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Categories: Japanese, Sushi Bars [Edit]
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
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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.
Pile the uni and the daikon on a mint leaf and top it off with some soy sauce or Ponzu sauce...or both!
DELICIOUS!!!!!
I've had uni by itself, and to me, the aftertaste is just nasty...but this combination makes me want to devour it.
Oh, and try to soba...definitely worth it!
I always appreciate coming back to dine here. The experience is just amazing, and I love sitting at… Read more »
When I was little, I'd eat plain white rice, without any seasonings, toppings, veggies, meat, etc. And of course, being Chinese, we had rice at every single meal. And at every single meal, I did the same exact thing. My grandma cried tears of joy when I started "mixing" my rice with other things.
Naturally, I still like to eat things plain. Soba noodles, rice, cereal, the like. Imagine my delight when I saw that Shimo had a plain bowl of udon noodles. Plain broth, with plain noodles. Win.
It was delicious, and it was a biiiig bowl. On top of that, I had edamame and tekka maki (tuna). It was definitely enough for me, and the prices were reasonable (as opposed to Sakura, which gives small portions and charges it up through the roof).
Nice service, fresh food, parking can be a pain around dinner time (welcome to Clement Street). 4.25 stars!
Seriously don't get the rave reviews here. Have you guys been to other sushi restaurants at all? I have given Shimo a try on several occasions, and every time I felt sorry for my taste buds and for my wallet.
Huge can't-fit-in-the-mouth sushi pieces, pretty bland tasting and boring rolls. Sure, fish is fresh. It is a sushi restaurant, it's supposed to be fresh. You won't give yourself a high five for being able to tie your shoe laces, right? Same thing.
But the worst is the rice. Huge blobs of soggy sushi rice - that was too much for me. I am giving it three stars only because they seem to keep other people happy with their food. After all, it is sooo fresh.
Everybody has a favorite spot.
It may not be the best restaurant in town. It may not have earned multiple Michelin stars. Or two. Or one. The chef may not have won the James Beard award or be a Top Chef. But it's your spot.
The food is always on point. The staff is more like friends and family. You always have a great meal at your spot.
Shimo is my spot.
Toro nigiri
Uni nigiri
Saba nigiri
Dynamite roll
Beef Tatake
Hamachi Kama
That's our "usual" when we go to Shimo. Always the freshest ingredients. Always the friendliest smiles and service.
Where is your spot?
I saw a "REVIEW OF THE DAY" on Shimo... gal said every customer here was JAPANASE at the time she went. WUT???? Just beacuse they had slanted eyes doesn't automatically make them JAPANESE. Anyone who comes here KNOWS the vast majority are CHINESE. All the waitresses are CHINESE. Only Shimo himself is JAPANESE.. his sidekick is Chinese... He has a help once in a while who is JAPANESE.
Shimo!!!! Please oh please get rid of your loud mouth waitresses! What is it with them?!@!@!!!!!… Read more »
The first time I went I thought the food was very good although the service was not. I had to keep flagging the wait staff for almost everything.
I went back recently this time with a date and the service seemed better but then came the problem; I ordered a salmon skin roll and there were bones in it. Not just one but several. I didn't want to make a scene with my new date but did report it calmly to the waitress. Her reply: "Oh, sorry".
They made no attempt to make it right and even charged me for the roll!!
They acted like nothing happened then asked me if I wanted dessert!
As we left the sushi guy says "See you next time"
I will never go back.
Caveat emptor!!!!!
Great solid neighborhood restaurant. Wide variety of rolls and sake.
Friendly service and resonable price.
My favorite part is their location, that part of richmond is further out to the beach where parking isn't so horrible.
Three of us each ordered 3 rolls plus a bottle of sake was about $65.
The minus one star is the heat is always turned up so high and the bathroom could be a bit cleaner.
I loved the first time I came. We were actually across the street planning on going to PPQ, but noticed that this place was opened till midnight.
When we walked in, there was really nothing special about this place. So the three of us just began ordering a few things and a few things after that. This was one of the places that carried fish head and fatty tuna. I don't remember what we ordered but everything came out to be around $200.
The times I came back wasn't as entertaining but still enjoyed the food. Just parking each time I come here is horrible.
It's been only two weeks, and I can't remember exactly what I ordered. All I remembered was Shimo offered a pleasant experience. The sushi, although definitely not the best, is extremely good. However, although as delicious as the food were, I probably will not come back. The parking in the area is atrocious! We spent 15 min. looking for parking! AIYAH! So yes, I totally recommend, but for myself, I just don't want to deal with the parking???
The restaurant is cramped and a bit warm. It's a good size, and Shimo tried to cram in as many tables as the space would allow.
Shimo seems to busy all the time, expect a long wait on the weekends. They are very pricey as well, at this rate I would goto Oyaji. The portions are small and the food doesn't do much to WOW you, its just that everytime you go in you end up wondering wow I spent a lot but feels like I didn't eat much. Customer service is good and pleasant.
Their unagi is OUT OF THE WORLD!!! =D =D =D =D
Sushi is also fresh. I am always down for Shimo!
really poor service - nice people but very inefficient and slow. argh.
otherwise very good food - creative dishes, yummy and fresh sushi..esp the big slabs of tuna
BB4$.
You know what that means? Best Bang for your Buck, and Shimo's got it.
It's fantastic here. Simply fantastic. The dining room is comfortable and inviting. The service here is really friendly and attentive. But the killer here is the excellent, excellent food. We had chirashi, hamachi kama, gyoza, miso soup, and a couple of rolls. EVERYTHING was perfect, but the hamachi kama was a wonderful standout. Seriously, I haven't found a better yellowtail collar yet. The sushi was fresh and well-portioned. All the dishes were executed expertly. And for what we paid for, we practically got a steal. Come here and eat. Come here and eat. COME HERE AND EAT!
Came here for a friend's birthday. We had a huge party that took up the back part of the restaurant. The service was excellent and very friendly. The sushi is pretty fresh here and everything I have tried is overall good, especially the rolls.
- Salmon Sashimi: a little too thickly sliced and a little veiny but good
- Unagi Nigiri: good as always
- Spicy Tuna Roll: not that spicy, okay
- Spicy Scallop Roll: a little spicy kick, really good sauce
- Hamachi Collarbone: interesting, tender, tasty
- Raw Beef: big bowl of raw beef, not much flavor, spicy
This place is a bit expensive but sooo good. You do get what you pay for. They are always open late and you never have to wait. (it's packed but they always make room for you)
The rools are good and it it say's spicy it's SPICY.
I plan on coming here more often. :)
On a scale of 1 (lowest score) to 5 (highest):
Food = 5 (Sushi always fresh; generous cut. Love the rolls!)
Service = 4 (Kathleen and Ming are great!)
Conclusion: My favorite Japanese place in SF.
(well worth the difficult street parking,
but there's a parking lot a block away)
This was truly the best fish I've found in San Francisco. The cuts were large and generous. In particular, the Walu was buttery delicious and the blue fin may be the best tuna I've ever tasted. Salmon, fresh and firm, tempura fried to perfection. Their fare seemed worth the above average price and the trip to the Richmond if you're not a local.
Sadly, the fine food was completely eclipsed by the worst, most offensive service I've experienced in SF. My vegetarian companion ordered first, which must have set us off on the wrong foot as the sushi chef didn't come back to take my order until he was delivering my friend's. He then walked away from me mid-sentence to bid farewell to another patron, and our three requests for water throughout the meal were ignored. But the real kicker came when I asked for Unagi / teriyaki sauce for the salmon skin handroll. "What is the magic word? What do you say when you want something?" the chef chastised a la NO SOUP FOR YOU guy. My response is Sayanora, Shimo.
I always like to try new sushi joints.. However, Shimo somewhat meet my expectations..We came in on a Friday night around 7ish and the restaurant was pack..Waited for 15 minutes which is reasonable...
We ordered dragon roll, rainbow roll, new york roll, salmon skin roll, rock and roll and a few other rolls..All the rolls were okay didn't find anything unqiue about them...We also ordered sashmi ....the tuna was great..the salmon was okay...and the mackerel was not good..
The service was great and fast...And the workers are super nice...Also, i was surprise how lil the bill was. The price is very affordable..
Came here with my boyfriend for an anniversary. Ordered the sashimi set dinner which came also came with soup, salad, rice and ice cream, plus 4 other specialty rolls. Bill came out to be less than $50 i believe. We were super full, and super content.
The sashimi were definitely fresh, and i particularly like the dynamite roll!
Wow! that was great sashmi I just had......
We order the salmon sake, white tuna and uni. Everything was so fresh and yummy. The chicken karage is just ok, nothing special. The service was super friendly and attentive. Parking sucks around the area, but that's kinda given.
My first SF sushi experience was more than I could have imagined. Great little spot we happened to walk by and it lured us in. The maguro sashimi melts in your mouth. I will definitely be back.
I was starving again! After a day of flying 16 or 17 hours from Europe I had to eat. I DON"T EAT AIRLINE FOOD! 10 minute running layovers give me no chance at grabbing anything except sweat on my brow!
We parked and went right in.
Seated about 8:30pm on a Sat night almost immediately and were informed it was their anniversary...free sake!!! Oh yea! Omedetou!!!
The restaurant was very rowdy and loud. Drunk guy at the bar and several other patrons that wanted to share their inebriation with the world. So funny!! Always great rolls though so I keep coming back...plus its a block from my place.
Ordered my 49 roll!! E.T. roll and dynamite! Dynamite was my favorite. SOOO spicy and yummy! E.T. was crispy and huge with lots of yummy contents. Also got the Yakitori! We got 3 skewers of huge chicken, onions and zuchini. Lightly sprinkled with salt and pepper and a nice lemon wedge. Also got the Chicken Karage! This was a different batter than what I am used to. I'm a Japanese food unofficial epicurian of sorts to say the least.
Overall great portion size and fast service. Little note...you don't keep serving the drunk guy more alcohol when he starts calling the sushi chef names. Big no-no. Cut him offf!!
Shimo's is probably, THE BEST Sushi restaurant in San Francisco for large pieces of fresh, high grade sashimi. Even Robin Williams comes in and orders to go. Yes, the Robin Williams that we all know. He knows his sushi just like people who know that Shimo's is a really good Japanese restaurant.
Sushi and rolls are very standard, but very good. Chicken Kara-age is another dish I reccommend if you're not into all the raw stuff. If there are specials up on the board, try those. They're usually fresh.
Shimo and his buddies that work there are the funniest and most welcoming people you can find. Shimo will drink you under the table. I walked in one night and the waiters told me that they were all too drunk to serve food. Only alchohol. Drunk Shimo and the waiters and waitresses STILL managed to hook me up with an assorted sashimi plate and drink with my cousin and I.
I stumbled in here buzzed after having spent 4 1/2 hours at Baker Beach downing the better half of a 6 pack of Amstel Lights, so my high praise of the food may be a little too generous. Just a disclaimer.
The New York roll, with smoked salmon and avocado, was the best. I almost didn't order it, because I was with my boyfriend and I try not to make any references to NY when I'm around him because I'll be moving there in August and naturally he's bummin' about it, but I'm glad I said "what the hell" and ordered it anyway because it was delicious. I also enjoyed the clam soup. Didn't take a fancy to the spicy tuna roll though. There seemed to be more hot sauce in there than necessary.
THE BEST!
I could go on forever. The walu sashimi is mouthwatering, like butter...
Shimo and his wife rule.
Hong Fu and WANG make me so happy with extra daikon and the Irresistable Unagi Handroll with Daikon!!!!!
Great Place to get hammered as well.
If someone else feels they know of a better sushi restaurant please tell me so I can try. Until then SHIMO'S is #1
First sign of a good Japanese restaurant to me, free hot green tea. Japanese restaurants shouldn't charge for tea. Luckily, Shimo does not charge for tea, and on top of that, they have amazing food. We came on a Friday night at around 7pm and we were seated immediately.
We had the:
Hamachi kama: Good size, a tad bit dry but still good with the ponzu all over it.
Shishamo: Nothing better than impregnated broiled fish, eat the whole thing from head to tail.
Ika Special Roll: Hands down the best roll we ordered, ikura, ika, shiso leaf, rolled up in rice. mmm I'm sure I could eat 5 of these rolls by myself.
Natto roll: I added shiso leaf and grated daikon on the side. so good, you must try natto this way.
Spicy Scallop Roll: Good, but I'm not a fan of mayonnaise sauces over rolls.
Salmon maki: nigiri sushi is always better, but the fish was great quality
Unagi roll: We ordered it without the teriyaki sauce, and it was still very flavorful, the unagi was delicious.
Quick service, free tea, lively atmosphere, 5 rolls plus appetizers all for about 50 bucks, talk about a happy wallet and an even happier stomach.
The one star is for our waitress who made sure to refill our glasses of water whenever it was half full. Other than that, the food here is old and of bad quality. We gave this place a try because we wanted to experience a new Japanese restaurant, and got decent ratings on Yelp. I ordered the Chirashi Deluxe Sushi, and it was BAD! I would go as far as writing that ALL the pieces of sashimi in that box were not fresh, and very poorly cut (lots of tendon pieces left on the meat, and some pieces even looked like they were cut with a butter knife!) My husband's shrimp Tempura tasted old too! You know it's old when you take a bite of the shrimp and it feels rubbery between your teeth. The only item we enjoyed that evening is the Dynamite roll, which had a nice crunchy batter and a good spicy kick. Other than, that - Shimo no more.
We ate for Father's Day with my ladies' family. I can't for the life of me understand why we ate here again. I should have remembered to read my previous Yelp review. Same as before, wait staff couldn't be bothered to take or remember our order. Staff spilled every single beverage we ordered on us at least once.
The food was ok but the order the food came in was odd. Appetizers came after the entire meal was eaten and served. I wouldn't come here again and will engrave into my memory.
Shimo what happened? Food took forever to be served. We had to tackle wait staff to find out what… Read more »
Shimo is to die for. It's my go to sushi place here in the city. The staff is super friendly and they all know us(my gf and I) by name. The owner Shimo is always there and smiling. They treat you like family, especially when you sit at the bar.
Food-The Sashimi is fresh and almost melts in your mouth. Also, the Chawan Mushi is the best here! Walu(white tuna) is amazing. Mackerel is the best here. My favorite here is the Ikura(large fish egg), super fresh ,you can tell because the casing of the roe isn't chewy. Love the Unagi too.
Decor- Typical family owned Japanese Rest. Simple and homey.
Price- Pretty standard prices. $15-25 per person, depending on alcohol consumption.
Parking-Pretty bad area to park in
Japanese owned with some employees who are Chinese. They act like a little family though. Gotta love that.
Usually pretty packed.
Yes Yes Yes. The wait staff was a little disorganized. We apparently had three wait people and that would normally be ok but i had to answer all question 3 times and the food piled up on the table. Also I heard the worst question for a wait person to ask "Are you still working on that?". No I am not working on my food, eating is not work. It is one of the greatest things ever. If not for eating we would all not be here. No, I am still enjoying my food so go eat a bag of dicks or something.
The food was good. The sashimi was fresh and cut in nice big mouth watering chunks. I heard about this kind of sashimi where the fish is still alive a little when you eat it or they cut up a live fish and serve it to you. I want to try that. I am defiantly going back here to get good food and to get drunk with the sushi makers.
Looking for a Japanese restaurant without a candy coated facade on the outside and down-to-earth, yet at the same time out of the world taste? You will find it at Shi Mo, a staple of San Francisco's Japanese restaurant scene located in the obscure Outer Richmond.
Like I said above, this place does not try to be trendy, or try to lure customers in with crazy rolls with cheezy names. It's no non-sense philosophy to Japanese food is something that is becoming lost amidst the sea of restaurants that focus on a Hollywood-esque presentation rather than putting their heart and soul into the food. To be honest, I'm getting a little tired of looking at a menu and finding 10 different kinds of shrimp tempura rolls topped with old, tasteless fish. It's enticing and all, but I have some doubts about it's authenticity. And you won't get that here.
Don't get me wrong, I've visited other Richmond district stalwarts Kitaro and Sakana Bune as well as joints in the Sunset, but neither of them compare to Shi Mo in terms of quality and authenticity.
Alright, now to the nitty-gritty of this place. I've been coming here since the '90s, but I can easily remember all the delicious food I've had here over the years. If you are looking to warm up after waiting just to get inside of this place, I'd go for the Suki-yaki: hot soup, beef, noodles, and vegetables never tasted so good. If you are not in the mood for soup, I'd recommend any of Shi Mo's fine quality sashimi or sushi, and if you must, their rolls (no knock on them, but if you don't consider the alternatives you are missing out). And no matter what you order, please get the hamachi kama (yellowtail collar), possibly some of the tasty fish I've ever had! There should be a disclaimer for this dish. It's that good.
In the end, you may end up liking this place so much you'll lose track of all the money you spend, but your tastebuds will put your mind at ease. The hoards of people you will encounter here don't lie. This place is as good as it gets.
The short of it: just like am-pm, this place has too much good stuff.
I like this Japanese restaurant. It has an authentic quality to it. I typically order sashimi, and their sashimi was delicious. It was priced similar to the other Japanese restaurants around the area, but the taste is better. However, this place isn't that big, so a large group is not recommended.
Last time I came here, we had a group of about 6-7, and I believe we were the largest group there. But, I would definitely come back for more Shimo!
I never have complaints about this place. Fresh fish, more than generous portions and affordable prices. The service is prompt and friendly. It's true Shimo may not be the best for large groups, but if it were, you might not get the quality that this place delivers. Great atmosphere and a varied crowd.
Shimo(s) is like part of the family. I've been coming here since I was a kid. You don't believe me? I have a picture of myself, age 2, cute as a button, in Shimo's restaurant. My parents had their wedding reception here. No joke.
This place is family run and will treat you like family if you come in the door with a smile on your face. The food is good. You'll always find Shimo behind the sushi bar. Let him order for you, you'll get the good stuff... trust me. Not in the mood for sushi? They've got great izakaya.
If you sit at the sushi bar, buy Shimo a round of sake. Kampai!
It's been awhile since I've 5-starred a place. Funnily enough, Joe C. always manages to take me to new places that garner that many stars in my book. I think I need to continue to trust his judgment, and instead of consulting my Zagat, I'll consult my Joe C.
We went early on a Friday night, knowing that the sushi bar was the place to sit. We walked in, were greeted warmly by the owner and the sushi chefs, and had an easy seat at the bar.
We were quickly served. My partner goes there often, and always asks the owner to prepare whatever's freshest, and so that he did. With the exception of a few choice dishes on Joe's part (soft shell crab handroll, and the uni--the latter not exactly tickling my fancy, but it was a texture thing, I'm sure it was rather delicious to those who like uni).
The entire experience was gorgeous. The wait staff is sassy and on it. The sushi chefs are obviously professional and exceedingly knowledgeable.
Pretty much every customer in the restaurant was Japanese, aside from our party. This is always a good sign.
Let's see...I will have 6 pieces of vegetarian roll with uncooked yam and under-ripe avacado....and I'll also have an ice cream dish full of cucumber, rice wine vinegar, and 4 small shrimps......and how much will that be? $12 plus tax & tip? Awesome, thats exactly how much I wanted to pay for that!
2 stars are becuase the veggie soba was OK.
Go to Little Tokyo for better noodles or Drunken Sushi for better sushi, service, and presentation
Fantastic Food at a pretty good price. They have upped their prices quite a bit lately though. I like the combination dinners; they include two entrees, rice, miso soup, salad, and ice cream!!! I have never had something there that I don't like. I highly recommend the tempura and chicken teriyaki, they even have that as a combination dinner. Fantastic place!!!!!!
You know how you have Cheers, or the equivalent of a bar just like Cheers filled with the same degenerates, I mean characters, and you're often confused as one of them? Shimo is the sushi equivalent of Cheers.
This is not the best sushi i've ever had, but it is good sushi and it is a friendly place to get a bite. Shimo-san is often behind the bar slicing fish and making merry with the folks on the other side. The selection of fish is good and he always lists the specials; it's the specials that keep me coming back.
The first time I ate here the special was whole live urchin! Yeah, they chopped off the "face" flipped it upside down on a bed of ice, spines still moving, then dug out the roe, cleaned it and put it back in the animated corpus and served it up just like that. mmmmm Who would've ever thought I'd have an "Temple of Doom" experience at my neighborhood sushi bar?!
The other thing that I keep coming back for is the Hamachi Kama. It's always simple, just salt and pepper, grilled to perfection and served with a little ponzo suace with daikon shaved into it. Can't get much better. All in all, fantastic service, friendly and comfortable with good food, you should try it.
Oh, my! I love going here. I recently took my aunt from out of town and sister here for a feast made for a king!
We had the fresh oysters, sashimi Kobe beef, tempura prawns and vegetables, teriyaki chicken and beef, sashimi tuna, caterpillar roll, and a few bottles of Snow Beauty sake. WOW!
The waitresses are always great, and if you go during the week, you can avoid the weekend rush.
(Yes people, they are popular because they are so good!)
So good!
I don't eat red meat because it doesn't taste good to me, but when my friend ordered the…
Read more »
I hesitate to review any Japanese places while we have Nobu, who pretty much hits everyting on the head. But a quick look says he hasn't been here for a while and got some grief for his review, so I will just chime in and say it's a nice neighborhood spot, I live quite near by. Not highly authentic Japanese to me, but neither the staff or the clientele is Japanese and everyone seems happy.
Family-run, mediocre service but lots of effort. Often crowded to the point of full, so obviously lots of people love it. With fewer tables, their service would probably improve but I don't see why they'd do that.
I don't love it. I can't hate on it, look at all the reviews .If you're not a purist and want a happening atmosphere with a diverse crowd, you might like Shimo. If you want more authenticity and better flavor, try Sanmi on Geary around Laurel.
Neighborhood: Parkside
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Japanese
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Category: Sushi Bars
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