Kokko - San Mateo (CA)

5 /5 Wei-Ai Tai: Quaint Japanese restaurant, tucked away in a quiet corner in the northeast part of downtown San Mateo. Delicious yakitori items, as well as rice bowls, fried appetizers, and ramen. Fast and efficient service, but hard to get a seat unless you have a reservation. Very small parking lot, but there is street parking and a couple of parking lots nearby.

3 /5 Ngoc Tran: Decent casual spots with friendly customer service. The highlight was the fried organic chicken. I liked that it is crispy and juicy. We were looking forward to the skewers but they were underwhelming. Since they waited to served multiple skewers at once, the temperature was colder than expected which was not ideal. The flavor was there but there was also just not enough charring. One of the okras were stringy. The cartilage was cold by the time we got to it. It felt like they rushed the cooking a little bit to serve more tables. If I come back it would be for the fried chicken and not for the skewers.

4 /5 Jason Xiahou: Such a fun cozy spot! Pretty much everything was tasty so enjoy exploring the menu and following whatever your gut is telling you that day. The meats were all good, but my favorite might have been the eggplant. Service was pretty quick. Kind of in a random location but it’s worth a stop.

2 /5 Gerald Soo: Went for a quick bite after landing in SFO. GF wanted something with broth and veggies. So ordered their Kokko ramen which said on the menu had veggies. What showed up had no veggies. I asked and the waitress said this is how it is. But I asked her to look at the menu to confirm that it was supposed to have veggies. Her reply was, it has green onions and seaweed. Needless to say Im not going back. Her attitude just sucked.

4 /5 Wook Chung: Kokko is a decent yakitori spot. It tries to be a comfort food style yakitori and beer with no frills, yet somehow the price point misses the mark. If you want to go for the "shack" and okay-to-be-charred feel, you want to back it up with appropriate pricing. On paper the prices look "cheap" but you get miniscule portions that almost tease you rather than fill you. We were so used to seeing an endless wait for Kokko so when we got reservations, we were super excited. We were seated in the parking lot shack - not a problem - except the table wasnt "flat". And given the decor, we were certainly going for the "street comfort food" style. Again, can play along. Before I comment on the food, Ill mention it the last time. Portions are tiny so dont be fooled by what looks like reasonable prices. You have to order a LOT. The skewers were quite good in many ways. None of them were the best, but they all score above average and were flavorful. We had about 10 different kinds but none of them were memorable. It certainly accompanies beer well. So decent marination. Where the taste was "off" was when there were burnt parts (fully understandable once in a while) where the skewer itself tastes bitter. At a yakitori place, this is just not acceptable. Many were great. Just a couple. Service is super slow and hectic. I appreciate everyone trying to bring out skewers as they come out, but there doesnt seem to be a dedicated server for your table, and thus, there are periods where you just cant get a hold of anyone. I wont be returning unless someone is begging to go for some yakitori and Im out of options. Heck, Mokutanya a few miles north is much better.