Diner Japonica

Low frills but very tasty. Every dish was well done from the teriyaki to the to tonkatsu. Even the kids were pleased!

Very good service especially the food. Toshiko-​san is very courteous when it comes to customers. I ordered the Tonkatsu curry for lunch and the flavor has a deeper meaning between spiciness and delicious. Whatever it is, it tastes awesome. It’s hard to find in my neighborhood to find Japanese-​style Tonkatsu Curry. However, finding this place is not just worth the drive, it’s worth the food and service like a «hometown feeling». Wish for carrots and potatoes on the curry just to compliment the Tonkatsu when I come back.
Stuff to know:
Wish you good luck in finding a parking space on a cramp and compact neighborhood.
Have a positive attitude when coming there because they want you to have a hometown feeling of eating between Western-​style (Yoshoku) and Japanese cuisine.
On lunch, order on the counter and it is self service on water, utensils, and condiments.

My favorite Japanese place, hands down. They’re not fancy, but everything they make feels like it took detailed care. Even the miso soup and salad are super yummy!

That was delicious tonkatsu. Super moist pork, alright portion. I could have had a bit more but was definitely satiated. Could not have been more impressed with the moistness of the piece I got. Compared to other places where the pork is as dry as dry as shoe leather and the curry is very necessary to help you eat it. This was nothing like that. I almost wanted to not use the curry in the pork to not kill the flavor of the pork itself.
Speaking of the curry, it was very tasteful and had a nice kick to it. I got it on the side as I got it to go. Great portion of curry.
I will definitely be back to try other items on their menu.

There aren’t that many japanese comfort food in the palo alto/​redwood city/​menlo park area. Luckily this is one of them. Japanese comfort food is a little bit like Japanese home cooking. I like how they keep their menu simple. That’s the key to keeping ingredient fresh, and less headache for the chef. There is only a japanese lady to runs the outside, so sometimes the waiting is a little longer. I rather cherish these family run business though.
I’ve tried a few things in their menu. They are all pretty good:
1) Katsu curry chicken: the chicken was nicely deep fried, not over cooked. The curry sauce was well made too, I could taste they put a lot of effort into making the sauce. And traditionally, japanese curry is served with pickles, which they did.
2) Katsu curry pork and 3) Katsu curry shrimp: The pork was from the pork chop part, very tender and cooked through, the shrimp was decent enough.
2) Katsudon: very traditional flavor, the egg and soysauce was delicious. It wasn’t too salty, too sweet, or too blend.
3) Omu-​rice: very popular in japan, chicken fried rice in an omelet with hayashi sauce. All the ingredients complimented each other.
During their lunch time, you would order first from their overhead menu. The drinks and utensils are self-​serve.
During dinner time, it becomes a full serve restaurant where you are seated first and order from a menu. If you want water, it’s still self served

Rare and priceless gem if you are looking for Japanese comfort food and the sushi is tasty. If you can tell, I love this place and my husband and I come here all the time. After living in Japan for a bit, I was really happy to find a katsu curry place in the Bay Area that was the same quality.
Things to know:
It’s a mom and pop style place with 8: 4 seater tables in a smaller space, so I would advise calling ahead with bigger parties.
The katsu chicken curry is awesome. If you’ve never had Japanese curry, it’s more like a gravy than Indian curry.
Pickup service is amazing. We order a lot of stuff here for pickup and it usually takes 10 – 15 mins for them to have your order ready.
Some people had mentioned it was closed randomly for a bit, but they are back in the full swing. (One of the main people had an injured back.)

Open again.
Don’t know what was up, but ate there the other day.

Food was below average, had the chicken teriyaki which tasted like cold Panda Express. The prices on the menu are only lunch prices, in the evening it’s more expensive and you and up paying too much for the taste and the pretty small portion size.

I ran into the proprietor today. They should be open again starting December 22. So glad!

This is our go-​to place for a delicious, quick, and reasonably-​priced meal. We’ve tried quite a few items on the menu and although all have been good, we tend to order the Curry Chicken Rice and Bento Box (choice of 3 items). Portions are pretty big and they usually have Jeopardy or Wheel-​of-​Fortune on the TV during dinner time.
I like that it offers a different menu than most Japanese restaurants in the area. It seems to be a perfect mash-​up of Western and Japanese cuisine and the food is good every time.
The place is very clean and there is a small parking lot. Service may be a bit slow at times and usually just one person serving the place, but it is a small family business so understandable.

We asked for the katsu curry extra spicy (not on the menu), and it came out to be even better than the original; I compared it favorably to other curry houses in San Mateo and Mountain View. I think the owners deserve a lot of credit for using fresh and quality ingredients without inflating the price (as many restaurants in the area do) and consistently serving great-​tasting dishes.
For those who complained about the hostess/​waitress’ language skills, her English is good enough to get your order right and to inquire whether the food is to your liking. Asking for anything beyond that is like criticizing a chess Grandmaster’s tennis skills.

The best Japanese food in the area. The food is so well prepared and given such extra care. It is by far the best Japanese Cuisine. The prices are very, very affordable. $ 12.95 for a Teishoku Bento. Hard to believe! The bento would cost you $ 25 in Hawaii. The owners, Toshi & Yoshi are just the nicest people you will ever meet. Try it, Unilocalers. You’re gonna love it.

Fluffiest white rice in town. How they do it?
This place is authentic, affordable Japanese comfort food. I usually call for pick up. Great service. There are unfortunately very few Asian/​Asian American restaurants in Redwood City, so it is a rare gem.

I was brought here for lunch and had chicken Katsu curry. I have tried the curry at all the Japanese restaurants in Redwood. The curry sauce here was amazing, as good as the gold standard: Coco Ichibanya’s curry sauce! Excited to have found this place!
It was so good I brought my sister and her fiancé here for dinner on the same day. I had the hamburger steak with Demi glaze sauce… The hamburger steak was wonderfully flavored and the sauce outstanding! Again, so lucky that this place is so close to my home!

Great local lunch spot and authentic Japanese food! Highly recommend the chicken cutlet and soba! Quick and friendly service!

Cheap, family-​owned, yummy food. Came here for lunch today and enjoyed my chicken katsu curry, my friend got a 2-​item bento: chx katsu and california roll that comes with miso and salad for less than $ 10!
The person in the front I think is the wife, and the husband is cooking in the back. She was soo sweet and all smiles. I wanted my curry spicy and she gladly accommodated it.
For lunch, this is a pay in the front, get your own water and utensils type of restaurant, I don’t know about the dinner tho. Oh and they take cards! Cant wait to be back!

Authentic and tasty. I had dinner bento combo, with sashimi, salmon shioyaki, and california rolls. Sashimi was reallly good, also salmon shioyaki was more than expected because it melted in my mouth. California rolls were as expected.
I also had maccha ice cream with azuki after dinner. Very good, not only tasty but also the ice cream was fille to the bottom of the dish. The service was friendly. Definitely I will come back.

Diner Japonica is run by a Japanese couple in an unassuming location in Redwood City. We came twice in two weeks and the food is amazing. The husband/​chef used to run a restaurant in Manhattan called Tokyo Lunch. This really isn’t a place for those who stick to California rolls, you’d have to appreciate Japanese dishes as they were served in Japan, with even the rice serving as a barometer of quality. Plus you can easily feed two for dinner with less than $ 30 including tax and tip. My ranking of favorites:
Hamburger steak ($ 10.50) with Demi glacé or ponzu sauce) — tender meat patty with mushroom on the side. We heard another satisfied customer inquiring what they did to make the dish so good.
Three-​item bento ($ 12.95) — six pieces of thickly cut sashimi that would cost at least $ 9 by themselves, broiled salmon that is nicely salted, and beef teriyaki that is medium with homemade teriyaki sauce. Usually a restaurant would have at least one filler in a bento but every item here stands on its own. The rice is warm and fluffy with seaweed bits sprinkled on top.
Tonkatsu with curry — the pork meat has just enough fat to make it tasty. Lightly breaded with homemade (non-​spicy) curry on the side.
Homemade green tea cheesecake — not sweet at all with a subtle matcha flavor.
Sake — they only have one or two choices but it’s nice to go with the tonkatsu or the steak.
Everything is made with attention to details. The clientele is pretty diverse with families to single Japanese travelers. It’s a relaxing place to enjoy a great meal.

Damn shame this place has such a tiny parking lot, and it seems understaffed too. Even with these problems, I love it anyways!
Pretty cheap Japanese food compared to its competitors, and everything I’ve had here was solid. Katsu curries, chicken omurice, hamburger steak — it all tasted awesome and had nice hearty portions.
The appetizers are great. Agedashi tofu is fine, the kushi katsu is solid. But straight up the best chicken karaage I have EVER had! Juicy, moist, and you get a lot of it!
I’d love to give this place five stars for the karaage alone, but sometimes understaffing means they might mistake your order or not even get to you. One kind lady had to manage the entire dining room, and some guy had to leave after 10 minutes because his order was never taken =/​
But if you come when it’s not rush hour, this place is great!

I always forget the entrance is on Central and turn into the parking lot in the wrong direction.
We tried the agedashi tofu, curry pork katsu and bento box. No frills, delicious (comfort) food.
For the bento box I would definitely recommend trying the shioyaki salmon and as many have mentioned the sashimi (6 fresh, thick slices… what a steal!)
Whenever I see a thin layer of curry on a plate I always worry that it won’t be enough, but it was a generous portion. The rice is soft and sticky and the slightly pickled vegetables rounded out the dish. :)