Akiko's Restaurant

My husband made reservations to Akikos for my birthday. What a wonderful treat! We were greeted and seated promptly. The drinks were refreshing. The waiter even encouraged me to double fist since it was my birthday. The omakase was delicious as suspected. Plentiful of unique fishes and unique flavors. We even had a piece of fish that tasted like chocolate. The chawanmushi was not my favorite. The texture was good however, the truffle on top was tasteless and I thought the egg was missing mushrooms, etc. Came on a Thursday evening at 6:30 so the restaurant wasn't too packed. Easy to find street parking right outside. Could imagine a crowd coming on a Friday or the weekend. A couple that sat down next to us asked for a vegetarian menu which was interesting. When they saw the menu they got up and left. I mean what did cha expect when you walked in? This spot isn't cheap either, I'd imagine they would've done their research in advance. Odd. Anyways, all in all probably one of my now top fav omakases in sf. Looking forward to coming back.

Gone here a few times for lunch and once for dinner. Always a treat.Go-to for lunch is the nigiri lunch $24, which includes 6pc nigri + 6pc spicy tuna + miso soup. It is simple and perfect for satisfying my lunch appetite.I don't normally like rolls, but my favorite would have to be the wabi sabi roll. Last time, I ended up ordering three of them with my sister.The nigiri is quite good, I would love to try everything next time.

Got to try Akiko financial district in April. It was a fantastic top notch sushi experience with a lot of unique offerings. The restaurant and the aging boxes are visual arts to look at. This place is $$$$ or even $$$$$ expensive but it offers something unique : a tasting experience that is unique and shocking. It may be the best sushi in San Francisco! The sushi here has textures that delight sushi connoisseurs. The aesthetics of the restaurant is beautiful: dark modern tones near the aging fridges, clean lines, beautiful dry aged fishing including kinmeidai tuna on display, the visual contrast is sensual. The multi front (multi focal point), all wooden sushi counter allows multiple one-on-one interaction with the chefs both the executive and others. They try to place you in front of a specialist and sit you at one corner of the polygon sushi counter so you can get a good vantage view of the process, and the specialist almost serves you one on one with your group. Hence the price. We also got to interact with the main chef, he's also kind and patient explaining his process to us. His process resulted in some of the most tender, umami filled ( because it is aged) and unique sushi nigiri taste we ever experienced. We tried the Nigiri menu upon release in April because my friend cannot do pure omakase menu (too much raw fish). Even she was amazed. The dry aging process makes some of the fish more tender and mild easy for her to consume.No matter where you sit you will be able to observe Mr HAYASHI break down an aged tuna with his knife work. He is so friendly and kind he tries to talk to you. We really enjoyed meeting him!! And watching his knife work. Our specialist was awesome too. Made beautiful nigiri each decorated and brushed with the perfect amount of sauce and garnish if needed. There are group tables / low booths for more private groups. This place is perfect for special occasions, business meetings meals, executive meals, saving up for a very very special occasion. We tried the Nigiri menu upon release in April because my friend cannot do pure omakase menu (too much raw fish). Even she was amazed. The dry aging process makes some of the fish more tender and mild easy for her to consume. There's really good communications and teamworks among the chefs. Looks like they are offering the Nigiri Menu in the NYE celebration (with the latest seasonal fish) so our review might still be helpful somewhat. We ordered:01 A glass of bubbly, served in thin stemmed crystal glass, the staff is friendly, most detailed oriented02 Must supplement with their famous wagyu beef tartar short bread with caviar and gold leaf. 03 The April Nigiri menu : Excellent kuruma shrimp one of the best. Anago sea eel with excellence glistening sauce. Every piece was well thought out. Tuna, gizzard shad, cherry salmon, mackerel (SABA), toro tuna, all high quality and impressive. Dessert was underwhelming (hojicha ice cream I think) but by then I really couldn't eat anything. Basically it was chef's choice, seasonal and timely options. We noticed all the white fish and silver fish and tun are extremely well done. The aged meat has an unique texture. My friend is not used to, but for people who enjoy sushi it is unique and very impressive. The meat is tenderized to perfection. The aging process gives it unique umami and intense flavor. There's an additional supplemental menu at the end of the meal if you are still hungry or want to try new seasonal specials. It end uo being a big bill but we were very impressed at the quality, service and craftsmanship. Would want to come back for special occasions. And think Akiko has an unique place in Sf as a top sushis pot.

Akikos is located in downtown SF. Parking can be a bit of a challenge so consider that when planning. The Omakase is fantastic and highly recommended for a date night or small group celebration. Love the quiet simple ambience and the personalized chef experience. Everything is absolutely delicious and each course is prepared with elegance and sophistication. Wine selection is broad with a number of great pairing options. The cocktails are also wonderful. Highly recommended.

Stopped by with a friend last Tuesday just cause. Plenty of seating, no reservations needed, even at the counter.Pros:+ Phenomenal attentive service+ Swanky, dim, and intimate + Parking on a Tuesday felt easy+ Love the new locationWhat We Ordered:+ Omakase; 5/5+ Crémant D'Alsace Brut Réserve; 4/5Absolutely a 10/10 dining experience. I loved the variety of nigiri offered and the execution of each piece. I think the lower priced omakase was $160ish? It came out to be $250ish per person with the bottle of bubbles and tip.It's been awhile since I had such a fun and delicious meal. Felt like I was 25 again, exploring the world of omakase.Will be coming back!

The service is great. The restaurant very pleasant. The dishes looks amazing, but the taste not that special. It was a very good meal but definitely overpriced..

Have heard such great things about this place but a bit of a let down. Went with the traditional omakase menu. It was pretty small in terms of amount of dishes. Didn't emit much wow factor. I've been to a handful of omakase in sf and the Bay Area and this was not bad but for the price I hoped for better.

What an amazing experience here!We reserved this only a few weeks in advance and it was the perfect spot. It wasn't crowded, the aesthetics are really nice. We had an amazing chef named Todd!!!The price is about $250 per person not including pairings. About 12 courses! We also ordered additional courses just because we had an amazing chef and the quality of the fish was high end.The uni is all imported from Japan which we were in love with!The service was excellent and I loved the seating concept. Overall an amazing experience and I would totally recommend this play to all.Cocktails are also really good!! However, there is no hot sake here which was interesting to us.

Very nice and quick lunch omakase. Highlights were the cooked dishes, especially the lobster and shokupan. The nigiri was solid. Ice cream was very flavourful. Only misstep was the sashimi appetizer was extremely cold. I think lunch is a better deal than dinner since dinner offers only a couple more apps and three more nigiri. I was in and out in less than 40 minutes.

I was curious to try the new Akiko's on Folsom St. Akiko's used to be on Bush St and was a sushi classic in SF long before the omakase trend. Now they only serve an omakase menu and the place is clearly more high-end.First of all, the restaurant is splendid. Some might however regret that the added space makes it a bit less intimate than before. The bar is bigger and there are actually several of them.I ordered the $250 menu. The menu is really impressive. It starts with 6 otsumami, followed by 10 nigiri, and finally a dessert.otsumami:* osechi: tako, herring roe, black beans* sashimi: akami, mako garei (turbot), and another white fish (hirame?)* robusuta & chawanmushi: lobster with shaved truffles, chawanmushi with crab and lobster gravy* cioppino: lingcod, ikura, clam* shokupan: shokupan served with toro and golden kaluga caviar* sunomono: giant clam, cucumber, pear, raspberryThe menu listed shirako for the sashimi, but they replaced it with a white fish (probably hirame) since they were out of shirako, which I preferred since I'm not really into shirako. The lobster was very good, as was the chawanmushi. The shokupan with toro and caviar is one of their signature dishes and it was absolutely decadent.nigiri:* zuke hon maguro* kawahagi (trigger fish)* ji-kinmedai* aori ika (bigfin reef squid)* nama hotate* umi masu* kamasu (barracuda)* uni* toro* anagoThe nigiri were served directly on the counter, not on a plate. This isn't uncommon for a high-end omakase restaurant, but it would have looked nicer on a plate. The menu listed kohada, but since I don't particularly like kohada, they kindly replaced it with kamasu.The nigiri selection was perfect: hon maguro, kinmedai, hotate, uni, toro, anago, all the classics of a good omakase were there. Everything was excellent.For dessert, a scoop of black sesame ice cream.In summary, a wonderful experience at the new Akiko's.