[San Francisco, CA] - Wako

Booknerd preface: If you are early to your reservation like I was, a few blocks down is Green Apple Books. It's a fun place to pass some time. Just don't get lost in there like I did and have to make a semi-run for it (ok, a light jog maybe?) to get to the restaurant in time. 

That said, dinner was a few hours after watching the movie, Jimami Tofu, at the CAAM Festival at the Kabuki Theater in Japantown. The movie was about a Singaporean chef in Japan who loses sight of his cooking dreams after a bad breakup with a harsh food critic. He searches for this ex who walked out on him, in her hometown in Okinawa. Instead he finds her sister and father and learns about Okinawan cooking. It was overall very good, but it made me really question food critics. Can you critique if you can't do it yourself? This is why I agree with Andrew Zimmern on why Yelp is useless.

That said, I feel self conscious about my reviews and want to offer just a view into places that you might not have been to, wouldn't have thought of going to, or were thinking of going to as part of your research. I feel it shouldn't need to be said, but my reviews are just my opinion. I am not sponsored or paid to go to these places. I just really love food and enjoy talking about it. Plus, it helps me remember where I've been!

I don't choose places to eat based on Michelin stars: that is not my style. But, Wako was one of the places that had a Michelin star that exemplified why they earned/deserve on. The consistency with all of their items, speed (it seemed like they weren't moving any faster than any other chef but it was just that they're so relaxed and comfortable while working that it seemed slower), service, it was pretty damn near perfect. Take that and the value of the dinner (there are two omakase options - you can only order ala carte after you've finished your omakase) and this is now one of my top sushi places in Northern California (I like Sasaki more because of their house made ginger, their use of akazu, and the more intimate setting. But that is just my personal preference).  

That's right, I'm eyeing that horsehair crab and the pot o' guts next to it 👊

​Sweet fish with miso dressing

After the sweet fish, we were presented with this pretty spread.

​Mozuka from Okinawa with strawberry - super light and refreshing. Interestingly enough, we had just bought some mozuka from Akabanaa.

Sesame tofu with dashi. It was so soft but still had a very glutinous stretch to it. I forgot immediately that the server said "sesame tofu" until I took a bite. There is no mistaking that it's made from sesame.

This was an egg dessert and pickled tomato with miso cheese 

Anago in tofu wrapper (fried) - It was very different to have it fried in the tofu wrapper. I appreciated the texture of it against the eel.

Beef croquet 

Red snapper (​天然真鯛) from Niigata with cherry blossom

"Kelp-sandwiched halibut" or kobujime hirame (昆布締めひらめ). I really liked the extra flavor that the kelp gave the otherwise (for lack of better word) ordinary halibut. 

Sear action

This slice of heaven, er, king mackerel, wasn't on the menu. I must say though, it was pretty amazing. My eyes even shut involuntarily to maximize the powers of taste ha ha

Ink squid with urchin (墨いかたにのせ)

Hokkaido scallop (ﾎﾀﾃ) - almost as good as it tastes in Otaru, but not quite. If you haven't been to Hokkaido to eat these fresh, this is not bad at all!

Owan (お椀) - squid ball with crunchy popped rice, turnip, and cake made in the shape of a cherry blossom. Made me think of hopip.

Red nose amber jack (赤鼻かんぱち) from Kagoshima

Barracuda (かます) with kelp

Cold smoked cherry salmon (桜ます)

Bonito (かつお) from chiba with garlic chip - probably my favorite piece of fish for the night

Blue fin tuna (赤身ずけ) from Nagasaki marinated in soy with jalapeño

Sockeye salmon with mashed potatoes and ikura

Seeing the uni out always gets me excited

Chef Tomoharu Nakamura called it an "uni taco" - and let me tell you, this seaweed was so crisp and perfect. The uni was so creamy and delicious.

Horsehair crab (ケガニ) mixed with some of its own guts and seared. Sandwiched between rice and ikura

Atsushi-san working on some firefly squid

Tomo-San handing the otoro nigiri

As if otoro (大トロ) in itself wasn't already decadent... here are some gold flakes and sturgeon caviar to top that ish off.

The gold flakes are useless but really pretty. It didn't enhance the flavor, but it did enhance the experience 😁

Anago nigiri - this was served warm. It was incredibly soft and hard to pick up to eat. It was still good, but it wasn't my favorite.

Kagoshima A5 wagyu - the piece was pretty thin, but you could still taste how amazing it is. Plus, the plate is really pretty and added to the aesthetic appeal. Would I order this separately? Probably not. I am still planning on going to Kobe to eat the real deal. Someday.

At this point, the server asked if I would like to order anything extra. What I really wanted to do was order the sweet shrimp with uni and another order of the bonito, but I only added on the Sweet shrimp and uni so that I wouldn't be so stuffed I couldn't enjoy the rest of the meal (no kidding though, that bonito was everything).

Chef Tomo gave me some extra uni to apologize for how long it took. I was honestly not perturbed. It was enjoyable to sit and watch them work. While some sushi restaurants are super quiet, there were customers chatting so it wasn't an awkward silence. It was a pleasant amount of ambient noise and made for an enjoyable dining experience.

One of the main reasons I like ordering fresh shrimp is that you get this fun treat to go with it!

I started wondering at this point if we were getting the tamagoyaki, so I ordered it. The server told me that it's a part of the set meal, so it would come out shortly. While my top tamagoyaki is still Sushi Kashiba, this one is a very close 2nd/3rd tie with Sasaki. This starts out sweet, but as it sits on the tongue, it gets savory and you can really taste the fish/shrimp.

When confronted with "would you like the red miso? or the white miso?" of course we went with one of each! The red miso had fish in it (I preferred this one), white the white miso was a vegetable miso soup (The Boyfriend preferred this one).

I went with the mango mousse for dessert. The mango was super ripe and super sweet. Some tea would have gone with this perfectly.

Because it's his birthday, they threw some confetti on his placemat and lit a candle for him. This was the blood orange granita, which was light and refreshing. It would have been a better choice than the mango mousse if you were feeling full.

One last parting shot of the goodies - I see you, Hokkaido uni tray!

Address
211 Clement St.

(415) 682-4875
Open Tuesday – Saturday
5:30pm – 10:00pm 
(dinner only - reservations recommended!)

Website