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Categories: Japanese, Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: Outer RichmondTue-Sat. 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Sun. 5:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
"Everytime I go, we try new things. Here's something to definitely try next time: Get the uni and ask for mint leaves and shredded daikon.…" read more »
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I like this place because...
1.) The people here are so freaking nice. Like make you want to get nicer just for the hell of it nice.
2.) It does not matter what you order, you will be happy.
3.) Prices are decent enough, compared to other sushi places in the city. Our bill came out to about $15 per person, which is a lot for me for any kind of food, but for sushi in SF it's at least $20 a person everywhere else, so, ya know.
4.) My friends and I are all about the tree. We get the tree. We love the tree.
5.) Best sushi place in the Richmond. As in, the best one. By far.
I'm usually for mom and pop shops. But the wait for food was almost unbearable. We were starving! Everyone else received their food and were well into their dinner, so we wondered why our food was taking so long. At this point, we expected perfection.
-Kiku combination and Sakura combination: (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) Cooked fish and raw fish combo. Both very sloppy looking. Terrible rolls. But good nigiris.
-Tiger roll: (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) Fresh fish. Very tasty.
-Chicken Teriyaki: (http://www.yelp.com/bi...) Love the presentation. But the chicken was dry.
Somewhat disappointing experience. But I'm willing to come back for another try.
If i could give this place 3.5 stars, I would. I am fairly confident that this place has potential for 4 stars. My friend and I came here for dinner. We ordered 7 pieces of salmon sashimi, and 7 pieces of tuna sashimi to share. I ordered a spider roll and spicy tuna roll. My friend ordered the salmon teriyaki.
The tuna sashimi was not that great. The taste of the tuna was a bit off... it just didn't seem to be fresh. The salmon sashimi however was delicious. The salmon was fresh and I thought the pieces were quite generous. I have to add that the presentation of the sashimi looked nice.
To the rolls. I thought the rolls were great! The spider roll was crispy, and full of flavor. The cucumber added a fresh crunch to the roll. And they give you 8 pieces! The places I usually get this at only give you about 2. If you like soft shell crab, get this roll. I also had the spicy tuna roll. The roll was not as spicy as i would have liked, but I still enjoyed it. I liked how they added some chopped green onions and mixed it into the roll. It was a definite plus and added to the roll.
Overall great food. The service was excellent. The only thing that knocked it down for me was the tuna sashimi, but I will come here again in hopes they will give that little extra for me to bump it up to 4 stars.
Came here for takeout, and so far so good. They were accurate about the time it would take: yes, 30 minutes is usually too long to wait; luckily, I'm only two blocks away. Fellow Yelpers are right about the wait. Don't come here if you are in a rush and it's during the peak dinner time(or even if it isn't, because they have limited resources). I had this expectation in mind and allowed that much time; everything worked out.
This place is definitely worth checking out. I tried:
White Tuna (albacore 7 pieces)
Pam (spam; 8 pieces)
Vegetable Chirashi (sushi rice)
Spider Roll (soft shell crab; 8 pieces)
Total cost was $32.
Everything was tasty and fresh. The lady kept her promise in calling me right when it was ready(most people forget since it's so busy).
I will come again when I have time to spare.
This is our "go to" hidden Japanese restaurant in the Richmond district. I'm glad its off Geary, where the majority of Japanese restaurants there are run by CHINESE! Minami is Japanese owned and run. YAY!
As most reviewers mention, this is more so a mom and pop style restaurant. There are 4 tables that accommodate 4 per, plus a 2 seater table. At the bar, it holds maybe 5 max.
The prices aren't bad and the quality is pretty good. I had the 9 piece sushi nigiri and there wasn't one thing that was left on the plate. The maguro was fresh, and not that frozen pinky 'maguro' that other sushi restaurants on Geary serve.
My last trip there I got the unagi dinner for my daughter. In true Japanese fashion, it was artistically and beautifully plated and a pleasure to eat.
Minami is definitely a place to consider if you don't want to drop an arm and a leg for decent Japanese dining.
I don't think they realize that if they got rid of that tree in the middle of the restaurant then they could probably triple their profit each night. I just don't understand that tree.
The sushi is good. Definitely on the expensive side...probably because they have to keep funding the tree.
I was getting pretty hungry at 4pm and needed to get to a place for dinner. I started to pace up and down Geary and Clement searching to see if there was a quick place to go.
Denny's Café? Nah, Lainey H's review says to skip.
Kitaro? Nah, Cassie J. says booboo and Alex H. says it smells like feet.
Volcano? B.B. says MEH with two chump stars.
Patpong? Needed another person to have Thai food. :(
Finally I remembered B.B.'s suggestion to try Minami, so I walked over--Not open till 5pm! Wut?! I was so hungry but wondered whether to wait or settle for chumps and duds on Geary? Decisions decisions.
So I stood and waited, fighting off starvation, braving the mist and wind and counting down the minutes. When I was finally invited to come into the restaurant, my stomach was growling nonstop. This better be good.
The décor was simple elegance and downright homey. Before the others came, I almost felt like a guest sitting in someone's humble living room where dinner was going to be a family affair. Service was slow throughout, with a mix of thoughtful and forgetful spots, but my order of sashimi dinner with three temakis was outstanding to say the least.
Sashimi dinner: This twelve piece sashimi was bomb! The cuts were fresh and huge and the presentation was a beauty. On one side I had five layers of fresh red maguro and on the other a nice mixture of other fishes that included saba, ebi, tako, smoked salmon, hamachi, sake, kurodai, and ika, each separated by a piece of lemon. Not only was the selections of fish a wonderful delight, but for $13.50 this delicious entrée cannot be beat. Kudos to the chef for giving me an extra piece of fish. Highly recommended.
Temaki: My orders of uni ($5.35), albacore ($3.45), and ikura ($3.85) temaki were very good. I didn't start to like uni until my trip to Rumble Fish and this was the best uni I've had. I'm a big fan of ikura and I love the way they load these little salmon eggs. It was delicious. The only slight disappointment was the albacore as I find it a bit fishier than usual. Overall, I love these handrolls and portions and prices were outstanding. At some point down the road I'm going to come back to treat myself to an all-temaki dinner.
Service was very friendly but they could use more help with one person working the front and another in the kitchen. I thought their miso was very flavorful and the complimentary yam and the slice of cantaloupe dessert were very gracious. There was also a couple sitting in front of me with their new born and while the mom was taking care of her baby, the dad was scooping nigiris between his chopsticks and putting them gently into her mouth. This restaurant definitely has the quiet and unassuming ambiance for an intimate family style dinner. I loved it!
So here's how they fared:
1.) Quality and freshness: 4 stars, everything was fresh. That uni was memorable!
2.) Creativity and presentation: 5 stars, everything had a gentle touch to compliment a serene, family atmosphere.
3.) Quantity and substance: 4 stars, I loved the thick cuts of sashimi and except for the albacore the temakis were wonderful.
4.) Accessibility and affordability: 5 stars, one of the most affordable sushi places I've visited. My bill was $28.63 before gratuity.
5.) Service and ambiance: 3 stars, they were understaffed.
Next time I'll be interested in trying other temakis, soft shell crab, and karaage. Thanks to B.B who knows darn well what she was talkin' about, I've found another hidden gem that is fresh, affordable and worth visiting in San Francisco. I have definitely become a fan of Minami so expect me to visit on a regular basis.
I really wanted to like this place. Very nice servers and owners. Nice and quiet inside...but I can't believe people actually approve of the quality here.
Tuna sashimi was tough, like it was cut poorly or right into a muscley part. It had an off flavor too. The salmon was much better.
Ordered a roll that fell apart almost immediately. That's kind of annoying. Tasted fine, but badly constructed.
The cooked food was fine, nothing exciting but it was good. Limited cooked menu which focuses the food on sushi/sashimi - which isn't a good thing.
I love this place! Me and the Fam have been coming here forever...even before their business picked up...now there's usually a wait. It's a cute mom and pops place.
downsides- the place is tiny, service is always friendly but slow sometimes (which is understandable since there is only one guy back there putting the dishes together), parking can be a bitch (although we lucked out last time with superstar parking).
upside- Fresh fish, delicious food (why else do we always come back!), friendly service (i love the little lady she so cute), i usually never order don buri, but i'm in love with their spicy salmon, tuna, and hamachi don! you can even do 1/2 and 1/2 i like getting 1/2 spicy salmon and 1/2 spicy hamachi...my stomach's growling..., i think pricing is decent for what you're receiving.
After much hubbub, I suggested this restaurant last Saturday night. I walked over here with my wife to meet two friends. We knew that the parking situation was painful and we didn't feel that we were far enough to justify driving around.
First note: this place is tiny! It says it can seat 25 max but typically will probably only hold maybe 20 or less since tables aren't always full. We had to wait about 30-40 minutes since we got there as ppl just started getting seated. The wait for worth it.
I ordered a chirashi deluxe, which had the chef's choice of fish. The wait for the food was fairly long but worth it. It's what you'd expect from a small mom and pop place. What came out though was beautiful. On a small tray, the chef had filled a large clam shell with raw fish - about 12-15 pieces probably. Accompanying it was a scoop of rice that had a light seasoning and seaweed. The food was more that I expected and the presentation was perfect. This place is easily a 4 star place and I'll be back here again.
I've been here 3 times and have only tried the chirashi deluxe....it has been so enjoyable that I'm content just sticking to it. I can't believe how resonable the price is and it has become one of my favorite neighborhood joints.
The lovely owner also remembered my name after the first visit and service is always so warm because they cater to familiar faces. Many thanks to IIIIIIIdeta for the introductions!
WoW WoW!! 5 stars!!
Came here tonight for dinner with my friend. This place is small. There were like 4 tables (four-seaters), a giant tree in the middle, and a small sushi "bar" area that was good for another 4 people. Definitely NOT good for a group larger than 4. We decided not to wait for a table and opted for the sushi "bar" right in front of the chef and the fresh un-cut raw fish! I ordered three rolls (Minami, Tiger, and Spicy Tuna) and my friend got the chirashi and spicy tuna roll. She also got a small Sapporo and I got the Pear Cider (awesome drink.... so awesome that I got a second bottle!).
Presentation wise, the platters look amazing, especially the chirashi. It wasn't just rice, but there were other things in there too (I don't know what, but it looked hella good. My friend said it was hella good too!)
Quality wise, my rolls were delicious. It had a very authentic taste to it. I absolutely loved it! Three rolls made me full (along with the ciders).
Staff was very friendly. This is a very mom-and-pop (and daughter??) restaurant. It is definitely very homey! Even though it was a full house, our food came relatively quickly, despite having only one chef (at least I only saw one).
Finally, price was very good. It was $50 for the two of us, and we were full! I HIGHLY recommend this place!
Oh, as appetizer, we got complimentary potato thingy (don't know what it's called in Japanese). After the meal, we got melons to eat.
A friend and I came here one night after being shut down at a place on Geary (I guess it was 9:30 on a Thursday???)
I had had Minami bookmarked for a while after some friends recommended it.
Very sweet Mom & Pop Japanese service. They sat us down graciously but urged us to order as they would be closing soon. (Major points over the RUDE place on Geary.)
We received a complimentary appetizer of potato in a sweet sauce (which was great since we had had many drinks at the Academy of Sciences earlier.)
The nigiri was good (fresh, good rice) but one of our rolls (I think the spicy tuna) was WAY overseasoned and far too salty. Not a typical spicy tuna roll.
Other than that, we had a nice meal with prompt, courteous service.
I just about never eat cantaloupe, but the free slices they brought for dessert were so perfect, I ate it up!
It's the Best Sushi in San Francisco, but thank god nobody knows it.
I hope nobody ready about this as there are already no spots available most of the time. It's also very reasonably priced for the flavor.
a solid place to go
very good fish - ordered the nigiri selection and had my first smoked salmon nigiri, pretty tasty. also had a free side dish of a potato with a sweet soy sauce, lovely too.
and the hospitality was superb - totally family ran little sushi restaurant and so much better for it.
would recommend to anyone
This place is pretty roomy for the amount of tables that all the other reviews described. I thought it was going to be a hole-in-the-wall place like Katana-Ya in Union Square, but it wasn't! Given there was only 4 tables of 4, and 1 table of 2, the rest of the restaurant was pretty spacious, err it wasn't super cramped. It definitely has a mom and pop type of feel to it.
After ordering, each person gets two pieces of potato in a honey/teriyaki-like sauce as your appetizer. The prices were decent, depending on what you ordered. Sushi ranged from $4.50- $10.95, and were your simple/ non-specialty rolls, such as Dragon roll, Tiger roll, Spicy salmon roll etc. We ordered the Tiger roll that had shrimp tempura wrapped in salmon and eel on top. The pieces were cut in huge pieces, so we only had 5-6pieces. The spicy salmon roll was definitely a lot smaller, but came in 8 pieces for $4.50 --not too bad! It wasn't spicy though. The fish tasted fresh and were in generous portions. We also ordered the Chirashi (Nama) dish, which is assorted sashimi, vegetables, and chirashi rice (japanese rice with seasame seeds, bamboo shoots, seaweed, and probably seasame oil). The dish came nicely decorated where the sashimi and vegetables were nicely arranged on a huge shell. The rice wasn't your normal bland rice. Instead, it was spiced up with the named components above--delicious enough to eat by itself. The dish came with a miso soup that had a really good flavor. According to my friend, it definitely didn't taste like the packets of miso! We ended our dinner with a complimentary piece of cantaloupe. Definitely a nice touch! All together, our 2 rolls of sushi and chirashi dish cost $29.
Overall, the service was good and the food wasn't phenomenal but it was good and decently priced. It's not as cheap as everyone says... I would come back here again to try some more of their dishes, but I probably wouldn't come back here just for their sushi.
I like this family run place. Their menu is dominated by sushi, but this place has a nice clientele (not the typical snooty sushi experts) and the price is right. We had a couple of appetizers (chicken kara age and edamame), a few rolls (spider and rainbow), a pile of nigiri and we were good to go. Came in around $40 for two and we were stuffed. The fish tasted very fresh and service was just right. A great neighborhood place.
I love this place and it's been my 'local' for going on 15 years.
The price: unbeatable. You can eat here for a song. Compared to any other sushi restaurant in SF it is amazing. I have always figured they must own the building (cut down on overhead) in order to have the prices so low.
The food: Great sushi. When you toss in the fact that it is so cheap it becomes really great sushi. Folks going here expecting the sublime need to remember that the sublime costs a ton. If you want to be pleasantly surprised with clean, fresh fish prepared well for a great price, come here.
The tree: what is with all of you and the tree? It's healthy and green and adds to the homey feel. They wheel it out of the way if they need to rearrange the room for big groups.
The ambience: totally old school home-y feel. You can wear sweats and slippa and feel totally dressed enough. I like that in a local joint. Feel free to get all duded out too, no one will look at you funny.
The people: nice nice nice!
This place is awesome, the dishes here are great and healthy. Everything is fresh and delicious. I usually order the salmon and avocado dinner, sometimes with a six piece spider roll. The employees here are friendly and they always greet you when you come in. Plus, the waitresses are cute :) This isn't like the Chinese owned Japanese restaurants. This is authentic and, for me, it's the best Japanese restaurant I've been to so far in the city.
The only downside I can think of is the parking but it's like that anywhere on Clement.
We've been going here weekly for the past couple of years. It's that consistently good. And affordable -- less than other nearby sushi places.
But what sets it apart are the Mom and Pop who run the place -- they are really very nice people. I can't say enough good things about them. They're always warm and outgoing. Heck they've even given a small present to my kids for Christmas... that's never happened anywhere.
So yea... I get the whole support "small mom and pop shops" and "authentically Japanese owned," and I commend Minami for what they do and racking up so many great red stars, but personally it just didn't do it for me.
We had the Spicy Albacore that was visually appealing and equally as tasty, however, it was more sweet than spicy (hoisin sauce anyone?) The California Roll had real crab meat, I appreciate that. Hamachi sashimi was flavorless and cut too thick. The food is fairly consistent with every other small, cheap, unassuming sushi joint, but how is it that even the soy sauce didn't taste right? It was way too watered down, and the low-sodium soy sauce was the regular but with more water.
I'm all about rooting for the underdog. I'm glad that they're still standing amongst economic hardships, but for cheap and fast sushi that's close, I'm gonna stick with Kitaro. One extra star for the quick and sweet service.
This neighborhood establishment is run by a nice Japanese couple who work very hard to serve quality food at an affordable price. This in itself is a rarity, because I usually equate cheap prices with so-so food. My deluxe chirashi was inexpensive, especially by San Francisco standards, and one of the best I've had.
The fish was excellent. But the rice...here's where I learned something new - it turns out that I've been having chirashi the "lazy way" all these years with plain sushi rice. Minami serves it up with REAL chirashi rice, which is peppered with shiitake mushrooms, kampyo and carrots. Consider me schooled...
Minami is a great little place for traditional type japanese food. The menu definitely very limited compared to other sushi places. I ordered the sashimi dinner and a spicy tuna roll. It tasted fairly normal nothing too special. It came up be about $20 including tips. I believe this place is fairly reasonable for their prices.
Their waiters were also very kind. They heard me coughing and gave me a glass of water just to make sure that i was alright. I thought that they were really sweet. I really liked the vibe the store gave off too. It felt very homey and warm.
The only disadvantage is that parking is a b*tch and they could have definetly removed the tree in the middle of the room to have another extra table or two.
Cool mom & pop sushi restaurant with a great location, and holy crap is it cheap! Many of the rolls and Nigiri are under $4, and the even the larger ones are well under $10. Not the biggest place, but considering there's one dude doing all the food prep, they'd be overwhelmed so it's good there's only 5 tables.
Definitely loved the spicy salmon roll. Only complain is the atmosphere. Yeah, I know it's a "cheap but good" sushi place, but I'd pay more for the floors and florescent lights to be replaced.
For my 200th review.................... It just so happen to be Minami. I work a few blocks away from here but they are not open for lunch. So..........I came here for dinner with 5 other friends tonight. With a group of guys, we always love to gamble. We played the credit card game. All six of us would throw out our credit cards and our waiter/waitress will pick out the card to decide who will have to pay. It wasn't me!!!! So for the next week, I will post a picture of my friend who payed for our dinner tonight on my profile. His name is Wes C. He is single and available. If any of you guys are interested, let me know. I can arrange something for you. Why not...........he paid for our dinner!
7 pc white tuna ( excellent)
7 pc hamachi (good)
7 pc fresh salmon ( very good)
spider roll
dragon roll
rainbow roll (OK)
California roll ( had better)
spicy tuna roll ( decent)
2 uni sushi ( OK )
spicy hamachi roll ( very nice)
spam musubi ( surprisingly one of the best sushi here)
2 unagi (a little cold.....i like it hot)
Now get this.............all for 125.00.
Overall, I love the mom and pop restaurant. It's a small, cozy restaurant that seats around 20 ppl. By the way, the plant in the middle of the room that looks like plastic is actually real. It fooled all of us but then again, we are a bunch of guys.
SOOO....
Walked past this place a hundreds times and after reading their reviews I wanted to try some Sushi that was served by Japanese in the Outer Richmond.
We ordered the Chicken Karaage which arrived in sliced portions instead of the normal deep fried cube portions of thigh meat. Different than what I am used to but very flavorful.
Also ordered the seaweed salad...smallest portion I have ever seen for a salad for two...with the Miso Soup...very good! Love the miso flavor with chunks of tofu and konbu.
We also had the Sakura Combo with Futomaki tekka, California roll, Tuna, Shrimp, Yellow tail, Eel, Flying Fish roe, Mackerel, Egg and Squid. A nice size serving of a varied selection...the rolls were a little smaller than what I am use to having.
Also ordered the signature Minami Roll, ehhh ok again, with the Spicy Tuna Roll...again just ehhh...so so.
I thought we were done...oh no.
Along came the free dessert of creatively sliced and served sweet cantalope. Very juicy and tasty!!
Overall the service was amazing and fast. Nothing missing here. Just wish the rolls were a little larger with more rice and more fish. A little small for my tastes. Never know unless you try...
I do enjoy the restaurants of the Outer Richmond and always support the smaller shops...cheers!
This place is another awesome mom-and-pop restaurant with about 5-7 tables. The food here was very good for the prices, and the service was amazing. The servers asked my gf and I to move over tables and comped us a huge bowl of edemame, and then proceeded to bring out our gigantic order. The chicken teriyaki was very fresh and grilled just right with a nice thick sauce laddled over it. Our sushi had more fish and less other stuff which is generally the case with other sushi restaurants. The tuna and salmon were very fresh tasting, and in the end, my gf and I underestimated the amount of food that was coming out to us. For the price, quality of food, and service, I would definitely have to say that this is my favorite Japanese restaurant in the Richmond area.
Pros: Good quality of food, fast service, and very yummy sushi. Lots of food.
Cons: Not good for big groups. Have to come pretty early to get a seat.
Food that I like:
Chicken Teriyaki - well cooked and awesome teriyaki sauce
Tuna Roll - fresh
Salmon roll - fresh, good color
edamame - delicious, lots of it
Another restaurant we found on Yelp that didn't disappoint. The fish was decent esp for what we paid. The one thing we would change would be to ask them to remove the lemon slices between the fish, which changed the taste and texture of the sashimi.
I love Minami! I happen to know the owners, the Iidas. They are extremely hardworking and fantastic. I know that the fish is always fresh so I trust without a doubt the sushi that is made here. It's clean and makes you feel at home. Everything on the menu is tasty and beautifully presented. My only regret is not visiting more often.
I really, really, really wanted to like this place...it's in the neighborhood, Japanese-owned, and comes in high recommendations. BUT what's life without a little heartbreak every now and then, right?
The Good: PRICES! We ordered the Chirashi Omakase and probably 6 more nigiri and the bill came out to $35. You can't beat that. The atmosphere here is very quiet and low-key, but not unwelcoming. Great for people who are okay with long silences. Not great for people who haven't fully mastered their "six-inch voices."
The Eh: Minami is very small, maybe four or five tables. The 2 seats at the sushi "bar" were a little weird, especially since you can't really order from the chef (we kept adding to our order and I think our waitress was annoyed). There is one chef, for everything, so service can get slow if orders are backed up.
The Ugly: While the fish is generously cut and cheap, I'm not willing to sacrifice quantity for quality. One of our pieces was somehow sinewy, and difficult to chew, like when you get cartilage on a piece of steak. In 24 years of eating sushi, I have NEVER had this experience. While I can admit that each piece was better than the last, our overall experience here was too disappointing to continue ordering. Like I said, we wanted so much to like this place, but how much heartache can one girl with an irregular heartbeat take?
Just a Note: The big tree in the middle of the room didn't bother me at all, but then, if this type of thing does bother you, you probably shouldn't be allowed in public anyway.
This place is so small that they've decided to grow a tree in the middle of the room. The tree is so large that I never got water because they probably couldn't even see me. There was only five tables, one taken and the two waitresses stressed over where I should sit.... hmmm maybe on the tree?
Besides the fact that I only got a Seaweed salad and Miso soup I was very dissatisfied with their service.
Thank god they gave us free potato bites! Fat kids love free food....Two potato bites for two stars!!!
This place was OK. I, too, was a bit disappointed after reading all of the fantabulous reviews. First, the waitress didn't quite seem to know what she was doing. I ordered the Chirachi Omakase (which means' "Chef's Choice"). I told her the 3 things that I didn't like and she asked me what I would like to substitute. Huh? I said that I would leave it up to whatever the chef felt was good and wanted to serve. She was extremely confused by this. Next, she brought us out miso soup, which was very good. But she also brought out a seaweed salad and insisted that I ordered it (actually argued with me a bit about it). I assured her that I didn't order it and made a mental note to check the bill.
The chirachi was OK. It was, like my fellow yelpers have pointed out, very pretty, served in an abalone shell. But the shell made it seem much bigger a portion than it actually was. And about half of it was vegetables rather than fish. Also, as someone else mentioned, the lemon slice that was between each piece of fish, although pretty, really burned the fish and gave it a nasty flavor. I didn't go to a sushi place for bad ceviche.
All in all, it wasn't bad by any means, but I won't be going back. Especially with a zillion sushi restaurants from which to choose in the immediate area.
i decided to get take out. i would have dined here (by myself) but i had to pick up the boyfriend at the bart station. but i digress.
i ordered their chirashi deluxe (about $15.00) and four other rolls. my total was around $37.00. not bad. i really enjoyed my chirashi. the fish was fresh and the sushi rice was perfect.
i like this place. their food is reasonably priced, their workers are very nice, very cozy interior, and their sushi is pretty darn good. i'll be back to try their kani donburi.
yay! another japanese owned restaurant to add to my list.
Considering the very high rating here, I came with high expectations and was very disappointed. This was probably the worst sushi I've had in SF. The tuna sashimi was unedible, very chewy and looked like it had been out in the sun for a couple of days. The rest was poor to okay. None of the pieces we ordered were good.
I told them the tuna was unedible and they responded with an "Oh" and a smile. No compensation of course. Thanks!
Don't go.
Another great SF sushi spot yet in the Richmond district. I ate here only one time with a fairly large group. I believe it may have been 8-10 people. We had no idea how small this place was! So when we got there, they couldn't accommodate us right away and so we waited. Eventually enough patrons finished and they basically rearranged their entire floor plan so that we could sit in a huge table together. How cool and nice of them! Other than the fact that the owners were totally sweet, the food was also great! I shared a salmon sushi dish with a friend. It was basically a sake don, raw salmon on top of rice but it had what seemed like this incredible unagi sauce and the salmon was so fresh,it almost melted in my mouth. My boyfriend had a few of the typical rolls like caterpillar roll and such and they were equally tasty. I'm more of a raw fish type of gal btw. Everyone really enjoyed the food and the service. I haven't had a chance to come back here yet since it's a bit out of the way for me but I'm definitely going to come back soon! I recommend it to anyone who wants to have a nice casual sushi dinner for 2.
Pros: Great service with a smile, fair price for top quality sushi
Cons: Small space, parking is not so great (I realize I keep saying this in most of my reviews 'cause duh, it's the city)
Cozy Japanese place in the Richmond. Though the place is small, the food quality is big. I was starving that evening so I had the sashimi combination. The presentation is great including having a giant clam shell highlighting the dish. The fish is very very fresh. The salmon is freakin' amazing. Service is wonderful---very friendly and polite. Next time, I'll try sitting at the sushi bar. The chef seems like a cool person to talk to.
Thank you again Minami Sushi for yet another spectacular meal!
Itsumo no tori, subarashii katta desu!
My friends and I had a fantastic time here last week and the food, the service, and the prices all remain FLAWLESS!!!
To correct another reviewer, the tree in this restaurant is REAL, not plastic. Ten years ago it barely came up to my shoulders and it now tops the ceiling. Unlike in Western culture, a ficus tree in Buddhism holds tremendous significance and having one in a successful business is most auspicious. From a practical standpoint, it also adds a natural green privacy between the tables in this smaller restaurant.
We're going on 12 years now Minami and you're one of the few remaining genuine Japanese-American Mom & Pop Sushi-ya's in SF! Those who cannot appreciate the humble elegance of this unpretentious and totally delicious restaurant with AWESOME prices perhaps really do have a different path to enlightenment!
Minami, You Rock! After getting married and moving to SoCal, it was a true pleasure to visit you for… Read more »
With the ethos the smaller the better, the longer it takes to make the fresher and the more smiles from your waitress the nicer the experience.
I had the Rock N Roll ( Eel & Avocado/ $4.75) and the best Spicy Tuna Roll I've ever had ( $4.50)
The miso soup was standard, the green salad is just a bunch of cabbage with a watery ginger dressing. The potatoes covered in sweet sauce were a pleasant surprise.
With six tables and one chef, this is a definite neighborhood joint. Skip the salad, enjoy the rolls and fresh fish at reasonable prices!
We got some kind of complimentary yucca or 'tater with maple-like syrup over it to start. Odd? But yum, I was starving.
Good recommendation from the nice owner on Japanese sake (to drink), cold this time.
I liked the nigiri of maguro and sake (buttery, soft sake to nom), two of my standbys. Rock-n-roll was damn tasty, and I thought the spicy albacore roll was creative and just as good. I liked the red dragon roll, but I think it could have been even better if the rolls were a bit smaller and the fish wasn't so bland. Didn't enjoy the spider roll too much, I gotta say. Soft-shell crab pieces were falling all over the place, and I'm pretty skilled with the 'sticks.
I'm no expert, but I'm going to go ahead and say that the tall plastic plant in the middle of the dining room is bad feng shui. Other than that, I was kind of charmed by the atmosphere. Cute little shades on the light fixtures, and "play handkerchief" (tiny, decorative folded paper shirts) hanging on the wall next to us.
To play the nearby-sushi comparison game, it reminded me of Oyaji (not bad, not mind-blowing), but without the awesome drunken sushi chef. If you're already in the area, Shimo, Balboa Sushi House and Drunken Sushi (no relation to the drunken chef at Oyaji) are better.
Not even 2 weeks later, we returned to Minami! There was some concern about ruining our 1st experience if it wasn't as good this time around, but our worries were alleviated!
Although there was a long wait (especially for a Sunday night) for the food to arrive, it was still fresh and tasty! My California roll was made from real crabmeat and was just under $4. Can't beat the affordability of this spot!
On this lovely Fri evening we decided to try a new sushi restaurant. After doing a lot of research… Read more »
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
Category: Sushi Bars
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
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