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Santa Clara Native: A Local Eat & Special Treat

Thursday, January 13th, 2011

Santa Clara Native: Where the Locals Eat

  • Name: DP “DareBear” – 3rd or 4th Generation Californian + First Gen. Chinese
  • Occupation: Bartender & Graphic Design Student
  • How long he’s lived in San Jose: More than 20 years!
  • Favorite Local Eat and Treat: Family Birthdays Celebrated @ Okayama Restaurant
  • Location: Japantown, San Jose

“DareBear” always takes girls for first dates to Okayama!  Then they fall in love, and with the way the story was told to me, with the restaurant anyways.  Okayama Restaurant, family owned and operated in Japantown since 1967 (one of last three historical Japantowns remaining in the US),  is also DP’s family’s favorite place to go for special occasions, particularly birthdays (they give special treatment for birthdays).  They always call ahead for reservations because it can be crowded.  DP and his sister both order the Beef Teppanyaki.  His mom gets the Soup with Tofu, his brother orders the Chicken katsu (Hawaiian Dish), and his father likes the Beef Teriyaki.  DP remembers as a kid being served otter pops on his birthday and says adults got green tea ice cream.  On their website I noticed that they offer a free birthday lunch or dinner with your ID for a party of 4 or more.

565 N 6th St Ste A
San Jose, CA 95112

(408) 289-9508

*free parking

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Obon Festival Japantown, San Jose – Summer 2010

Sunday, July 11th, 2010

Saturday & Sunday – July 10 & 11, 2010 •  This weekend, today!  Odori Dancing to still happen tonight, Sunday @ 6pm in SJ Japantown.

The Obon Festival in Japantown, San Jose is run by about four thousand volunteers from the community and the San Jose Buddhist Temple.   The Obon festival is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one’s ancestors.  The volunteers work for days preparing the food such as:

  • Beef Teriyaki ($1.50 per kabob)
  • Chicken Teriyaki (Large Pieces of Chicken $4)
  • Nigiri Sushi ($5-6)
  • Vegetable Tempura ($5)
  • Bubble Tea ($4)
  • Imagawa Yaki (dessert) ($2.50 for 2)
  • Manju (dessert)
  • Also try: Corn on the Cob, Strawberry Shortcake, Chicken Salad w/ Ramen & Cabbage & Sake or Beer (These have become other festival favorites at Obon SJ.)

What I liked about this festival was that the food was affordable and in-tune with the culture.  We walked around sampling many different tasty bites.  I saw lots of folks stopping by and buying large quantities of chicken teriyaki and beef teriyaki to take home for their families.  The take-out told me that the food is known for being good and that people have made it a tradition to stop by and pick it up each year.  After the lunchtime rush, the lines got shorter and there were plenty of places to sit and enjoy your food both inside and outside.  Out in the sun we saw Taiko drummers perform and we could have even taped down our blanket to save a spot for the Bon Odori dancing that started later in the evening.

Get there early and get a parking spot.  Some lots were $2 for all day.  Otherwise you will drive around for an extended period to find a decent place to park.

More information from past: Yelpers

More San Jose Obon Festival Photographs: Flickr

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Spirit of Japantown Festival: Japantown, San Jose

Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009

For those who don’t know, San Jose has a Japantown neighborhood.  This neighborhood has many delicious restaurants of all types, and this past Saturday it hosted the Spirit of Japantown festival.  This festival won points with us right away by its lack of entry fee.  They closed off the streets of the neighborhood and set up tents full of food, drinks, Japanese products and social groups.  Other points made by the festival were for the ample beverage tents, lack of lines, and the import tuner car show (with the required pin-up girls on location).  But, this being a food blog, we were disappointed by the minimal amount of food tents.  Granted, the restaurants and storefronts were open to offer up shaved ice and other ice cream type treats to all of the melting participants out on a 95 degree day, but i can go to restaurants any day of the week.  There were delicious pot stickers, an interesting spamshimi, and wheat noodle udon that we failed to try because we assumed there would be more food.  In conclusion, we recommend more food to make this festival rise to the level of deliciousness that was the Eat Real fest.

http://www.spiritofjapantownfestival.com/

Zach: I’ll keep this one short.  Not enough food but the food there was good. I would love to try some Japanese items that I wouldn’t normally get a chance to eat.  Short lines which I love. Not over crowded and nice to visit the area.  Still way better than the Gilroy Garlic Festival!

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