Taro San Japanese Noodle Bar

Solid lunch spot for something casual. A little bit on the high side but this is an expensive area after all. Food and service was good. You can definitely get better quality elsewhere though.

Went on a friday night and the environment was great. Seating is limited but we didnt have to wait too long. We ordered the udon with shaved beef and onions and it was perfect, lots of meat, noodles and tempura flakes, super comforting and cozy. I have seen several reviews complaining about the portions but we were stuffed after finishing our meal. Prices were quite reasonable, will be coming back again when im in the area.

Good casual dining place for udon. The restaurant uses bar stools and tables, so it works well for quick lunch or dinner. The food is ready quickly too. We really liked both the udon options we ordered - Niku udon with chili oil and duck mushroom udon. Niku one has a more clear dashi broth. Duck and mushroom udon is little creamier duck broth.

I will definitely not recommend. Save your money and dine somewhere else. Plenty of other much better choices in the mall. - Food quality is very mediocre to say the best. We ordered the thin sliced beef udon and duck udon. There were very few pieces of duck meat and the meat was very dry. One of the worst duck slices I’ve tasted in Bay Area Japanese restaurants. Beef slices were also pretty thick. - I ordered truffle as addon to the duck udon. It cost 10 dollars. However when my udon was served, I tasted zero truffle flavor at all. I assumed they might have forgotten about the add-on so I waited for a while but no add-on truffle was served. So I asked the server about it. Server checked with kitchen and insisted the truffle was already in the noodle. There absolutely was no truffle flavor at all, from the first bite till I finished the whole bowl. I was super confused. So, either the truffle flavor was so weak and nowhere worth the insane 10$ price tag, or the kitchen made a mistake and didn’t realize. - Expensive, expensive, expensive. As others have pointed out. We had two simple udons, a (invisible) truffle add-on, a desert and it cost almost $80 after tax and tip. With this price you can find many better udon restaurants with much better and more authentic quality. - The soup base. This is more of a personal taste so I won’t fault the restaurant. The flavor and ingredients are more of a Japanese-American fusion type of taste. Nothing like what you normally find in Japan. The unusual cabbage and lemon in the soup base gave it a bit weird sweet/sour taste. In a nutshell, not worth it. You are paying a high premium for location and very mediocre food.

Japanese Fusion food. The food is not your usual picks in a regular Japanese resto, which is refreshing. It’s good to try something different once in a while. Probably one of those restos in this mall that is a place you’d miss every once in a while, the kind of place you’d think about and say, let’s go back there again.

May 4, 2024: * Their mochi donut holes are the best. More texture and chewiness than other places, probably a bit denser than the average mochi donut in this area but my entire family loves them. We usually get 3 or more orders of 6 donut holes to go. They offer 3 sauces but I like the donut holes without anything. - I like their fresh udon a lot. The zaru udon is good but I have to admit the service size is a bit small. - the fish collar (hamachi or salmon) is nicely grilled and good value for the price. - I like the rolls too. They do a good job with all of the fried items. Sometimes they can be slow or forget an item but they're nice and the food quality is consistently high. Visit #3 2020: Splitting a salad and an order of noodles is a good way to get more veggies in. Most of the servers are excellent, but there was one who wasn't up to the same standard. Visit #2: The seared salmon sashimi was really good. No photos because we inhaled it. Visit #1: The pork belly kakuni is a generous portion size! Kakuni could be a bit more tender but good flavor. I think my picky parents would like this place too. Wow, I'm so happy that I live near this branch! Kaarage is really good and it's the authentic Japanese breading that I am used to - although a bit sweeter than normal. I'll be bringing my husband back for this. Enjoyed the authentic kaki fry too. Ebi fry was solid too. Tried the uni ikura udon - it's the Japanese mentaiko pasta with uni and ikura on top - yum! Soft udon but with a nice chewiness. Kid friendly too. My toddler and my friend's daughter both finished their kid-sized udon. - fast service, friendly staff

Went here for lunch with friends while wandering the Stanford Shopping Center and was delighted with our meal. The interior is welcoming with inside and outside seating alongside a long counter facing the kitchen. Service was the deciding factor for us since there was no wait for counter seating. The highlight for me was definitely the Duck and Mushroom Udon noodles. The udon noodles were perfectly cooked, offering a satisfying texture, and the combination of tender duck and earthy mushrooms in the broth was a delightful fusion of flavors. We opted for the vegetarian sushi rolls which were flavorful, yet to be honest they felt lacking from a carnivore such as myself. I will come back to try more of the menu on my next excursion to the Stanford Shopping center. To be continued...

The Niku Udon (ribeye beef) portion was great, and I loved the Vegan Scallops! Topped the lunch with a matcha tiramisu!