[San Francisco, CA] - Tataki

On June 6th, we went to the JCCSF for the event An Evening with Eddie Huang. Driving out from Sacramento, we wanted to make sure that we found parking and that we got there without any worries from the traffic (a lot can happen on the road between Sacramento and SF). We got there earlier enough to find street parking a few blocks away and with enough time to grab some dinner. They were going to serve bao of some sort at the event, but it didn't seem appetizing to me. I busted out the trusty yelp restaurant finder to see what I felt like eating. A few of the places nearby looked good but were closed. One of the places nearby was a BBQ place that looked good, but I wasn't in the mood for anything that heavy (didn't want to have the itis while listening to Eddie speak!). Luckily, we found a sushi place about 4 blocks away. I went there with low expectations. I haven't heard of it before and advertising it as sustainable sushi among other things made me worry it was just an expensive hipster trap.

My bad. Tataki was very good! Our server was new, but still helpful, friendly, and attentive. He told us about their happy hour and some of their happy hour drinks. One of the items on the menu immediately caught my eye: Russian Roulette. In the menu, it says it has a surprise. Well, hadn't seen it anywhere else before so why not? When we place our order with the bartender, he says it's a good choice. When he brings it out, he explains that one has a glob of wasabi in it and whoever gets it, takes the shot of nigori sake. This is a game that I think we'll be playing whenever we have sushi at home now.

Anyway, if you are in the area, Tataki is a great place for some happy hour. The fish was fresh and well prepared. I'm not usually into rolls, but the rolls that we ordered were good. The ramen was also good. The noodles were cooked just right (unlike those places that over or undercook their noodles), plus the broth was enjoyable after the sushi to finish up our experience at Tataki. I think my favorite item that we ordered though, was the saury. The fish had such a great, full flavor. Watch out for bones though, they're bonier than trout!

Their wooden menu.

The bar. Sapporo is $4 during happy hour which is from 5-6:30pm.

Russian Roulette - one of these has a gob of wasabi in it. No peeking under the scallop! Whoever gets the wasabi has to take the sake shot ($15).

Arctic Char Roll (Happy Hour - $5. $4 for the handroll version. Regularly $8), which has avocado with arctic char. 

Grilled Saury with sea salt ($7). Watch out for bones. If you can handle it, this is a pretty good fish.

Tonkotsu Ramen ($12). Per their website: "Our soup is a complex broth made from pork, chicken, seasonal vegetables, and some secret ingredients and spices. We make it entirely from scratch and let it simmer overnight to extract deep and robust flavors."

Address:

2827 California St

San Francisco, CA 94115