What a gem amongst all the restaurants in Japan Town! It's in the outside center near the…read morestationary store Paper Tree for reference. Been here a couple of times already and the service never failed. Even came here during the Cherry Blossom Festival and the staff were still friendly / accommodating. They even put a spicy sauce on the side of one of the katsu plates when we mentioned that my dad couldn't handle all that haha. This cozy spot mainly focuses on katsu plates, but I like how they had off menu or specials to choose from if you'd like another option. I will say though them katsu plates were just chef's kiss. The meat is pounded thin enough where it's still juicy and tender, but doesn't affect the exterior from being crunchy and a bit flaky. Nothing was dry here yallll! I also like how it already comes with miso soup and salad. Huge fan of that Hamachi Truffle special though. Think of a citrusy flavor from the ponzu, fresh fish, a bit of micro greens, and a thin slice of jalapeño that just ~works~ on a cute wooden spoon that you want to steal I could honestly eat like 5 spoons of this. I'd skip on the calamari as it was kind of skimpy to share with a large group. Only note was that their fried katsu curry was a bit underwhelming with having more slices of carrots than potato! Would love to come back if I am ever in the area.

Ganji is a solid spot for katsu in Japantown! The service was excellent--the staff were friendly,…read moreattentive, and quick to take our orders, which made for a great dining experience. The miso soup was a delicious way to start the meal, and when my katsu arrived, it looked amazing. The meat was hot, tender, and the portion was huge, so I definitely left full. My only suggestion is to ask for the curry on the side if you like your katsu extra crispy. I had the curry poured over it, and the breading got soggy pretty quickly. The only reason I'm giving four stars instead of five is the price. My dish was around $30, which felt a little expensive, although I can understand it given the quality of the meat and generous portions. Overall, it's a great place if you're craving katsu, and I'd definitely come back--just with the curry on the side next time!

Tadaima is a small matcha and Japanese Sando + snacks shop in the Mission District. The menu has a…read morewide variety of matcha base latte with adjustable sweetness, foam toppings, and other Japanese inspired drinks. Ambiance: A small clean store with a small high top area, another high top table outside, and a bench to sit outside while enjoying your matcha and food. Service: Food / drinks ordered via a worker at the front with a menu to the left to see options available. Staff were friendly and helpful during interaction. Wait time: Not an extremely long wait between ordering and receiving food and drink. A buzzer is given to you which rings when your food is completed. Food: The yuzu salmon onigiri had a decent serving of salmon inside and on top of the rice. Good salmon flavor but slightly lacking in yuzu flavor. Chicken Curry onigiri: a mild curry flavor which again had a decent rice to chicken ratio. The chicken did taste slightly dry despite the curry sauce likely due to the nature of being a ground meat. Matcha Latte c Pistachio Cream was easily one of the best tasting matcha drinks I have had in SF. The matcha had a strong flavor and the pistachio cream did not overpower the taste of the matcha. There was a nice sweet, slightly salty, and pistachio flavor from the cream and the addition of the crushed pistachios was not a weird texture for the drink. I would definitely be interested in trying more of their matcha beverages due to quality and size of drink compared to cost.

This wasn't on my radar. I just so happened to walk past it. Of course the line outside peaked my…read moreinterest. Small space, consistent flow of customers, and busy workers fulfilling in-store and online orders. Had myself the Matcha Latte with Strawberry Cream. Not a huge matcha fan but I appreciate the smoothness in this drink. Not as earthy as other matcha drinks I've had. The strawberry cream for me elevated the drink. I tried their Katsu with pineapple sando. Katsu could've been more crispier and warm. Sure it tasted okay but it's a messy one to eat. With each bite the ingredients fell out. Making it challenging to eat. Thankfully I snagged the only high top table inside the shop. Hopefully I didn't look like a fool trying to eat it haha I doubt I'd order it again. Also ordered two onigiris: salmon and chicken curry. There was a bit of a wait for this order. Not sure why. My favorites out of the items I ordered. Both had a generous amount of filling and the rice ratio imo was just right. The salmon was just right, not fishy nor full of sauce. The chicken curry had a subtle curry flavor. I appreciated how warm it was. I didn't care to ask but I wish they had hot sauce available. Overall, decent spot for a matcha drink and a snack. Don't expect to eat there unless you want to wait around. The workers are so busy, that it took away the welcoming customer service one would expect (I know it ain't Starbucks but a smile would've been nice).

This review is for the dinner, not the cafe. Really enjoyed the food, decor, vibes, and service!!…read moreUnexpected but they had a solid house music playlist going on too LOL. Our friends got drinks including the Noguchii which had A5 Wagyu Washed Japanese Whiskey and Hinoki Wood Smoke -- when they unveiled the drink, the smoke flavor was so strong we could smell it from across the table and it was so good. Fav dish was the Shoji Burger followed by the Tebasaki. Our party of 4 were seated in a booth at the end of the room where it had dark/moody lighting. We liked that the menu was small so we could order most of it. Our server was like "you guys have the longest food ticket" and they had to keep clearing dishes and making room on the table for us LOL. The water glasses were tiny and even though the servers were great about refilling them often, I had to refill myself a bunch because each sip was half the glass hahah. Recommend getting a reservation for dinner otherwise you can try to walk-in right at opening. What we got: - Ceviche: solid, mild spicy - Uni Amaebi Donburi: high quality but expensive for what you get - Tebasaki: fried chicken wings SO GOOD, loved the seasoning - Pork jowl: solid even when we're not as into fatty meat - French fries: too cheesy/saucy lol - Tori Nanban Sando: good quality chicken, tasty - Shoji Burger: our fav! Presentation of them pouring the cheese onto the sizzling plate was 10/10 - Hojicha Affogato: loved this!

This review is for BAR Shoji (not the Cafe)…read more Wow! Talk about ambience. You need to be 21+ to enter and they do check ID. It's dark and sexy inside. Table setting was gorgeous. Decor is minimal. Menus are scanned using the QR code at the table. Service is excellent! We were approached/reminded that our reservation was for 1.5 hours but the party after us wasn't arriving until later so we can extend our stay for another half hour. That was very nice of them to let us know. We started with cocktails. Beautiful glassware. They may look delicate but these drinks are strong! Very delicious though. We ordered: KABOSU - like an elevated spicy clarified margarita with Thai flavors. Not too spicy. It just adds a kick. This cocktail paired well with what we ordered for dinner. KOHAKU - like a matcha whiskey cocktail SHOJI MARTINI - dry and made with Japanese gin For dinner, we ordered: FRENCH FRIES with Akazu aged vinegar aioli, tobiko - the fries were dusted with Thai seasoning which were flavorful eaten as is but when dipped in the aioli, whoa!!! The tobiko added the right amount of balance to the tang of the aioli. Next level!! OYSTER - the dressing was good. A little on the sweet side. PORK JOWL - tender and so flavorful. I wish it came with rice. The pear and pineapple kimchi was the perfect side. CEVICHE - fish was fresh and the flavors were well-balanced. Loved the giant pieces of nori rice crackers. SHOJI BURGER - this was a nice show at the table. The fondue cheese was yummy. The burger was well-seasoned. Good for sharing. For dessert, we had: HOJICHA AFFOGATO - Beautiful, delicate and delicious dessert that was fun to watch prepared at our table. Lovely experience. Thank you for the great service. The staff was kind and professional. Well done.

So glad this neighborhood finally has an AYCE sushi spot, and at a price that actually makes sense…read more For $40 a person you are getting a serious deal. One tip: get there early. The place fills up around 6pm so arriving ahead of that will save you a wait. They don't take reservations, so first come first served. The ordering experience is really smooth. Everything is done through an iPad at your table and the food comes out to you. They won't let you place a new order until your previous one has been delivered, which honestly is a smart system and helps with pacing so you don't over order right out of the gate. What sets this place apart from other AYCE spots is the variety. It's not just sushi. You can also order appetizers, salmon, teriyaki chicken and more, so there's something for people who want to mix it up beyond rolls. Delicious, easy, affordable and in the neighborhood. Highly recommend!

-Food is just okay. 3 stars. Some good value sushi and cooked food won't be available in menu. It…read morelimited to order every single round. In average, waiting time for food is 10+ minutes each round. -Hopefully this staffs will have more training in buffet style dining. Server will give you check when there's still have available time to order in system. -Environment is just okay too. They just stuck some paper towel underneath the leg of table to balance.

Amazing! I came here to celebrate my 6 year anniversary and immediately felt very welcome. The…read morehostess was very kind and even offered champagne to us which was very kind. We both got the pre fixed menu which was $90 a person and we added the $15 addition for more sashimi and uni. I also added separately the silken tofu. Everything on the pre-set menu was amazing and such high quality and thoughtfully put together. I especially appreciated a description of each dish when delivered and what best way it was to eat. My favorite of the night was definitely the sashimi and uni. Such incredible quality of the fish, some of the best I ever had. I will say that my only mistake was ordering the silken tofu as I was not a fan of this one much at all. I normally really like tofu but I do think this one was not for me. Overall amazing food, service, and ambiance. I especially appreciate what they have curated in the space at Rintaro.

Rintaro is a beautiful restaurant with gorgeous wood accents and thoughtful Japanese-inspired décor…read morethat makes the experience feel special from the moment you walk inside. As for the food, it was unfortunately just okay. We ordered the yellowtail appetizer, gyoza, chicken katsu, grilled mushrooms, and the tuna rice bowl. While everything was well presented, the flavors were fairly average and didn't stand out. The chicken katsu was a bit dry, and overall we expected more given the restaurant's reputation. Nothing was bad, but nothing really wowed us either. We made a reservation and ate quite quickly but we felt a bit rushed towards the end (understanding they probably needed our table). I'd still recommend visiting for the ambiance, but I was surprised that the food didn't quite live up to the beautiful setting.

Service was well paced, our server seemed to be super busy with tables but always checked in and…read morewas very personable. The entire ambiance of the place was high end and very well put together. there was some noise from a private party but I didn't personally mind. The food was delicious and fresh, high end prices but was worth the money. Had a gift card from work that I was using but this will definitely be a meal I'll save up for again!

Came here for happy hour and it was so worth it. We tried almost everything on the happy hour food…read moremenu, and everything was well portioned and under $10. Beer was $5 and cocktails were $12. The cocktails were quite yummy. Karaage 6/10- chicken was good, but sauce was too smoky for me Fried ika 9.5/10- the sauce was amazing and we pretty much used the sauce for everything else Sashimi taco 5/10- a little bland, could use more acidity Wagyu kimchi dumpling 7/10- it was good but I couldn't taste the kimchi Edamame- regular one is much better than spicy! Truffle parmesan fries 9/10- honestly can't go wrong with truffle fries But the best dish of the night was actually one of the main courses on the standard dinner menu - yuzu miso marinated black cod. It was soo flaky and tender and the sauce was amazing. A good date spot with the dim lighting for anyone looking to enjoy moderately priced happy hour.

Bon, Nene is a cute small Japanese spot with excellent food at a fair price for the quality. We got…read morethe Gyudon over udon noodles, curry with chicken katsu, and shared the Hokkaido cheesecake. The gyudon was excellent with a lightly sweet and savory flavor, I'd definitely get this again! The Hokkaido cheesecake was light and had what seemed like whipped cream in it which isn't my preference for cheesecake so I would skip this item next time. You put your name and number of people in your party at the list on the door, but the wait goes bye fairly quick. They have indoor and some outdoor seating. We loved their entree items and would definitely come back here!

Date of Visit: 6/25/2026…read more Visited Bon, Nene in Mission District in San Francisco on a Thursday afternoon for lunch. The cute neighborhood restaurant offers Japanese plates with some French cooking techniques. The most popular dishes includes the gyoza, onigiri, and koji marinated karaage. The 1,000 square foot space only seats about 35 people, and the open kitchen and bar area that is great for family and friend gathering. We visited on a Thursday afternoon around 1pm, and put our name down on the wait list and waited for about 10 minutes before the server took us inside. Iced Tea $4 My friend got the mugi roasted barley iced tea. Hojicha Latte $7 I got the hojicha latte. Mentaiko Spaghetti $19 One of the signature dishes is the mentaiko spaghetti, with cured cod roe mixed into creamy buttery sauce. On top there were nori and parsley. Gyudon $19 We also got the gyudon with thinly sliced beef cooked in sweet ginger soy sauce with onion, mushroom and egg served over rice. Onigiri Lunch Set $19 We also ordered the onigiri lunch set, including 2 pcs onigiri with edamame, chicken karaage and miso soup. We picked salmon and chicken onigiri, the rice portion was a little too much.

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!