Chika Japanese Cuisine

Looks like ‘Chika’ now does catering in MV.
(it’s all in japanese)
I wonder if i can just wander to their office and just order something… :)

It’s a shame they shut down, but you could see the hand-​writing on the wall since Day 1. A cursed location for restaurants, niche japanese food (aka not chicken teriyaki dinners) and somewhat of a pricier menu doomed this enterprise.
In terms of food quality and flavor, this kicked the crap out of all the downtown San Mateo spots. Especially Hotaru (that’s for my friend’s who are in love with that place). Price was perhaps a little higher, but usually $ 15 – 20 for dinner ain’t that bad for Japanese food. Reminiscing, my favorites were their pork cutlet curry rice, hamachi kama, japanese style hamburger. They even served Cream Soda.
There were never any customers in there, so service was pretty good. This was the best in the San Mateo area, but now, unfortunately, I have to drive back to Rokko (Sunnyvale), which still reigns supreme.

I came here with a friend on a chilly, windy evening seeking some udon. We were at first wary of the prices because they seemed a bit high, but when the food came, we realized it was quantity and quality for your money.
The «mini» bowl of udon that comes as a side to some meals is what one would consider a normal sized bowl. My friend’s sashimi looked good and well portioned. I ordered the tempura udon and got a good variety of well battered tempura and a HUGE bowl of udon that was tasty, but not overbearing. Also had a side of rock n’ roll which wasn’t bad.

Chika has the best Japanese Hamburg steak and corn chowder. But their quality and price is not really competent with other nearby Japanese restaurants.
My lunch special comes with corn choweder, and a bento size of lunch combo: salad with super sweet white sauce, pork cutlet (Tonkatsu), Onion cream croquette and rice. With tax, it runs about $ 15. I compare this with a much better quality and portion of food in Hotaru, although they don’t have corn chowder and hamburg steak.
They could’ve made the restaurant more unique nor cozy by completing the interior. But it feels like a half ass job completing the restaurant. It feels like a huge bare space with some tables and chairs. Overall it’s not a remarkable experience at all.

Pretty good for wafu style japanese food and a bit of traditional. Although nothing was memorable. Stay away from the karaage unless you like them sweet and a tad overfried. Onion crème croquette was slightly memorable. I basicaly had the 3 combo dinner set which was like a bento box priced at 22 dolllars.
This place is pretty big though, would be nice for a small company gathering. That’s expensed out.

On a rainy night with no where to go, we just happened to stumble into this corner restaurant. There were several groups, but the place was still very empty consider the huge space the restaurant occupies. We walked right in on a Friday night and were sat down immediately.
Described as Japanese comfort food on an article displayed in front of the restaurant, we decided to stay mainly with the cooked foods. We did try one peice of nigiri and one roll and it was good, nothing special. For the cooked foods, we ordered the japanese meatloaf and hamachi collar. Both were delicious. The hamachi collar was slightly over cooked, but it still tasted good. The sake list was limited. Service was prompt and friendly. Saw people eating a lot of other stuff, that I also wanted to try but was too full already.
I like this place overall and would want to come back to try more items I normally don’t see at Japanese restaurants. Not stellar, but still delicious comfort food.

3.5 stars.
Located right in the corner of 3^rd Avenue and Ellesworth St of downtown San Mateo is Chika, a San Francisco humble small Japanese restaurant transplant that based on prior reviews of when they were in SF, seemed like a very interesting eatery with many loyal fans.
Chika occupies a location that has had a very interesting history. Two tenants ago, Vietnamese/​fusion restaurant Camranh Bay occupied this location. They basically closed down due to a huge fire that started in their kitchen (can’t recall if it was a gas main leak but some explosion occured) that caused their entrance area glass to shatter.
Camranh never recovered from the damage and they pretty much closed afterwards.
Then a Chinese buffet place opened up. Yep another one of those… cheap, nasty grity, and probably included pseudo Korean BBQ and pseudo sushi with lots of all you can stuff yourself silly low brow fare. That didn’t last… I think people would really rather eat quality for less quantity for the price of an entrée, versus an all you can eat sh*tfest.
Enter Chika. Downtown San Mateo is already heavily Chinese and Japanese cuisine-​centric, so in order to play a good game they would have to step up, considering Sushi Sam’s is already well known with locals and loyalists despite the high prices, and Hotaru offering good standby standards at much more affordable prices.
The interior space of Chika is certainly big. Remnants of the buffet portion of the décor from the previous tenant remained but not much was done to it other than not opening those parts of the restaurant for extended use (plus darkening the upstairs seating area).
For one thing the quiet serene atmosphere doesn’t match the food. Customers were in here to eat and last night some looked like they were going on dates but definitely not exciting by any means.
Don’t get me wrong, the food is actually quite decent in here but it’s the tried and true tempura, udon/​soba, sushi (yes was on the menu but did not look at it at all), and bento/​combo meals. There are a few western themed items also; supposedly the hamburg steak is decent here but didn’t seem to notice it, along with omurice/​omuraisu which even a simple dish like this could be interpreted many ways. As mentioned one of the more interesting items was the Berkshire Pork Cutlet, aka kurobuta tonkatsu, but it appeared to be a whopping $ 16+, which I hope included at least a salad and a miso soup.
The miso duck breast entrée that Bay Spo did a mini spotlight on earlier this year was on the menu but that stayed off my radar.
Sometimes a boring simple dish could be used as a measurement for potential revisits. Ended up getting a… drum roll please… tempura soba in broth. Lol what a letdown yes? Were you expecting me to review… gasp…SUSHI? Hell no, not at a place that specializes in certain cooked dishes!
Well what can I say. Tempura requested to be served on the side, two pieces of shrimp that could have passed as prawns, a few onion rings, two brocoli crowns, one fake crab meat stick, one carrot and one yam. A modest portion, but very nicely done tempura and arguably the best in San Mateo. Not greasy and sadly they didn’t give me tempura sauce for dipping. Soba was cooked «al dente», and the broth was a decent soy sauce + dashi kind of deal, much much better than many other pseudo Japanese restaurants or those in it not to satisfy the customer or please their tastebuds. At $ 8 ish or so at least this was done nicely. I was still hungry afterwards.
Mrs K’s shojin teishoku was more interesting, although a whooping $ 17 that included:
–hiyakko tofu (small cube of cold tofu with soy based sauce and condiments)
— okara (okara salad?)
— vegetable tempura (hers came with a dipping sauce, mine didn’t) — noted were two pieces of eggplant that I did not get
— miso shiru (white miso with a good dashi base)
—? — I can’t remember what this other item was
— bowl of steamed rice

The amount of food in this vegetarian set menu was enough to quell the hunger but apparently was a notch below «just enough» or «just right» although we could have easily ordered more food in order to be full.
Chika easily does the standard generic fare miles better than most Japanese restaurants (run by Japanese or not), but for those wanting more specialized, interesting and unique, or regional fare might want to look for it elsewhere.

Chika is a fairly new Japanese restaurant in downtown San Mateo — our experiences there have been pretty good. The décor seems a little unusual to me — as if tables were placed in a bank lobby or something, but I kind of like it.
They have some less common dishes, such as hamachi kama, beef tongue, some kind of gizzard, etc. They also have a pretty nice vegetarian set.
The prices are ok and the service has generally been friendly and reasonably fast when we’ve gone there. This is one of our top choices for a Japanese sit-​down dinner in San Mateo.

Just having returned from Japan a couple of weeks ago, I was pleasantly surprised to find this gem! Down in San Mateo for dinner, this brought back so many great memories of the food experience I had during that vacation.
As readers before me have said, this is not your typical Japanese restaurant. So put aside those ideas of having sushi/​sashimi and enjoy this izakaya (small plates)! I certainly did!

Love this place for homestyle Japanese food that you don’t find in a typical japanese restaurant. both times I’ve been, i’ve gotten the Hamburg lunch special. $ 10 gets you corn soup, salad, potato salad, rice, a big hamburg with demiglace sauce (yum! or you can do a soy sauce based sauce) and coffee or tea. So juicy, flavorful and delicious. (nothing worse than a dry crumbly hamburg steak).
I’ll have to try something else there, but its hard not to get the hamburg each time!

My favorite café-​style Japanese restaurant in San Mateo. I love the food. The menu has a good variety. (I haven’t been disappointed so far, and I’ve been there plenty of times.) The prices are pretty reasonable too. The size of the lunch sets and dinner sets are reasonable considering the prices. For example: with the lunch set, you get a side salad or a cup of soup with your choice of coffee or tea to go along with your main dish. The dinner set comes with a small mochi ice cream dessert.
Sometimes, the service is a little slow, since there are normally only 2 waitresses working the entire restaurant. But I LOVE the relaxed atmosphere. You can bring a book or newspaper or read a magazine from their rack. They give free refills on drinks, and they don’t even try to push you out once you’ve finished eating and paying… so you can continue to read your magazines etc.

I’ve been here twice and I have not been disappointed. Both times have been lunch on the weekends so I ordered from the Lunch Set menu.
Truly home-​style Japanese food I had the Kurobuta Tonkatsu the first time around. It’s definitely better than other (read: non-​Japanese owned) Japanese restaurants where they’re stingy on the pork and generous on the panko. You will not be disappointed at Chika’s. Good-​sized portions of Kurobuta along with a small order of California rolls (generous with the fillings — unlike most generic sushi restaurants). The second time around I had the Omuraisu. Now I was a little surprised because I was expecting the tomato/​ketchup omuraisu that I’m used to. The one at Chika’s was actually covered in the same gravy as the Hamburg with bits of beef inside with the rice. It was still delicious.
Both times my sister ordered the Hamburg — which is probably one of the best Hamburgs I’ve ever eaten (outside of home — Mom, you’re the best!) I always end up eating part of it because she can’t finish it. With the lunch set we got corn soup prior to our entrée and it came with your choice of tea or coffee with the meal. For around $ 10 a plate for lunch, this was a steal.

I’m gonna be honest. The only reason I went to this place was that Santa Ramen and every other Japanese place was closed on Labor Day! What’s up with that? Funny all the Chinese places were open. But I was in the mood for Japanese…
This place was disappointing. Like many who’ve written here, I’m a big fan of Japanese home-​style cuisine. And it’s true that there aren’t many such places in the Bay Area. But this place has to do better on many counts to receive even an average Unilocal rating. Gombei and Hattoriya easily come to mind as much better places.
1) the service is slow, but it is friendly. Even on a day in which the place wasn’t super crowded, we weren’t seated immediately nor was our order brought out quickly.
2) the place scores a 1 on value. The many set menu items include hot tea (worth less than $ 1), white rice (less than $ 1) and a small bowl of soup (less than $ 1). All the set meals are priced greater than $ 10.
A particular travesty was the «Japanese» omelet my gf chose. It was an egg omelet filled with rice and brown sauce. No meat, no vegetables, not even any fillers. $ 10.
My Japanese minute steak was small and rather plain. A bowl of white rice was on the side as well as a few leaves of lettuce. $ 14.
No desserts, bread, or actual drinks were included with these «set» meals. (in comparison to many, many Chinese and Japanese restaurants)
I didn’t try the Hamburg (which Toro E raves about), but given the terrible value, mediocre dishes I chose, and the slow service, I just won’t be back and really can’t recommend it to others.

I stopped by this afternoon for lunch with a co-​worker. Pretty interesting menu with plenty of interesting choices. I would best describe it as Japanese-​style Western food… although there seemed to be a number of traditional dishes as well. I played it safe and went for the Tonkatsu set lunch — the tonkatsu usually serves as a measuring stick of Japanese restaurants for me. For $ 10, I got pretty typical items: miso soup, salad, tokatsu, and California rolls.
I think what sets this place apart from the typical (Chinese-​owned) Japanese restaurants is the quality and freshness of the food! The flavors were very clean and tasty, without being overpowering. Portion sizes are fair — I was full and satisfied, without feeling overly full.
Doesn’t seem as hip and trendy as some of the other (many) Japanese places around the area, but if you want a nicer meal with more quiet atmosphere, Chika definitely is worth considering!
+ Classy, unpretentious interior
+ Clean
+ Japanese speaking staff
+ Good food

After Chika announced that they were moving from Irving St to San Mateo, my boyfriend and I seriously re-​evaluated our decision to move to Inner Sunset. Sure, the park will still be there, but do we really want to live there if Chika isn’t there?
We started frequenting Chika for its udon at first. It has the best broth (no one seems to have noted that in the reviews). For months it’s been the same «wakame udon» «tsukini udon» routine. Then gradually we started trying other dishes and realized what we have been missing out. Boyfriend loves their simmered pork and has been looking for something similar in other restaurants and hasn’t found anything comparable. I love their ankimo and hotate nigiri.
We made one visit to San Mateo since they relocated. I must admit the service was a bit slow, probably because the space was at least twice as big. And the big space definitely made it look less charming and more dubious (a little too close to what looks like a Chinese buffet restaurant in small town, USA). But the food was as excellent as usual. And the price is very fair for what you get.
I wish Chika would move back. Still crossing fingers and waiting.

The Japanese style meatloaf which actually is Japaneses hamburger steak is super good. Thanks Toro for recommendation.
I have tried three restaurants of japanese hambuger steak. They are Tani’s kitchen, over the bridge (J-​town) and Chika. And Chika has the best one. We also tried the «tororo» soba. It is the only restaurant serves mountain yam around bay area.
This is an authentic «western restaurant in Japanese style». So Far, I only find «on the bridge» and Chika .
Certainly will come back!
bottom line:
This is a western restaurant in Japaneses style. If you are looking for something like sushi, roll, tempura. You probably be disappointed with this restaurant.
But go for the «Yoshoku» style food like hamburger steak, Curry and Fried rice over omelet will make you a right choice.

I was hanging out at Kisaku tonight eating and drinking like a Roman god, waiting for my slower-​than-​molasses bro-​in-​law to appear… since Kisaku closes at 9:30, we went to Chika (closes at 11:30).
Given all the reviews, we tried the hamburg… it was tender lovin’ goodness. Gyoza was good, the pork ginger stir fry thingie was average.
The waitress was cute and friendly. She made some nice recommendations on sake, which there wasn’t a good selection there, but heck we were already drunk from Kisaku anyway.
I like it that this place closes later. The menu has a variety of options. All good, but its on a quiet corner of 3^rd avenue in downtown. But its worth a try… I’ll likely give it another try, even before I get under the influence with sake.
Give it a try!

Since there aren’t many yoshoku style japanese restaurants out there, chika kinda stands out among the plethora of japanese restaurants around. And I LOVE yoshoku food!
I came here on the first day they opened the restaurant, so the service is a bit awkward and disorganized. I haven’t been back so I don’t know if they finally had any employee training.
The food was alright. Once again, I can’t find a lot of places that serves hamburg, so I can’t complain. Serving is generous, so you’ll walk away full and happy.
I will definitely come back to try other dishes, especially since one Unilocaler said they’ve reduced the prices.

If you are a Japanese Hamburg fan, you’ve got to try one at Chika.
If you are not a seasoned eater of Japanese cuisine, you may be disappointed by Chika. Many introductory eaters to Japanese food enjoy the more traditional dishes like tempura, sushi rolls, and udon, but often have very hard time understanding Japanese Style Western Food. For that reason, looking at customers at Chika, I noticed many Japanese customers. Of course Chika does carry the traditional dishes, but I think some of their best dishes are ‘yofu’ style, which is Japanese version of western food. Same category of food is offered at On The Bridge (
). Items in this category that Chika serves include Hamburg, wafu hamburg, Cream croquette, curry rice, hayashi rice ($ 10), meat spaghetti ($ 10), fried shrimp, seafood gratin ($ 10), pork ginger sauté ($ 10), etc. Their traditional dishes like Tororo Soba ($ 9) was good, but it wasn’t anything special.
Hamburg: When ordering, I was ready to slam Chika for charging $ 14 for Regular Hamburg set lunch. However, I quickly realized that the meal was certainly worth the price if you truly appreciate recreation of Japanese family restaurant meal. Meal started with a cup of corn potage soup. They also brought the silverware in a rectangular container. Then came the best Hamburg I’ve had in the Bay Area. It was grilled to perfection, soft on inside. I really loved their brown sauce. They properly served rice on a separate flat plate, not on the same plate as hamburg, and certainly not in a rice bowl. I have to try their ‘Wafu Hamburg’ next time.
SUMMARY: I am so glad that I don’t need to fly to Tokyo in order to enjoy Family Style Japanese restaurant food that I enjoy at places in Japan like Volks, Skylark, Denis, Big Boy, and Sanzeriya. For that reason, I will over look their horrible décor. Restaurant is very clean, but it looks unappealing to a point I say ‘what were they thinking’? They really need to hire some interior decorators because they certainly don’t have any sense in style.
Oh, I also have to try their hayashi rice, which is a sweet version of Japanese curry rice.

New Japanese Yoshoku and «Japanese style tapas» place in a cursed location. I wish them well — the last two restaurants here failed, probably because the location is rather large.
Tried saba with miso sauce, which was a sweet sauce that reminded me of BBQ sauce. We also went for a spicy chicken, which was grilled and a bit dry. The mushroom salad was a standout, with a great texture and flavor. It seems like they just getting the place together, so the menu may stabilize later.
Here’s to the 20^th japanese restaurant in san mateo within 3 blocks of each other!