I think they allude to the price point issue in their announcement that they will change Iroriya to their cheaper cousin Sumika. I thought Iroriya reservations aren’t that easy to come by so I thought they were doing ok, but perhaps its not bringing in as much money in a similar sized space compared to Sumika, Orenchi, etc.
I don’t really have one since I don’t have a lot of yakitori-ya near me. I’d have to go to San Mateo for real ones. I think there are some in San Jose near Cupertino but that’s a little far for me. I went to Sumika a few times, but I like places where I can more easily sit at the counter right before the grill where the chef just hands the still-hot skewer to me after its done. For some reason I never got a counter seat at Sumika so I need to try harder.
In general, I don’t really go to izakayas that aren’t run by Japanese. Those are mostly imitators- they don’t get the nuance right.
There’s a new kaiseki restaurant in RWC- Ranzan. I haven’t paid much attention to it and have just been waiting to hear how people compare them against Wakuriya.
If you don’t lump udon with ramen, there’s Uzumakiya in Cupertino that opened a few months ago. There’s Kemuri in RWC, which is run by the same people as Uzumakiya, which I don’t know which category it falls under. There’s Kappo Nami Nami, which serves Kappo cuisine.
