Mifune Don Restaurant
22 Peace Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 346-1993
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street, Garage
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: No
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: No
- Delivers: No
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: No
- Good for: Lunch
- Alcohol: Beer & Wine Only
389 reviews
Neighborhood: Inner Sunset
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43 Reviews for Mifune Don Restaurant
Passable but not great informal all-around Japanese restaurant. No sushi chef so the sushi is crude - they use a mold for the rice! Service was inattentive and the place could use some sprucing up. Udon noodles in the soup were very good. Other things were simple, and carelessly prepared and plated. Despite the hype it's in the middle to lower half of all the restaurants in Japantown, and a tad more expensive than its peers.
They must put crack in the rice, because the Michelin people decided to rate this one, of all the town's great Asian joints, one of the very few French-approved non-French restaurants in town. Utterly inexplicable. Guest they were out to lunch in more ways then one.
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Brought my Brooklyn friends here for some shabu shabu. Came on a Monday afternoon so there was no wait and the service was fine. Lots of beautiful red slices on beef. We got two orders for three people and we were stuffed! Came out to about $14 per person. We even drank all the broth like rude Americans.
4 stars for food and 3 for service. Food here is always delish and you can mix up a few dishes for their lunch combo. But someone I don't understand how the server tries to run off after each person places an order.... I do want to order an appetizer or something.
Love it! I've been looking for a place to get tendon since I got back from Tokyo. This place delivers. Okonomiyaki was fantastic as well!!
Mifune Don is great! I can see why it was packed. I ordered the udon because some yelpers had good things to say about the udon. The udon was fantastic! Other than the California rolls which I didn't care for, everything else was delicious. It is small, it is not fancy, but it is great. I feel sorry for the waiter. She has so many customers but she is running the show all by herself. Please take it easy on her. Five stars.
I'm rounding up to four stars here. I'd say the food is 3.5 stars, but God, they give you so much of it! Noodles, tempura, California rolls, salad and soup...all for $14.50! I think this is one of the more popular places in Japan Town, as there's always a line. Hey, where can you get a drink, dinner, and still have leftovers, all for $21.00 each?
Really good okonomiyaki. I heard about this place from my massage therapist.
Outside of Japan, this is the best I've had. I tried the other spot next to the crepe place, but the popularity of the Kinokuniya building should have tipped me off that they can afford to ride that popularity and slack off on their okonomiyaki.
I don't know if it's just me, but the pancake feel of okonomiyaki can be overwhelming, making you think you're full after a couple of bites. So much flavor! If you feel yourself getting full like this, just have a swig from a nice glass of Coke on ice, and you can continue. I don't know why Coke does that for me.
I've been back a couple of times since I found out about this place last month. Definitely a place off the beaten-path in Japantown, good for impressing that cute non-asian girl.
Knocked a star-off for having a very unfriendly hostess (working Saturday afternoons) who would probably charge you just for giving you a smile, even though the waiter is very friendly. Hey, you're only as strong as your weakest hostess!
The noodle soup was not all that, this includes the noodles AND the broth. I did have pork and egg okonomiyaki which I liked.
When I first got to the restaurant it smelled like heavy, stinky cleanser, a mixed smell of yucky and chemically (both gross). After I ordered and the kitchen was warming up, the smell of the okonomiyaki killed the lingering chemical odor.
"Soul food" is something not usually a phrase used to describe Japanese food. Because whenever Japanese food is mentioned, everybody thinks expensive bite size pieces of raw fish, pieces of food rolled up in a layer of sticky rice, or very ornate dishes which leave one yearning for more as it does not fit for the gastronomic expectations of the American pallet.
But to tell you the truth, as I have been going to this joint since I was a sophomore in high school, I can really say that whatever these dishes that they serve are just that: soul food. The okonomiyaki is one of the highlights of this place. From the lively wafting pieces of thin ginger to the mayo and sauces that are on top of an steaming egg omelet layer that on top of layer of meat and veggies on top of yet another egg layer that work together so well in a manner that can be simply described as "soft" and not sharp texture and taste like most foods that we probably consume in a regular basis we are used to. Oh yeah..and hits the spot as it is big.
The setting and decor of the place is something that conveys that they try to compete for attention in the atmosphere dept but fails. But despite the failure to conjure a posh decorative in the restaurant, they make up for the fact that because of it's honest failed attempted, it's quite endearing and homely (that is, if you are the type that gives in to your empathetic side after realizing that the place that you went to was pretending to look posh).
I would recommend this place to any high school kid out there that feels a bit down and out and would like to hide away from the usual places that they would go to otherwise to escape reality. For the college guy or gal that would like to create a fond memory: make this place the template for such a memory. To the young couple that are getting to know each other: it's the place where you might get to tell your kids about when they ask about as to how your dates used to be like.
I know, I'm being too gooey about this place, but I can't help but notice that it is what is: a soul food joint la japonese. And like all places that serve a type of "soul food" of their respective cuisine, they are places where souls are not only comforted, but also where people can find and establish a feeling of home (believe it or not).
This is a place that needs to be known to be appreciated. It is a place that needs to be checked out. Because in Japantown, it's sometimes the hidden corners that show you something worthwhile and intersting and Mifune is one of them.
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try their lunch special. for $10.50, you get a bowl of noodles and another bowl of a rice dish. i got the beef udon and the unagi rice bowl. boyfriend got ramen and beef bowl. i thought the portions were good. the udon was excellent. i'm not a huge fan of udon, but something about this place told me to get it. and i was so happy with my choice. there's a good amount of meat, which i didn't expect. the broth was very tasty. the unagi bowl was so good! there was plenty of unagi. it was cooked well, and wasn't drowned in sauce. my boyfriend's ramen was really good. he loves ramen, but he likes the one that costs 10 cents and it cooks in 5 mins. haha. his beef bowl was also very good. he couldn't even finish it!
i guess i can understand why people don't like this place. fortunately, service was good when we got here. where we were seated, i had full view of the kitchen, particularly the cleaning area. it wasn't exactly clean, but i don't know what the standards are for that. i'd go back whenever i'm back in san francisco.
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I was first told of this place through yelp when i suddenly had an craving for okonomiyaki. There are only a hand full of restaurants that actually have it. The food was rather reasonable for the price and seems to fill me up whenever I come here. The food overall was not bad here and it doesn't take so long for them to prepare. Overall this place is a 4/5 to me.
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I love this place! I come here almost every time I come to Japantown. My group of friends & I always choose the outside booth because it's cooler and not as stuffy as inside. The waitress is very nice, she always asks us if we would rather go inside because it's so cold outside. She's a very considerate person. I go for lunch all the time, oh! If you can come before 5PM, be SURE to go for their lunch special! It's $9.60 for a bowl of udon and a rice bowl or sushi. It's the best deal there! I love the service and she's very kind and always offers more tea even when we're about to leave. I think it's a better atmosphere because it's in the Miyako Mall and is more quiet and less commotion. &hey when you're done you can go shop for some cute trinkets @ Ichiban Kan(:
Yummmmm, okonomiyaki! I really shouldn't have, it was hot and I was planning on having some cold soba and beer, but that okonomiyaki was calling to me. It was really quite delicious. But you'd better be hungry, it's quite big for one person. The price was also quite good for lunch in Japantown.
Not bad! There aren't too many Japanese restaurants that offer okonomiyaki, and if you like your okonomiyaki more meaty than stachy, this is the place to go (but if you like it the other way around, get it at Izumiya). Their ramen's broth was perfect too. It's so hard to find a bowl of ramen that isn't too salty or too bland. Pretty cheap here too. They offer $5 donburi to go!
JONASAPPROVED!
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I really hate Mifune Don.
They close at 8 pm, so I never get out of work in time to eat the best okonomiyaki the City has to offer.
Don't get me wrong... the okonomiyaki at Mifune Don is not the best I've ever had, but it's definitely not the worst (*cough* Izumi-ya *cough). Their okonomiyaki has a good balance of cabbage and seafood (or veggies, or beef, or whatever else you select: there are about 10 types to choose from), and it's topped with the appropriate balance of good okonomi sauce, japanese mayo and bonito flakes. The thickness and texture is bang-on. The only real complaint I had was that I couldn't get a fried egg on top. But then again, I couldn't finish it anyway, so I suppose that's of little import.
It seemed to me that they did allow you to make the okonomiyaki tableside like at Okonomiyaki-yas in Japan; at least it was listed on the menu as such, and had a higher price as well. But I didn't order that way, so I can't verify that one way or the other.
Among the other items on our table, the korokke were fantastic: light, fluffy inside, deep-fried but non-greasy goodness outside. The hot pot style dish was good, with fresh vegetables to round out the meal.
The only downer on the table was the California roll that appeared to have been sitting around all afternoon, long enough the avocado to brown... but upon request, it was replaced by a freshly made roll.
The service wasn't fantastic, but it wasn't bad considering the table was inhabited by a group of typically rowdy, but slightly subdued yelpers detoxing on a Sunday afternoon.
And $15 per person, including appetizers, the meal, tip and sake* in celebration of a certain nymph's accomplishment earlier that day? When I'm fiending for okonomiyaki and can manage to get out of work before 7 pm, Mifune Don will be my destination. But one star off for closing too early, forcing me to go to down the street to Genki Ramen instead.
*Detoxing most of the afternoon.
Notes:
On the second floor of the eastern-most building at the Japantown mall complex. NOT on the first floor - that's Mifune: no okonomiyaki there.
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Shhhh!
Mifune Don is in the quiet part of the J-Center, Miyako Mall, where they have the little orange bridge that turns inexplicably into the stairs to the second floor. Like most people, I come to this part of the mall only to replenish my supply of Sapporo Ichiban ramen noodles and Pocky boxes at Ichiban Kan. But I decided to try something out of my routine for lunch here, and I have to say it was a bit of a ho-hum.
They offer these $9.80 Lunch Specials where you pick an item from group A and an item from group B. Group A, I understood, since there were only three items, so I chose their beef udon bowl. Group B was a bit confusing because I couldn't make logical sense of the variety of items and whether they were all being presented as options. The people in the booth next to me had the same frustration. Menu usability issues.
I went for a simple sashimi over rice, which was the better part of the lunch since it was straightforward. The udon bowl struck me as rather paltry in ingredients with the salty broth overwhelming everything else. Even with the miso soup and minuscule serving of salad, I also thought $10 was a bit high for what I got. In hindsight, I guess I should have tried the okonomiyaki, apparently the open-omelette, mayo-covered house specialty. Oh well. Service was attentive...even as the bulbous European tourists trundled in with their plastic bags of Ichiban Kan crapware.
FOOD - 3 stars...decent enough but rather overpriced even for lunch
AMBIANCE - 3 stars...reminds me a bit of those cubby-hole Ginza eateries and a lot quieter than its sister restaurant in the Kintetsu Mall
SERVICE - 4 stars...typically attentive as the staff at most J-Town establishments are
TOTAL - 3 stars...Mifune Don, what's that omelette you have on? Could it be okonomiyaki from days gone by? And did I hear ya say, Don was a-meetin' you here today to take you to his teahouse in the sky-eye?
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Avoid Like the plague. Terrible service. My friend got cold udon noodles and the waitress had put some fish sauce next to his plate. She comes and checks with us 10 minutes later and he hasn't touched the fish sauce. She grabs the bowl of fish sauce, shoves it in his face and said "Why you no like fish sauce? Try with your noodles", and continued to pour over his udon. We left, didn't pay for it. Terrible waste of time.
The three stars is for the excellent okonomiyaki Michael had. He loved it and said it was much better than the okonomiyaki at that other Japanese restaurant by Kinokuniya.
I had some sort of beef don that was just not memorable. The sauce was bland and too sweet and the rice was a little too soft.
The waitress was nice and very attentive.
All in all, I would go here again just to sample their sake.
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I like Mifune Don because it's inexpensive and is true comfort food. Do not order those crazy combo dishes or sushi. We always stick to the usual tempura udon and are always pleased. Their udon is filling, warm, and tasty. And the tempura is always fresh (and they don't throw it in the udon, which makes everything soggy by the time you get to it!). At $7.75/bowl, mifune don is where I turn when I have a craving for udon.
Do not confuse mifune don with "mifune," which is in the other part of the mall. I think they are owned by the same folks, but Mifune is more crowded and they do, in fact, throw the tempura into the udon, which is really annoying!
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Came here for lunch with the moms.
Place was recommended by a chef friend and he said they have the best okonomiyaki in the city - right up there with the places in Japan.
Tried it and I thought it was alright, only because I just like Okonomiyaki, and not in love with it, it was just cool. Not a Okonomiyaki aficionado
On the flip side, they have other good and cheap dishes... like the mini dons, ramen, etc., which I will need to come back to try.
I like this place more than the other Mifune because it's smaller, more intimate and cozy. Service is more attentive as they are not overwhelmed like the other place.
Side note: There were only three other people in the restaurant and I thought it was bizarre I ran into a college friend here I haven't seen in at least 6 years. What a small city SF is.
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So Yelpers I lost my virginity at Mifune Don.
My okonomiyaki virginity that is.
Last night I had my first one -- it is a sort of pancakey omelette type thing that contains cabbage and other stuff, in my case seafood. It was topped by what I think were bonito flakes and a decorative design done in mayonnaise. It was all a bit too fishy, squishy and mayonnaisey for me though.
Anyway the service was very lovely, and the waiter was very nice and prompt and kept my green tea filled up at all times. Dinner was $11 including tax and tip.
I will probably go back to Mifune Don.
But I think I have enjoyed my last okonomiyaki.
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equivalents :
Berney the dinosaur.
ABBA,
Laurence Welk,
Casper
Hush puppies,
Engerburt Humperdinck,
Olivia Newton John,
IKEA,
Andy williams,
Eagles,
Ozmond brothers,
Denny's,
Starbucks,
America,...
I just want to express,
this place has NOTHING REALLY BAD BUT NOTHIN' SPECIAL!!!!
It's SO BLEND, SO MILD, SO FLAT.
It's like,... pastel colored jogging-shoes and 67 years old hunch back-Asian man with baseball cap with his grand daughter.
I don't know.
I maybe watch the show of Andy W. or Eagles on KQED for a second to remind myself What the Fxxx.
Yeh, That's right, What the FXXX!
Can you do something GO BEYOND KICK ASS FLAVOR?
That'll make you one average decent restaurent which I don't mind to GO BACK!
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It's the right move for the small Mifune chain... especially the 1 hr. parking validation (you aint getting it at the other Mifune)
Mifune Don can be considered the little sister to the main Mifune restaurant in the Kintetsu Mall. They have nearly the same menu of items, for the exception of the Bullet Train meal for the kids and the "Mifune Special" cold udon and soba combo w/tempura.
On the plus side, the little sister features some specialties that are not available because of the smaller location, to provide it the option to make some stir fried noodles.
Mifune Don's popular features is always their noodle dishes, and they make the noodles fresh that day at a secret location within Japantown. I'm not always a fan of hot noodle dishes for some reason, even if it is a cold day outside, but I always love their cold noodle dishes. Plus, it's fun to do, just take a wad of noodles, dip it in your sauce cup, and slurp away (slurping is encouraged, actually it lets you suck more of the broth/sauce to enhance the flavor).
They also feature a decent lunch special for under $10. You get a choice of a select noodle dish (usually its cold noodles or a hot soup w/noodle dish), and a choice of sushi, salad, or a donburi bowl with eel or sashimi. It's tasty and will keep you full.
For anyone that needs to just pick-up something and run, get a hot donburi bowl to-go. The choices are: hot rice with katsu don (tonkatsu (pork cutlet) with egg and onions), hot rice with unagi (broiled eel with sauce), or rice with tuna sashimi. Only $5, plus tax.
But of course, my favorite reason why I patronize Mifune Don, the parking validation! Many other places have a minimum charge (most grocery stores is $40), but Mifune Don's policy is that as long as you eat-in, you get one hour free at the garage. Validation is not offered at the bigger Mifune location.
The reason you don't like this place is because you are ordering wrong. Modern Okonomiyaki - get it. This is the ultimate Japanese comfort food. Don't be fooled by the combo plates - this is what my people call, "Fool-the-White-guy food." You don't really want to order the combo and you know damn well you choked under pressure. Japantown isn't known for its sushi because the Japanese don't eat that much sushi. You need to order nabeyaki udon, sukiyaki and, the mother of all deliciousness, the okonomiyaki. YES!!!
While hubby was back in the hotel resting, the boys and I decided to walk around Japan Center. We walked by many restaurants, but the one that catches their eye is the place that has a kid's dish served on a bullet train. Where do you think we went but to this place.
I wasn't really hungry so cannot give them more than 3 stars until I return to SF. My older son had one of the Udon Soup Bowls and the younger one had the bullet train meal. I had a salad and tuna rolls which was standard. Hubby had a salad and Burger King (he was not feeling this place).
From what I tasted of my son's Udon Soup, the broth was really good. It was also very affordable from what I could tell on the menu.
Get there early as they get crowded for dinner!
Mifune Don was recommended by fellow yelpers and some other friends if you ever had a craving for good okonomiyaki.... and I was not disappointed at all. My husband ordered a combination okonomiyaki and though I didn't freeload off his plate, his exclamation was "yum. It's good." And he's picky when it comes to his japanese food so I took his word for it.
The yakisoba was yummilicious. Some may agree when I say that its difficult to mess up yakisoba, but believe it or not I've actually had bad yakisoba. The pork was a little too dry for me, but other than that it was pretty good.
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We've been looking for a good okonomiyaki place in SF for a while. I still don't think one exists.
I recently tried out Mifune Don. I've tried it at Izumiya and Sapporo-ya, both in Japantown, and their okonomiyaki is not passable at all. (The okonomiyaki I make at home is 100 times better, and I'm not even Japanese.)
Mifune Don's is the best of the three, but still not "good" okonomiyaki by my standards. Sorry, I've been spoiled by Gaja and Tombo down in LA and my partner's been spoiled by authentic okonomiyaki in Osaka AND Hiroshima, Japan. Even our Japanese friend who came with us to Mifune Don said, "meh."
Sadly, it seems that there are no real good okonomiyaki places in the Bay Area. You'll either have to make it yourself (it's very easy to make and ingredients can be found at Nijiya or Mitsuwa) or travel to LA or Japan.
Once I watched an episode of Will & Grace where a noodle shop opened up near Grace's work. Grace describes a bowl of noodles with little tempura pieces on top and a sprinkling of shichimi and I start to salivate. So, since I live a few blocks above J-town, I figure, they have GOT to have a good noodle house, right? Well, I was almost right.
I think this is a very decent place for noodles - I have had cold soba noodles and hot udon noodles here. There are not the best noodles I've ever had, but they are good - and cheap.
But what brought my review down to just two stars? The service - completely inattentive, careless, dismissive....We had to flag down a server to take our order, flag them down again to get some water, and flag them down again to remind them we had ordered edamame. The only thing they weren't inattentive about was bringing us the check and taking it away when I put my credit card on the tray. Which brings me to this...
A word of caution: sometimes there's no one standing at the cash register and they just leave the cash or credit cards right by the door with no one to watch it...so there's a chance your stuff might get stolen here! WALK your credit card up to the register and pay there.
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This is, in my opinion, the better of the two Mifune's in Japantown. The only place I know of that has kickass okonomiyaki and yakisoba, as well as regular cold soba noodles. Oh yeah, their hot soba noodles rock too. I have almost ate everything on their menu, and have never been disappointed. The waitress is so nice and always hooks me up when/if she can, especially when it's not busy! You gotta come here when it's not packed and when it's slow so you get the best service.
One of the few places in SF that offers Okonomiyaki. All their 4 seat-tables have a built-in heat source in the middle of the table for Okonomiyaki ($8.20) and hot pot dishes like nira pork moyashi ($8.00). Sadly, okonomiyaki is cooked in the kitchen and brought out as a finished product on an iron skillet. Heat source is there only to keep the skillet warm while you eat. Seafood Okonomiyaki was pretty good, although I wasn't a big fan of the sauce they used. I like the sauce to be a bit sweeter, but that is matter of preference. Their Okonomiyaki selection is pretty good with Modern-Yaki (includes yakisoba noodles) as one of the options.
RAMEN: I was bit confused by their ramen. Their soup and toppings is more like a champon (cream colored broth with lots of seafood and hakusai vegetables), but their noodle (men) was regular ramen style (not thick and straight like regular champon). It wasn't terrible, but this confusing blend wasn't a good match. Overall, it was o.k., but not great.
Other than Okonomiyaki, I was not impressed with rest of their food. Their oyako-don was average to poor. Their lunch special of $9.80 for a choice of noodle and another item (see picture) is a pretty good deal. I would give this place 2 Stars, but due to their Okonomiyaki availability, I give it 3.
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OKONOMIYAKI is the name of my game.
It's a Japanese dish that you either love or don't love. I first had this dish in Kyoto and immediately fell in love with it. Well, it turns out that most Japanese restaurants here in the U.S. don't serve it.
To my knowledge there are only a couple of places in SF that serve Okonomiyaki. Izaka-ya and Mifune. I have to say... I love the way that Mifune prepares their version of it. Izaka-ya is good too. But Mifune isn't as crowded and you cannot beat their prices. Not super cheap, but a good deal for Japanese food. Plus their wait staff is very nice.
In my book a five star rating is hard to come by but when you find a place that not only serves a "hard to find" dish (exactly the way I like it), at a reasonable price - well... you get five stars!
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A cozier version of Mufune with an expanded menu? Yes! I stumbled upon the mini outlet of the Kintetsu classic by chance yesterday before catching a show at the Kabuki. Expecting the same delicious, but by now predictable noodly fare, I opened my menu to the thrill of new items, or at least new to Mifune. Potato croquettes, curries, okonomiyaki, and a wallop of table-grilled choices stared out at me. Where to start? I was in a yakisoba or curry mood, but the beef curry won out. What tasty goop with onion slivers and beef shaving came ladled atop my mound of rice! A small dish of lightly pickled greens in one bite, a shovel of beefy curry rice the next; some cold, wet salad to round it all out. My companion got the tempura soba plate (tenzaru,) which proved that Mini Me has the same great quality staples you'd come to expect. It's a gem.
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One thing, if you are a patience kinda person you can actually come and eat here. Yesterday I waited 1/2 hour for our food to come out. They are understaff and the chef was pissed off cuz he can't handle all the ordered food. It was kinda funny and yet annoying cuz I was hungry and I lost my appetite after waited for so long. About the food, it's pretty good.
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Went here for lunch and between 2 people the tab was $21. We had an order of cold soba noodles, a tempura assortment, a bowl of ramen (so excellent!) and a small bowl of chicken and scrambled eggs over rice. The service was not bad considering there was just one waitress, 4 other occupied tables with one being a very large party of 8. The place is small, very narrow and on the long-ish side. Ambiance is just like any other casual Japanese eatery.
Okay, I'm now editing this to add that I've now also tried the niku (beef) udon, gyoza (kind of salty) and the California roll (pretty good). Service seemed a little faster this time around.
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Your mouth will be plesantly surprised by the great Ramen here. Even though the meals run around $10, the "ramen" which is what they called a "house" ramen, consists of finely flavored pork, veggies and an awesome soup base. That $10 also includes a small side dish, like gyoza (yummy and not overly fried) cali-roll (your standard flair) and unagi over rice. You can also try their sukiyaki and other delightful dishes.
Get there quick because they close at 8pm or earlier. It is in the other side of JapanTown where Ichiban Kan and Union Bank of California is at.
It's always the same waitress there, but she is nice and prompt in responding.
Highly recommended for the price and value of food if that's your forty.. boo-yah!
There is so much great japanese food in SF that I think that it is hard for me to give a japanese restaurant 5 stars unless it can match the ambience, presentation, freshness and service of one of the uber-japanese joints like ozumo, etc. While this place can't match up to the likes of its way-more-expensive counterparts downtown, in some ways I can enjoy a place like this just as much. It's all about expectations, right? Don't think upscale japanese restaurant you might find in one of the nice tokyo hotels - think hole-in-the-wall sarari-man restaurant close to a train station in anywhere, japan. If you go in looking for a restaurant that looks/feels/tastes like the kind of restaurant MOST japanese probably enjoy, then you will not be disappointed - very good food at very reasonable prices (we stuffed ourselves with two okonomiyakis, a chicken don, and two miso soups for $30, including a 20% tip for the friendly service).
And I know this point has been made by other yelpers many times over, but I think that it is worth mentioning again - very few places serve okonomiyaki in SF and mifune don makes a very tasty version of this hearty dish.
yeah!!!!! a place with okonomiyaki - and lots of different kinds (about 6) - we had seafood and vegetable for about 8buxxx...great value
we also had the $9.80 lunch combo with ramen which was a little underwhelming to me and the tekka don which was allllrriiiiigghhhttt
the broth in the ramen needed a lot of what we call 'the damn pepper' - you know, the S&B togarashi chili pepper to give it any real semblance of taste. but the noodles were good and the squid was tender.
tekka don was super fresh and the perfect size to be filled, but not stuffed.
aces!
Mif-ooeey. From what my companions told me, this used to be a more hospitable and yummy place. They no longer validate for parking in the Japantown parking garage.
And the staff was weird from the get-go. We could see an empty booth down the hall but the hostess took her time directing us to seating. She was going back & forth to collect bills, and left a couple platters unattended - one w/a credit card, and another with cash. We all looked at each other like, "who needs a new pair of shoes?"
Things didn't fare much better as we got led, about 10min later, to a table that hadn't been cleaned yet.
I'll spare you the play-by-play efforts to get drinks, order, and our food served, and straight to the food that was merely ai-ight. My beef udon, had some funny curly slices of overdone beef - it was not a lean/fresh chunk that these thin-slices were sawed from. The broth was overly salted, too. We all finished our bowls, we were HELLA hungry, but none of us made any exclamations of delight.
Guess the sun is setting on this establishment.
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I love going to MifuneDon for their Curry Katsu. Their curry has so much flavor and the portion is huge. The food here is completely authentic the prices are reasonable. My boyfriend loves their Oyako Don (Chicken Donburi). But what we absolutely have to have everytime we come here are the California Rolls and the Gyoza. Definitely have to try their udon and ramen though, this being a noodle house and all. Try to go during lunch though. They have lunch combos for like 9.95 for a bowl of noodles and a side of either sushi, gyoza, or whatever else you want. It can get pretty busy also, considering there is only one waitress, so you must be patient.
i went here while i was in san francisco to try the okonomiyaki here, since i'd never had it before. the okonomiyaki was good but i don't think i'd order it again (four of us were sharing and i let them eat most of it). i don't think it was the cooking though, but that it wasnt' really my thing.
hmm, i wasn't TOO into this place the first time i went but i like it more now. their katsu curry is really good :3
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