Kemuri Japanese Barú

We came here on Saturday night around 8 without reservation. We didn’t wait and get a table.
We ordered sake flight, smoked poke, wagyu tataki and Unagi slider. Everything amazing. Btw I am Japanese. Kemuri means smoke in Japanese and smoked foods here is pretty nice. They have so many kinds of Japanese whiskey and sake. That looks awesome. I wanna try everything! Taste good too.

LOVE THIS PLACE! everything is so good. i was literally the first person to buy a gift certificate. literally everything i ate was good. highly recommend this place. and it’s probably best to make a reservation.

We we lucky to unexpectedly try Kemuri because German place across the street was too rowdy. Everything we had was amazing: umami edamame, octopus appetizer, beef tongue (best I’ve ever had), chicken karaage, and oxtail udon. As a bonus they have Hitochino Nest white ale. Yum!

After looking at the reviews and photos, I was practically drooling! Yaki-​onigiri Benedict? Pizza? Unagi Sliders? I told my husband this is where we had to go for lunch.
We got there, sat down, and looked at the menu. NONE OF THOSE ITEMS WERE ON THE MENU! I was so disappointed. Huge let down, and nothing else on the menu seemed to stand out in comparison to what I had in mind to eat.
We ended up ordering Oxtail spicy udon, Pepper chicken plate (comes with salmon tataki salad), and what the heck, I like fries, so a side of Umami fries. Everything was beautiful and delicious! I would definitely order the Oxtail udon again, but what really surprised me was the fries. I think I was just expecting some normal fries with japanese-​ish seasoning, but I was totally blown away by what came out. First off, it was yellow sweet potato, and I think tapioca flour was used for the batter so it had this crunch yet slight chewiness. The flavor was like eating tempura already dipped in tempura sauce. So interesting. And addicting. It had me wondering if they just tossed the whole set of fries in msg, it was that tasty!
What a roller coaster experience! I will have to come back another time in search of my Yaki-​onigiri Benedict…

You wouldn’t think tofu pizza would be good, but this is the testament to the talent of the chef who dreams up these fusion flavors that actually works. Will be back for sure. Service was slow, but food was worth the wait. If going for lunch be there at 11:30am as it fills up fast.

What a food success this dinner was. I had no expectations, but after a sale flight and some warm oxtail udon… I’m in heaven

Like this cute Japanese restaurant… Plenty of seat availability for lunch, walk is ok. They have some pretty tasty smoked Edamame here, it’s a different twist I’ve never seen. Serving dishes are pretty cool, & lunch has some pretty good selections.

The smoked Manhattan ($ 14) by itself is worth going to Kemuri. It would be nice if it was a couple of bucks cheaper though.
3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 because the bartender insisted that we looked 21 and needed to check IDs. Then they did the math and were shocked. ^_​^
During happy hour, there is a good variety of items that are $ 5 a piece. We had:
* Edamame — smoked, really good flavor, but the beans were shrunken/​relatively smaller than normal, presumably due to the smoking process.
* Chrispy shrimp — you can eat this whole, including the shell. The flavor was great (know that you are eating the inside of the head too) but I would say this item is misnamed because it wasn’t chrispy, just fried.
* Deviled eggs — these eggs were soaked in soy like ramen eggs as the outside is flavored and brown. Tasty and good deal at $ 5 for 3 halves.
* Chrispy cheese — I think these are baked… think salty cheesy puffs. Really addicting especially while drinking.
Will have to go another time to try non-​happy hour items.

No your traditional Japanese cuisine but I must say the food was delish. This place is like a chill urban like lounge. Pretty dope pipe tables. Welcoming staff and great service. Def coming back!

Checked out this place on a hunch
The inside is decorated very well, especially the bar area with a retro «pipe» feel, makes the whole place feel like an apartment in Brooklyn. The food looks pretty well thought-​out, and the beer goes down smooth, especially the japanese beer. The inside is not very big, so it feels a little quiet sometimes.
Overall, a good place to visit if you are in the area.

I hate to give this 3-​star rating, I really do. Kemuri is trying to be uniquel and cutting edge but somehow most of their dishes fall flat. I’ve been there for both lunch and dinner. The dishes SOUND amazing (like the garlic pizza and the mochi cupcake, etc) but they just somehow miss the mark. The best dish was the chicken garage, and honestly, it’s really not hard to make fried chicken tasty. I think this place has a lot of potential, and I like what they are trying to do, so I will give it another shot in a few months. I’m rooting for you Kemuri!

We were extremely surprise how good the food here. We pass by a few time but thought it was a bit fancy for us. We ordered their oxtail udon miso, pork kahuli, (hopefully my spelling is correct), spicy chicken wings, and their chicken karaage. Everything was super delicious!!! The services was amazing, I drop my chopsticks and before I could ask for a new one, one of the staff was already at the table to replace my chopsticks. It will definitely be our regular place to fill our Japanese fusion craving.

Came because of the 4 star rating, but didn’t find it 4 star quality all the way.
Good service, some food items are decent, good interior but the menu seemed a bit limited in choices and at 7pm the daily special was sold out.
We tried:
1. smoked sashimi, which we regretted as I think fresh sashimi is better. The dish tasted not fresh and yet not smoke enough to make a difference.
2. octopus salad, ok, lots of dressing on the salad so everything tasted the same flavor
3. ceviche (sear on the table), not sure why it needs to be seared as it didn’t bring up any crunchiness on the skin, but the dish overall tasted fine, good flavor of the smoked fish and a good portion. It’s the same fish on the whole plate, so don’t think of Peruvian ceviche that comes with various kinds of seafood.
4. beef steak meshi, tasted ok but the spicy rice caught us by surprise as I was planning on feeding it to a child. Do like that there are lots of veggie on each dish
5. Ox tail bone udon: yummy, good ox tail flavor in the soup and the udon is not the big thick supermarket grade udon. The thin udon thas good texture. Lots of veggie on it too, super like!
6. unagi rice slider: crunchy rice patty sandwich with one slice of cucumber, one slice of avocado and a thick cut of teriyaki eel inside. The eel cut makes all the difference and I give this one a thumbs up too.
7. sake flight: from light to dry, all seemed pretty sweet to me.
Total damage came to $ 124 before tips. If we are around this area, we’ll maybe come back for the oxtail udon soup, but it won’t be a place for us to plan another visit.

I have to say that I am surprised to see the strong ratings this restaurant has received. Perhaps my wife and I visited Kemuri on a bad night since our experience was nowhere close to being 4 or 5 stars.
Initially we planned on having dinner at the Phở place right next to Kemuri since we were craving phở and wanted a simple and light dinner. The Phở place was closed on Sunday so we stumbled upon Kemuri. The décor inside looked really nice and they had a decent amount of customers for a Sunday night so we figure we give it a shot. We always love to support new local restaurants as long as they provide great service and good food. Sadly, Kemuri was subpar in both.
We were greeted right away and our server was friendly the entire time. We also didn’t have to wait very long to give our order. Fantastic! What was not fantastic was the following.
— The order in which the food came out made no sense. We ordered the fried chicken dinner, risoto, and miso soup. The fried chicken came out first (about 10 minutes after we ordered), then the miso soup came out 10 — 15 minutes later, and then the risoto came last nearly 40 minutes after we had ordered. I have dined at Japanese restaurants a countless number of times in my lifetime and miso soup always comes out first and usually 4 — 5 minutes after you order. The fried chicken and risoto were both entrees and should have come out at the same time and the risoto should not have taken 40 minutes!
— As for how the food was, it was OK. I did like the smoke flavor infused in the miso soup. It seems that Kemuri is all about giving their food a smoke flavor which is great. The fried chicken was alright. Nothing special but OK. The risoto was terrible. Again, why 40 minutes! The rice was cold and it was a weird dish with a layer of cheese on top. I did like the avocado but the vegetables were partially cooked (eating raw eggplant is not fun) or cooked way too long. Definitely inconsistent. It is like a 10 year old who is cooking for the first time made this dish.
— It seems that the theme this restaurant is going after (became more apparent after we left) is to be like a Spanish tapas restaurant but of course with Japanese food and some Asian fusion. If that is the case, then tell us that! Usually when a restaurant is unconventional with how it serves and presents it food, it is the responsibility of the server to first ask his or her patrons if they have dined here before and if not, then explain how the food is served but sell it well! Make it seem like it’s going to be an amazing experience! I love Spanish tapas style restaurants where you share your food and I think Kemuri is onto something with this theme but tell us that since we were so perplexed with the order in which our food came out.
— Now onto the nitpicky stuff but still important. Throughout our dinner, not once did the server check to see if we wanted our water glasses refilled. In fact we had to call her over to ask for more water. That should never happen. NEVER should a restaurant patron need to call a service person over. That is why it’s called service and how service people earn their tips. You need to check on your customers often without them asking you over!
— Additionally, our waitress wasn’t super busy as the place wasn’t packed on a Sunday night and there were other servers too. Often we would see her socializing with her co-​workers and standing around doing nothing when she should have checked on how everything was. In addition to not refilling our water glasses, our plates were never cleared nor were we asked how the food was. Every service person should know this so it’s clear our service person is not trained well. She was very friendly so we appreciated that but her service stunk (I rarely tip as low as 10% but I had to with her).
— Again, I am being nitpicky but how is that you place Johnnie Walker Blue Label at the bottom shelf of your bar?! Are you kidding me?! I am sure the sake on the top shelf is amazing but Johnnie Walker Blue Label should be on the top shelf or at least higher than the bottom shelf!
— The place inside was extremely smoky and our clothes smelled. This is no good. Yes, your kitchen is out in the open and I love that modern look but I have dined at many places with a similar design and hardly ever left smelling like smoke. You clearly need a hood with a stronger vent or turn on the vents to a higher setting.
Overall, this place is not worth trying but has the potential of being really great if they can train their service staff better and be clear as to what kind of restaurant they want to be (tapas, traditional, more of a bar, …). I did like how the legs of the tables were made from metal pipes and again the décor inside looked great. I just worry if this place can survive as it is new. The previous 3 establishments in this location didn’t and if Kemuri doesn’t step up its game, it won’t last very long. Maybe we’ll try Kemuri again but we’re not sure.

Kemuri is a hip new Japanese restaurant in downtown Redwood City that I recommend checking out if you’re ever in the area. I don’t venture out to Redwood City very often so I was pleasantly surprised to find this restaurant.
I came for both lunch and dinner — I recommend coming for lunch since dinner is a little bit pricier. Also because their rice burger is super amazing and thus the reason why I bumped up my review to 4 stars. It’s still a lesser known restaurant so you won’t need reservations as there’s almost always seating available. Outside seating will be nice once it warms up.
For lunch, I got the rice burger special (aka yakiniku rice burger) and it was only $ 11 w/​a side of miso fries. This totally reminded me of Mos Burger in Asia. The rice patty actually held it self together quite well… probably because they wrap aluminum foil around it. Its also really thoughtful they give you a wet wipe to use after you finish eating :)
For dinner, we got the:
1) yaki ono benedect w/​bacon — this dish was okay. I got it because egg porn usually makes everything look more delicious but I think it needs more flavoring. If you eat it with the bacon though, there is a bit more of a taste.
2) Kemuri Unagi burger — this dish would have tasted SOO much better if there wasn’t so much mayo. The dish comes in 3 mini sliders — really cute. but again, way too much mayo and my recommendation to use less so it doesnt overpower the unagi flavor.
3) Avocado risotto — I had higher expectations of this dish haha. but I’m also lactose intolerant and there was 1.5 billion times of cheese on this :/​after I dug out the cheese though, the avocado was grilled really quite pleasantly to my taste buds!
4) Oxtail udon — this was the winner for dinner. The broth is amazing and hit the spot on a cold Friday evening. Definitely cannot miss out on getting this!
5) Mochi cupcakes for dessert — again just okay. I feel like the cupcake overpowered the mochi and I would have liked more mochi chewiness to it.
I didn’t get the chance to check out their wall of Japanese sakes/​beers but there definitely is a huge variety for those who are big on drinking. Definitely a cool place to take a date or hang out with friends! I do like Kemuri and think it has the potential to be a great restaurant. Can’t wait to come again :)
P. S. Don’t forget 15% off for lunch if you use your Unilocal check in!

Came here with my husband and a group of friends. We made reservations for a Saturday evening but it didn’t seem so busy, so maybe that is not necessary. The bar is nice, in fact I enjoyed the ambiance.
The ox tail udon was good and plentiful, as in enough to fill you up.
We ordered the smoked sashimi and it was to die for. So good!!!
The crispy shrimp was good but nothing special.
My husband also ordered a pork dish. He enjoyed it but I didn’t try it.
Summary: Good service, Japanese tapas style food, it’s a bit pricy but if you’re sharing food or going out for a special occasion, this is a great choice.

Came here as a group of 5. Made reservation in advance, they reserved our table with put chalk board having my name on it. Very cute!
The serve was superb. Very patient and attentive!
We ordered about 10+ dishes, regarding the portion here is kind of small. All of them are quite impressive! My personal favorites are mushroom ajilllo, grilled ox tail, smoked albacore, of course deviled egg!
The seasoning of smokes albacore was very interesting, it has a slightly pungent peppery twist! And the fish was of course very fresh.
The mushroom ajilllo got some salmon on top, which is a nice treat! But I don’t think the favor of salmon was actually well incorporated into the whole dish. Oh, btw the dish was served on a skillet. I love skillets.
The dipping sauce for the grilled ox tail was extremely phenomenon. I forgot to ask what’s inside.
But steak was not quite standing out.
In the end, we had matcha crème brûlée and cupcake. I prefer the crème brûlée. The black sesame ice cream was too sweet, might want to tune t down a bit and add more black sesame. The texture of the cupcake was a bit weird.
This place was not quite crowded for a Saturday evening. Maybe it’s because it’s kind of new. But we spend 230+ for five of us, quite worth it!

Favorite dish here is hands-​down the smoked poke bowl. The smoked flavor in the tuna + bits of octopus, arugula and the cold soft egg make it unique and amazing. I keep going back just for that; I’ve heard the fried chicken is great too, but I can’t peel myself away from that poke bowl.

Super yum!!!
The chicken karaage was the best!!! Couldn’t even take a photo of if. Hahaha!
I loved the drink selection, loved the menu selection and loved the rustic feel of the place.
The steak rice was my second best dish.
Everything else though was so tasty. Will definitely go back!

Fun style of Japanese restaurant. It’s like a tapas style so you can try a few dishes. There is not really a formal entrée besides the udon noodle. I tried the spicy Edamame which was a bit too spicy for me but was good. It’s good we got Edamame because the service was super slow. Typical of a newly opened restaurant. I ordered the smoked salmon special which was alright and came with a good but undersalted side sauce. The tofu pizza was not that great. The tomatoes really watered down the flavor.
Spoonie points — it took awhile to get water once we sat down but the water was kept refilled. Plus one spoon
There was no salt or soy sauce to be seen. The meal was way undersalted. Had to go home and take salt pills. Bring your own salt POTSies. Minus one spoon.
I will probably go back and give it another try on a not so busy night.

Cute place on Broadway in Redwood City. Like others have said, you wouldn’t know it was a Japanese restaurant until you looked at the menu. I went with my friend on an early Friday night and we sat outside at a high table. The place seemed a bit understaffed as it wasn’t ridiculously busy yet but we waited quite awhile just to get our menus. The waiters were friendly and accommodating though.
I ordered the Baird Angry Boy Brown Ale (lots of other good beer on the menu too!). My friend and I then shared: Smoked Devil Eggs (3), Garlic Pizza, Avocado Risotto and the Black Pork Sausage. The most memorable item was probably the eggs — we suspect that they use tea eggs and if so that’s awesome. They were really yummy. The rest of our food was okay but I don’t know if I would order it again. The sausages tasted like ballpark dogs or something… perhaps it’s just me but it was good but strangely familiar o_​_​o.
Food is pricey and we ended up spending ~$ 30 each, including tip. We ordered a few things but the portions were small and don’t seem worth the price. I love the style of the restaurant and the good beer selection, so it may be worth coming back. We shall see…

This is THE cutest little date place! The service was very attentive and oh man, everything we ordered was DELICIOUS. We had two of their daily specials… the poke, deviled eggs with smoked salmon & caviar, garlic pizza, unagi sliders, and spicy edamame.
I’ll definitely be back! It felt like we ate around $ 100, but the bill only came out to about half of that.
I can’t even begin to describe how much I loved the food– so I will resort to using images of the food I took. I AM Asian, after all ;)

I love this place. The cuisine was very creative and you are always surprised by what they bring to you.
I ordered the unagi slider, Benedict, and beef tataki. I love all three of them. Definitely wanna come back and try more new stuff!

Kemuri is like THAT guy that’s great on paper: ivy league educated, great career, great cook, well-​traveled, and spends his free time volunteering at the local shelter. Until you find out that he paid $ 55k to brutally kill a beloved lion in Zimbabwe. Game over. Dr. Walter Palmer, if you need someone to hold a gun against your temple before you pull the trigger, I’m your girl! Call me.
Anyhow, I saw my friend’s awesome food porn from Kemuri last week and realized that I bookmarked Kemuri when they first opened three months ago. I read that they had outdoor seating (yay, I can bring Tater Tot!) so I made reservations for dinner over the weekend.
Kemuri serves Japanese fusion izakaya dishes. Perusing the menu, I immediately thought «Gochi» except in a much nicer, yipster space. Usually, I’m not a fan of Asian fusion cuisine because the flavors are either dumbed down or the fusion of flavors end up being a hot mess. Gochi is an exception.
For izakaya, usually 2 – 3 dishes are recommended per a person. Pricing is SF FiDi prices, and most dishes were $ 12-​$ 22. Expect to spend at least $ 50 pp without drinks, tip, and tax. Beer, wine, sochu, and whiskey available.
While I appreciate Kemuri’s creativity, most of the items we ordered didn’t translate well onto paper and/​or had flavor profiles that just didn’t work. We shared the following dishes:
*Crispy, Soft Shell Shrimp ($ 12): 4 STARS
Perfectly fried and lightly seasoned, this is the way to showcase a top-​notch ingredient… simply. The shrimp was tender and nicely sweet, and love being able to eat the head and tail which are the best parts.
*Kemuri Garlic Pizza ($ 6): 3 STARS
I somehow thought this would be like Gochi’s funky fusion pizzas which surprisingly works. Kemuri’s version is fried wonton wrappers topped with copious amounts of cheese. I didn’t taste the garlic but there was a flaky flesh underneath the cheese (fish?). I love oooeeey goooey cheese but this was really heavy. Needed dressed microgreens or something to balance out all that richness.
*Chicken Karaage ($ 10): 4 STARS
Just like the shrimp, this was another simply prepared dish that shined. The chicken was crusted with Japanese crackers and fried to an über crunchy, golden brown. You could really taste the ginger. The tartar sauce was strange. It was sweet and made with berries (?). Instead, I used the lemon wedge to give it a splash of citrus.
*Roasted Duck Breast w/​hacchou miso, balsamico ($ 15): 3 STARS
The duck was tender albeit a bit overcooked. The balsamic sauce killed it. It was overwhelmingly salty. We had to wipe the sauce off against the plate.
*Lamb Ribs w/​saikyo miso, bleu cheese ($ 21): 1 STAR
After waiting 30 minutes for this dish, I expected this dish to wow especially for the price. The lamb ribs were chewy and overseasoned with salt and pepper. The miso bleu cheese sauce was gross. It was super sweet and pungent at the same time.
*Yaki Oni-​Benedict w/​ontama egg, bacon ($ 7): 2 STARS
This sounded amazing on paper and looked even better when I popped that egg. I drooled a little when liquid gold cascaded down the onigiri. Money shot! Too bad, the «hollandaise» sauce was flavorless and watery. It tasted like eating rice with heavy whipping cream. The cold bacon was not crunchy. I hate wasting food so we ate this with the overly salty duck.
*Genmaicha Mochi Cupcake w/​black sesame ice cream ($ 8): 3.5 STARS
The mochi cupcake had a good balance of toothsome chewiness and a light cakey texture. The green tea flavor was subtle and mainly came from the dusting of genmaicha powder. The black sesame ice cream had icy bits.
The staff was really nice and was kind enough to bring out a water bowl for Tater Tot:
. Timing for food service was unacceptable. We had 5:30 pm reservations and we were one of 2 tables for the first 70 minutes yet food orders took a very long time. There was often a 20 minute gap between dishes, and a 30 minute gap for the lamb ribs. Understandable if they were packed but it was empty, and I saw 3 chefs in the kitchen. I don’t know how they intend to handle large orders.
The space is very hipster: high tops, communal tables, metal stools, and an open kitchen. There’s about 6 tables outside with umbrellas to shield you from the blazing sun. Other than their name, I would have never known that they were an izakaya place if I passed by.
For the high prices, funky fusion flavors that didn’t work, and super slow service, I’m doubtful if I would return to Kemuri. I rather drive a little more to Gochi or just stick in SF for Izakaya Sozai. Good luck to them though.
And, good luck to Dr. Palmer and the multiple bungholes that’s getting ripped into him on Unilocal:
. HA! Sucks to be you, bruh.

With Vesta, La Viga, and now Kemuri, Redwood City is definitely firing on all cylinders. I find myself wanting to head over whether for diverse, novel ethnic cuisine or just plain old excellent taquerias and paleterias. It’s ten times more interesting than some other Peninsula developments (Los Altos San Antonio Center I’m looking at you) and it’s a trend that just builds as we see with Mountain View and Campbell.
Kemuri Japanese Baru (stands for bar) is the latest great addition and while it can be simply described as an izakaya, the menu is diverse and interesting even compared to many of the solid izakayas we already have in the Bay Area.
At lunch, there’s a more limited menu and it features rice patty burgers as well as a few quality daily specials. The bar is open at lunch and both the full beer on tap selection and sake choices are available then as well.
We stopped by for a quick lunch and found it busy but given its prime location in downtown Redwood City, it’s not a surprise. Former Michelin Bib Gourmand Crouching Tiger (which I never liked) is nearby, popular authentic spot iDumpling is a stones throw away, and there’s even super chain Ike’s Place.
The interior décor is nice. The ceilings are high and the bar with both seating and liquor selection is the first thing that captures your eye. The kitchen is open air and three chefs work busily filling orders in the back as well as even helping a dining patron or two when the waitress missed them. Dining tables are large and spacious.
We were told two lunch specials and also offered the lunch menu with rice burgers. Each comes with either a salad or French fries. Our selection:
Salmon and Ikura Rice Bowl — $ 15. The daily special started with a gorgeous beef tataki salad with ponzu dressing and I liked the waitress gave us two plates to share. The salmon and Ikura bowl came next and its played along a long plate with several quality slices of sashimi grade salmon and a sprinkling of Ikura. Flavors were on point and portion sizes are decent though the rice bowl could have had more salmon and ikura. Miso soup is also included and it’s a nice rendition.
Yakiniku Rice Burger — $ 12. The rice burger is wrapped with aluminum foil and served with a moist toilette, tiny details that are appreciated. It also includes the garlic salt fries ($ 3 separately) and a bowl of miso soup. The fries are fantastic. Full of garlicky flavor and crispy on the outside but tender on the inside. I’d love to try their dinner fried items (fried cheese anyone?) as they have it mastered here. The rice burger is great too. There’s quite a bit of rice but it’s crispy on the outside and the very flavorful yakiniku meat goes well.
If you’ve seen pictures of Koja Kitchen’s rice burger, you know this item isn’t new but I haven’t found it on many izakaya menus yet. Koja also has a bit more filling (overflowing) but I didn’t find the portion here to be too little and was pretty full by the end of the meal.
I paired my burger with an on tap Asahi and it’s probably just bias but I think it tastes better on tap.
Overall, we had a great meal at Kemuri. Service is friendly, the décor is modern and new, and the menu and flavors are on point. About the only criticism is that the price point is a touch higher than you might expect but the ingredients are quality as is the execution. I spent more than I thought I was going to for lunch (~$ 50) but I’d gladly come back for dinner.
Kemuri Baru accepts credit cards including Amex.

RWC keeps spawning new good places. Where were these when i was working in Redwood Shores? So boring back then. Im generally not big on Japanese fused with other cuisines as they usually yoeld a mediocre product. However Kemuri has solid cooking technique, good Japanese flavors, and theyre enhanced by the other cuisines. We went for so many dishes it must have looked like we were a bunch of savages.
Hamachi, albacore, steak, meatballs, crispy chicken, crispy oxtail, pork belly, kushiake style shrimp, grilled king prawns, lamb ribs… im sure im missing something but the pix are there… everything was delicious. We finished with the mochi cupcakes and black sesame ice cre am. They have Hibiki 21 on the bar side which id not seen since I was in Tokyo. Service is friendly and they took care of us. Definitely coming back to see the rest of the food and do some drinking to boot

It was raining (finally) and I was in the mood for a heavy rice-​based meal but the only rice I had at my apartment was a big bag that’s now permanently designated for those times when my phone drops in the toilet so I headed out to this brand new Redwood City jam for a specialty rice dish (rice bun burgers) I’ve never encountered before.
I came in over lunch so I can’t speak to whether they have an expanded dinner menu but the lunch menu was perfect with just enough options to make meal choosing with a group a pleasurable experience.
I was between the unagi rice bun burger and the veggie friendly tofu rice bun burger and ultimately settled on the tofu because it had cheese on it and I like to try and pack on as many calories as possible for a meal. My dining partner got the Yakiniku (short rib) rice burger and we both chose fries as a side (you can choose between a green salad, coleslaw, and spicy or garlic salt fries).
The interior of the restaurant is beautiful and you can tell they spared no expense putting Kemuri together.
Beautiful bar– Check!
Glass-​walled kitchen for viewing– Check!
Long reclaimed wood dining tables perfect for groups –Check!
There was no shortage of gorgeous views to take in while we waited for our meals, which wasn’t long at all. When the server brought our trays full of food, it surprisingly included not only our selected sides and giant, hearty burger, but also a complimentary miso soup and a heavy duty quality moist towelette, to which my dining partner instantly remarked, «You know it’s going to be a good meal when they serve it with a moist towelette.» Amen, brotha. Amen.
The miso soup was one of the best I’ve had in a long time and the portion was plentiful. Both the garlic salt and spicy fries were divine. I know it’s just fries, but they were cooked exactly the way I love them, a little soggy on the inside and full of flavor. I’d come back just for several orders of fries and that miso.
My dining partner is a big dude with a big appetite and though it took some effort, had no problem sucking down his short rib burger and the extra side of coleslaw he’d ordered. I, on the other hand, got too stuffed and had to take a little less than half of my burger home. My tofu burger was good, though the tofu and sauce consistency was a bit runnier than I would have liked making it even messier than the foil wrapped around it, meant to cut down on the mess, was able to collect. It made the burger really hard to eat without getting it all over my face and clothes, but things went much smoother when I got home and had my leftovers for dinner with a fork and knife.
Our bill for our meal was around $ 40 for two burger meals, 2 premium draft beers, and an extra side dish all in a beautiful setting with perfect knowledgable but non-​invasive service. Not too shabby if you ask me.
Can’t wait to come back, check out more of Kemuri’s menu, and get down with more of that magical miso and flavorful fries.