Delica — Restaurant in San Francisco

Fancy Japanese fast-food type deli counter. Bento boxes on the table & in the fridge display in the front if you want the pre-selected options and if you want to skip the line. Pricey? It seems like it at first since the bento looks small, but I was surprisingly really full from the 5-item vegetarian bento ($10.25) Everything tastes gourmet and is definitely not something you can re-create easily at home, so it is worth the price tag.

I was a noob the first time and got a few items a la carte. DON'T DO IT. Stick to the bento boxes and lunch sets for the best value. ($5.25 for one-two servings of wasabi mashed potatoes. Good but NOT WORTH IT @_@)

Wasabi mash: Light wasabi flavor but enough to get you going. A bit chunky just asI like it, peas give a good sweetness to it and the slight bit of romaine lettuce gives it a good texture contrast. I personally wish it was a tad more savory/creamy though.

Hijiki (seaweed) & soybean salad: I personally didn't like it.. it's a little too 'healthy' feeling for me but I'm sure it's REALLY good for you.. Stick to small portions of this. This would probably be better if was mixed with kale or something. The sea-flavor was too intense for me and the texture got boring fast. Felt like my breath stank afterwards..

Burdock salad: still don't really know what this is but this was surprisingly good and healthy! Very light, fresh, and crunchy salad. This could also get boring fast though so the portion size in the bento was perfect.

Potato croquette: didn't expect this to be crunchy & it wasn't. Came with a baby BBQ sauce packet and it went well with the croquette. Just OK. Potato was cooked all the way through and seasoned well - it's probably better fresh!

Agedashi tofu: I forgot to dip this with the sauce when I ate it so I can't judge this fairly but the texture was good!

Surprisingly my favorite was the green bean salad. It came with thinly julienned carrots and the light sesame/mayo dressing was SO good........

Definitely coming back to try more items next time! They also have curry and soup here which seem to be worth...

I have been coming to Delica in the ferry building regularly for more than 10 years. I have literally spent thousands of dollars here over that time. It has always been on the expensive side, but I am willing to pay for quality food. I recently went there and spent $38 for a spicy tuna, a salmon poke bowl and a cup of miso soup. When I asked for 4 extra low sodium soy sauce packets, the nice woman working at the cash register appeared nervous and made a worrisome look at another woman (presumably the owner or manager) as if she was petrified to make such a low level decision without this other woman’s permission.

This other woman told the cashier not to give any extra low sodium soy sauce packets. When I protested, she said “$.50 extra“.

I understand that the restaurant business has razor-thin profit margins, but the soy sauce packets seem negligible. It is usually standard procedure to keep a customer happy, so long as their request isn’t unreasonable.

Maybe the manager/owner was having a bad day, or maybe this restaurant is barely hanging on to solvency, like so many eateries in San Francisco? Who knows? But I would definitely be cautious eating here because it seems that they might be hanging on for deer life.

If Delica is that worried about giving out low sodium soy sauce packets to customers with dietary restrictions in order to save a penny, who knows what other corners they might be cutting with the main ingredients that they deal with?

It just seems to me that when a person pays $38 for lunch, they are or should be entitled to condiments.

On a sidenote, their beverage selection is meager and leaves much to be desired.

I do not think that I will be spending any more of my hard earned moneyat Del unless they would be willing to compromise on...

Visiting this place during the summer season was quite an expedition as hoards of people congregate to the Ferry Building to sample fine wine and cheeses from the myriad of other stores.

Upon first arrival you come across two separate lines, one which is for Hot/Deli Items and the other for Boxed Items. However, if you're looking for a quick line, I suggest having cash at hand to fork it over to the guy in the front of the store passing out bento boxes.

The relatively long wait during the lunch hours are worth it as the Roast Beef Sushi is excellent in presentation and taste. Many people have the misconception that sushi has to be fish, which they would be promptly corrected. Sushi, literally translated, just means rice vinegar--denoting that if you put it on top of rice, it's sushi. But I digress.

I always enjoy getting the Number 4 combo at the Deli which includes one Hot Item, Rice and one Salad. With a wide variety of vegetarian items, the Chinese Chicken Salad, Wasabi Garlic Potato Salad, and Spicy Burdock Root Salad are good choices. However, I would love to try the Corn and Mascarpone Salad.

As far as the curry and fried items, the beef curry wasn't anything too special, as I could easily attain this from any other place in Japantown. Also, the Kakiage Tempura was what seemed like a "hot mess" as it is filled with pretty much anything in my fridge currently, but not much can be said about things that people say are "authentic" to Japanese cuisine.

The food here, though, is fairly cheap, fairly tasty, and of good quality for the Ferry Building, and because of it, I continue to come back, as most other places in and around Market charge you an arm and a leg...