Nari

Amazingly beautiful restaurant that hits my favorite flavor profiles. We had a number of dishes we were able to share with the group all accompanied with delicious sticky rice. Definitely get the curry, jowl, and squid dishes. You will not regret it.

The cocktails are super unique and you can even head upstairs after dinner for additional cocktails after your meal.

The service was super kind and helpful. They gave us some tasty recommendations and were attentive to our group.

Good food, bad service and waiting times.

My husband and I came here for our anniversary. We got the chef's choice where they bring you samples of most of the menu.

The food was excellent. But honestly, I'm thinking this place has a Michelin Star solely based on that. The food took forever between courses. It wasn't even busy but even just bringing the check at the end took ages. We wanted to walk around the mall after our meal but those plans were ruined due to our unnecessarily long dinner.
On top of that, our waiters were not personable at all. They forgot to bring the lettuce wrap for one of our dishes and brought it out after we dug into it. And when they were explaining each dish, it was rushed and mumbled. We had to ask several times for them to repeat themselves. We also had to ask for refills on the water jug.
We've been to places that do not have a Michelin star (such as Robin Sushi) and that had way more attentive service and even better food. Our anniversary was not acknowledged at all and I think we will be spending our next one at an establishment that cares more about their customers

Heard great things, wanted this to be a good experience, but ultimately didn't get there.

First off, not your typical Thai food, which was refreshing and exciting. That said, not the most friendly for vegetarians and overall the food was overly spicy and really just didn't taste very good. I wanted to like the crispy eggplant but it just-didn't-deliver.

Service was fine - the hosts were nice and seated us promptly. Our server was similarly nice if a little bit impatient with us as we had a few questions about the food/menu.

The overall environment was loud! I couldn't talk to the person at our table that was one person away. The decor was great and the space is really nice, but hard to enjoy at that noise level.

Nari is Michelin starred - not representative of other Michelin experiences I've had and unlikely to go back.

Nari is a wonderful part of the Japantown neighborhood and has been a great experience the 2 times I've been. It's located in Hotel Kabuki--you enter in through the hotel front entrance and turn left towards the restaurant. We were seated immediately once everyone in our party arrived. Service is pretty prompt and not too hover-y.

Last time, I found that a lot of the dishes we ordered were pretty spicy without prior warning. While delicious, it caught me by surprise! This last visit, our party was asked about our spice tolerance and recommended dishes based off our personal scales. Even if we ordered something a little spicier, the waiter would always warn us to take off the chili peppers immediately hahah. I thought it was a nice and considerate touch--while they don't sacrifice the authentic flavor profile of the dish, they're still able to give folks a warning. If your server doesn't check in with you on this beforehand, I'd recommend asking!

We ordered the naem khao tod (crispy sticky rice salad), squid & pork jowl, miang pla (whole branzino), massaman gae (lamb shank curry), and prik king gai (chicken stir fry). I think the menu may have changed now but some of the items are still the same. For drinks, I ordered the non-alcoholic kusuma drink (mango lassi with pandan and pineapple). I loved the crispy rice salad and massaman curry, which is great because they seem like mainstays on the menu. All of our picks were really tasty though, and I would order all of them if available. Definitely one of my favorite spots in the city--I always recommend Nari to visiting friends and family!

Had a large party so they required us have a minimum price per person with a minimum total price. The menu was pre-set. The service was exceptional. The food was very good and flavorful but the ingredients used were not very expensive. For the price we paid, expected higher quality ingredients like crab or lobster.

We got lots of vegetables and curry.

The Thai ice tea and the bar drink were average at best.

TLDR:
In the iconic salt, fat, acid, heat theory to cooking, Nari adds that incredible acidity to its dishes like no other restaurant I've experienced. This was one of the first meals I've had in a long time that made me truly go "WOW", dish after dish. Service could be slightly improved, but despite that, the food was so good that I know for SURE that I'll be back.

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FOOD:
1. [MUST TRY] Squid and Pork Jowl (5/5): Where has this been all my life. Fatty cuts of melt-in-your-mouth pork paired with this incredibly tangy sauce that you'll want to soak up with the rice that comes with this dish. The squid was good too but dulled in comparison to the pork.

2. [MUST TRY] Grilled Pork Chop (Namtok Moo) (5/5): It's pricy, but you've never had a pork chop like this. Such a high quality cut of pork, sliced up for you making this the perfect dish to share. Comes with lettuce wraps that serve as the perfect, crisp vessel for the fatty pork.

3. Prik King Gai (Crispy Chicken) (5/5): A Thai take on fried chicken. Satisfyingly crispy bite-sized chicken pieces with so many spices and incredible heat.

4. Gaeng Bumbai Aubergine (Crispy eggplant curry) (4.5/5): Surprisingly crispy deep-fried eggplant soaked in a rich, thick curry. Curry is definitely on the spicy side, but the crunch of the eggplant was so satisfying that I couldn't stop eating this despite the spice. This pairs really nicely with rice.

5. Caramelized fish sauce cabbage (4.5/5): A great, non-spicy, highly acidic side dish to cut through the richness and spice of other items.

6. Yum Tawai (4/5): This is more of a sweet and savory veggie dish vs a "salad". Veggies come thoroughly dressed in an acidic, sweet, thick sauce that makes this experience really intense.

7. Chocolate cake (4/5): A chocolate dome with layers of chocolate mousse and fruit jam inside. I could have done with no fruit, but I still thought this was great, and I loved the honeycomb pieces along the edges of the dessert.

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SERVICE:
* It was high quality service you'd expect from a Michelin starred restaurant but at certain moments it didn't quite live up to expectations. Drinks came 20-30 minutes after they were ordered, and we asked for a dessert menu that didn't come until we asked a second time
* Still, service was good enough that I'd definitely come back, especially given how good the food is

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AMBIANCE / ENVIRONMENT:
* This restaurant is in the Kabuki hotel in Japantown, so there's valet parking at the hotel as well as a public garage nearby and lots of street parking in the area (though hourly rates in Japantown are quite high)
* The restaurant itself is gorgeous, modern, and sleek, and the volume was just right so we never felt like it was too loud or that there were too many people

Delicious!!!! In town for a quick trip to the bay and this spot was great. Food was flavorful and beautiful! We ordered a bunch of different dishes for the group but the highlight was that pandan dessert! 10/10 just for that!
Service was attentive and they went with the pace of the group for bringing out the dishes!

We went to Nari's for our anniversary. The ambiance of the place was very urban garden. There were beautiful, luscious plants everywhere with exposed walls.
Since it was our anniversary our menus had a little note on it for us. The server was a gem. Super quick to answer questions. Being the clutzy person that I am I dropped my drink, but they were quick to help clean it up and get me a new one.
The food there was delicious and flavorful! Would completely go back to try new food.

One word of advice. The enternece is through the hotel that's there.

It was a great dinner for an anniversary!
They made a menu paper for us.
Price and mood were good enough.

Date: Friday, September 29th, 2023
Time: around 6:30pm
Meal: Birthday Dinner
Party of: 8

*Savitri ($16)
*Benja ($16)
*Som ($16)
*Illa ($15) x2
*Wimala ($16) x3
*R - Manhattan ($30)
*Kaluga Caviar ($125)
*Yum Tawai ($20)
*Laab Jin ($28)
*Squid and Jowl ($29) x2
*Khao Tung & Ngop ($33) x2
*Chili Jam Clams ($29) x2
*Miang Pla ($42)
*Nom Tok Moo ($51)
*Priking Gai ($36)
*Gaeng Panang Gae ($56)
*Thierry Germain, Saumur-Champigny 'La Marginale' - BTL ($125)
*Ginger Beer ($7)
*Log Chong ($14)
*Wan Yen ($14)
*Cossart-Gordon, '10 year' Bual Madiera 100ml ($17)
*Ruby Ooolong ($10)
*Wolfburn 318 ($38)
*Lapeyre, Jurancon Magendia ($13)
*Minimum Fee ($18.38)
*SF Mandate - 5% ($47.62)

It was my bday and my friends coordinated a dinner. I believe our rezzies were at 7:30pm, so a friend and I decided to head over early and sit at the bar upstairs. It was very chill. A nice lounge like vibe. We grabbed two seats at the bar and were the only ones there for a while. Cocktails were fun. And the bartender was sweet. Once everyone arrived, we transferred our bill downstairs to the table.

Out of the above, I really wanted the caviar. Why? I have no idea, but most in my party didn't want any, so I basically had all of it to myself. (Or maybe they were just being nice since it was my bday? Regardless, I'll take it!) Went fine with the scallion roti. Tho I did wish there was something like a creme fraiche to cut thru the saltiness.

They were very sweet and actually printed my name on the menu for my bday! I was not a part of the bill paying, but one of my friends did tell me it was a min of $125 per person. We thought we had hit it, but apparently we were $18.38 short. I do wish our server said something as that is just wasted money. We would have ordered another drink or something. Do note that the 5% health mandate is included in the min, so it's actually $118.75 per person if you are factoring just food and drink prices.

Fun place to have some elevated Thai food. Tho if you have a party that requires a min per person, check the bill before you pay. You may have been charged the difference in the min instead of just hitting it.