Onsen Restaurant

Wish I did a yelp review when I ate here awhile ago. I went with my sister & this was a unique place. There's onsen baths & massages too. Really cute vibe. I enjoyed the food. It was different than other places I have tried. It's like tapas style hence why we ordered too much for two people. Staff were friendly and helpful.

Wow everything here was fantastic!! So surprised to find this gem tucked amidst this area. FOOD: 5 stars, menu is presented cold items to hot items SERVICE: 5 stars, attentive and fast Ambiance: 3 stars -- small, cute, hipster but the spa foot traffic in the back detracts from the vibe ---- THE FOOD ---- Best to worst:- MUSHROOM DUMPLINGS $16: SOOOOO GOOD! Dashi bonito broth with sautéed bok choy and a ton of mixed mushrooms. - OKONOMIYAKI $15: I usually hate traditional okonomiyaki due to A1 sauce but this fusion one reminded me more of a Korean seafood pancake. so YUM, rich and creamy but tasty and slightly sweet - CHAWAN MUSHI $12: tasty, creamy, smoky, umami, yuzu. Definitely get it!!!- SOMEN NOODLES $16: served cold, fantastically chewy noodles, SO good with a traditional dipping dashi broth. Smoked trout and quail eggs were great with it- CHICKEN MEATBALLS $12: while delicious, probably wouldn't recommend due to delicious items above being far more unique Others: S.O loved sashimi ($16) but wouldn't recommend steak skewers ($14 they were dry)TLDR: 5 min drive to the symphony and in a bit of a dicey area but the food was ON POINT, despite Spa goer foot traffic.

4.5 stars. I love this understated lovely Japanese restaurant where one is transported to a different world by escaping to this cozy place. We were led to our table at a semi-private room - only three tables were set in this intimate atmosphere. Lovely paper lotus and paper cranes hang from the ceiling, creating fluttering light shadows along the ceiling/wall. There is a bath house attached and some diners came in later with wet hair, probably decided to do a bath/dinner combo for the ultimate experience. MUST GET:Mushroom dumpling - beautiful broth and soft texture of the dumplings perfectly complement the aromatic mushroom for this dish. Pork skewer and lamb skewer - super tender meat that fall off the skewer stick. Delicious!Trout sashimi - big slices of fresh sashimi satisfies the cravings of anyone who are suckers for the best quality fish one can find. The jalapeño and sauce is phenomenal. SOLID:Cabbage and sun choke gyoza - half of our table loved it so much that we ordered a second one. Surprising flavor of shiso verde and black garlic makes this one a winner. Soft egg custard- their version of chawamushi. With Yuzu for a more citrus version of this traditional dish. Smoked trout with rice cracker - the smoked trout spread is very nuanced and light on top of crispy rice cracker. Great presentation. The spicy mayo is not overwhelming at all. SKIP:Squid and hanger steak skewers - these are more chewy in texture. I didn't like them as much. Chocolate cake with black sesame cream and caramel - not too sweet as a dessert. I thought this one was lackluster comparing to the rest of the dishes. Sardine skewers - a bit too fishy and have a lot of bones to struggle through. ---The sake and tea selections are quite good as well.

Onsen is a restaurant that is also attached to a Japanese bathhouse. The restaurant part is a solid four stars. I ordered the uni chawanmushi (soft egg custard), lamb skewers, rice with smoked trout and peas as well as the chocolate tart. The dishes were good but not perfect (the chawanmushi and rice plates were on the salty side, the chocolate tart was much richer and heavier than what I expected). The lamb skewers were outstanding though. The snow peas in the rice plate deserve special mention because of the freshness and crunchiness. The mango kombucha was excellent. I was really full after four items (probably would have been OK with three). Ambiance and service were also good. I am looking forward to my next meal here. I would recommend going with a small group so you can pretty much try the whole menu. Prepare to spend somewhere around $60 per person. NOTE: This restaurant is located in the tenderloin neighborhood of SF and gentrification hasn't quite made it here. It's safe but you will encounter a lot of transients in the area.

This review is just for the restaurant, as we were unable to get a reservation at the Onsen bath since it filled up so quickly! The restaurant reservations fill up quickly as well, so make sure to call or use the online system to reserve your spot in advance!Onsen doesn't have their own parking lot, but we found parking across the street in a paid parking garage. We were happy that it was so close, since this isn't in the best part of town. The restaurant front doesn't have any sign, so look for two doors with a bonsai tree between them. The Onsen door has a giant tree branch handle. There may also be a security guard sitting outside the door.We arrived to our reservation a little bit early, so our bar seats were not ready yet. The hostess had us sit to the side while we waited. She later asked us if we preferred a table instead since another reservation had cancelled, so we happily took her offer! Each table has wooden stools to sit on. There's a little compartment underneath each stool to put your purse, jacket, etc.DRINK:- Hibiscus Immune Boost - This tisane consisted of hibiscus, rose hips, star anise, rose, cinnamon, ginger, Echinacea, elderberries, orange peel. It smelled so good! It came in a nice steeper, and our waitress refilled it when we had finished drinking the first pot.FOOD:- Crushed Japanese Cucumber - Strawberries, shiso dashi, shiso, chili oil. Such a refreshing salad! It comes out chilled, and the ingredients were fresh.- Trout Sashimi - Lime tamari vinaigrette, cucumber, radish, fresh wasabi. I really liked the sauce that the sashimi was in! The cucumber and radish were also a nice touch to add some texture to the dish.- Smoked Trout - Crispy rice, avocado, chives, spicy mayo. At first glance, this dish looks really underwhelming. The crispy rice is formed into a disc and placed on top of the trout mixture. But when mixed all together, the dish was actually really yummy! They gave a good amount of avocado, so between that and the mayo, it gave the fish a nice creamy texture.- Smoked Chawanmushi - Shiitake mushrooms, yuzu. The custard was nice and smooth. It was a bit on the saltier side, but still had good flavor.- Cabbage and Eggplant Gyoza - Wasabi leaf verde, black garlic, chicken jus. It was interested to see gyoza come in a broth. The inside ingredients were actually quite juicy. Beware of them exploding!- Chilled Somen Noodles - Ponzu, chives, wasabi, pickles, quail egg. Another refreshing dish to help break up all the salt! I loved the quail egg pairing, and the pickles were flavored with something delicious! This was a surprisingly simple yet amazing dish.- Mushroom Dumplings - Bonito broth, mixed mushrooms, baby favas, dill. Despite these being one of their most popular items, I was a little underwhelmed by them. They arrived in a soup, and the vegetables were nicely arranged. However, the sauce on top of the dumplings was washed away by the soup. Overall, these were ok.

Dinner review after onsen and massage.Ordered:Soft egg CUSTARD, shiitake mushroom, yuzu - 3Shoyu PORK, aioli, sansho pepper - 4Kakuni braised LAMB, mustard - 5Soba NOODLES, forest mushrooms, butternut squash, pepper-miso sauce - 4Overall, great skewers. "I'm a fan."

This place is quite the experience.Right when you walk in, the Tenderloin area is transformed into this magical place where hundreds of paper cranes dangle from the ceiling, as if they are levitating and inviting you in.The servers are friendly and seat you promptly at what is available.Despite this being the restaurant and not the onsen bath, it is quite a pleasant, warm, and inviting experience.Their menu is short.Their drink menu is even longer.I feel like that speaks volumes about the type of restaurant this is.Between my significant other and myself, we split two skewers; both delicious, flavorful, and quality made. I saw that they were prepared on the spot, on burning charcoal.We also had the Brussels Sprouts, which were fantastic and shared the Mushroom Dumplings in the soup.My favorite dish would be the Okonomiyaki. Since this place is a bit of a fusion style, there were ingredients not in the typical dish that elevated it to the next level. All in all, I enjoyed this place and I want to come here again.

Came here after relaxing in the bath house. It may have been a little too hipster for me. I liked the rustic industrial brick wall- but it was too rustic and I found a spider on the wall crawling next to me. I smashed it with my napkin (sorry peta) and was expecting some type of apology or some type of comp when I notified the waitstaff. Instead, it felt like I was being judged for killing the creature. The food was good, however, very pricey for the amount we got. We probably ordered just one too many dishes, but overall still had a nice meal. DINNER*Shishito peppers- yogurt on the side to keep the meal dairy free*Trout sashimi- first time trying trout this way. It was good and refreshingSomen noodles- cold dipping noodles, almost like tsukemenSquid skewer- 2 piecesSteak skewer- 2 piecesChicken thigh- too small. Could have passed on this, but it did have a good cook on it.*Okonomiyaki- japanese pancake. Small but filling. *favsThere was wasabi oil in a lot of the food and I really liked that. All of the food was good, but I was not impressed with all the things we ordered. Everything was really good quality. Overall a very hip$ter restaurant and a good experience to pair with the bath house.

Came to dinner here before hitting the onsen in the back of the restaurant. They require a credit card for reservations​ which is honestly overkill for a restaurant like this. Its a small restaurant with a security guard outside, coat check, and subpar service. The food here is really good in the classic small menu simple Japanese way. The trout sashimi was by far the stand out dish and it was so good we ordered it twice. It was a huge portion for the price. The Japanese​ pickles were also good and more of a large salad. I pictured a small bowl of pickles but was pleasantly surprised. Dessert was a miss. Huge plate of whipped cream with no flavor. Definitely​ skip this. Reading the other reviews it seems like their desserts are never a hi, ​ unfortunately.

Tough one to rate and one of the few times I really wished there was a half star so I could just say 3.5. The concept has a lot of promise and the decor of the place is gorgeous.The biggest issue we had was the pacing of food. Dinner ended up being 2 hours because there were long 20-30 minute gaps of no food. It was just spurts of lots of food and then no food. The waiter never really apologized for how long it took.The best things were the "bites" which were the starting courses.Artichoke (4.5/5) - delicious and well preparedEgg custard (5/5) - immense flavor and something I would just go back for. Probably the saving grace of the nightThe skewers were hit and miss:Sardines (5/5) - delicious and super cool presentationLamb (4/5) - interesting sauce and very tenderSquid (2.5/3) - too much sauce and the squid itself wasn't very goodThe mains were disappointing but maybe the 30 minutes of waiting dulled our taste.Udon (3/5) - broth was nice and there was a hearty amount of veggies. The pork belly just didn't taste very good and the noodles were okay. Izakaya Rintaro does udon much better.Mushroom dumplings (3.5/5) - presentation was beautiful and it all tastes good but it wasn't amazing or something I'd get again.I would hate to kill the new spot with a bad rating given the promise it shows so rounding up I'd say it's a 4. I'd really only come back here for drinks and bites and maybe try the namesake onsen.