Came here to celebrate my husband's birthday and thoroughly enjoyed our Bar Kappo experience! This…read morehas definitely made my top 3 omakases I've tried in the Bay Area so far. The restaurant can be a little hidden, but it's pretty easy to find with the instructions they send before your reservation. It's located above Fermentation Lab. Just head up the stairs and you'll find it inside the old Ichi Pub space. The restaurant is small and intimate, with only 9 seats at the counter. When you arrive, walk through the Yuji curtain and check in directly with the chef since there is no host. My biggest concern with set menus is always whether I'll feel satisfied and full afterward, but that was definitely not an issue here. My husband and I were both very satisfied after the meal. Every dish was delicious, and you could really taste the quality of each ingredient. Highlights for me were the bluefin sashimi, which was so buttery and soft that it literally melted in your mouth. The skillfish was rich and decadent, and the citrus and ginger balanced the flavors. The fried fish was another favorite as it reminded me of the savory Japanese rice crackers I loved growing up. Since it's located in Japantown, parking can be challenging. We had to loop around several times looking for street parking and even had two cars take spots we were waiting for, so definitely give yourself extra time before your reservation. I would highly recommend this place! The chef changes the menu periodically based on what's in season, so it's a great excuse to come back and try something new in the future. Total spent for 2: $462

Really hidden spot with no signage -- we had to ask neighboring restaurants for directions, but it…read morewas absolutely worth finding. The chef was incredibly warm, smiley, welcoming, and attentive throughout the meal. Every ingredient tasted exceptionally fresh, with careful selection of only the best cuts and portions. Highlights included the otoro, wagyu beef, spot shrimp, caviar, green eye fish, and hotaru ika. The omakase was perfectly portioned and thoughtfully paced from start to finish. A truly memorable experience.

So good! This place definitely lives up to the hype. The tempura was incredibly light, airy, and…read moreperfectly crispy without feeling greasy at all. The soba was also delicious and paired really well with the tempura. One thing to keep in mind is the wait. The restaurant is tiny, so even on a random weekday we ended up waiting about 40 minutes. I've also heard weekend waits can easily stretch to over an hour, so definitely come prepared if you're planning to visit during peak times. Funny enough, they accidentally gave me the wrong order--but I wasn't about to complain because they gave me the more expensive fish tempura instead of the shrimp tempura I ordered. It ended up being a happy accident because I got to try even more of their menu. The fish tempura, hot soba, shrimp tempura, and handmade fish cake tempura were all delicious. I'd happily recommend any of them!

As everyone else mentioned, Sobakatsu is dine-in only, has limited seating, and always has a wait…read more It's best for small parties of 1-2. There's bar-type seating and tables, so you may share with strangers. You order on a tablet, pay, and then sit down. When there's no more seats, you're just waiting in line to order. Chef calls out your order # and then you pick up your tray of food and return to your seat. When you're done, you return the tray to the chef. I ordered the tenkake (hot soba) with shrimp kakiage and soba warabimochi. The soba noodles had good texture, nice and chewy but not mushy. The dashi broth was delicious and warming. The shrimp kakiage was good, but a bit greasy. The soba warabimochi was chewy and mildly sweet. They have a bathroom onsite, which funnily enough, is roughly similar in size to the dining area. If you're eager to try Sobakatsu, I recommend lining up 30 minutes before opening for higher chances of first seating. Don't take your chances closer to closing, since they may close early when soba runs out.

This post is a long time coming and probably will get lost in a sea of 5 star ratings, but this…read moreplace is worth the wait and visit. I've been numerous times with either 3 or 4 people and no one ever leaves unsatisfied or unhappy. Ambiance feels like typical great Korean food joints that pack people in, but it's nice in way - intimate in the having great food and drinks with buddies way. My only regret is this place basically ruins any other competing restaurant that does Galbi Jjim. It's like having prime rib from House of Prime Rib and now all others just seem "meh". You've been warned!

It was absolutely delicious. On a chilly day, coming to this restaurant for hotpot was a fantastic…read moreexperience. Everything--from the hotpot to the various types of kimchi--was excellent, and the service was attentive and dedicated. When I return to SF next month, I will definitely come back here. Thank you to the entire staff.

Wait was long but worth the wait. Delicious and tasty. Definitely will come back. The appetizers…read morewere also excellent, recommend the gyoza for starters.

The best ramen in San Francisco. Their service is 110% and the food is just as good. Highly…read morerecommend this place. We come from Modesto just to eat here in Japan Town. It's that good. I promise.

We are writing to express our strong appreciation for the exceptional Umami Creamy Tan-Tan-Men soup…read moreand to respectfully request its permanent return to the menu. This dish stands out as one of the most memorable and flavorful offerings we have experienced. The rich, creamy broth delivers a perfectly balanced umami depth, harmoniously combined with subtle heat and aromatic spices that create an indulgent yet refined dining experience. Both my partner and I were thoroughly impressed by its complexity and comforting warmth, and we have continued to crave it long after the winter season. The Umami Creamy Tan-Tan-Men soup represents a true highlight of your culinary repertoire. We believe it deserves a lasting place on the regular menu, where it can be enjoyed year-round by loyal patrons and new guests alike. Its removal has left a noticeable gap, and we are confident that reinstating it as a signature item would be met with great enthusiasm. Thank you for creating such an outstanding dish. We eagerly await its return and look forward to ordering it on our next visit.

Truly stellar ramen at Hinodeya!…read more A few friends and I were in San Francisco for the day are were carving ramen after a morning of strolling around. We were recommended a spot in the Japantown Center Mall, but settled on Hinodeya after checking Yelp. It turned out to be a great choice. We were greeted upon entering the restaurant and someone rang what to believe to be a gong?! It was a very fun addition to our experience. We were shown to a table and started browsing the menu. The interior was very clean and neat. There are plenty of options, including some for vegetarians/vegans. My two vegetarian friends ordered both of the vegan/vegetarian ramen options and were raving about them. I ordered the Hinodeya (house) ramen and it was delicious. The broth was so flavorful and the noodles were perfect. The table is set with crispy garlic or onions (can't remember) and a chili blend which were yum on top of the ramen. My friends ordered the spicy miso ramen and was satisfied despite it not being very spicy. We had great service the entire time and the prices were very reasonable. Hinodeya is a gem I will be revising on future trips to San Francisco!

I really enjoyed the food, ambience, and service. The 11-course tasting menu was beautifully…read morepresented, tasty, and very creative. I could still taste authentic Thai flavors, but elevated with a different level of inventive preparation and cooking techniques. Overall, it was an excellent dining experience. I will definitely return, and I'm looking forward to trying their lunch menu next time.

My friend and I came here for a girl's lunch to enjoy their $45 special. I was pleased to see there…read morewas a vegan option here and was excited to try it. My friend ordered the duck. I ordered the Lion's Mane Mushroom. *A lovely note for the vegans and lactose-intolerant: there is a dairy-free option for the Thai iced tea (made with coconut milk). Given that this was a Michelin guide restaurant, we had certain expectations of the place and sadly we were disappointed. While the service was friendly and the server knowledgeable on the menu, the service itself was severely lacking in detail you'd expect from a $$$$ type of place. Our drinks came out first, followed by the appetizer, then came EVERYTHING ELSE all at once. Papaya Salad Daikon Soup Trio of rice (purple, brown, white) Curry + protein (duck for my friend, lion's mane mushroom for me) We tried to tackle the soup first. It came in an artsy looking bowl with undulated/rouged edges that was awkward to drink from but equally awkward to spoon the soup from. The daikon was VERY WOODY. Both my friend and I awkwardly spit out splintery fibers and left them on our plate. Some of my daikon chunks were fine but my poor friend had double the amount of woody mass collecting on her plate which was really unsightly, especially when you're supposed to be at a nice place. I can't say I've ever encountered this with daikon before at a restaurant. It's pretty easy to see which parts of the daikon are too mature to use. Next we tried to get on to our entree as that was cooling quickly. Unfortunately the curries were already somewhat congealed by the time we made our way to it. The vegan one was pretty good, but again, I had some woody bits in my food. I don't know if that's from the mushroom or if it was from another ingredient but the splintery clumps amassing on the side of our plates was not what we had imagined we'd be doing at a Michelin guide restaurant.... My friend's duck wasn't much better. She complained about the awkward texture and wound up spitting out half of that one her plate. -not to mention, her meal was served to her without a steak knife. After waiting for much too long, she got up to go request a knife and walked the knife back to the table like a psycho. I'm not trying to sound entitled here, but when a restaurant is supposed to be "nice" and has "$$$$", you sort of expect a certain caliber of service. Having to go ask for a knife when you ordered a chunk of meat does seem like a miss. For what it's worth, the curries for both of us had a unique blend of flavors. My friend had a penang currty sweetened with lychee. I don't remember what kind of curry mine was, but it was tasty with a kick in the end. Curry to rice ratio was perhaps 1:3. We had to ask for extra curry to accompany the protein and rice to balance everything out. It would have just been so pasty and dry otherwise (you know, since everything was already congealed...) By the time we got around to our papaya salad, it had gone from chilled to room temp. While it was tasty, it wasn't as refreshing as the salad could be. We're not sure why all courses were served at once, or if that's how this specific lunch service goes? The best course of the day was 100% the dessert. Order the vegan dessert! "Mango-sticky rice ice cream". It was a homemade mango ice cream with coconut milk base. It sounds basic but these ingredients were masterfully put together to create something truly unique. Not sure where the rice was in this whole situation, but who cares! This dessert was incredible! Lightly sweet, creamy and freshing. It arrived like a piece of art, like a glossy, glimmering mango sculture. The way that chilled mango puree spilled over, coating the ice cream underneath... It clung on to the ice cream layer just barely coating it for most perfect combination of sweet and creamy. It was unfortunate I got the last one for the day. My friend had the cheesecake which she said was tasty but not mindblowing like my mango ice cream. It also was... not so glorious. In fact, it looked small and flat, like a half used stack of mini post-it notes. All in all, it was a fun experience. The dishes were familiar favorites with a creative twist. For $45, it wasn't bad but I don't know about coming back for the $$$$ dinner experience based on this visit. Maybe we'll be back for the $40-$45 prefixe again in the future.

The food is so delicious I'm obsessed. Great flavor and it's like having a comforting home-cooked…read moremeal.

Sick? Not sick? Want something "light"? Soupchu has you covered! I've had several soups here and…read morethey are all super yummy! I highly recommend the lentil soups...or...better yet, the TOMATO soup! it's truly a unique place for all your soup needs. All are in great portions and are fresh.

The food is delicious. We have tonkatsu udon and mentai cream udon as well as the lychee soda…read morereally cute. Our server Jeff was really quick to take order and was always available to attend to you which was nice. Overrall quick service and affordable price would recommended!

I got the tonkatsu ramen deluxe, it was amazing! Our server Janny was attentive and friendly, she…read moredescribed the food before ordering which was appreciated. Will be coming back again!