Tokyo Cafe serves authentic Asian menu in unassuming surroundings

Tokyo Cafe is the quintessential hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant. At first glance, people may be hesitant to try it, perhaps because of its location near the Cannery, which might cause them to overlook the newly painted building with scattered decorations.

But those who stop by are in for a treat. The Japanese restaurant offers friendly service and delicious Asian staples such as ramen noodles, udon soup and fried rice.

As you walk inside you’ll be welcomed by the staff members, who are happy to share recommendations. A yellow menu hung on the wall features a list of appetizers, soups and salads, udon, ramen, fried rice and soba, curry and teriyaki selections.

Appetizers are edamame ($1.99), shrimp tempura ($4.59), fried goyza dumplings ($3.99), steamed goyza ($4.29) and vegetable tempura ($3.99), which comes with an array of crisp vegetables fried in a light, fluffy batter and served with sauce.

Among the soup and salad options are miso soup ($1.99), wonton soup ($4.29), green salad ($2.59), seaweed salad ($3.29) and chicken salad ($4.29).

Those with a hankering for Japanese food are in for a treat with the restaurant’s selection of main dishes.

The ramen soup includes broth options of miso (fermented bean paste), shoyu (soy sauce) and tonkatsu (pork) and ranges from $6.99 to $7.29. Extra toppings include chashu (pork), nori (seaweed), corn, egg, takana (mustard greens) and extra noodle.

Looking for something a little spicier? Curry options include chicken, pork, Spam, tofu and shrimp katsu. The katsu curry comes with a choice of tofu, chicken, shrimp or pork. It’s served with a bowl of steamed rice and a side of vegetables. Extra toppings include cheese, corn, egg and brown rice.

Fried rice soba comes with vegetable, chicken, beef or shrimp combinations. The vegetable fried rice ($5.95) is light, fluffy and full of flavor, mixed with peas, carrots, cucumbers and cabbage. It can easily feed two or more people.

There are also vegetable, chicken and tempura udon soup. The vegetable udon ($5.95) is mixed with carrots, mushrooms and soft noodles.

To help gulp down all the food, patrons can choose from soda, hot or iced green tea, bottled water, boba milk tea, Thai tea and Calpico, a Japanese uncarbonated soft drink.

The restaurant regularly offers different dining promotions. In May, customers received a free fried goyza with a $25 purchase, and Yelpers who check-in receive free edamame.

The restaurant has only a handful of tables inside and is open from 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday.