Blog » Izakaya

 Soba Ichi recently changed their hours to expand into nightfall, essentially turning the noodle shop into an izakaya. We're so excited – an izakaya in Oakland! Last June, Soba Ichi opened as the Bay Area's...

Bay Eats Japan highlights new and upcoming Japanese restaurants and bars all around the Bay Area. This month: Onsen, OzaOza, The Grubbies, and more.

Welcome to our new column, Bay Eats Japan, where we'll alert you to newly and soon-to-be opened Japanese restaurants and bars in the Bay Area.

Our favorite place to eat in Kyoto is STAND, a no-frills izakaya that specializes in bar snacks that pair well with beer, sake, shochu, and highballs.

Let me start off by saying that I think Abura-ya is the most exciting dining experience in the Bay Area in the last few years. By "exciting" I mean: doing something spectacularly new and genre-bending -- all deliciously, and not one bit bank-breaking. Abura-ya specializes...

Yoko and I are here for Portland Cocktail Week, where we were on a panel about import/ export/ distribution yesterday (it was great!). We have been here for three nights, and it's been a total blast. Portland has changed so much...

Izakaya MOTO is an invite-only, very exclusive izakaya, located in the heart of Financial District in Manhattan (aka my apartment). I had my friends over one night, and decided to host an izakaya-style evening. I have a large counter in my kitchen where guests can...

Gochi opened quietly in 2005, in a little non-descript strip mall on the back roads of Cupertino. It was actually a bit traumatizing for me -- they bought out a nasty dive bar called the Peacock Lounge where my friends and I used to go when visiting...

"Where the hell are we? Did we miss it?" I ask as we drive further and further away from the city center. Geary Boulevard is still bustling, but we're way past Japantown now, and the storefront signs are getting harder to read. Besides, why would...