Kubota Restaurant

With the same manager as Gombei, Kubota is much more cost because they do have fresh sushi and fish there! It was amazing for lunch as well! I ordered the Bento Box 3 plus one order of Uni. The bento box is good, and Uni is very fresh! I love it!

yes, i have to say i am a fan of this place.
the restaurant is literally right off the strip of japantown. (i got lost circling around the strip looking for this reastaurant)
im surprised i havent really heard of this place! starting from the servers to the food. everything was just great.
chicken sukiyaki — its a pretty big portion and you can share it. its kind of on the sweet side but hey, i like sweet food so i didnt mind so much. it comes with 2 different kinds of mushrooms, chicken, tofu, and cabbage. great for dipping with siracha! so make sure you ask for that!
black cod zazumi? — actually ill correct the name when i have a chance. i guess its a piece of black cod that was marinated in sake. it literally melts in your mouth and not so overpowering with the sake taste.
spicy hamachi– sushi taste fresh which is a good sign.
OVERALL — i liked my experience here. the waitresses are very attentive, sweet AND (not to mention) cuties! this will definitely not be my last time coming here! thanks Kubota, you won my heart

Bento box 3 for lunch made my day. I love this place. Relaxed yet immediate table service, friendly service and good, solid food. Gombei’s beef teriyaki is a little better in that Kubota’s could use more sauce. Same well-​cooked meat, though. My friend had the curry don and was very surprised by the flavor and the portion. And for $ 10 it is a steal!
I will be back soon!

I’ve been a regular customer of SJ Japantown cuisine for a long time and Kubota is probably somewhere in the middle. It definitely has an upscale dim-​light atmosphere and has a unique, beautiful bamboo entryway and a quieter crowd than Gombei or Kazoo. The food is okay; I usually order the salmon teriyaki or sushi, and I haven’t had any issues with that. So it’s generally a pleasant experience.
But I have to subtract a star because our server was WAY too touchy. This isn’t the first time we’ve had her. She has often touched my party’s shoulders and she poked both of my sides, no thanks. On one of our visits, she clearly assumed who was paying the bill and proceeded to flirt with my grandfather. At the end of the meal she even comments how we «should finish our food»… Our table was full of adults and our youngest person was 16 and she still called everyone «sweetheart,» instead of «miss» or «sir.» This might be her idea of being cute and ditzy but please attempt professionalism and keep your hands off of your customers.

Honestly… for a Japanese restaurant within the vicinity of three other Japanese restaurants, one would think they would strive harder for quality.
Had a lunch meeting here, the lunch specials were mediocre at best and nothing of surprise. Portions were meager and was barely filling. Waiter/​waitress were not attentive; would not refill tea until requested.
+1 for on-​site parking.

Good Japanese Food In A Competitive Neighborhood…
Pros: Excellent service (at least Emily). Comfortable interior. High quality food attractively served.
Cons: Got noisy too easily. A bit expensive for what you get.
Suggestion: If something’s not on the menu, ask.
Star Ratings:
— Overall: 4 (pulled up from a 3 by our server)
— Food Quality: 4
— Food Quantity: 3
— Exterior: 4
— Dining Room Attractiveness: 4
— Menu: 4
— Service: 5
— Noise: 3
— Price: 3
— Value: 3
— Parking: 4
— Restrooms: 4
My wife and I, along with a group of 8 other friends (mainly couples), had an informative and entertaining visit to the Japanese-​American Museum on North 5^th Street around the corner from the main street in «Japantown» on a Saturday afternoon. For dinner, we decided to go to Kubota because it was nearby and a few of the people had prior good experiences.
— Exterior: Contemporary. Most of the buildings in San Jose’s Japantown have been around more than 50 years with some in excess of 100 years. It’s definitely an old neighborhood, but one with a deservedly proud history. So it’s not a surprise to see restaurants set up shop in renovated sections of those existing structures. However, Kubota is housed in a relatively new stand-​alone building just south of the corner of North 5^th and Jackson streets.
— Dining Room: Sleek. The interior of Kubota offers a similar vibe to the exterior: Cool and modern, but with warm furnishings. From what I saw, there are actually 2 rooms… a large one to the left of the entrance and a much smaller one to the right sitting against picture windows facing North 5^th Street. A medium size bar lies in the middle and an open-​air kitchen is adjacent to the larger room. Tables can be moved to accommodate groups of all sizes (when a party of 14 next to us finished a meal, their «table» was broken into pieces for several new diners).
— Menu: Large, but not unwieldy. All the usual suspects can be found and, since there’s lots of competition from similar restaurants within a few blocks, I’m sure Kubota (as well as the others) have their own specialties. One thing I didn’t see was a platter of sashimi, but our resourceful server, Emily, indicated how it could be done… along with rice and soup or salad.
— Food: Good overall. I don’t know what everyone ordered, but the most plates were piled fairly high. For $ 26, I had my sashimi with 3 pieces of 5 different fish. It was tasty, but the total amount of meat was smaller than expected. In fact, as I gazed around the table, I thought «maybe I should have ordered that or that or that», such as a hotpot or stew with lots of good looking ingredients. Fortunately, Kubota makes its own fried tofu and both the pieces in my miso soup and cubes shared by my spouse were wonderful. The starter basket of edamame also helped to quell my appetite.
— Liquor List: Typically comprehensive for a Japanese restaurant with aspirations. Although the list of choices was long, I (and several others) went for a draft of Sapporo. Draft beer is my first choice with Japanese food.
— Noise: Not bad when we arrived at opening time of 515 PM, but the noise level rose a bit faster than the crowd as people piled in after 6 PM. Of course, we were in the smaller section… so sounds in the larger room might behave differently.
— Service: 20 thumbs up. Our server, Emily, was attentive, enthusiastic and helpful. It’s a good thing she’s fast on her feet (literally) because she juggled our group of 10 and a couple of nearby tables without falling behind and maintaining her adorable personality.
— Price and Value: Moderately high… and not quite so high. Kubota isn’t cheap or even relatively inexpensive. It’s a bit on the high side — even for the high quality and fair sized portions. But it’s been around for quite a while and people keep returning… so the price to value ratio must be in the ballpark.
— Parking: Lots of spaces on side streets and in parking lots (if you know where to find them)
— Restrooms: Fine. In line with the rest of Kubota, the Men’s Room was spacious and clean. Almost a respite from the restaurant hubbub outside the door.
Although Kubota didn’t quite meet the overall level of satisfaction we get from our favorite «go to» Japanese restaurant… Yuki Sushi in Willow Glen… it’s certainly a worthy choice for hungry people in the area of downtown San Jose. We’ll find a reason to return.

My boyfriend and I were craving Japanese food in our neighborhood and decided to come here for a nice, relaxing night out. He’s been wanting to come here for a while, so I was hoping it’ll meet his expectations. It didn’t.
The restaurant is beautiful. Spacious and calm. It has a welcome environment andddd there’s a full bar.
There’s also that stone ornament in between the tables with what seems to be beard hair inside. I lost my appetite.
We went on a Tuesday night around 7, so the restaurant wasn’t particularly crowded, but it was still understaffed. We are pretty patient, but it took two almost-​exits before the staff acknowledged us and seated us. I feel like this is a reoccurring theme in a lot of these reviews.
If seating is an issue, maybe get rid of the high glass partitions so you can remember that there are customers waiting (and leaving).
The nigiri was fresh, but my boyfriend pointed out the rice was mushy. My sushi rice was also falling apart on me.
I wasn’t very hungry (probably from looking at armpit/​beard/​pubic hair) so I just ordered a roll (I know, I know…). Unmemorable, would be the best way to describe it. It was a slightly better tasting version of something I could’ve gotten from a to go sushi package. The avocados were not ripe, making it the weirdest sensation of soft delicate fish and hard. Not the best.
My boyfriend ordered a mixed platter of sushi and nigiri. Once again, the sushi was uninspiring. I’m not even thinking of those crazy American style rolls. In terms of simple, basic rolls, there was something off about it.
Verdict:
All in all, I would be back for the sashimi, not the rolls. Which, to be honest, should be the best course of action when dining in any respectable Japanese restaurant.
³⁄₅
Also, get rid of the hair in that ornamental stone. What are you thinking.

Excellent!
En plus de proposer des plats à des prix plus que corrects, le service était impeccable. Dans mes souvenirs, la serveuse était vraiment adorable, polie, souriante sans trop en faire.
Le meilleur restaurant japonais dans lequel j’ai mangé jusqu’à présent, tout était bon. Je n’ai cependant goûté aucun aliment cru ce jour-​là mais uniquement des plats cuisinés cuits. Et c’était délicieux.
Coup de coeur pour leur dessert: la glacé au thé vert… juste divine!
Je rêverai d’y retourner.

Good and fast service, very tasty matcha tea and huge combo plates for lunch. True, this place seems pricier than other Japanese restaurants in the area, but I think their quality is pretty good and the plate presentation is very attractive. I went with some colleagues, invited by our vendor, and it was a good opportunity to get a first impression of this restaurant. There is a big parking lot and a nice pleasant patio where you will get some sun but not burnt.