on the side. The croquette was absolutely delicious! Flaky and light without being too heavy in texture and flavour. The tempura udon and mini chirashi were good and the portions were filling, although nothing was particularly spectacular about them (they definitely were not bad though). Service was friendly and quick. Prices were very reasonable compared to other restaurants of similar quality.
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