Hotaru, Japanese Restaurant Review, San Mateo

Hotaru 33E 3rd Ave San Mateo, CA 94401 650-343-1152 Website

Downtown San Mateo has a very high concentration of Japanese restaurants. Almost one on every block.This one is one of the best and most economical.  No surprise, there is a line out front most of the time. We’ve tried pretty much all the nearby Japanese restaurants. Sushi Sam and Kisaku are also good but more expensive.

Decor, Vibe – Cramped small place with lots of people inside and people waiting outside.  Families, couples, small groups eating together.

Menu Pictures: (Click to zoom in on any picture)

To Go Menu

Hotaru’s Menu has Sushi, Sashimi, Teriyaki, Rolls, and appetizers. They have it all.  Be sure to look at the specials that are only on the wall.

Hotaru Full Picture Set

Picks:

Udon ($5.25), both hot and cold, is of good quality and quantity.

Chicken Teriyaki ($9.25) is down right huge and priced reasonably. Good quality, not burned, sauce is just right, not too sweet. It includes a typical tasteless small salad and small cup of average miso soup.

Hamachi Kama ($11), yellow tail collar, is available from time to time and is cooked well. Salted or teriaki style, this is the filet mignon part of the fish.  They are the only ones to include a bonus piece of the fish.

Cha wan mushi ($3.80) or hot egg custard, is smooth and filled with a couple buried shrimp. It comes super hot out of the kitchen.

Salmon Roe Sushi ($3.80) was salty and slimy but we liked it.

Udon Special ($12.25) includes Udon or Soba and a choice of Chicken Teriyaki, Pork Cutlet, or Broiled Mackerel, plus California roll.  Pretty filling and a nice range of items. All items are of high quality. California roll uses fake crab but you can pay more to get real crab.

OK:

Dynamite Roll ($7.95) has lots of Cooked salmon and avacado but the sauce makes it real spicy. Get it only if you like heat.

Beef Tongue ($4.80) has 4 big pieces of beef tongue.  Very chewy.  Good flavor.

Spider Roll ($8.45) was filled with crab, soft shell crab, avocado, fish eggs, and cucumber.  It was crunchy and soft at the same time.  Excellent version.

Chicken Yakitori ($3, Salted) had 2 good sized skewers of lightly grilled chicken with good flavor and a very crispy crust.

Pans:

None

The service is fair and unemotional.  The chefs are not too flexible as there have been time when we tried to return something and the chef actually said no.  When the place is busy, they are apt to not want to do special accomodations. This is not a place to linger, as they’ll push you out the door. Alas, sacrifices have to be made at places with good value like this.

Revisit January 2010 shows food quality is still the same.  Service has improved with helpers scanning the tables all the time.

July 1, 2009, they are now open longer hours. Saturday 11:30am – 10pm, Sunday 11:30am – 945pm.

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