Sumiya Yakitori in San Jose burned down

[K K]

It is truly a sad day for J-food fans

http://cbs5.com/local/san.jose.fire.2...

[slew]

According to Sumiya's site, they have reopened in a new location... :)

[EnderWiggin]

Thanks for the update

They are now in the Mariposa Garden Shopping Center off of Homestead

-----
Sumiya
2634 Homestead Rd, Santa Clara, CA 95051

[tanspace]

I watched that fire on the news in the morning and it looked like at that time the Chinese restaurant next door was the main one that caught the fire. But I guess both Sumiya to its right and the lounge bar to its left also got affected. That is too bad.

[K K]

This just in from the chef owner:

"Sumiya will be closed due to the fire on 10/2/08. The cause of fire is still under investigation, but most likely from the next door restaurant which burnt down completely. The damage is still unknown and we have no idea when we can re-open again. Thank you all for your continued patronage since June of 2006. No matter how long it takes or what it takes, we'll be back!! Love you all. Peace! -Best regard, Ryuji, Owner Chef of Sumiya"

[EnderWiggin]

oh man that sucks. it is the only yakitori place in the states outside of New York (totto and torys) that I know of that has soft knee bone. I hope they rebuild. Has anybody been to Sumika in Los Gatos and how is it?

[K K]

Sumiya is part of the conglomerate that owns Sushi Tomi, Tomi Sushi, Sushi Maru (SJ Jtown and Milpitas), Hana etc, I'm sure they will do whatever they can to rebuild, but it will take quite a while.

Sumiya was also the only authentic J-place that opened beyond midnight (they close around that time but as long as their charcoal was still burning they kept the orders rolling). Even local authentic J-restaurant staff ate here after hours, including the chefs/owners of Kappo Nami Nami in Mountain View and friends have spotted some sports celebs in Japan visiting who ate there too.

Not trying to downplay the misfortune, but to answer your question haven't been to Sumika in Los Altos since Jan 2007 for dinner (although I've been several times for lunch). It is great, but not cheap. Lots of high end sake's including junmai Urakasumi that I had the pleasure of sharing a sample of with friends. Still the best oyako-don I have ever had, and a very enjoyable baitan mizutaki (chicken shabu shabu hot pot using pure chicken & bone broth) with the leftover broth tasting fantastic once rice is added in.

[Wendy_san]

We were at Sumika in Los Altos for about the fourth time last weekend for dinner (a friend's birthday celebration) and it was good as usual, although service was a little spotty -- they seemed to be short staffed. Can't compare it to Sumiya, as I have never been to the latter, but Sumika is always full of Japanese customers and its alleyway/parking lot setting and red lanterns can make you feel you are in Japan if you try hard enough. :-)

[hong_kong_foodie]

Any idea why the "kobe beef" isn't the least marbled at Sumika?

[hong_kong_foodie]

Any idea why their soft knee bone has soooo much meat? I mentioned it the one of the waitresses (not Japanese) and she thought it was a compliment so I gave up.

By the way, a couple of places in LA offer soft knee bone. One place that comes to mind is Shin Sen Gumi. Unfortunately I don't remember the names of the other places.

[EnderWiggin]

Oh yeah good call on Shin Sen Gumi...The only thing that bothered me the last time I went was that they don't serve soft knee bone on the ramen side.

[teela brown]

Drat! That was a very decent yakitori joint. I had several dinners there and they're nice people. I wonder if they're going to rebuild? I hope so.