I came here on a Saturday around 1230 and it was just a great experience. The restaurant itself is on the smaller side and it's busy. ALWAYS. There is almost always a wait, though it's usually 15-20 minutes depending on your party size. There's maybe less 60 seats in total, a tough tight, but there are seats outside as well, keeping it well lit. The service is great as well and the servers moved very quickly, even though every seat was taken. The menu is a single page and there are daily items so the options are limited - but the food is quite delicious. I had the Curry with Chicken Cutlet and the curry was pretty good (though it did NOT have potatoes or carrots in it). The salad was ok and the gyoza was pretty as well. That said, the portion size on the curry was REALLY big. You get two full cutlets, several scoops of rice and a generous helping of curry. It's tasty and enough to take home or split with someone else, so it's very worth the wait.

Well... Gombei has been serving me excellent comfort foods for the past two decades. Always my go-to restaurant for a nice warm Japanese simple dishes/meals. :-)

I ordered the Pork Cutlet Curry and it was super delicious and yummy! The flavor of the Curry complimented the Pork Cutlet so well and this is a great place to go to for lunch! We were seated immediately and got our food within 5 minutes. The vibe of this local San Jose spot was great as it felt very homey! I can't wait to try other items on the menu!

This is a small quiet japanese restaurant with a small option menu. Although their menu is small, their food is pretty good. Everytime I come here I will order the beef udon and the pork cutlet curry. Their appetizers are also pretty good. Their service is fast, the food arrived pretty shortly after ordering, waited around 5-10 minutes. The parking outside is a little bit hard to find depending on times. It is also paid parking.

Gombei has been a mainstay in Japantown for over 4 decades! They serve traditional homestyle meals. I love the simplicity of their menu like Curry Rice, Katsu Curry, Bentos, or their daily specials which feature the freshest ingredients like oden, tofu dishes, grilled fishes, or Sashimi, usually only Ahi. They do not have sushi or any sushi rolls. Service has always been nice and friendly. The restaurant is on the smaller size, so it will not accommodate more than 1-2 parties of 10 people.

My fiance and I came here for the second time on a Friday around 5. The restaurant was over halfway full by 5:10 so definitely come here early or be prepared to wait. I ordered the chicken nan ban from the regular menu. It comes with some sort of tartar sauce, salad, rice, cucumbers, and soup. My fiance ordered from the special's menu and got the fried chicken (which is the same as the nan ban chicken) with poke. The chicken is cooked perfectly and the sauce compliments it well. The salad has like a miso or sesame dressing on it which we both loved. The poke is well flavored and it's a pretty generous portion. The cucumbers are also a nice touch to eat with the fried chicken. They taste salty, sweet, and a little vinegary. We also ordered the croquettes which were just okay. We put some bulldog sauce on it and thought they were decent. We probably won't order them again. The service is fast and efficient. It seems like the waitresses try and make you order fast so they can turn the tables quicker. It can be a little intimidating but I guess it's because they are just so busy! The restaurant itself is comfortable and clean. Overall, I would recommend this place!

The tofu soup was super flavorful! I sat at the bar and everyone is really friendly there. They were attentive. This place is casual. There's no need to dress up. I would definitely like to try the curry next time!

This place is such a gem! I love how authentic and consistent it is from the workers to the food and service. This is also on a San Jose map guide, and I understand why.

3.5 bumped up to 4 for nostalgia's sake. This used to be a 5 star place for me with perfectly cooked food at reasonable prices. I always loved getting their specials whenever their items caught my eye. They usually have a poke special, fried chicken or oyster special, broiled fish special, etc. Just depends on the day you go. Now I think recently, the food has gone downhill. Whoever mans the grill isn't the same guy as before and the food no longer comes out piping hot, nor is the meat grilled to the right temperature. The beef teriyaki used to be my favorite thing and you could ask for it medium rare. Now, it always comes out overcooked and you can barely taste the teriyaki sauce. Chicken is also a similar story - can't really taste the teriyaki sauce anymore. I also noticed they got rid of plain udon from the menu - it was one of my favorite items as a kid and sure to be a crowd pleasure for current kids, so it's a surprise that is no longer there. They take card now and the wait staff is still friendly as ever. Overall, wish they would improve their grilled meats but still this is one of the best deals in Japantown San Jose. I'll be back especially for their panko-fried shrimp.

After standing around waiting for a long while at a different nearby restaurant without being greeted, approached, or in any way acknowledged by the wait staff, we (and a couple of other parties) walked out and decided to try some of the other nearby restaurants. My party of four decided to check out Gombei, which still had a wait about an hour prior to closing. This place is incredibly popular -- plan accordingly. When we were finally seated less than an hour to closing, we quickly made up our minds on what to order but eventually had to flag down a waiter because we hadn't even received any water, let alone any service beyond being handed menus. He seemed a bit overwhelmed and stressed, but was very nice. There was only one waitress helping with guests. The menu is focused on Japanese comfort food dishes (think curry, donburi, bentos, udon, etc.). I went with the pork cutlet don and was not disappointed. Not only was it a generous serving of food, but it was absolutely delicious. Nothing fancy or unique, just downright good, satisfying, flavorful food that leaves you full and happy. Gombei has specials that change out regularly, so we decided to try their fried chicken with vinegar with tartar sauce. The pieces of chicken were bigger than I was expecting, juicy, and very hot and fresh. Everyone else was really pleased with their dishes, which included the shrimp udon and couple different combination bentos. We got a lot of food for the money, and even though service was rocky at the start, it smoothed out in the end and our waiter was nice throughout the meal. Food came out fast after ordering, too. I'd love to come back here again and order a number of other dishes on the menu. A simple, unpretentious meal.