Drunken Monk

Second visit to Drunken Monk on a Monday. It's one of my top favorite Izakayas in the Bay Area, with beautifully and humbly presented dishes that use high-quality ingredients and techniques. It's rare to find such high quality at this price point. The seasoning and flavors show meticulous care and balance, with each course having its own unique character.

We had the pleasure of meeting the managing chefs Chef Jerry and Chef Simon there, who oversee the kitchen operations daily. They personally thanked us and inquired about our experience during the meal, adding a personal touch to our visit.

Course Highlights:

CORN KAKIAGE: A dish featuring freshly shucked corn kernels lightly battered and fried to a great crispness. The tempura batter is light, ensuring the natural sweetness and flavor of the corn shine through. My friends devoured most of them, leaving me wanting more.

MOMO: Grilled chicken thigh with shiso and lime. The chicken is juicy and tender, grilled to perfection with a slight char for added flavor. The shiso and lime elevate the dish, adding layers of freshness and citrusy zest, complementing the high-quality poultry.

TORI KAWA: Deep-fried chicken skin, seasoned with a house blend of spices. The chicken skin is rendered crispy, resembling the texture and crispiness of well-made chips. It's addictive, and we ended up ordering three courses due to its irresistible crunch and flavor.

SCALLOP CARPACCIO: Hokkaido scallop delicately paired with yuzu. The whole scallops are fresh and buttery, and the yuzu's citrusy notes amplify the natural sweetness of the scallops. Simple yet expertly balanced.

SAKE CLAM: highlighting an innovative approach. The sake enhances the briny sweetness of the clams, creating a harmonious balance with the subtle umami flavors from the sea.

KAKI FRY: Deep-fried oyster, light and crispy outside a tender and juicy oyster inside. The frying technique is spot-on, allowing the rich, oceanic flavors of the oyster to remain intact while achieving a golden exterior.

WAGYU: The Wagyu beef needs no extravagant description.

TSUKUNE: Chicken meatballs served with a marinated egg yolk. The meatballs are soft, juicy, and bursting with savory flavors. The marinated egg yolk adds a rich, velvety texture, enhancing the overall mouthfeel and making each bite indulgent.

SUSHI OMAKASE: Surprise find of the year! We waltzed in, and their sushi omakase was pretty stunning. Each piece was technically well made. We were floored. After hitting up nearly every Michelin-starred spot in the Bay Area, we thought we'd seen it all. But no, their nigiri went toe-to-toe with the best of them.

Here's the kicker: the rice was so fluffy it might as well have had its own cloud, yet still firm enough to support the delicate fish. Turns out, the chef behind this had over a decade in top Michelin joint in the City. And then, he came to greet us: humble, talented, and let's be honest, pretty easy on the eyes.

Knowing his backstory made our meal even more special.

MOCKTAILS: They offer several non-alcoholic beverages, including some traditional one Amazake, and they are absolutely fantastic. We all fell in love with the Yuzu mocktail. The presentation was very pretty, and every sip was a delightful burst of flavor. We initially thought they had a professional bartender, but it turns out one of the owners crafted this recipe after diligent studies to elevate their beverage program. The care and effort put into these mocktails are evident, and we appreciate responsible restaurant owners who take their work seriously and professionally.

SERVICE: The service was friendly and personable. The team always had a smile while delivering our plates, maybe a secret ingredient? They described the omakase dishes with such passion! And oh, the handsome sushi chef even came to our table to give us the scoop on his sushi. Talk about VIP treatment! They were prompt and on point without delays.

P.S. Not a food critic or inspector, but a technical foodie.

Very expensive for the food quality. We got the sukiyaki and the beef quality is so low for the price we are paying for. Very little marbling, Costco has better beef.

Service was also slow and they kept pushing us to get more things and more expensive beef.

The atmosphere is good. Did not try the drinks - maybe the drinks are better than the food.

Would not return!

5 stars if you only care about food quality
4 stars if you also care about value

We had a nice Saturday dinner with our friend. We ordered Sukiyaki with American wagyu (the default), some yakitori skewers, and some grilled skewers. We had absolutely no complaint about the food. In fact this place probably has one of the best Japanese skewers we've ever had.

We highly recommend the beef tongue (special item), chicken thigh, and pork cheek skewers.

Sukiyaki is one of the most popular items from what we could see. And it probably should be your go to item as well if you wanna get full without going bankrupt.

We were told a Michelin sushi chef from SF was on premise and were recommended to try some of the sushi items before and I quote "the chef goes and opens his own restaurant". We didn't order any sadly, as one of our party members is in no condition for raw fish. That aside, we were indeed shocked by the nigiri and sashimi omakase prices. Much higher than some fine restaurants in SF.

Service was excellent. However, by the time we paid our check, we were reminded by our waitress that some customers were waiting for the table (in other words we were kindly asked to leave). We had a reservation, and there's no time limit as far as we know (we didn't dine for long anyway). The place is very busy. So keep that in mind.

Parking is quite limited in the small parking lot of the restaurant.

Came here with my partner on a Thursday. Parking was a little hard, they have their own parking lot but it's small, we ended up parking on the street about a block away.

The restaurant gave off a cozy vibe, with charming waiting areas both indoors and outdoors. The lighting is very dimmed which gave it a imitate experience. Our server spent a good five minutes explaining the menu, offering recommendations and specials not listed. The variety was impressive, ranging from yakitori and sukiyaki to sushi. Here's what we ordered:

Scallop Carpaccio (9/10): Amazing, zesty, and perfectly fresh and sweet!

Pork Cheeks Yakitori (9/10): Chewy and bouncy, came with a nice miso glazed and the charcoal grilled flavor really shines here.

Chicken Gizzard Yakitori (6/10): It was surprisingly tough and hard to chew and I usually LOVE gizzards.

Tsukune Chicken Meatballs (1000/10): Get it! I was blown away, the meat was so flavorful, juicy & airy. Perfectly seasoned and paired really well with the raw egg yolk when dipped!

Ochazuke (8/10): This is a rice dish with a grilled unagi on top. The dish comes with a cute little tea pot so you can pour the tea over and eat it like soup. When the tea is added, it tasted a little bland and the portion was smaller than I expected.

Overall, my first experience here was delightful. The portions were a bit small and the prices steep, but I left feeling very happy with the meal. I'd definitely return for special occasions!

Overall so flavorful but not heavy!

Came on a Saturday night, was able to make a reservation 45 minutes before coming in so that was nice; didn't have to wait too long

The server came over to explain the menu and give out some recommendations based on popularity and specials that aren't mentioned on the menu.

Corn Tempura 8/10
First time having this and it was pretty tasty. Tempura breaded corn kernels and it kinda gave caramelized vibes but also a little savory. A little oily but it's fried so I can't really be complaining, overall would recommend to try!

Beef Tongue 10/10
Sooo tender and juicy. It comes out fresh off the grill so it's nice and hot as well. You can really taste the quality in the beef as they don't add much seasoning, but even without it it's so flavorful

Chicken Oyster 8/10
Super juicy. Tastes pretty standard though, not bad but nothing that blew my mind about this one. Can't go wrong with it

Chicken Gizzard 8/10
Forgot to take a picture of this one. Also like the chicken oyster it was pretty standard, it was a little different as this one had a sauce bathed on top of it. Good but not mind blowing

Sukiyaki w/ American A5 9/10
Presentation is top tier. The beef was great and the portion I want to say was pretty good for two people on top of everything else we ordered. Was not too crazy about the soup base but my bf really enjoyed the onsen egg with the sukiyaki sauce.

Have to agree with others that it's a bit on the pricier side but definitely worth a try! I do see myself coming back here in the future when I'm craving izakaya and sukiyaki

Located in Menlo Park, this cozy restaurant beautifully balances a modern yet traditional vibe. While parking options include a small lot and nearby street parking, be prepared for a wait, especially on busy nights. My friends and I waited for at least 20 minutes on a Friday night. The staff is exceptionally friendly, greeting everyone warmly upon arrival and departure.

We ordered Gyoza (7.75/10), Karaage (8.5/10), Beef Tongue (8.75/10), Momo (8.5/10), Negima (8.5/10), Chawanmushi (9/10), Sukiyaki Nabe (10/10), and Peach Chu-Hai (9/10). Note that the yakitori comes with one skewer per order. The onsen egg dip that comes with the sukiyaki nabe TASTED LIKE HEAVEN. I would reorder everything except the gyoza, which I'd skip in favor of trying a new appetizer!

Although it's on the pricier side, I highly recommend giving it a try if you haven't yet!

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What a cozy and cute spot for delicious yakitori! It was super easy to make a reservation through Yelp, which I highly recommend since the restaurant is quite small and got packed fast. Parking can be a bit difficult since their lot is so small, but luckily we were able to snag a spot on the street.

Our server was super thorough in explaining the menu since it was our first time visiting and also informed us that an experienced sushi chef was visiting for a short time so they had a special sushi menu. We decided to go with appetizers and a bunch of yakitori to share, as well as refreshing Asahi draft beers to wash everything down. The fried chicken skin (tori kawa) was perfectly crispy and all the yakitori was so good! The meat quality was amazing and my favorites were the negima, tsukune, and gyutan yakitoris. All yakitori came seasoned and also had extra flavor enhancers like lime, hot mustard, or numbing powder that we can add to the yakitori.

I need to explore Menlo Park more and I'm glad this was one of the first spots I've discovered. I need to come back to try their sukiyaki set, which seemed to be their most popular since almost every table had ordered one.

Had a fabulous experience for lunch a couple weeks ago. I made a reservation before google told me they usually have a wait, but as it turns out I was the only diner on a weekday noon for the entirety of my meal! Which meant that the server was extra attentive and was able to make conservation with me. as it turns out, they have just recently launched a lunch menu and are still trying to get the word out. It makes sense that lunch service is a struggle since many of their would be customers are office workers looking for a grab and go spot.

Now onto the food: I ordered the mabo tofu set, which came with a mabo tofu served over rice, miso soup, tsukemono, goma spinach and assorted fruit. It was really flavorful, quite filling, and surprisingly packed heat; I had to take half of the donburi to go. It is one of the most affordable lunch sets at $35. The others are kaisen/sashimi focused and can go for up to $78.

I also ordered a matcha yuzu amazake served with torched marshmallow on top! Interestingly, you can add the torched marshmallow topping to any amazake but only the matcha one already comes with it. For the uninitiated, amazake is a sweet, nonalcoholic drink made with fermented rice. Don't worry; the matcha and yuzu provide nice counters to the sweetness of the amazake and the marshmallow.

They said they were thinking of retooling their lunch menu to cater more to the business lunch crowd. I hope they succeed because this place is a gem! Can't wait to go back to try their skewers (dinnertime only) and their kaisendon!

We were in the South Bay for a Mother's Day weekend and Drunken Monk won the consensus. Friday night at 7:30 was our reserved time slot. Parking was tricky as the very limited lot was full, so I had to park around the neighborhood block and had to traverse the closed Ducky's Carwash to reach this destination.

The place was equally small. Tightly spaced tables were packed and customers were waiting outside as well as inside. Our table of five was seated near the bar area and we were able to see the nigiri being made.

It was loud so the server had to speak slowly and clearly about the specials. Though we deferred them and ordered from the menu.

For drinks, we had the Highballs (I had the Plum Chu Hai), the Hitachino Red Rice Ale and the non-alcoholic Matcha Yuzu Amazake with torched Marshmallows.

Our daughter ordered two orders of the A5 Wagyu Nigiri. At $30 for a pair of this succulent sushi, it was quite an indulgence, but boy, it did taste so good.

Our other starters from the Yakitori menu were the Momo (chicken thigh), Uzura Tamago (quail eggs), Sunagimo (gizzard), Hatsu (chicken heart) and the must try Tsukune (chicken meatball with marinated egg yolk).

The younger boys in the group picked Gyudon (Onsen egg topped beef rice bowl) while the rest of us shared the vegetable laden Sukiyaki Nabe. The presentation was splendid with the slices of wagyu separated from the udon and the onsen eggs.

Being the Dad, I was the obligatory member to finish this hot pot entree as they were already full. I slurped the soup, vegetables and what was left of the beef with gusto. Sukiyaki craving satisfied.

Drunken Monk is definitely an izakaya worth its notoriety. I'm seeing it more as a once a year visit, but the flavors from the binchotan grill and sukiyaki pot has me drooling for more.

An out of body experience-- every dish was incredibly delicious! The donburis are filling but I wish it had more sauce:rice ratio. My favorites of the night were the chicken meatball, beef tongue, sake clam, and the panna cotta. The walk in wait was extremely long so make a reservation! Great and quick service once seated though. Somewhat dark and intimate inside so excuse the poorly lit photos!