Kakaroto Japanese - Mountain View

This restaurant offers fairly priced fresh fish and expertly prepared tempura. The special samples are beautifully presented, making them a feast for the eyes as well. Located just a block from the main Castro strip, it's definitely worth a visit to experience their dishes.

My friends recommended this place for Japanese cuisine, and we decided to give it a try. They ordered a bento box that included mackerel, salmon, and pork katsu, as well as a seafood sukiyaki. We opted for a few sushi rolls: the Godzilla roll, Flying Dragon roll, and Spider roll. To complement our meal, we shared a bottle of sake and treated ourselves to ice cream for dessert. The food was delicious, and we were pleasantly surprised by the fried sushi, which had great textures. The service was both efficient and friendly.

The restaurant was rather warm inside, so we wanted to sit outside with our son. The waitress was very insistent that indoor seating would be better for us, but we decided to move outdoors anyway. Unfortunately, she seated us at a small table meant for just two people, even though there were three of us, including our one-year-old. She refused to let us have the four-person table, claiming it was reserved. I didn’t want to be cramped at a small table with my baby, as there wouldn’t be enough space for our dishes while keeping them out of his reach. With so many other dining options in downtown Mountain View, I chose to leave and go elsewhere. However, another waitress then informed us that we could have the larger table for four. This experience was quite unfriendly to families. The food itself was average, and the crab meat was imitation, which wasn’t mentioned on the menu. I won't be returning.

The Sushi box was really good. Staff was very friendly and asked several times if we are ok with everything.The restaurant could use some remodeling and decoration though.

Perhaps I came on a slower day, but there was no wait and service was polite and quick. They patiently allowed us time to decide on our orders and food came promptly. Ordered soft shell crab, salmon roll, and tonkatsu (pork katsu).Portions were generous, the fried items were fried to perfection, and it was overall very tasty and authentic- definitely reminiscent of food I tried in Japan. The fish was fine, not the greatest sushi I’ve eaten, but I recommend the katsu and crab! Some lunch items also come with a salad and miso soup, which is nice.