Kiki Japanese — Restaurant in San Francisco

I typically never like to leave a negative review but, I must when I end up asking for a to go box when, I can't even make it through half of a plate of one of my most favorite type of foods. I ❤️❤️❤️ Japanese food and sashimi. I'm assuming that the owner's might not be Japanese, or maybe they are cutting corners with their food as, the rice definitely wasn't sushi rice (pretty sure it was jasmine rice). That one, already had me worried. The rice was dry, grainy and falling apart in the nigiri. The sashimi wasn't cut right, it was thin, tough, dry, flavorless, had me worried that it might not be sushi grade. Also, stringy with tendons. Everything was overly salty. The wasabi paste was dried out, gummy and very pasty. Also, pretty sure the soy sauce isn't Kikkoman. Nothing tasted right. I'm both fortunately as well as unfortunately a super taster so, I have a very sensitive palette. Ouch, was my experience. The service was pretty much very impersonal & mediocre. It wasn't bad. I would have asked my server, had she showed her face, about the rice, etc.... she popped my dish down & didn't re appear for several minutes. Nothing was cooked right or presented in a traditional Japanese fashion. All of the textures were wrong as well as the flavors. The eel was chewy, not cooked right, bad texture and with a basic, bottled teriyaki sauce. The avocados were overly ripe, too. Miso soup, terrible and overly salted. Nothing chopped up as would be like in a traditional Japanese restaurant. Edamame, not cooked right and overly salted as well. Definitely, NEVER going back. Definitely not worth the $28 for lunch. Boo in regards to the sushi. Thumbs down 👎 on the sashimi, rice, miso soup and eel. Sorry for the bad review. Just have...

since moving here from Beantown a 6 months ago, i've been looking for a replacement for Avana Sushi - a cheap but delicious sushi joint in the heart of Boston's Chi-town. Kiki's comes pretty close, hitting the points of value, attentive service, funky decor...falling short in consistency of product...but making up for it with variety.

In comparison to other sushi restaurants in the Bay area, Kiki's is cheap. You can get a decently full on sushi for under $15. The other hot food menu items are not bad. In addition to many of the rolls, I've also had the curry udon and regular udon. I would have to say that my favorite rolls are the Spider, Dynamite, and Hawaii. I was VERY disappointed by the Rainbow roll due to the inconsistency in the quality of the fish. If I have to dip my sashimi pieces in wasabi soy sauce to augment the taste, there is something fishy. I like my sushi / sashimi straight up -- the way the Japanese intended. The wait staff is friendly and checks up on you at just the right intervals. Decor goes with the theme of Kiki's delivery service anime.

3 stars for the food 2 stars for the service 4 stars for the decor 5 stars for value

I've gone back a couple of times. It's a great place to stop after work for a bite to eat on the way home. But if they raised their prices,...

If you have any experience with Japanese food outside of the Western world, do not come here.

We ordered two items: curry udon and oyakodon. The Japanese curry was extremely dilute, probably too much water added to the store bought curry cubes. A cost saving attempt or poor cooking, who knows.

Apparently no one knew what oyakodon meant, and we were served chicken katsu don instead. When we pointed this out to the server, they told us, "no no, this is chicken atop rice".

Thankfully the owner (?) stepped out and corrected the mistake, only after asking us three separate times if we really wanted oyakodon. The final bout of questioning involved checking if we even knew what oyakodon meant!

The oyakodon eventually arrived, with overcooked eggs and too much broth. Rather disappointing, but given the whole situation, I wouldn't be surprised if they had to panic-cook oyakodon for the first time in years.

Both dishes aren't difficult to cook, which was why we ordered them in the first place -- how hard is it to mess up Japanese curry? Be warned, those who have better standards for Japanese food!

EDIT: forgot to mention that we also ordered some fried california maki. Who uses long grain rice for sushi? The sushi fell apart and was mushy -- maybe that's why it's a...