Oma San Francisco Station is an omakase restaurant inside Japan Center in San Francisco Japantown…read more They offer 3 menus: Mizuho with 24 items, Sakura with 16, and Tsubame with 12.
The location is unusual, as the restaurant is open to the mall, which is a bit disruptive. I came for the 8:30pm seating, but the previous guests were still finishing, so I had to wait until 8:45pm. The staff did not seem very concerned. Bad start. You could also hear the mall cleaning crew during dinner, which was not very pleasant.
I ordered the 24-item Mizuho Menu, as did all the other guests. There were 5 guests in total (the restaurant can seat up to 8 people).
Here is the menu I was served at the end of May:
1. starter: ama ebi cracker with caviar, pickled lotus root with shaved bonito, crab salad
2. nigiri 4x: isaki, iwana, myabi tai, kanpachi
3. sashimi: chutoro, hotate with caviar, umi masu, sawada
4. nigiri 8x: hirame, suzuki, inada, kurodai, shima aji, kamasu, otoro, aged A5 wagyu, kinmedai
5. hot dish: miso soup with inari and shrimp head, hokkaido uni with marinated ikura, black cod, umi masu with raw yellow egg and caviar
6. dessert: matcha ice cream with strawberry
Frankly, the food was excellent. The starter was not very creative, but the nigiri were great. The sashimi selection was very nice, with some fish you do not see as often in omakase menus, such as isaki, iwana, and myabi tai, a kind of tai. Sawada was delicious and is always a good inclusion. We asked for some wasabi and received a small cup of kizami wasabi, a chopped wasabi with a slightly crunchy texture, which was a nice touch.
For the nigiri, all the classics of a good omakase were present: otoro, kinmedai, shima aji, uni, hotate, and wagyu. Kamasu was also included, and it is one of my favorite fish. It is also worth noting that they age both their beef and their tuna, including the otoro that was served. A few pieces were torched, maybe a few too many.
Overall, the service was not memorable, although chef Ron Au was friendly and nice. The place itself felt a bit questionable, and my expectations were not very high after the beginning of the meal. But the food was truly excellent, and for that reason I think it deserves 5 stars.