J Robata Ramen and Grill

I went to J Robata Ramen and Grill today for lunch and I was under the impression that they would have skewers and bento boxes, but that seems to not be the case anymore? I did see that they recently changed their menu and now has less options which is disappointing, but there is nothing that bugs me more than a restaurant's website stating that they are introducing a new menu only to not even update their menu on their website.

When I went during lunch they only served ramen, rice bowls, and deep fried appetizers. We asked one of the waitresses about their bento box and she said they've been suspended for a year. Well then. The main reason I'm giving this place 4 stars is because the old ladies working there are some of the nicest people ever. The service is definitely the best service you can get out of any restaurant in Millbrae. The lady serving us was super hospitable and accommodating.

We ordered two Miso Tonkotsu Ramens for $13 each. One was at a spicy level and the lady serving us asked if it might be too spicy for us and offered to have a reduced spice level, but also brought the spicy sauce on the side just in case we wanted to increase the spice which was nice of her.

The Miso Tonkotsu Ramen was decent. I liked how tender and well marinated the pork was, the egg was cooked perfectly, and the addition of bok choy in the ramen is a choice...but I honestly enjoyed it as well. Personally I wasn't too fond of the texture of the ramen and the broth was a little salty. We mentioned the saltiness to our server and was very understanding and apologized profusely. I feel bad even saying anything bad about the food because our server was so sweet. Personally, the Miso Tonkotsu Ramen was a 6/10 for me.

We also got the Pork Katsu Curry for $13.50 and I honestly enjoyed it more than the ramen. The portions were also impressive. Sometimes Pork Katsu in some places can be drier than a Popeyes biscuit, but it has a good amount of juiciness retained and it was fried really well. It had a nice crisp to it and the Japanese curry was solid as well. 8.5/10

The restaurant is also very clean and comfortable to sit in. I hope they expand their menu again because I definitely wish their previous options were still there. Their appetizers at the moment also don't stand out enough for me to order them. In the future I'd probably go for their rice bowls, but our server told us that they will do what they can to make the ramen better next time which was nice of her to say before we left. The service was outstanding and an 11/10 which makes me want to come back for that reason while the food was just good enough.

Now this place is a 'sleeper' ramen spot.

Its accross the street from the fairfield inn n suites in a strip mall .
Street parking, so good luck

When we came in it was not busy.

Seems to be a lil family owned business. Small dining area for about 30 or so at a time.

Minimal weight staff. Open kitchen scene

Now i say sleeper because its not big on the ramen radar but it potentially can be because of flavor alone. Their menu is simple and to the point. They offer the standard classics as other ramen places.

Their style of oreder is set by using a dry erase marker on a laminated menu and you can customize what you like to have in your soup and also the heat factor is selected, too!it a lil different than usual but they're on to sumthin here

What pops out at me was their broth flavor(s) and THE BAC CHOY! brehh... im not a bac choy fan by any means(and i am asian) but when my family did not want their bac choy from the soups ...i ate all them mofos up cause they was that crisp, fresh and tasty!

There was also a ramen that i never heard of and wanted to try called the TON TON ramen ....yumm! its like clumps of ground meat smothered in this peanut butter based sauce and nestled in a spicy ramen broth surrounded by fresh, al dente noodles in a bowl. ...i mean, ya...good like that! See my pics, yo!

My family ordered they other ramens and those tastes were on point also. More on the natural side and not alot of sediment in their broth also!
...and you know when the kids eat the bowls then something is right! Its funny because i ordered my bowl like, super hot spicy and my wife ordered a mild ...we felt like hers was spicier than mine! So we brought it up to the cooks(ma n pa in the kitchen, i didnt get any names) and ma explained that was not possi le because of the colr of the broth, but she was so cool in that she hooked up another broth for my wife to test out the theory...

to sum it all up.... i say YOU should come on in here and give em a try. Its a nice lil shop. They took care of us so you should get the same respect and that alone is worth a nod.

1/11/22

I came here with my friend for lunch around 1:30PM. It was pretty quiet inside, only us and another table was occupied. The waitress gave us the menu and a paper one to mark the things we wanted to order.

The food came out really fast and the dishes are presented beautifully but they are so tiny. We didn't get any of the skewers since my friend doesn't eat meat so we got some of the dishes and I got a ramen.

Here's what we got:

1. spicy miso tonkotsu ramen (mine)
2. ginger almond asparagus
3. miso sea bass
4. king trumpet mushroom

I had a little bit of each of the fish and the veggies. I liked how fresh everything tasted, and it was very light, like no drenched in sauce or a seasoning. The presentation of the dishes were delightful with the variety if colors. The dishes were pretty small, hence, why I got the ramen. The ramen tasted good, but nothing really stood out. The service was efficient and quick since it wasn't busy.

My overall experience here was good. The plates were pretty small though, so I left the restaurant still hungry. Might come back to try the skewers at least, but we'll see!

This place has the potential to be everything you'd want and more but misses the mark with the reduced menu. If you're ever craving that binchotan grilled smell on your succulent kobe beef skewer this place is not it. If you're missing the crispy chicken wing or beef tongue or pork cheek or enoki wrapped bacon...this is also not it. But...it CAN be if they just spent a little time on it.

Coming here may satisfy you're cravings but the options are a bit limited with chicken skewers only wrapped in mostly sauce. Maybe try the ramen and other things if you're looking for some fillers...but man does this place have potential to be....the very best, that no one ever could. Especially in this location..if they opened late, gathered that late night crew that no where else can...boy oh boy

You'll feel a warm welcome the minute you enter the place. We ordered miso tonkotsu ramen, yaki tori, yuzu tori, yuzu butabara, seaweed mixed salad, and mocha ice tea ( taste like matcha). They all looked good and delicious. Service staff are friendly and courteous. Looking forward to try their other specialties on my next visit.

First time to eat here. The place was clean and neat. Staff members were helping each other. Our server was nice and attentive. We just noticed one person cooking without mask, since the kitchen had a transparent glass. We ordered Spicy Tonkatsu Ramen: their broth was really tasteful, the flavor and spices were great. I just noticed though that toppings comprised of spring/green onions, egg, bok choi (?) and pork belly. (Some served Ramen with bamboo shoots, seaweeds and mushroom. We also had Teriyaki and Honey Mustard (no photo) Chicken Yakitori- their presentation was nice and tasted good, not to tangy and not to sweet. Their pork sausage wasn't marinated that much, yet it was grilled as normal. Salmon as well was great(no photo). They also mentioned they stopped serving bento due to pandemic until further notice.

3.5 stars for J Robata. Came here on a Tuesday night and found it was one of the more filled restaurants in the area.

As I was dining alone I had a hard time making my selection because I can only eat so much but ended up going with the Robata grill items (zucchini, mushroom, pork, and chicken) Most of them were relatively ho-hum while being a tad too saucy. Sauce was not really the yakitori sauce either, more like a teriyaki. However，the yuzu chicken was damn good in spite of this. The perfectly fresh green onions balanced out the sweetness and heat of the food perfectly. I'd go back here just for this...and possibly try out curry or ramen along with it.

Service here was nice although a little relaxed. It had a very family oriented vibe to it, and I could especially tell given all the regulars they had.

All in all, wish the grilled items would use less goopy and sweet sauce or ditch the sauce completely. Look forward to seeing other it's they offer in the future.

My husband and I were in the mood for ramen and decided to give J Robata a try. While I would give this place 5 stars for the service as well as for their passionfruit sake, the ramen itself was pretty disappointing. I'm not sure what kind of noodles they use here but it didn't seem like the traditional ramen noodles. And the noodles were pretty bland and the ratio of how much noodles they provide versus the meat and toppings is heavily skewed towards the noodles. The broth was ok, not bad but not super savory either. I will give them two thumbs up for their poached egg though - it was perfectly cooked, delicious, and had a little bit of a sweet/gelatin texture to it.

They had a bunch of other stuff on their menu that looked pretty good. I would come back to this place to try the other dishes they have but would not get the ramen again.

Its unfortunate that they decided to close up shop because this place was great for ramen/soup on a cold rainy winter night. They fed my coworkers and I many times during storm season. Friendly employees who I knew cared about their business and image. They had/have many other shops to compete with in town I wish they could have stuck around a bit longer.

Came here on a whim during the week because pho down the street was closed.

The place was pretty empty, and we were craving some noodle soup so ordered the spicy miso ramen. They give you a free appetizer of chilled mushroom. It was actually really good! The sauce seemed very Chinese though. The ramen came out in a very small bowl, but it seemed to fill me up anyway. The spicy miso was $13, but came with an egg and some meat. I swear I kept getting whiffs of sesame oil coming from my bowl.

All in all, an okay place for ramen. I wasn't particularly blown away by anything, but I didn't leave feeling too disappointed either. Other tables had ordered things from the grill, but I can't attest to any of those.