Food Collage: Akiko's Restaurant (San Francisco)

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Akiko's Restaurant (San Francisco)

I was told that San Francisco has great sushi, so I did a bit of internet digging to find a sushi restaurant with good reviews near where I would be staying. This is how I came across Akiko's Restaurant on Bush Street in the Financial District—not to be confused with another restaurant bearing the exact same name located on Mason Street in Nob Hill, just a short walk away! We had actually started heading towards the other Akiko's before we realized that that was not the right one!

Akiko's (the one on Bush Street) is a popular joint, and reservations at least two weeks in advance is probably needed to secure a desired time. (Luckily, the online reservation system makes it easy.) Akiko's is not exactly easy to find either as there is no restaurant sign out front, so it was a good thing we had the address with us as we searched for the restaurant in unfamiliar territory. By the time we arrived (a few minutes late) for our 11:30 am reservation, which is the restaurant's opening time, many of the seats were already taken, and we saw many customers being turned away during the course of our lunch.

I ordered four types of nigiri: Sake (New Zealand King salmon), Suzuki (sea bass), Unagi (fresh water eel), and Uni (Santa Barbara sea urchin). Everything was fresh, amazing, and definitely lived up to the restaurant's reputation. My only wish is that I was hungrier as I had really wanted to try a few more items! R. wasn't hungry at all and ordered only the Wakame Salad, with seaweed on a bed of mix greens and sesame soy dressing, which he thought was fantastic. Although the meal was light, we enjoyed Akiko's immensely!