15 Places
-
yayoi’s 4-star review: oh my goodness today was the coldest, most miserable day yet. why was the rain not snow? i took my mom around lower clement to experience the "other" chinatown. she had a good ole time in kamei and new mei wah supermarket. she wanted teeny tiny bittermelons, but they were too big. bittermelons are supposedly the reason okinawa people are the oldest healthiest people in the world. anyways, after all that we decided to try ju-ku, since it is a block away from my house. wow! it was 75 degrees in there! we were so happy! we both ordered tenpura udon for lunch. i watched some ultra man. it was great. the udon, the dashi, the ultraman, it was all good. my lil south japan mom approves, which means that i approve. i did not want to leave. ill have to update my review when i try their donburies and curries and dinners. good energy and vibe in there too. that was the first time i'd stepped into that corner space, although it has been about 5 other restaurants since i have lived in this area. before then it seemed like a cursed spot for a resto. thanks for reading! -
yayoi’s 1-star review: AAAAHHH! my original review of this place is actually about the place on the end toward the pearl store, Osakaya!! Don't you hate the japanese rules of restaurants? freaking closed all day on monday or tuesday or wednesday, closed between such and such hours, closed by 9pm. rules rules rules. jesus christ help me find a place when i am with my SLOW walking mom! (she walks like she is a pimp without a limp, seriously chillin'!) Everything we slowly walk to is closed!! AAAHHH!!! so in we went. The vibe from the outside and inside is strange here. my mom is hilarious! she was so pissed with the soba she got, she was pouring her tea in the broth to try to make it taste less salty, then it was just all fudged up. she was PISSED! well now she knows. i don't remember what i got, maybe the cold soba. but it true, bad balance of salt or sweet or dashi, i don't know, just off. well that was my experience. i don't know, strange vibe in there was most yucky to me. thank goodness, my mom cracks me up. thanks for reading! -
yayoi’s 4-star review: please read this as well as my previous review, i just realized i wrote what i am about to cut and paste under the wrong restaurant, the one next door to osakaya. also, i think i will go back and see if they are still doing good... so, this is the j town joint right next to the joint that gets busy first, so you end up going here. this place has more nabe, udon and soba stuff, and less ramen, i don't know, it's just about the same (as is everything else in any cheap japanese cuisine resto). I like it just fine! i am able to grub fast, drink my beer, take goofy pics with my cell phone and watch the rainbow of dorks who pass by. the ramen is good, tenpura, lunch specials, makis are good. you get tea. they refill it often. if you are a haole you are more likely to get ice water as well. my mama taught me to take a coupla chopsticks (ohashi) home because they use bamboo that can be washed and used over and over. I swear! take your chopsticks home! they are good quality! thanks for reading! -
yayoi’s 4-star review: came here with my coo coo mama and my old man. we got in during the end of the lunch shift. although it was not packed, the tables all turned at once, so the servers were scrambling to bus and and take orders all at once. I swear, the older my mom gets the more obnoxious she is in public. She was waving with her chopsticks,(ohashi) "herro! menu kudasai! oh gosh, i apologised, and although the cute waitresses seemed understandably irked, they came around when i apologised and thanked them over and over. i love my mom, she cracks me up. ok, the food. i had ramen with the pea shoots, my mom and old man had chashu. Oh so onolicious! ooishii! noodles were so robust, substancial and chewy, they were manly man ramen noodles! the broths were seasoned well, my shio was subtle and sexy. sometimes it is just a turn off when broth can have too much going on. the chashu was the best i've seen anywhere yet. lastly, i am officially obsessed with pea shoots. so perfect in my ramen. i buy them by the huge bagful at new mei wah market on 7th and clement and make my own ramen or tofu or whatever. my friend has been sauteing them with heirloom tomatoes. i digress. i can't wait to go back! the waitresses were so cute too! -
yayoi’s 2-star review: Call it our japanese/ server instinct, but my mom and I have never felt like trying this place. the outside tables just don't seem right. Anyway, we decided to finally give this place a try for my birthday. We came with her friend and my husband. Sueko and my mama have been sushi waitresses for years in many places throughout the bay area. they know way too much gossip about japanese restaurants and who owns what, and who sold the business to korean or chinese and etc, etc. Yes, this place is japanese owned, but my mom and sueko had no reservations about commenting in japanese about the fact that we had to pay for our tea, about the incorrect use of types of dishes and bowls for what entree or side dish, and the expensive prices. my mom and i got the sansai wappa, my hubs got the chicken wappa, and Sueko ordered oyako don. the sasai was not seasoned at all. I am guessing that this is because it is meant to maintain vegan integrity. However, pouring soy sauce over rice is sacrilege, and my mom and i just had to do it! so, i was sad. My husband's chicken over rice steam bowl was generic, teriyaki-ish bits of meat. the oyako don looked like oyako don. overall, sueko and my mother are gossipy old waitresses who deserve to air their peanut gallery comments. I was disappointed. i was sad that the sansai and my man's chicken dish was lame. they could do so much more. there was no feeling in the dishes. so, yeah. sorry maki. -
yayoi’s 3-star review: i ate dinner next to harold (of harold and kumar fame) here! this place has a stellar galactic reputation, among sushi snobs and foodies. they do not disappoint. they keep their supply stocked with great quality choices from standard to exotic, so everytime you come back you will be tempted to try something new. my favorites are the ceviche, the oysters, all the scallop offerings, and the hamachi with jalapeno. of course i came here with my mama one day, and all that newfangled stuff might as well have been english to her, so she got the tuna plate. Sure it was good, but with all they offer, why go for that, unless you are an old fashioned japanese lady? I have gotten soba here with tenpura, and it's fine. anyway, harold barely talked with his fiancee! it gets expensive of course, but its worth it as a treat. -
yayoi’s 3-star review: geez, my mom likes coming here. I don't know why. she just likes to be able to speak japanese to her waitress. I like to utilize the in-table shabu shabu maker. I like to get nabeyaki udon, or veggie tofu udon. moms will usually get gyoza and zaru soba i think. or we will split nabeyaki and okonomiyaki. Its good to have it cooking in front of your face i guess. -
yayoi’s 5-star review: hard core. the japanese experience. got ropes and knots in your back? want to freaking break that s*** up? I once gave my mom a gift certificate for a mud bath massage place in calistoga, she said it was ok. "that is a different. for something else. i like more strong. i need japanese." so this is where she goes. have you ever seen zatoichi movies? the blind masseuse. its kinda like that. -
yayoi’s 3-star review: I am biased about this place. my mama does not like this it here for whatever reason. and so i feel guilty whenever i patronize them. let me tell you though, i find my hawaii slippers here for three bucks! -
yayoi’s 4-star review: I have been coming here with my family since the 80's. My mother just knows all the gossip about what and who owns what in the bay area amongst japanese joints. she has worked at so many sushi joints from sf, to oakland over the years she knows all the owners and old school waitresses like herself. so anyway, she used to LOVE this place, until they changed owner. I still love it, because the waitress knows my hubby and i and she knows that i love my large asahi and he loves his diet coke. I used to love love love their gyoza, all stuck together and crispy brown on the bottom. but i stopped eating meat dang it. i don't mind pork broth or eggs though. or fish. i usually get sansai soba and i love it. if you sit in one of the window seats, you could see right into a massage place right across the way, and its fun to speculate with my dirty old mind. I think they play koit or star 101. this is another place that my hubby and i will eat at while we splay our japanese books and magazines across the table and have fun with our new purchases. -
yayoi’s 4-star review: japanese people are notoriously prejudiced about authenticity and and the race of the chefs, and owners. my mom is so cute, when we go out to eat together, she always says, oh that was good, for chinese. or that place is not japanese anymore, but we could try there (kabuto). I would love to bring my mother to this restaurant, but the sushi chef is a bit of a cheeky guy with a potty mouth. otherwise, they have all the home cooking stuff that i crave, like kimpira gobo! -
yayoi’s 3-star review: good japan hawaii stuff here. it's cute. the seafood selection is what i tend to want, but too expensive for me, considering I get my employee whole foods disc. but whole foods does not have kombu, oden fixin's, inari wrappers, hawaiian sea salt, (the kind in the bag)- all the stuff you and i know we need and can get no where else, like dried squid snacks and fishcakes. But also cool for adventurous but still haole, like poke mix, green tea, and sake. -
yayoi’s 3-star review: good bentos at good prices. everything else i could get on clement street for cheaper. but they do have all the stuff i could not get at lucky's or safeway, or even my worldly whole foods, where i work. (stop by, say hi!) kamabokos, oshinkos, and other japo hawaii stuff that i need. they have ready to go thin sliced meats for sukiyaki, shabu shabu, or pho which is really convenient for me. also, good japanese toiletries and cosmetics. -
yayoi’s 4-star review: Update! Update! the front of house is all cute hot strapping young asian guys!!! and they are shy and flirty!! oh my! i came here today with my husband during their happy hour which is great for a snack and bevvie, and wowy wow wow! i kept wanting to look over at the sushi chef. our waiter was just so cute and innocent, the food as usual was yummy, timely, and perfect portions. forget about nobu k and his broken english japanese pervert reviews. its cool in here! they also have a cool new cold sake sampler deal that you have to try. the shots are large, the presentation is perfect, it just may convert me from a beer drinker to a cold sake lush. i liked the mu. they also have lots of soju cocktails, so if you wanted to stop in for a snack and cocktail i think this place would be perfect. anywhoo, this is still one of my favorite food joints in j town. if i could only order my waiter for dessert. -
yayoi’s 4-star review: i have been coming here more and more lately because i have been finding great houseplants and houselife here for very reasonable prices. i just gotta say, the majority of sf residents have limited time, space, climate to take care of anything else besides a hearty tropical, fern, succulent, or orchid. a lot like Japan! although i am not interested in bonsai, they seem to be THE place to go for supplies and plants. I bought a shiso plant here yesterday!!! i will eat it!! the lady is super nice and cute too! also they have little live shrimp aquariums the size of rubix cubes! very weird and neat. i would buy it, but i know my cats will destroy it. they have cut flowers too for doing ikebana, or just making lil arrangements.
About
Discover
Languages
Countries
Copyright © 2004–2024 Yelp Inc. Yelp, 
, 
and related marks are registered trademarks of Yelp.