this is such a good restaurant! food is great, service is super fast, and all the employees are so…read morekind. you also get a table in minutes no matter how busy it is. if you are looking for a good dumpling place in the city, this is the place to go. all of their food dishes are absolutely delicious and you can't go wrong with anything you order!

And for my 3600th review - Dumpling Story!…read more Dropping in after leaving a nearby Japantown festival, we were able to nab one of the three comfortable outside tables and ordered some amazingly delicious Pork XLB and seaweed egg flower soup. Everything was piping hot and tasted superb! The service was prompt and friendly and we absolutely adored our meal. All in all we would absolutely come back to Dumpling Story in a heartbeat!

Amazing spot tucked away above Fermentation Lab in Japantown! It's a small restaurant (9 seats) but…read moreeasy to get a res - they typically do 2 seatings (5 and 7:30), and the meal lasts around 2 hours. I love the mix of hot foods with nigiri, and was so surprised at how tender each nigiri piece was (even squid which I normally dislike). They also offer additional à la carte nigiri if you are still hungry, but we didn't need any

Wow. What an experience. Loved the place. A great omakase. The husband and wife team are a pleasure…read moreto watch. The courses were great and complimented each other. Chu Toro, Hokkaido Uni, Negi Toro, Spotted Prawn, Steamed snapper, A5 Waygyu that melts in your mouth, Chawanmushi (savory custard), fried eel, and more. The extra touches showed the dedication to their craft (shokunin-damashi). The subtlety of the dashi, the wasabi from the Izu peninsula, the freshness of the curated fish selection. Bravo !!!!! Gochisousama deshita

Worth the wait! This small soba and tempura shop services up delicious fare in a casual ambience…read more We arrived about 45 minutes before opening and were just one-person shy of the first seating so we had to wait for a table to finish before settling in. I decided on their cold soba with shrimp kakiage and vegetable tempura. Heavenly! Their tempura batter is whisper light and crisp. My favorite surprise was a piece of crab tempura tucked into my selection. We ended our meal mixing in the hot soba broth. I would definitely return, and hope for a shorter wait!

Felt like I got transported back to Japan when I was dining here! The space is very small and only…read morefits 11 people total across a couple tables and bar seats. You self order at a kiosk and seat yourself. There are two people cooking everything from scratch in the open kitchen and they'll call your number when your food is ready. I advise coming before they open as my friend and I came 15 minutes before they opened on a random Wednesday and there were already 5 others ahead of us. If you miss the first seating, you'll have to wait 45 min until someone finishes and leaves. We decided to share one cold soba with shrimp tempura and veggies in addition to the spicy dipping broth. It was delicious!! If you aren't a big eater, one order is definitely enough to share. The soba portion is quite generous. The tempura is made-to-order and really crunchy. I'm excited to come back and try their scallop kakiage. The spicy broth was really good with a hint of yuzu so if you like spicy food, I'd recommend adding that as a side item. It's a "cozy" restaurant so you might be sharing a table with another party. I'd come solo or even at most with one other person to have the best opportunity to sit each other.

We thankfully didn't have to wait that long on a Friday evening -- I think our table was ready in…read moreabout 15-20 minutes at most which was surprising. Beware, they do close off the waitlist signup and will also completely close off the front entrance when they think they have enough guests to be done for the night. You can sign up via Yelp Waitlist online although this is not always guaranteed (we found that sometimes the system glitches and doesn't let you sign up because it doesn't believe that there is enough current wait?) The soups are super high quality and I think I will be coming back on the regular for the tendon seolleongtang in the future. As someone who is super involved in athletic pursuits, I gotta get my collagen fix in to prevent injuries and keep those tendons strong, and this is probably one of the best spots to do it. My GF had the spicy kalbi soup and also really liked it.

Really good Korean spot in Japan town ironically enough!…read more The meat was super tender and the dish overall felt very nutritious and hearty almost healthy in a way that I liked since it didn't make you feel super fatty or heavy. Service was great once you're seated. It's a bit loud. Minus one star because the waitlist likes to string you along. They will tell you there's on a few minutes left and then make you wait another 30 mins in front of the door.

Really good ramen spot. The flavors were rich, the ingredients were fresh, and the bowl was…read morecomforting from start to finish. Definitely a place I'd visit again.

I've been here several times and love it each time. The food here is amazing. I'd come here more…read moreoften if I lived closer. The service was ok and expected considering how busy they they were. They stayed open after closing to cater to everyone on the waitlist. It was a little louder than normal, but we were able to hold a conversation. The atmosphere is nice, clean even when busy. It does get really busy, I recommend getting on the wait list early and check in when you there. Expect a wait. It's in Japan Center so you can walk around while you wait.

I don't care if it's tourist-y, I've tried every ramen place I can in the city and Hinodeya stays…read moremy favorite. I always stick with their Hinodeya House Ramen. I wish they kept the spice level adjustment option but you can add spice at the table. It's very fairly priced for the city and for everything you get, noodles are a great thickness, egg is always cooked consistently, menma is always just soft enough. And the staff is attentive. If you go during the weekend, especially around dinner time, you could probably expect a wait, but I've come to go during week nights and it's never an issue. Parking in J-town is probably my biggest gripe but we'll deal. I've also been to the Hinodeya in Chinatown, Union Square, and in San Jose near Valley Fair. All have been consistent but this one is my go-to. They once accommodated my party of ~14 people on a Saturday and we didn't wait longer than 30min.

Hinodeya Ramen House Ramen - $17…read more2x spicy miso butter corn ramen $21 Addictive garlic crisps that really added an extra umami and depth to the ramen. The ramen noodles are perfectly al dente, and the broth is salty and umami. The spicy miso butter corn ramen has a blob of butter and corn, which made it instantly flavorful. There was a bit of a wait because there was a huge line. Once inside, it was hard to flag down someone to provide us with menus and water, but after we got their attention, it was all good.

Awesome experience overall. I left feeling full and really satisfied with the price, especially…read moreconsidering how many different dishes we got to try. Each dish came in just the right quantity, and it felt like there was a lot of thought put into every dish. Honestly, everything was delicious and worked really well together as a whole. The Hokkaido scallop was probably the best scallop I've ever had. It was a huge scallop that was lightly seared on the outside while still being raw inside, and the natural sweetness was incredible. The cabbage was another standout for me. It was perfectly crunchy with a great balance of savory and sweet flavors. The flavors throughout the meal definitely leaned more on the sweeter side, like the coconut curry with the scallop, the prawn salad dressing, and the cabbage sauce, but everything was really well balanced. I also really liked the guava sorbet. It was a perfect way to end the meal and paired nicely with the more burnt flavors of the other dessert. The presentation was really unique too, with all the plates and bowls having interesting shapes. The soup bowl especially looked like a giant clam shell, although it was pretty funny and slightly difficult to actually drink the soup out of. Definitely recommend.

really cute spot right in the heart of Japantown…read more everything that was served was delicious. drinks were refreshing and well made. the apple honey smokey rice was just strong enough with a satisfying sweet aftertaste. the lemongrass pandan was well balanced, the pandan was not overpowering, and very light. the highlights of the meal were the crispy rice in the fermented beef salad, the crab legs in the curry sauce, and the fermented apple in the duck leg Khao Soi. the one thing I wasn't a huge fan of was the red onion in the cheesecake dessert: it combined well but was not my preference for a sweet item. one hiccup is that although our reservation was set for a la carte, they assumed we were doing a tasting menu, and thus we waited for an extended period of time before we were served at all. waiters also assumed that my brother and i were partners, despite me listing in the reservation that we were celebrating his birthday, which is an awkward and offensive assumption to make. 7.5/10

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 was absolutely delicious and the service was amazing! Jane and Jenny were both so friendly…read moreand welcoming. A special shoutout to Jane for helping us choose some of the best dishes. Everything she recommended was so good! We had such a great experience and I would definitely come back if I'm ever in San Francisco again. Highly recommend!

I really love their service, and especially my server Jane, Jenny. She is very nice and helped us…read morechoose the best food. The food is very delicious, and we will be back.

My husband and I visited the Cherry Blossom festival in Japantown, but finding a place to eat was…read morechallenging due to the crowd. We decided to explore the nearby area and found this Thai restaurant with outdoor seating, which was perfect for us and our dog. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and the menu was intriguing. We ordered the Thai spicy egg noodle soup, green papaya salad, and Thai drunken noodles with seafood. Each dish was delicious, but the spicy noodle soup stood out as our favorite--one of the best noodle soups we've had in a while. To conclude our meal, we ordered the Thai coconut milk dessert, Ka-nom-tuay, served in a little porcelain cup. It was equally delightful. My husband and I were so impressed with the food that we're already planning our next visit. Highly recommended!

===TL;DR=== - Tom kha gai soup with no cilantro…read more - Larb gai with cilantro on the side - Beef massaman curry - Thai iced tea ===TMI=== Oof. Where do I start? First and foremost, the interior was cool. It's giving hawker vibes with their vibrant color choice of chairs and tables along with neon signs. Street parking wasn't too bad either. I was able to find some meter parking and they're also just steps away from the japantown parking garage. Now onto the food... We tried ordering their chef special Bangkok braised pork belly rice dish but either the server said they're out or they don't make that anymore. I think if that was the case, it would've been nice to notify us when giving us the menu. Tom kha gai soup - not good. Couldn't taste any of the flavors cause it was extremely sour and that masked almost everything. There might be a slight coconut taste that'll come through but it was very weak. Larb gai - didn't think this dish can get messed up but it did. Again, all we can taste was the lime and extreme sourness. So sour the veggies didn't cut it. Also don't recommend. Beef massaman curry - the only dish that was actually decent if not good. Beef was super tender and the side of cucumber relish really helps cut some of the fattiness. Recommend. Thai iced coffee - it was overall ok. Again, less strong than I expect it but it wasn't too sweet. Really wanted to like this place for the vibes but it was just not it.