Tanto Japanese Restaurant

Reviews 3

JE

Jennifer Hudiono

This is a different style of Japanese food, not sushi or the bento box style stuff. Theyre more like a tapas place, serving up small delicious dishes. The restaurant is really small so call ahead and reserve if you want a big table. There is a parking lot so you dont have to scramble to find parking :) I loved the cozy and intimate setting of this restaurant. They have awesome private booths that you and your party can sit down and enjoy their meal. It would be an awesome place to just catch up and have some food and drinks. Their menu is quite extensive. They had a lot of options. They are smaller dishes so you would need to order more to fill up. The prices here are expensive but its a japanese restaurant, so dont expect it to be cheap. I came here with a party of 3 and we called ahead for a table. It was pretty busy on a friday evening. Whats great is, this place open late till 11 pm so you can enjoy a late dinner if you wanted to. The Food: (what I noticed is the dishes come perfect for a group of three! we were able to split everything evenly :D) Grilled Beef Tongue: YUMMY! The beef tongue was thinly sliced and thats the first time ive had it like that. But the beef was full of flavor. It had a certain richness to it plus combined with a lemon they provided with the dish, it made for a killer combo. Its the perfect savory starter. Tako Potato: HOLY moly these are hugee! These are way bigger than what i was used to for takoyaki. but they were delicious nonetheless. It had a lot of potato in it, so it was pretty heavy for a dish. The octopus pieces were cooked perfectly and they were the right amount of chewy and firmness. I would get this dish again if youre looking a for a good filler dish. Sashimi (18 pieces) platter: I forgot what this what called but its listed under the sashimi section and it comes with 6 different types of sashimi and 3 pieces of each type. this was such a STEAL. Because splitting this with 3 people was perfect and the cost of this dish was $22 dollars, so essentially we each paid about $7 bucks for 6 pieces of sashimi which a good deal. The sashimi pieces were wonderful, they were fresh and the fish was on point. I would definitely recommend getting this if you were in the mood for sashimi! Yaki Onigiri or Roasted Rice Balls ( with Salmon ): Definitely cant go here without ordering some of the rice balls and it better be roasted. The dish comes with 2 rice balls that are HUGE. They are really filling because of the amount of rice that is used for this dish. So I would recommend this dish as a great filler dish! We ordered the rice ball with salmon instead of the spicy cod roe because we heard it was a better choice. I cant speak for the other choices, but the Salmon was SOOOO GOOD! It was salted so it balanced the crisp roasted rice perfectly. The flavor combination was delicious and I loved every bite of it! Braised Pork Nagasaki style: If you loveeee fatty pork and addicting sauces than get this dish. It was AMAZING. The pork was so tender that it practically melted in my mouth. Not to mention the broth/sauce that came with this dish was one of the best things Ive ever tasted. It came close to the broth/sauce used in Kunjips braised short ribs and that was freaking amazing. I would highly recommend this dish to anyone that was pork fan, it was simply the best dish of the night. Overall the food here was spectacular. The service was just as good. Our food came out in minutes after we had ordered. I think we only waited 2 minutes after we ordered before our first dish was served to us. It was awesome since we were so hungry! I would definitely come back again, one of the best Japanese restaurants in the bay area.

MA

Maggie Li

My favorite izakaya/Japanese comfort food restaurant! You cant go wrong with any choice. Everything else is good, but some are just amazing! Here are some dishes I would recommend: Ika meshi (rice stuffed in a jumbo squid) - 5 stars. You can definitely taste the "squid innard sauce", reminds me of the yellow part of the crab. Im not a fan of giant squid because the chewy texture gets boring and no longer enjoyable after a while. However, this squid was tender, and the rice Gyutan (salted broiled beef tongue) - 5 stars. If you are a fan of grilled beef tongue, you should give this version a try. Pieces of thinly sliced beef tongue came on a plate (not skewers) perfectly seasoned. Eat it while its hot! Yaki Onigiri (grilled rice ball with spicy cod row) - 4.5 stars. When rice balls are seasoned and grilled right (crispy shell and soft rice inside), its the best. We ordered one serving first, which came with 2 rice balls. My friend mentioned "extra crispy", and they came nicely grilled on all sides. I loved it so much I ordered a second serving, which was NOT grilled as well. So if you enjoy the crunchy rice, make sure to let your waiter know. Uni Shiso (raw uni with shiso and roasted seaweed) - 4 stars. I admit that I had doubts about wrapping uni in shiso leave. But the flavor combo is nothing Ive tasted before. Heres how you do it: put the shiso on the seaweed, and put a little wasabi on the shiso, then grab one (or more) piece of uni, and roll it up. Its optional to dip it in soy sauce. Last step, breathe through your nose while you continue to chew, and enjoy! Toro Tataki (seared fatty tuna) - 4 stars. It came with vinaigrette dressing, thinly sliced onion and cucumber, which made it a light and refreshing appetizer. Batu kakuni (braised pork Nagasaki-style) - 4 stars. The meat is so soft and melts as soon as you put it in your mouth. It comes with some gentle mustard on the side, which pairs great with the meat and cuts down the fattiness significantly. Theres always a wait and you will walk out smelling like food, be warned. Tip: 1) Make a reservation to avoid the wait. Try to call a few days in advance, or else you may not eat until late (after 8PM). If you call early, you can also ask to be seated at the booth instead of regular tables. 2) Parking can be a pain cuz the parking lot is quite small. There are street parking on Henderson Avenue.

AL

Alyx Barranger

This was one of the first times that I went to a Japanese restaurant without the intention of getting sushi or ramen. Believe it or not, there are other things that exist in this universe outside of those two when it comes to Japanese cuisine. I love love LOVED Tanto. The food was authentic, delicious and decently priced. I went in and stared at the menu in frustration for about 10 minutes and decided it would be more fruitful to ask the waitress what she recommended. Unlike most times when I ask this question and I get a "Uh... I guess most like like this..." she was SUPER excited about their food and gave me multiple suggestions across the menu showcasing different aspects of their cuisine. I ended up getting the fried rice balls with salmon inside and the tempura udon. Both were delicious, but my eyes were definitely bigger than my stomach in this case since their portions were pretty hefty compared to what I expected. Regardless, Im very glad that I got to give both dishes a try. This is a great restaurant if you are looking to get a true taste of Japan in the city of Sunnyvale.