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Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer RichmondTue-Sun. 5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
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We have a winner!!!!
I haven't been too impressed with Japanese food in the Bay Area. There were a couple places that I considered good, but it was either ridiculously pricey or I've had better in LA. Kappou Gomi, though, is EXCELLENT and the prices are actually reasonable. Yea, it's not cheap.. but real Japanese food is always expensive, and honestly, I was expecting the bill to be much worse.
We had a huge variety... Ootoro (fatty tuna) sashimi, baked uni in an apple, aji karaage (fried mackerel), ikura oroshi (salmon roe with grated daikon), miso marinated grilled cod, a tako (octopus) sashimi dish, soba with kakiage (tempura), etc etc. Every dish was beautifully presented, and the taste was the real deal. I read a review here earlier that was saying that the flavors are "one dimensional"... but that's what Japanese food is. I wouldn't say that it's 1-D, but rather, it's the subtleties in flavors of each fish and the preparation method that makes good Japanese food stand out. This place DEFINITELY has my approval!
By the way, they actually have a sign in the window that says "No sushi, No combination plates". It's true. Only go in if you want REAL Japanese seafood cuisine, not teriyaki chicken over rice with california rolls!
I went last night after seeing the wonderful pics on yelp and I have to agree this place is just ok. We ordered all the small dishes, so did not try the shabu shabu nor the noodle dishes. Everything that came out was amazing in terms of presentation, but once the food is in your mouth, nothing happens - there's no flavour explosion, not even a spark - everything seemed very one dimensional. I would take bite after bite thinking the next would be better but it wasn't. I mean it wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable either. we did however eat a few dishes which had a broth/soup base and the flavours were more complex and comforting, which makes me want to go back and try the shabu shabu and the soup noodles. I saw pots of it coming out and it looked like the perfect meal for a chilly winter night. I'll be back when I crave something soupy!
One thing I do want to note - the service is amazing and the place is immaculate. I love it when people have OCD, watching them keep things in order and cleaning up after themselves (i.e. wiping down a counter that just has a drop of water on it).
I came to Kappou Gomi with very high expectations and extremely hungry. We walked in on an early evening and the place was empty. We didn't let that discourage us so we sat down and prepared to indulge in a long waited traditional Japanese dinner.
After reviewing the comprehensive menu, my dining partner and I strategized and agreed to order 5 dishes. We ordered:
1. Wild Aji (today's special) Tataki style - sashimi from the entire fish and presented on a platter with the whole fish (head to tail). Presentation is dramatic and the sashimi is fresh, very mild tasting fish. However, I don't really care for the fishy smell of the fish on the table. That wasn't very appetizing.
2. Duck salted and grilled - this is the best dish among the 4 dishes. The duck was salty and grilled to crispy skin, but still pink in the center. A very rich, flavorful and delicious dish.
3. Black cod steamed in sake - a sliver of black cod fillet steam in a clay bowl with sake, tofu, kombu (sea kelp) and scallions. The fish is steam to perfection, not overcooked and the broth had a good flavor of sake. Is a very light dish with a mild flavor.
4. Unagi Sunomono - vinegar flavored grilled unagi with seaweed and jello with no flavor. Nothing special or particularly interesting to report.
5. Soba in hot soup with a perfectly poached egg and tempura mixed vegetables. Nothing special to report on this dish either.
At the end of the meal, my dining partner and I felt that there wasn't any wow factor to the meal. We both agreed that we had tasted better izakaya meal and Kappou Gomi was nothing worth jumping up and down for. The value of money for food wasn't worth it. We do want to appoint 5 stars for the dramatic platting and presentation, and 4 stars for attentive table services and the extensive selection on their menu. We will go back one more time just to try the salmon miso butter nabe with ramen. I'll report back after my second visit. Stay tune.
Ok... I've been living in this neighborhood most of my life and I have no idea how many great restaurants I've been surrounded by.
I friend recommended this restaurant so a friend and I gave it a shot. I was amazed on how good everything was. The presentation was really nice and everything was really tasty. I wish I can re-name the things I had but those Japanese names are quite hard to remember for me but the items I do know such as... Uni (Sashimi) was really good, Ari (?) Mackeral was really really good, Grill duck was good but I think it was a tad over cooked, Grilled Egg plant was good a well.
I am spreading the word of how fabulous this restaurant is and I will definitely go back. Knowing me... I'll keep going until I get sick of it. The menu is quite big so it may take some time to go through.
Want to eat homestyle unique japanese food.
Bored of the usual
Disclaimer: My ratings are based on value compared to other restaurants of the same cuisine and of a similar price point. A $10 meal could very well score 5 stars if the restaurant delivered excellent value. Similarly, a $100 meal could score 1 star if the food was dismal compared to its similarly-priced brethren. For the most part, my ratings will be based on the quality of the food, unless I explicitly comment on the service or the decor.
In this case, my points of reference are various restaurants I've been to in Japan since I've never really quite had an experience like this in SF. Yes, this place is the real deal. I've lived in Hong Kong for more than a decade and have visited Japan at least half a dozen times.
But first, word of warning: they are really, really slow. Don't come here expecting to grab a quick bite. I think my meal here (with three other friends) took around four hours. Yes, I'm glad I came and yes, I will return, but still... four hours?
Also, be patient when communicating with the waitresses. Their English isn't the best, and it took a while for them to explain why you had to order nabe if you wanted ramen. It turns out that the nabe serves as the soup base for the ramen! Once we figured that out, after multiple back-and-forths with the waitress, their odd menu instructions finally made sense.
The food was very authentic though I would not recommend coming here for sushi. This is not a sushi place. But if you want a taste of Japan, this might be as close as you're going to get in this city. You could also try Kiss Seafood's omakase, though that will be more expensive.
Some of the best Japanese food I have ever had. Enough Said!
there are few places that we venture out to the Richmond fog for.
Kappou Gomi is now one of them!
to complement all of the things that my fellow Yelpers have said, expect a simply set, traditional japanese ambiance - one of the perks being, it's nice and quiet! japanese servers who know the menu well help you assess if you've ordered enough food, and also help with dietary restrictions (thanks!). the menu is organized by protein ingredient, and each protein can be served in multiple ways, namely sashimi-style, grilled, deep fried, or in soup.
service was swift and extremely friendly, and i loved all of the authentic japanese ceramic plateware that was used. (note: we arrived at 6:45pm on a friday and to our surprise, there were tables available!)
i am now a HUGE fan of:
- grilled uni (gorgeously presented in a japanese apple and with "popover" style dough surrounding
- grilled gindara (simply grilled with miso and soy, to me, it's the fish equivalent of foie gras)
- steamed egg with vegetables (so light and tasty and airy and warm)
- tuna kama (a giant fish collar smack on your table, this was like the prime rib equivalent of fish!)
family-friendly and diet-friendly, a perfect place for delicious, light cuisine! all of us really enjoyed how much variety we got to eat, and even though portions were not large, we were impressed at how full we were at the end of it all!
worth the hype, worth the drive, worth the wallet!
For the price and what you get, this restaurant is Japa-mazing! Best Japanese food I've ever had outside of Tokyo.
Get the fish special of the day, and the pot of sukiyaki or miso broth and veggies in the end with ramen. The toro was fatty, fresh, and fleshy. So good.
Dishes are small, delicate, and very japanese. The care to precision, cleanliness, and detail is stellar. Miso-glazed black cod, chawamushi, burdock and eel.
Not for sushi/bento boxes. For Japanese-American food, go elsewhere.
I haven't been to Japan to say that this is authentic Japanese cuisine, but it is certainly not like any of the other Japanese restaurants I've frequented. And I love it for that.
The dishes are small but are very thoughtful in how the chef wants you to taste the combination of fish, sauce, vegetable, etc.
A good sign here is the lack of a self-serve bottle of soy sauce. The dishes are prepared to be enjoyed as is.
I'm not a big fan of long menus. It just makes the decision making process so complicated, but here the menu isn't that daunting despite its multi-page form. It's separated by the main ingredients and the different preparations of that item. Then there are small dishes (I have to come back and try at least a few more of these) and one-pot dishes.
I suggest coming with at least 4 people so that you can order as many of the dishes as you can on the menu and having a taste of each. I mean, you can order as many dishes as you'd like on your own as well, but who wants those uninviting looks from people thinking you are a glutton.
A few of the dishes that I really enjoyed:
The chopped tuna sashimi
The duck sashimi (it wasn't as sashimi as I thought)
The kampachi sashimi
On top of all this, the servers are amazingly polite and helpful in explaining to you some of the dishes that you may never have heard of.
This is by far the best and my new favorite Japanese restaurant!! Even my parents from Japan loved it and thought it was authentic. The waitresses were all Japanese and they even have a Japanese-only menu. Their items are separated by ingredients used (types of fish, chicken, beef, etc, etc, cooked differently) and they make it clear on the sign on the front door that they do not offer sushi or bento boxes.
Some of my favorite things:
- Takono yawarakani
- Gyuno tataki
- Kaki furai
- Asarino sakamushi
I'm not even gonna try to describe what they are in English - if you LOVE the delicate tastes of real Japanese cuisine like I do, order them and you would understand....
I know! I've missed you all my fellow Yeplers! I hope you have not tossed me aside as I've been away for weeks. I haven't actually been away, I've just had a lot on my mind, but I have not not been trying those places I'm holding close to my tummy.
I finally dined here with a friend and had to wait about half an hour. We debated whether to go somewhere else, but the wait staff were super sweet and totally Japanese. The patrons were also mostly Japanese, so we knew this must be pretty darn authentic. So we waited and finally got to sit.
We ordered 4 dishes and later ordered two more and realized we had not really needed that many plates. We should have gotten a couple of grilled/cooked plates, but ended up getting all raw fish dishes. I can't remember which ones were mediocre but the salmon, tuna, and miso clam soup were the stand outs of the 6 things we ordered.
My friend and I want to go back and get some grilled dishes next time to make a better judgment about this place. I do have to say the service was quite pleasant as well.
On Geary, on my Blackberry, searching for Kappou Gomi. It's a "blink and you'll miss it" kind of spot. Nestled between two big signs (for other restaurants), with its own sign covered by a big tree, you really have to be searching for this.
The restaurant is definitely upscale, and the opposite from your hole-in-the-walls of the Outer Richmond. The place is very clean. A welcomed addition, or does it stick out like a sore thumb?
Somehow I had heard that the ramen was excellent here. What I didn't hear was that you had to order a big bowl of food before you are allowed to order the ramen for afterwards. I looked down at my tummy, looked at my ittybittyskinny friend across from me, and quickly ditched that idea.
We delved into the vast menu with a few dishes in mind. Note that all of these are small dishes, so err on the side of over-ordering.
The best dish was soft, rich, creamy, and melts in your mouth. No, it's not ice cream, it's the miso black cod.
The worst: chicken karaage. Taste like all dough, no substance.
Service kind of stunk. Took forever for all our dishes to arrive. Took more than forever to get anyone's attention (to order, to get our drinks, to pay). We definitely noticed that some people who came in and sat down after us left before we did.
Excellent food, but extremely slow. They were pretty busy on a Friday evening, it's true, but the staff didn't seem to have a clue on how to manage the delays. Black cod marinated in miso, and salt-grilled saba were good. The had a pork belly special that was also primo. Not sure if we would brave the delays again... maybe after they have a few more months of operations.
Despite the 3, I urge adventurous eaters (of which I consider myself one) to try this place. I would try it again with the hope of enjoying it more now that I know what to expect. I would possibly try Kappa before trying this again.
Tip: Don't eat Thai or any other spicy food within 72 hours before eating here.
Pros:
Immaculately prepared Japanese dishes that you probably haven't tasted before.
The food is very high quality.
You have a lot of choices.
While this place is not inexpensive, the pricing strikes me as fair, especially given the complexity of some of the dishes and the special ingredients.
Staff is very polite, friendly, and pleasant.
Unlike Cynthia Y.'s experience, I had 5 dishes and was in and out in just over an hour.
Cons:
The dishes are very mild and I found myself wishing for a pepper shaker. Plebian, I know. Just saying. (See tip above.)
The dishes are minimally described on the menu. You cannot predict the similarity or differences between dishes by looking at the description on the menu.
The only soft drinks are Coke, Diet Coke, and cold oolong tea (which is what I got and didn't like). In the future I would just get the house hot tea.
Some of the dishes present logistical issues.
I felt like I was violating every unwritten rule of Japanese restaurant etiquette (more on this below).
Now to the dishes I had.
I started with vinegared water shield ($5.50). This turned out to be a small bowl of green petals in a clear liquid. The petals had an unexpected gel-like texture and the liquid was very mild. It was agreeable but bland; I had expected there to be more of a sour bite to the vinegar.
Then came the unagi yamagawa ($8), pieces of unagi in egg. Tasty, and the broth was wonderful. First logistical issue. My only implements were a Japanese-style porcelain spoon and a small square bowl. The unagi dish was served in a shallow casserole. How to maximally retrieve and drink the delightful broth without violating every unknown-to-me Japanese restaurant etiquette rule in existence? I wound up using the spoon to spoon as much of the broth out of the casserole into the square bowl, and then out of the square bowl into my mouth, but I probably left behind as much as I got. I know it is okay to lift a round bowl to ones lips, but does that hold true for a square one? I wished for some pepper for the egg.
Next came both the miso-grilled salmon ($8) and the sake-sauce chicken ($9). The waitperson explained that the small bowl alongside contained a dipping sauce and that the additional bowl contained (some green stuff) and spicy ginger (actually in the form of a paste).
The salmon dish was deceptively simple. A plain smallish grilled piece of salmon on a plate, with a thick slice of ginger and several tiny rolls of some unknown (to me) brownish-gray vegetable material (I think). I found for optimum taste, the best eating method was to separate the salmon pieces with the chopsticks, then pick up a piece of the salmon and the vegetable rolls together and eat that.
The chicken, once I opened the casserole, turned out to be accompanied by tofu, some Japanese green vegetable, a mushroom, and a sculptured slice of carrot in broth. Mindful of the other mild dishes, I poured the entire green (something) and ginger paste mix into the dipping sauce and mixed it up.
I took a piece of chicken and dipped it into the dipping mixture. The chicken was typical of chicken that has been used to make broth, and thus was pretty tasteless at this point. The dipping mixture definitely made it good, but the chicken pieces, although small, were still big enough that I found the tasteless spots. I found the optimal eating method was to cut the chicken pieces with the spoon so as to maximize the surface-to-volume ratio for the dipping mixture.
Now for the next logistical issue. Because the spoon is rounded and my bowl is square, I still had eel broth in the bowl. Not knowing whether it was okay to lift the square bowl to my mouth, I opted to pour from the square bowl to the spoon, then eat the contents of the spoon. I'm afraid some of the liquid escaped onto the table. Chalk up another Japanese etiquette horror story.
However, the chicken sake broth turned out to be stellar and well worth the effort and potential embarrassment. Still, it was a replay of the logistical issue with the eel/egg broth.
Staff was professional and did not acknowledge my faux pas. Alas, this extended to not cleaning up the mess before dessert.
Dessert was a trio of a gelatinous square of red bean, a tiny red bean mochi, and something white and gelatinous which I could not identify. All were mildly sweet and agreeable. Came with matcha tea and green tea.
By far the best "real" Japanese food experience you can get in San Francisco. Finally a Japanese restaurant by a real Japanese cuisine trained chef from Japan, that tolerates no compromise in the quality of food and service. Because of the stance they take, they have every right to sort out who they want to serve, and they should by all means.
For the quality, this place is a true bargain. We got 12! dishes and dessert for around $110 before tip. To get the best value for the meal, you should visit here with a seasoned diner or somebody that understands Japanese cuisine so that you get to try authentic dishes that might sound funny in English.
Please note: if only thing you can think of is sushi rolls or greasy tempura when you think about Japanese food, please don't waste their time by visiting their establishment. Read the sign in the front: "No Sushi, No Combination Dinner."
Decor: 4 stars
They really spend their time putting a Kappou style restaurant on Geary, and you have to give them a huge one for that. From the beautiful sign outside that reads "Kappou Gomi" in Japanese on a beautiful piece of wood, to the counter seating and also the table and chairs, they really pulled it off.
One star less, because I really wished that you can see the chef on the other side of the bar plating the beautiful food. Great selection of plates and they are of high quality as well.
Cuisine: 5 stars
How much does the chef here care about his food? More than you can imagine. Freshest seafood, freshest local produce, best dashi I ever tasted in US bar none.
I could not believe and was in awe with the quality of tai (sea bream) sashimi they served. We order 3 kinds of sashimi, and they were all served with specific type of soy sauce the chef blended particularly for that fish. We also got kampachi and aji, and they were both top quality. They fried the aji leftover (the bone with head and tail without the meat) for us with great batter and served with salt mixed with plum. What an amazing way to care for details and the guests. That was done for free for us by the way.
The way he cooks vegetables here is amazing. Many of them were cooked in dashi, and all of them come out in perfect texture and flavor while never overpowering the original flavor of the ingredients. The fava beans and asparagus in a couple of dishes we had were cooked so perfectly. They really go out and look for what's in season and serve it so well.
The menu is wonderful and quite large. The menu is filled with items I've been dreaming to have here but gave on getting outside of Japan. Many of the small plates items are very authentic. Great selection of seafood and meats and rice dishes. I want to go there everyday and eat everything on there! Besides the fish and the oysters, we had Japanese turnips, julienned nagaimo with plum, grilled eggplant, braised pork belly, 2 squid dishes and crab rice hotpot soup and dessert. Sophisticated pig out session!
Service 5 stars:
These ladies really know their food and you can tell that they are very proud of what they serve here. I was able to ask many questions on food item and they were very kind and took their time to explain. When we left some garnish vegetables, they told "you should eat those too. They are in season and very tasty."
Throughout the dinner they serve genmai tea. At the end of the meal, they changed to regular green tea. The quality of both tea is amazing, especially the last green tea with beautiful deep emerald color. These ladies are not your typical Asian restaurant mean women but your food guide. The directions they give you on how to eat their dish is very helpful and should be followed to enjoy the food as the chef meant it.
I will never go any other Japanese restaurant in the Bay Area, until they decide to close here!
I think any authentic loving SF-foodie will enjoy this place because it really diverges from typical Japanese restaurants. The restaurant owners clearly explain on the restaurant front that there is No Sushi and No Bento boxes and that's what really caught my eye.
No more (fill in the city/state) roll? You mean I can't get a San Francisco roll made for me in the 497th different way? Things are changing.
When you come here you'll have what seems like an encyclopedia of fish presented to you. On top of that, upon perusing the menu, you'll find each different fish can be cooked in as few as 5 ways or as many as say, about 10. This may seem daunting to new patrons, but I suggest just going for something that sounds good.
Portions are small and this place is essentially a japanese tapas joint. And for this reason, I'd suggest bringing a party of 3-4 so you can enjoy a little bit of everything. Happy hunting!
Nice upscale Japanese restaurant. It's not your typical Japanese food... no sushi rolls, no combination dinners. It was definitely overwhelming when you first open the menu. HOW DO WE ORDER?? AND WHAT DO WE ORDER?? WOW... definitely much to choose from. The smart thing to do is to read up on yelp reviews. haha It definitely helped me! I seriously had no idea what some of these flavors even were! Our waitress had a strong accent, so it was hard to understand her, so we didn't ask for a lot of recommendations.
We ended up ordering (for 2):
- Ishikari Nabe with Ramen at the end ******HIGHLY RECOMMENDED****
- Japanese zucchini/squash or something like that.... more like JELLY... not recommended... I mean, it was ok, but I would have rather had more flavor and substance in another dish.
- Amber Jack sashimi with some sort of miso dressing
-Miso Black Cod - OM*G DELICIOUS!!! Best I have ever tasted!!
The small dishes were very nicely decorated and came with vegetables. The sashimi plates came with 5-6pieces of sashimi and vegetables. The Amber Jack fish was ok... but it didn't really melt in my mouth... so no excitement there. The dressings were good.
The real excitement is in the Ishikari Nabe. A platter of salmon and hot pot vegetables are brought out first and put into the miso broth to cook. It could use more vegetables and more than ONE shitake mushroom... but overall, this was SOOOOO GOOD. I could literally drink the broth. They make sure you eat everything in the pot (at least the salmon) before moving on. The ramen came in another platter with some pork pieces and some bean sprouts and other veggies. The server puts this all in the hot pot for you and lets it cook for a few min. Once it starts to boil, you can start eating it... This was my favorite part of dinner... the pork added sooo much flavor to the broth. It completely changed the broth from before. It was a good amount for 2 people. I would say that this hot pot and 1 other small dish would suffice. It's a lot of food!
For the 3 small plates and hot pot, we paid $55 (not incl tip). Kind of pricey, but I think it was worth it. It's a very interesting concept that they have here. The small plates were $4-8, hot pot was $25. The service was great here! We constantly had our tea refilled, and our server was very attentive to our hot pot. There were no long lines when we went (around 7pm) on a Friday night.
Butter-grilled scallops are my favorite so far.
JONASAPPROVED!
4.5 stars. I minus .5 stars for the wait for the food (which is excusable since it was packed) and the wait for the check. I have wanted to come here since seeing it #1 on hot on yelp's list for weeks!
The food here is amazing...lemme say it again AMAZING.
Although I have never been to Japan, I feel that this restaurant is the closest I can get without flying over the Pacific. The presentation is phenomenal. They have such art in their food and the choices and selections of mixers to their dishes wow'd me each time. They have small plates of just about every imaginable Japanese cuisine. I loved their tofu in the amber sauce (you have to order that). I also ordered the shabu shabu for one, which pretty much took up our whole table. I couldn't indulge myself to pay $80 for the wagyu beef, but I settled for the $28 american, which is good. I mean it's authentic shabu and to me, is better quality than at Shabu House. The tempura with crab was amazing and they just present everything so nicely. They also use a lot of condiments that I am not used to, but all add and enhance the flavor.
We finished with the selection of Japanese sweets which was the perfect ending. It had red bean delicacies, shaved gold, and something that looked like jello. It came with a bowl of very very strong green tea - think espresso shot quality, which had us wiiired...
This is my new fave Japanese restaurant in San Francisco. Go there while it is hot!
Minus 1 star for the long wait and sporadic service but the food definitely gets a solid 5 stars!
The hubby and I ordered the yelp favorite: Ishikari Nabe. Unfortunately we were too stuffed to get the Ramen at the end (bummer!) but we will be back to try it!
My favorite dishes were the simmered mackeral, the hirame sashimi with ponzu sauce, and the chrysantheum oshitashi (small cold appetizer). I also enjoyed the salt grilled salmon.
As for the infamous Ishikari Nabe, it had alittle too much butter in the broth for my liking but I can see the appeal. Generous portions of salmon filet tossed in the hot pot as well as a variety of veggies.
Still so many more dishes to try so this will be our stopping ground for the next few months!
We had a fantastic early dinner here on a thursday evening. We didn't need to wait at all, which was nice, and parking was a breeze. This is the best Japanese meal I have had outside of Japan. With three people we had at least 10 dishes and since portion sizes are small it was great to try such a variety of items. Miso cod was delicious as was the Seafood hot pot. My favorite was the "rice of the day" which on happened to be cooked with salmon, yuzu zest and served w/ salmon roe. It was so good we ordered two! Next time I would definitely try the sashimi specials or the steak hot pots as they looked like popular options.
I'm no hater and I'm all for mom & pop shops making it BUT there was absolutely NO WAY I could have given this place anything above 3.5 stars. Sorry, I really couldn't.
I came here a few weeks ago not knowing what to expect. When I think of Japanese, I usually think of sushi rolls. Doesn't everyone?
Anyways, I came, I sat and I was in awe. The menu looked like a book; it was enormous!! Not knowing what to order (because there were no sushi rolls), I passed on the duty to someone else :) With a few suggestions from our kind elderly waitress, we were on our way to a delightful dinner.
Keep in mind, I had no idea what was being suggested or ordered, I just sat back and smiled. Maybe that was not such a great idea...oh wells *shrug*
As each dish came out, it came fully equipped with new sauces and the presentations were absolutely beautiful. Every single dish was pleasing to the eye but not to the palate. Some were definitely better than others.
To keep the long story short, I left feeling full but not from the satisfaction of having a delicious dinner but having seen too much raw quail egg yolk that made me want to puke.
This could have definitely been a 5 star experience IF I knew exactly what I was getting into AND if I knew how to order! I'll come again but this time I'm kidnapping my Japanese friend.
+1 beautifully plated food
+1 outstanding customer service, helpful and attentive
+1 toro & mini oysters...OMG yes.
+.5 sake was good, yay!
I was excited to try this place after seeing all the positive reviews so I brought the boyfriend here for his birthday. I think overall the food was good. It was very much like ryokan food (as opposed to izakaya) though, so perhaps too refined for my taste.
We ordered the ishikari nabe with ramen, which was a simple nabe with lots of salmon. Personally, I felt there was too much salmon for two of us to share. Just a couple pieces would have been perfect. The ramen was a nice addition to the dish and both offered plenty of veggies which I love. The chashu pieces were delicious.
We also ordered the miso gindara, crab cream korokke, and beef tataki. Overall the dishes were presented very thoughtfully in very small portions. The gindara came out to be about half the size of other izakayas I've been to. Without the ramen and nabe we would have had to order a lot more dishes.
Don't get me wrong, the chef is skilled and thinks carefully about the ingredients and presentation. When I'm in Japan I enjoy the standard izakaya food better than something at a ryokan so it is probably too fancy for me. I'll be sticking to Oyaji.
White boy alert!!!
I hate eating at places that make me feel like I only dine at Chevy's and Denny's. (I don't.. I swear. Really, I don't.) They put the food down in front of me and I think, I do not recognize a damn thing they just set down. But I'm with my date and have to at least pretend like I do. And super pretend to enjoy it.
Seriously some of the most beautiful and exotic presentations of food I have seen (fish dishes).
But I have had better sashimi at any number of sushi spots. Very few of the flavors or dishes really came together.. it was a lot of attractive parts of a dish. Except for, wait for it, the unagi teriyaki. Like I said, I eat at sh*tty chains way too often. And the service was excruciating. I think it took 25 minutes for us to be greeted even though there were only 4 of us at the door and empty tables in the restaurant. The foursome behind us waited an hour after we were seated even though there was ample seating.
ouch.
Very unusual for a Japanese restaurant in the US. I want to say authentic, but I've never been to Japan, so I really wouldn't know. =P
In any case, they had some incredible dishes:
-The best uni sashimi I've ever had. Period. It comes with a very light sauce, and they pair perfectly.
-Fantastic Saba sashimi
-Their ramen noodles are super fresh
-The pork miso soup was excellent. One of our favorite dishes.
-REAL wasabi! The texture was just like fresh horseradish (imagine that!)
-Probably the best sake sashimi I've ever had. Thick, beautiful slices.
The only real complaint I have was about the Toro. It tasted like it was still a little frozen in the middle, and the texture was a little gritty. It was still pretty good, but it was leagues under the par they had set in their previous dishes (and very expensive: $25).
I would give them 4.5 stars if I could. Great service too!
After reading of Kappou Gomi here in Yelpland, four of us walked through the Outer Richmond fog to try it for ourselves and were suitably impressed. Not only was the menu devoid of sushi and combination plates, as announced on the sign in the window, but it was structured around ingredients and their treatments rather than around types of dishes, with most of the treatments available for most of the ingredients, which realization helps to stabilize the initial dizziness one feels upon opening the menu, as that feeling quickly found itself transformed into the urge to order everything here. And after about eight dishes between us on a Sunday night, with the hiryu-zu and a wasabi-marinated mackerel as the highlights of our meal, I continue to want to do just that at this home to some of the best Japanese food I have had in SF. As for the issue of timing, I found the service relaxed and mercifully non-invasive, while still attentive; this is, after all, food to be enjoyed slowly, and Kappou Gomi is no place for a breathless session of hoovering between coins dropped in the meter. We did, however, appear near closing time on a Sunday night, so there was little competition for attention.
Shockingly authentic, shockingly good. To give you an idea of how authentic this place is, the place is actually owned and operated by Japanese NOT Chinese people.
Every fish they offer (maybe 15 total) can be prepared in several ways - sashimi/fried/grilled/poached and with multiple sauces miso/dashi/wasabe etc. The amount of variety is staggering.
Along with Kaygetsu in Menlo Park, this place is the closest you can get to real Japanese food outside of Tokyo and is now my top place to get sashimi in the city (over sanraku, zushi)
4-5 stars for the sashimi dishes
3-3.5 for the small plates, etc.
Unfortunately, I did not get to try the Ishikari + ramen that so many yelpers have recommended. We were too tempted by the 5+page menu.
The Sashimi:
-O-Toro $23
-Kampachi $15
-Salmon $15
The sashimi dishes of each fish variety ranked among some of the best I have ever tasted. Flavor and texture as well as size and the cut of the fish were excellent. Well worth the price!!!
Next time, I would go and get sashimi of O-Toro, Kampachi, Salmon, Uni (they ran out!!! but the Uni in the Uni-Ika-Ae was spectacular), Hotate, Aji, Hamachi if they have it.
Unfortunately, there is not one dish of the cooked variety I would get again. Some were good while others were just okay. I could do without the excess of relish they put on the plates as well. They didn't add much to the dish and were not tasty.
Small plates:
-Japanese yam + ume
-Ikura+ daikon
Uni
-Ika Ae (Uni and Ika)
*Uni was delicious, esp w/ the sauce. Ika was kind of thick. Better elsewhere such as Sushi Sho.
-Grilled (cooked Uni on top of an apple covered in egg mixture)
*I actually did not prefer the grilled uni, after one bite I couldn't eat it because the taste of the egg didn't sit well with me, but my friend ate the whole thing and enjoyed it.
Eggplant
-Grilled
*decent, but again, excess of relish and not enough eggplant. Better elsewhere such as Norikonoko.
Beef
-Tataki
*not worth it
Specials:
-Pork Belly
*this was not particularly good and kind of pricey for two pieces of pork.
In the end, the bill came out to $140 w/ tax + tip. We could have substantially shaven a lot off the bill if we had known what we liked, but since it was our first time, we had to try everything.
Although the cooked dishes were kind of disappointing, I would still come back here for the excellent, top rate sashimi. I'm sure they do lots of other things great too.
Wish I could have eaten here - in order to do a proper review.
Let me explain...
My wife and I popped in, waited for the waitress with the cool short dyed-blonde hair do & glasses to come up to us. I told her in Japanese that there were two of us...
The waitress would not look at me, but spoke directly (and only) to my wife. I am half-Japanese...my wife is Chinese..
She pointed to the bar, but I asked for a table. She then told us to wait outside. Mind you it was freezing out...I can take the cold much better than my wife and would have waited - even though it was odd to be told to stand outside with no estimate of time for a table...but my wife suggested we bail. So we did.
Would have liked to have tried this place, but with other places who know how to treat customers, why bother?
Lordy, you whisper "authentic," and the foodies come flocking...
I wished I waited and did some research before visiting here for the first time because I thought I had an expansive palette, but was proven wrong. I mean, I really really thought so. I've had natto. I'm Chinese, fer gosh sake, we eat every part of the animal cooked in parts of other animals and we laugh at the white people who purse their lips at organs and offal on the secret menus.
But, two of the dishes I had here (cold dishes) are the most foul things that have passed my tongue. Were they authentic? I don't have a doubt. But, did they please me? Hell to the No. I won't say what they are because a) I'm sure to people accustomed to such flavors, they were totally awesome, and I don't want to unfairly bias people against them; and b) to hide shamefully my ignorance of authentic Japanese cuisine.
Having said that, the three or four dishes we did like (grilled, fried, soupy) were TREMENDOUS. And all dishes, tremendous and foul, were gorgeous visual creations of color, curves and composition.
The service was also gracious and generous, which is important when you're stepping into a restaurant and are not quite sure what you're doing with this gigantic menu.
I have no doubt that if we stuck to famiilar territories, we would've had a five star experience, but we flew too high on wings of pastrami, and got scorched by the cold flavors of the unfamiliar.
This place is great, they have ample amounts of seating, but I wouldn't recommend a party much over 6-8 because it is a very open restaurant and you might become "that table" if you get to loud. I went in, in search of Japanese style ramen and was excited to find it for only $6.50 but what I was not excited about was that you had to order one of their "hot pot" dishes, the cheapest of which is $28. needless to say, I did not get my ramen and as a little upset about that, but I settles for hot Udon, which is barley noodles in a soup served with a japanese style poached egg and tempura onions(?). I was very good, and filling, but a little to subtle for my taste; luckily they provide a spicy salt type mixture with the dish to spice it up a little bit. The green tea is also very good, and they have great service.
This place had a novel of menu items of various kinds of seafood and I had NO idea where to begin or what most of it was.
Going with the dishes we could recognize proved to be not so balanced a meal. It may have been a cruel coincidence that almost all the dishes we ordered were salty. Except the toro. That was amazing.
Where I can blame the food choice on my own Japanese food ignorance, I blame the excruciating slow meal on the staff. The woman serving us rarely came back and we had to flag down another waitress to get our check.
You really need to have some knowledge of Japanese food beyond sushi to really get the effect this place can offer.
I hope to come back again...with Nobu maybe!
Kappou Gomi has a BIG MENU so it's very hard to order.
They have various preparations for each item on the menu.
So, you gotto know what you are ordering.
But you don't need to worry.
The waitresses are all NICE and HELPFUL.
We were 3 of us at Gomi on Friday night dinner.
I already had a plan.
So my plan was ISHIKARI-Nabe.
It's Fresh Salmon Miso base hot pot.
http://www.city.ishika...
Even though I had a plan, the waitress gave us great advice. She told us that 2 order maybe enough for us.
SHE WAS RIGHT.
2 order of the Ishikari-Nabe was enough for 3 of us.
The highlight of the dinner was that after the Nabe.
The chef uses the left over broth for noodle soup.
You have 3 choices.
1. Udon
Chef Gomi uses Inaniwa- Udon. https://www.mytrace.bi...
2. Ramen
3. Rice porridge
Rice porridge is always served after Tecchiri ( after eat Fugu-Sashimi http://www.tecchiri.com/ )
But the waitress recommended Ramen.
I wanted to have the Udon but she told us that it is great for Ramen broth mixed with Miso and Salmon.
So we did.
The Ramen was PHENOMENAL!!
Great fresh curly egg noodle with Miso + Salmon broth.
Fantastic!!
Chef Gomi has been worked at Kiku of Tokyo in Hilton Hotel, SF over 2 decades. But Hilton Hotel decided to get rid of Kiku of Tokyo because the hotel don't get enough Japanese tourists any longer.
So, he opened his own restaurant on Geary Blvd with his wife.
All dishes on the menu are all Advanced Traditional Japanese.
The service was WONDERFUL. I saw 3 waitresses including Mrs. Gomi. They all professionals. They are not just over selling the menu. They'll help you pick the right thing, so you don't order more than you need.
We had
1. Hi-Ryu-zu, Flying Dragon's Head? It's a BIG bowl of An-kake Gan modoki, a Big Fried mashed Tofu with Potato starched soup, the dish was AWESOME!
2. Yaki-Nasu, Grilled eggplant
3. ISHIKARI NABE for 2 people
4. Ramen for 3 people
5. 300 ml Bishounen, good Sake.
6. Two different kind of Great green tea
+
tax
=$102
we put $40 each.
We were so full.
What a dinner.
It was a phenomenal experience.
Btw, I forgot to say that the Ramen ONLY available after the Nabe.
You can't order just Ramen.
The Big Night.
http://www.youtube.com...
That was the best scene ever describes what's going on inside…
Read more »
Okay. This place is like mini-Japan in the Outer Richmond. I mean, possibly more authentic than Japantown itself.
Came here with my old boss, not sure what to expect. I had originally wanted to try Volcano: Curry of Japan that was down the street, but Mr. Ex Boss man, finely tuned to my Yelp snobbiness, kindly informed me that it was a Yelp 3-Star. And thusly, it was snubbed. Kappou Gomi it was.
So we walk in and Japanese words were flying left and right. Japanese laughter and Japanese giggling. It was very very Japanese. (Not that I minded in the least because I admit, I am somewhat of a Japanophile. Just a lil bit.)
The place looks small from the outside, but it's deep. A woman wearing traditional Japanese garb seated us and brought us menus. Tea was served - the best green tea I've had in a Japanese restaurant on this side of the world.
The menu was daunting. They were all small dishes, meaning no sushi. No combination dinner. (As the sign outside succinctly describes)
We deferred to Yelp and the waitress to expedite our decisions. We had the toro, hamachi, aji, grilled uni, and a steamed egg dish with vegetables and seafood.
Rank:
1. Grilled uni on a friggin apple with bits of fried egg
2. Toro
3. Hamachi
4. Aji
5. Steamed egg
Okay. The grilled uni was amazing. I mean, it was art. And the fried egg that came with it was out of this world. It was like unlike any sort of egg I've ever had. And the toro - can you go wrong with toro? The hamachi and the aji were both pretty on par and very delicious. I was not that impressed with the steamed egg dish, probably because I'm used to something similar that my grandma makes.
Each plate was about $10 - $20. Our total came to around $70.
The service was great, too. The servers were very friendly and welcoming.
Also, one of the people who sat next to us looked like Takeshi Kaneshiro. That was also a plus.
Impossible to write a complete review after only one visit, but the food was excellent, the service was great.
Dishes Order:
Scallop in Sake Broth- delicately prepared scallops (4) with scallions, and mushrooms.
Otoro Sashimi- Buttery...very good
Aji Sashimi- Sashimi served with a ginger and scallion mixture. I wish they would have taken back the head and tail and fried it up like they do at Blue Ribbon in NY.
Small Pot with Conger Eel and Egg- the eel was sweet and really went well with the egg. I would definitely recommend this one.
Fried Oysters- Panko Bread crusted oysters that turned out really well. They served it with hot mustard and potato salad. Also really good.
Hi, my name is Yohanna, and I'm a Yelpaholic. It's pretty scary how often I interject my conversations with, "Ooh.. I read on yelp..." I'm surprised no one has bonked me upside the head yet. Let me see if I can find a review on the best place to do that...
So I read on yelp that Kappou Gomi serves traditional Japanese cuisine. My boyfriend is a bit obsessed with Japanese food, so we went to try it for his birthday dinner. We ordered some sashimi, lots of grilled seafood, and a little bit of vegetables. Mostly everything was good, but the best one, in my opinion, was really the eggplant.
Throughout the meal, I couldn't stop thinking about umami and how it was a Japanese person who was able to pinpoint the taste and isolated it. At the same time, I also couldn't stop thinking about it because that's the flavor that kept coming up. And after a number of dishes, it got a bit of an overkill. It's possible that the overkill is because of our inexperience in ordering. Perhaps a bit more sashimi would've been better as a palate cleanser in between dishes.
Good place, I will definitely come back, especially if someone else is picking up the tab. Two quick tips: the menu looks huge and daunting, but they're divided into the type of seafood and how they are cooked. So decide first what you would like (for example, salmon or scallop?) and then decide how you would like them (raw, variations of grilled, or panko-fried?). The other tip: nearly everything is a la carte. Think tapas (small dishes to share), but with Japanese food. With that said, know that you might end up spending a bit of money. It's very easy to spend more than $30 per person.
I've been curious about trying this place...I see it on Yelp, 7X7 and word of mouth from friends....
So on a calm Wednesday night, my bf and I decided to try this place.
We walked in around 7:30 - no wait. The place was nicely occupied with 4 tables of guests so you feel a nice sense that this place is busy so the food is fresh but not too much where you'll starve first before getting your food.
We sat down and started to look at the menu. I didn't really know what to expect so when I saw all the variety of dishes catered to one type of fish (uni, scallop, mackerel, salmon, tuna, etc) or meat (beef, chicken, pork) I was mildly surprised and a little confused on how to order.
Essentially, it's "tapas" style and it was a really nice way to try things prepped differently.
Each dish is not huge in portion but made just right for a few bites. The presentation is amazing and so well crafted.
Our dishes seem like it was cooked in the kitchen of our grandparent's home in Japan...very traditional and clean. One of our favorite dishes was the pork belly and a soup made of miso, salmon and veggies. We completed our meal with ramen added to the soup base.
Leaving a the Kappou Gomi extremely full and minus $100 from our wallet...we can say that this was a nice experience and will try again.
Thanks to Nobu K.'s review and a recommendation from a coworker, my girlfriend and I came here for dinner tonight and ordered the Ishikari. The miso butter broth was super tasty...just the right about of flavor, not to salty or anything. The salmon was melt in your mouth delicious. We also got an order of ramen afterward to share. Even though it didn't look like a lot of noodles, we each had three bowls of the yummy stuff. The cha shu that it came with was really good...reminded me of "thit kho" (Vietnamese braised pork dish).
In addition to the Ishikari, my friend and I shared the fried eggplant with miso sauce. It was totally different from what I pictured it would be. I was expecting tempura slices of eggplant with a miso sauce but the dish that was presented to us was way prettier...reminded me a little of a halved pomegranate. The center was super soft and gooey and the skin was crunchy. The miso sauce was perfect with it.
The food was definitely a solid 4.5 stars (I need to try more dishes next time to give it a 5). Only thing is that service was a little slow...the waitresses were really nice but I think it was a little too busy for them. Our tea cups were empty most of the time and it took a long time for us to get our check. But I'd definitely come back again to try their other yummy offerings...just need to have a plan of attack so my tummy can squeeze in as many dishes as possible ;)
I came here expecting a ramen place based off of Nobu K.'s review.
It is a full Japanese restaurant with a very extensive menu. I ordered:
-Ishikari Nabe
-+Ramen
-Mochi
-Miso Black Cod
Everything was phenomenal. Miso Soup from the Nabe was awesome! And then using it for Ramen, brilliant!
Black Cod was perfectly cooked with dense buttery flavors. Yum.
Service was slow, but the food made up for the wait.
Happy Hour Draft Beer $1.75!
Neighborhood: Nob Hill
99 cents beer & hot sake
Neighborhood: Excelsior
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