A group of us from work went to this yakitori restaurant to celebrate Huff’s birthday. I’d tell you what age he was turning, but I don’t know that information. Huff is good at keeping a tight lip about his age. Such a girl, lol!

I can’t remember if I’ve ever eaten at a yakitori restaurant where you take your shoes off outside of your table area and step down to sit below the level of the floor. It was kinda cool!

What wasn’t cool was when the host came by and “entertained” our table with some card tricks and a few jokes. It was OK, but it seemed forced and I felt a little uncomfortable, like I was trapped in my below-ground table while he stood above us performing for his captive audience.

The dinner went great and the food was pretty good. Apparently the noodles were really good – I didn’t have any though. I like my work group and dinner always flies by. At the end of dinner, splitting the bill was a headache, again! I think we all expect Papa Chang to take care of the check and let everyone know how much they owe, yay!

Mokutanya, Burlingame CA

Hotate yakitori. Sea scallops grilled with pepper. $4

Spicy kurobuta sausage yakitori. Made with Berkshire pork. $2

Kawa yakitori. Chicken skin. $2

Butabara yakitori. Pork belly. $3

Wagyu beef yakitori. $3.50

Croquettes. Deep fried panko-breaded mashed potatoes, served with tonkatsu sauce. $6

Lychee with shochu cocktail. $10 for bottle