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Totoro (Korean cuisine)  $$

 8
JaT Rating

841 Villa St, Mountain View, 94041  (Directions)


(650) 691-0796


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Bustling Korean restaurant in downtown Mountain View


Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 5/21/2004
Rating: 8
My photo gallery 		Totoro Korean Restaurant serves great short rib BBQ (Kalbi). The marinade is sweet and tender meat nearly falls of the ribs. The meal is served over a bed of cabbage and side of rice. If you have a large appetite like me, the short rib lunch will fill you up and you'll look forward to coming back. I've only been 2 times and both meals were Kalbi. I should order another dish but I cant stop ordering the tasty ribs.

Totoro doesnt have any cooking grills for their customers as all food is prepared in the kitchen. Located off Castro and Villa in downtown Mountain View, across the street is a public parking structure so you dont have to waste your time searching for spots on Castro. Lunch time can get busy so you might want to try going before 12 or after 12:45. Prices are descent as my Kalbi meal with water cost me $12 including $2 tip. So the next time you're in Mountain View with a Korean rib urge, stop by Totoro and enjoy.
 
7.62
Agent Rating


Reviewer: Eddie
Total Reviews: 47
Reviewed: 8/6/2004
Rating: 7
My photo gallery		 I have been here twice, and both time I ordered the spicy BBQ chicken. The service was good, the restaurant is small but clean. The meal itself was not bad but you feel there is something missing. Kimchi was a bit weak too, but for $7.95 I guess you cant ask for much. Overall, I would come back again if I am in the area and want Korean food badly. Otherwise, I would rahter drive 20 more min and go to Sunnyvale instead.
 


Reviewer: Julie
Total Reviews: 46
Reviewed: 11/20/2004
Rating: 8
My photo gallery		 I had a friend in town and sent him to jatbar.com to look up a place to go for dinner. He picked Totoro. I ended up being delighted with the selection.

We walked over to this small restaurant in downtown Mountain View, that I must admit I had never noticed before. We were promptly seated and started pouring over the menu. I had the Nam Bi U-Dong. It was really good. It was a noodle soup, and the noodles were thick and delicious. There were deep fried veggies in it that were also delectable. My friend ordered the Bul Go Ki and I was able to taste it. I wanted to eat the whole plate! The meat was really tender and sauce was wonderful.

The food at Totoro was reasonably priced, very good, and was served by a terrific staff. I will definitely return soon.
 


Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 84
Reviewed: 10/25/2005
Rating: 8
My photo gallery		 I have walked by Totoro many times and never thought to go in until I saw it on Jatbar. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but the setting inside is clean, tasteful and cozy. The walls are decorated with Korean poster ads, mostly of good-looking men or women hawking various alcoholic beverages.

On my first trip here I ordered the bulgoki. I haven't had good bulgoki in years and this was seriously good: wonderful, succulent slices of beef, perfectly seasoned. And it was a huge amount of food. Definitely enough to fill me up. It came with rice, kimchee, pickled sprouts and cucumber. All very fresh. It was a heavenly meal, worth 9 points at least. My only issue was that a few of the pieces were too fatty for my taste. I spent $10 including tip. Well worth it. Service was fast and friendly.

On my second trip, the story was a little different. I showed up at the peak of the lunch hour and had to wait a little while to get served. I was tempted to go with bulgoki again, but opted for the BBQ beef short ribs. The ribs were tender and delicious but were more fatty than I like. Lots and lots of chewing with the occasional mouth-to-napkin tranfer....ewwwwww, sorry for the detail. The ribs were also difficult to eat with chopsticks, so I ended up eating them by hand, though I seemed to be the only one. But worst of all, the service was abominably slow. They seemed to have hit their overload point and were not making eye contact with the 3 or 4 tables who were waiting for their checks, including mine. (Also, I had asked for water earlier in the meal and never got it). Spent $11 including tip, which was still OK for the amount of food they gave me.

I intend to visit Totoro again because there are so many dishes that look interesting (e.g. various hot pot dishes, chicken in spicy sauce). But next time, as a reset, I'm getting the bulgoki and I'm going at off peak hours! 8 points overall.
 


Reviewer: Lainie
Total Reviews: 41
Reviewed: 6/1/2006
Rating: 7.5
My photo gallery		 I like the vibe here and the service. Amazingly, I went for lunch there at noon and didn't hit any big crowds. The food is good, but I feel like there's something missing since there is no grill for you to cook your own meats. But it's a nice place to get your Korean food fix.
 
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Bippy ate...

Lunch

“It is very Japanese in style for a Korean. Nice enough, but get yourself to Santa Clara if you really want Korean food.”

9/18/2007 10:24:33 AM

budbandit ate...

bulgoki

“Only korean on Castro in Mountain View....OK if a drive to Santa Clara K-town is out of the question but very average at best.”

12/18/2006 5:41:20 PM