Sumika

Cuisine	Japanese
Price	$$$ (31-50)
Rating	7/10
Last Visit	Oct. 14, 2023
Location	SFBA: South Bay

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General Notes

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Sumika is a Japanese restaurant in downtown Los Altos that specializes in yakitori. They also offer a variety of other miscellaneous disues, like donburi, tempura, karaage, etc. To put it simply, the food is really good. The sauce that they use with their yakitori in particular stood out -- it was a good balance between salty, sweet, and had a slightly thick consistency. I like that the menu is structured in a way that's good for sharing with a small group. Would definitely return again to try some of their other offerings.

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Dishes Tasted

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• ★★★★ Kakiage -- Essentially a bunch of vegetables arranged in the shape of a pancake, then fried tempura-style. This tastes AMAZING. It's so intensely savory and satisfying. The non-uniform shape leads to a more interesting batter texture.
• ★★★★ Beef Tongue -- Probably my favorite skewer of them all. Tender, juicy, and super flavorful. It's on their specials menu, available for both lunch and dinner.
• ★★★☆ Momo with Green Onion -- Cooked well, perfectly seasoned.
• ★★★☆ Pork Belly with garlic sauce -- Garlic flavor is strong but not overpowering, pork belly has a good balance of fat to lean meat and is juicy / tender.
• ★★★☆ Tsukune -- First time having tsukune (chicken meatball), and it was delightful!
• ★☆☆☆ Grilled Rice Ball -- It was alright, but I'd honestly just rather have a regular bowl of rice. The dashi flavor was a nice touch, though. I'm not a fan of these pickled vegetables.