Where does the time go, it’s a bit too late for this to be wholly relevant to Valentines Day (granted plenty of availability at certain places) but I figured I may as well put it out since there’s been a few new openings and some movement too
The review is currently updated for all higher end / chef driven Japanese focused restaurants in the SF Bay Area including new openings since the last version like the new An, Sushi Kinsen, Hibari, Kappo (lol) and Kodowari. I’ve also revisited a few places since the last review and those restaurants have been moved as well. If you notice any notable omissions, let me know n I’ll go there and update the doc.
I’ve also added Last Visit dates and a Linked Headers for quick viewing as requested in previous versions. If anyone knows how to set up a blog thing let me know – I genuinely don’t know how that stuff works lmao
One notable omission is Fu Hui Hua, I have left that off because they are going for a more Chinese experience even if there are things borrowed from their time in Japan. If I were to put it on this list, it would be at the top – I think it is the best restaurant here right now
EDIT: Fuck lol I forgot to change December to January since this was a bit of a last minute thing – just pretend it says January in the title
Your__Pal on
Its funny that most of your tier1 are pretty critical. One is closed, one you didnt like the apprentices, one is “decent”.
TelephoneNo7436 on
Wow 👏
rsvandy on
I was kind of wondering about Hibari, thanks for the review, seems like it’s not anything amazing but I think I’ll give it a shot some time.
deskcord on
Would you include places here like Harbor House and SingleThread that aren’t explicitly or traditionally Japanese, but so obviously influenced and primarily driven by Japanese cooking and style?
DSKO_MDLR on
Glad to see you had Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki in Saratoga on the top tier. It’s a gem that felt like a high end kaiseki restaurant in Japan.
I have yet to go to Yoshizumi, though I’ve definitely heard a lot about it. I was not a fan of Kusakabe, which felt exhausting with the amount of courses that were not that appetizing on the whole. It’s not a high end place, but Sushi Edomata was perhaps my favorite sushi experience that was reminiscent of omakase and sushi restaurants in Ginza. 80 dollars for omakase is tremendous value for that kind of quality in the U.S.
Daigo was downright awful. Uneven cuts of sashimi that were cold inside and some of the worst customer service and hospitality I’ve ever experienced. Places like Daigo are why I generally stay away from Chinese-owned and run sushi restaurants, although Sushi Shin was a good experience with Jason Zhan. He did train under a Japanese chef at the Michelin star Ushiwakamaru in NYC.
Honestly, with as much as you dine on Japanese food in America, why don’t you just live in Japan? Japanese food clearly seems to be your passion. And you can get it a lot cheaper there at a higher quality with a lot more choices than you would hunting for the limited selection of quality options here.
dubsdread on
In my opinion this is the wrong approach to Sushiyas in general, the beauty of these types of restaurants are getting to know the chef and staff so that they know what you like.
Giving one off reviews is fine but not my cup of tea.
DismissiveDoc on
Have you come across any restaurant in the states that serves fugu shirako? Thanks!
8 Comments
Where does the time go, it’s a bit too late for this to be wholly relevant to Valentines Day (granted plenty of availability at certain places) but I figured I may as well put it out since there’s been a few new openings and some movement too
Review is available [in this Google Doc here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jHAZAxL2vURZOt4JCVbC1HlXx-58fVBLGAeqeu71-aE/edit?usp=drivesdk)
The review is currently updated for all higher end / chef driven Japanese focused restaurants in the SF Bay Area including new openings since the last version like the new An, Sushi Kinsen, Hibari, Kappo (lol) and Kodowari. I’ve also revisited a few places since the last review and those restaurants have been moved as well. If you notice any notable omissions, let me know n I’ll go there and update the doc.
I’ve also added Last Visit dates and a Linked Headers for quick viewing as requested in previous versions. If anyone knows how to set up a blog thing let me know – I genuinely don’t know how that stuff works lmao
One notable omission is Fu Hui Hua, I have left that off because they are going for a more Chinese experience even if there are things borrowed from their time in Japan. If I were to put it on this list, it would be at the top – I think it is the best restaurant here right now
EDIT: Fuck lol I forgot to change December to January since this was a bit of a last minute thing – just pretend it says January in the title
Its funny that most of your tier1 are pretty critical. One is closed, one you didnt like the apprentices, one is “decent”.
Wow 👏
I was kind of wondering about Hibari, thanks for the review, seems like it’s not anything amazing but I think I’ll give it a shot some time.
Would you include places here like Harbor House and SingleThread that aren’t explicitly or traditionally Japanese, but so obviously influenced and primarily driven by Japanese cooking and style?
Glad to see you had Hashiri Bettei Kaiseki Aoki in Saratoga on the top tier. It’s a gem that felt like a high end kaiseki restaurant in Japan.
I have yet to go to Yoshizumi, though I’ve definitely heard a lot about it. I was not a fan of Kusakabe, which felt exhausting with the amount of courses that were not that appetizing on the whole. It’s not a high end place, but Sushi Edomata was perhaps my favorite sushi experience that was reminiscent of omakase and sushi restaurants in Ginza. 80 dollars for omakase is tremendous value for that kind of quality in the U.S.
Daigo was downright awful. Uneven cuts of sashimi that were cold inside and some of the worst customer service and hospitality I’ve ever experienced. Places like Daigo are why I generally stay away from Chinese-owned and run sushi restaurants, although Sushi Shin was a good experience with Jason Zhan. He did train under a Japanese chef at the Michelin star Ushiwakamaru in NYC.
Honestly, with as much as you dine on Japanese food in America, why don’t you just live in Japan? Japanese food clearly seems to be your passion. And you can get it a lot cheaper there at a higher quality with a lot more choices than you would hunting for the limited selection of quality options here.
In my opinion this is the wrong approach to Sushiyas in general, the beauty of these types of restaurants are getting to know the chef and staff so that they know what you like.
Giving one off reviews is fine but not my cup of tea.
Have you come across any restaurant in the states that serves fugu shirako? Thanks!