Ippuku

Dimly lit, romatic/intimate spot for some bites and drinks.

Skewers were all well seasoned and charred to perfection. I also got a chicken udon to have some hot food to go with the skewers.

We got a grapefruit and lemon Chu-Hi which was refreshing!

Ippuku has some good food but it is definitely thriving due to its location because there's no way it would survive anywhere else. Unfortunately, it's doing so well that I doubt they'd fix the issues anything soon.

First of all, it's SO hot in there - there's no AC or fans of any kind, which makes it so difficult to enjoy an izakaya. Second, because they're so busy, the staff are mean and never available. I do feel bad because they're clearly understaffed but I'm also a customer here to enjoy the dining experience yk? Once again, because they are so busy, the food comes out astronomically slowly. It took about 45 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes to get all of our food and we wanted to order more skewers after trying some but dreaded that wait time. The whole time, remember you're also sweating in the dimness.

On to some pros, they finally have online reservations god bless. I used to spend my evenings calling them and hoping they'd pick up so I could place a reservation. They accept walk-ins but you'll be waiting a while - perhaps as much as it took to get our food lol. My menu highlights are the bacon mochi, chicken thigh, chicken oyster, and the scallion pancake. Mehs include the corn tempura and the squid. The definitely skip are the beef, the chicken patty stick, and the broth with rice ball.

Ippuku you have good food especially for being in a collegetown but izakayas are about the experience and you give me nothing but stress!!

Food is good
Service is good
But not recommended to come after 7pm on weekend, and after 7:30pm on weekday. We drive 45 mins to come to eat and waited 1 hour for seat. And they ran out of all the popular things like chicken gizzard, liver, skin, liver, cartilage and the raw chicken. I don't like what to order anymore. It's only 7:30pm on a Sunday. I don't mean that their food no good but they ran out of a lot of things so it's not worth the drive and wait anymore. I will only come before 6pm. Otherwise go to another restaurants.

Closest to Japanese traditional yakitori as you can find in US! Having lived in Yokosuka I grew up on Japanese food, yakitori was always a family outing.

Can't believe I have never written a review about this place. Whenever I am craving for yakitori, this place pops up in my head. Everything is so good here. Besides their chicken skewers, I also love their bacon wrapped mochi. Their whole grilled squid is also exceptional. It has the perfect balance of flavors and it's on my must order list whenever I visit. To complete the meal, my go-to items are their yaki onigiri, squid ink fried rice and chicken ramen.

I definitely recommend reservations in advance. If you decide to walk-in, you need to arrive before the restaurant opens else you will find yourself waiting for a long time. This place has a cozy ambiance and reminds me of Japan. They also have attentive servers which gives you a great experience from beginning to end.

I've been a long-time Ippuku fan, and was very glad to return after so many years. Ippuku did not disappoint! Everything is as good as I remembered!

| Food |
Standouts tonight:
- Nama-Yuba: fresh tofu skin with ankake (dashi sauce) and wasabi. I can never resist yuba when it's on the menu and this one was outstanding! It was so good I ordered an extra one to bring home for the hubby.
- Chicken thigh oyster: Crunchy skin on the outside and juicy on the inside. Sooo good!
- Omakase: While ala carte orders of skewers come in two skewers per order (except for tsukune/chicken meatball), an omakase order includes five skewers. It's both a great deal and offers good variety. Our omakase includes: chicken neck, negima (chicken thigh with leek), chicken heart, chicken thigh, chicken shoulder blade. I especially liked the chicken shoulder blade!

| Service |
We didn't have a reservation and arrived ~10 mins prior to opening this Friday evening in hopes to get a walk-in table. We lucked out and were first in line. A line quickly formed behind us and there were easily 10+ people behind us by the time doors opened at 5 pm.

Doors opened right on the dot at 5 pm; we were welcomed into the restaurant and seated right away. Service throughout our meal was great! We felt both well cared for and given privacy to chat over dinner.

Came by for dinner the other night and it was a decent experience. Parking is available on the street and/or in parking garages nearby. The BART station is nearby.

Made a reservation via Tock and our table was ready upon arrival. There is a $30 deposit per person along with a $2.25 procesing fee. The deposit was applied to the final bill. Our table was alloted a 2 hour window despite the restaurant being merely half full on a Sunday evening.

Staff was cordial although there were some bizarre interactions. For example, omakase chicken yakitori wasn't available. Interestingly enough, merely a few items on the were "low in stock"... Halfway through the meal, our waitress informed us that the credit processing machine "was down" and that we would need to pay for the bill in cash?!? ...I wonder what other diners did if they didn't have enough cash on hand?!?

Started off with the dungeness crab croquettes and they were excellent and world class. There was done of dungeness crab and the potatoes were super fluffy and fried to perfection. There was a nice bed of cabbage with sauce underneath too.

The fried fish with tartar sauce was also excellent. Super fresh and light friend topped with super flavorful tartar sauce.

The negi-yaki scallion pancake was decent, although a touch on the drier side and heavy on the sauce.

The A5 wagyu ribeye cab skewer cooked rare was excellent. Marbling was excellent. Flavor was on point.

Surprisingly, I found the chicken yakitori, the house special, probably the weakest with the chicken breast being very dry along with thigh with leeks...bummer.

The restaurant was also a touch warm for a late summer evening. I did notice that perhaps they didn't have air conditioning as the windows were open...

Ippuku is a fantastic izakaya. Wish it was not as well known as you may wait for an hour to get a table. It's a fun date experience.

Managed to get a seat here easily one evening. I don't know if that's often the case. What you have here is a pretty classic Izakaya that could be tucked away in Kyoto somewhere. Small and cozy there's chicken and drinks for days as you kinda order through the menu. It seems like it does get a little confused as to who is waiting on your table and how to get service (least from my n=1 experience) but people are friendly and things will happen, might take a little time. That said, it's Berkeley...so maybe I should chill a little because I know I'll be back here.

When I was a teenager, I would always walk by Ippuku while on my way to a high school mentorship on the UC Berkeley campus, and would be fascinated by its traditional Japanese design and alleyway restaurant aesthetic. I told myself I'd go there for a cute little date when I was in a serious relationship, and I finally got to do it this year! My boyfriend and I celebrated his birthday here enjoyed the quick service, tasty izakaya, and lowkey presence. While it was super busy, the restaurant didn't carry the chaos that other restaurants typically have; it instead kept loud conversations within their own booths or tables. The lighting inside is dim and warm and the ceiling is pretty high - I think this place is definitely an excellent spot for date night.

We ordered the following:
- Umeboshi-hi: sweet and strong; I ordered multiple!
- Mito No Kairakuen: Strong and smooth
- Moro Kyu: Yummy, fresh, and crunchy
- Maitake Tempura: Yummy and not too oily!
- Omakase Gushi: A selection of skewers chosen for us by the chef -- all were savory, tender, and flavorful!
- Bekon Mochi: This one was our favorite! Super chewy and we loved how the bacon complemented the mochi taste!
- Gyu-tan: yummy and chewy beef tongue!
- Karaage: not the best that we've had, but a good complement to the meal!
- Rafute: not as impressive as we had thought it would be; it sort of tasted like pork adobo.

I highly recommend this spot if you're looking to 1) spend on the experience, 2) not get full, and 3) are open to taking your shoes off to sit in traditional style for your meal (of course, they do have booths to sit at as well). I'm really glad I got to live out my long time dream and share the meal with who I wanted!