PABU Izakaya — Restaurant in San Francisco

O.M.G. My taste buds are in heaven!l from bite one! I ordered the omakase. I almost didn't! They just had a price increase to almost $200 and I was warned it is a LOT of food. But I thought, 'when in Rome!' And don't be deceived, 6-7 courses in THIS omakase is a whole lot of food!!! The nigiri sampling was only one course!

Right out the gate, the warmth and energy here is palpable from the sweet hostess well welcomed me up my fabulous bartenders Matteo, Diego, & Carlos. Carlos made me refreshing nonalcoholic bursts of flavor between courses to open my appetite when I let him know I don't drink alcohol. Each was delightful and tart! Matteo went above and beyond to attend to my dietary preferences. Diego checked in on me regularly to ensure timing of all courses, smily Luis and his team of runners did a great job of explaining all dishes, and the chefs delivered the extraordinary! Talk about great teamwork though? Everyone here worked tender together to execute a perfect all around experience!

My meal started with the Toro & Caviar Tartare. Truly undeniable flavor! So decadent! Perfect hint of fattiness. The caviar was exquisite. I felt like I had gold melting in my mouth! I added a bit of tamari to the seaweed accent and I enjoyed that along the way!

Next I moved on to the panko crusted dungeness crabcake. I should say I'm not the biggest fan of crabcakes but as far as crabcakes go it was good. The sauce was very flavorful. Had a subtle kick but not spicy. Definitely needed the citrus/lime on top. I'm for sure not disappointed. I think anyone who loves hush puppies would love this!

The miso broiled black cod was next in line. Yep, unbelievable! First bite was sweet and literally melted in my mouth! Utter perfection! So tender! And I loved that they left the skin at the bottom. So great!

I asked them to keep a very slow pace so I could bask in enjoying every course and they have wonderfully done that. I'm at the just over one hour point as I round our third course.

Course 4: Their nigiri course was so fresh and flavorful! The time under the individual pieces was a bit too cooked for my taste but I appreciated that it was minimal. The golden eye snapper and otoro fatty tuna definitely stood out! The third round of nigiri was the best. The sweet shrimp was so meaty and delicious! I love the uni and enjoyed it here though it was a tad fishier than I'm used to. I did enjoy the seaweed wrapped rice under it. The salt water eel was the best one had with a surprising and subtle sweet undertone.

The 5th course, MEN aka Main , was Motoyaki Lobster Spaghetti with udon noodles. This was again unbelievably good! Perfect zest. A very mild peppery kick as you dug further in. The udon was so soft and buttery with a perfect hint of lime.

Entering hour 3 with the 6th course, yakimono. Matteo was amazing at tailoring this exactly to my liking. Exemplary customer service was a "yes, let's try it!" attitude! Loved the grilled daikon and sauce that adorned the meat.

I'll not a desert girl but the matcha ice cream atop the cake was a nice touch.

The sauces all around here are magnificent. No wonder I saw so many guests doing happy dances as they ate!

I'll add about the neighborhood, as a single woman traveling, I really wanted to pick a place that felt situated somewhere safe and this was it! Not only did I feel safe outside but these guys had me laughing all the way out. Such an outstanding experience! I highly recommend!

Nice lil perk I stumbled on... download the InKind app and pay with the app and you'll save $50 with check total over $150! Just be sure to tip on...

Ideally, I'd give this place a 4.5/5. My friends and I went to Pabu on a Saturday to try out their SF restaurant week. They had a happy hour going on till 5:30 pm, and they also had a half off menu (only on Saturdays) so we ordered a few items from those menus in addition to the restaurant week prix-fixe menu. In hindsight, it was a mistake. Even though their restaurant week menu has a lot of shared items for the table, it's still plenty of food to fill you up. The moment you walk into the restaurant, you are greeted with a sleek and stylish ambiance with a buzzy and energetic atmosphere. The restaurant is designed to evoke an old-world Japanese feel, with warm lighting, wooden accents, and a minimalist aesthetic. The spacious dining area provides ample room for both intimate gatherings and larger groups. The service at Pabu was amazing - the staff was very attentive and knowledgeable. They were quick to refill drinks and clear plates, ensuring that we had a seamless dining experience. As far as the food goes, everything was really good except the meat. All the seafood items we ordered were fresh and delicious, but the short ribs we got were underwhelming. It was very chewy and had a dominating burnt smoky flavor, which took away from all sweetness of the juices. Chicken karaage was soggy and also not that great. The eggplant dish was okay. We couldn't really taste the eggplant much. With that being said, Pabu made up for all of it through their seafood items. Inari was very light and delicate and had notes of sweet, savory, and umami flavors. The hamachi was fresh and delicious, and the portion was very generous. Yakisoba noodles were delicious. The noodles were cooked well. They had a slight bite with a tender and satisfying chew. The noodles were evenly coated in the sauce, ensuring that each bite was bursting with flavors. The sushi plate had fresh and thick pieces of fish. We wanted to try their other nigiri options, but we were struggling to finish all the food that we got. The black cod was also delicious. It had caramelized skin, and it was buttery and melt-in-your-mouth tender with a slight flakiness that provides a delicate contrast. The chocolate dessert we got was the perfect way to end our dinner. It was very creamy and rich in flavors and had us...

I am a 5th generation sushi + kaiseki restaurant owner in Asakusa, Tokyo. Our restaurant has survived through WW1, Kanto Earthquake, WW2, gentrification after 1964 Olympics, Bubble Economy burst, COVID, the collapse of the ocean ecosystem, population decline. We know everything we needed to know to make it this far. My critique is not soft handed as I am sushi and kaiseki trained 5 generations. 5⭐️ Location: 101 California - near everything 3⭐️ Exterior & Interior: spacious, outside seating, unclean tiny toilet (not a place for a lady to fix her makeup), loud obnoxious music, full of destractions and almost impossible to focus on the fishes. Sushi is a enjoying the subtle texture and fragrance of the fish. Out is taking the fun away from the fishes. It's a great place for guys or family but I wouldn't take my daughter, gf nor my wife there. 2.5 ⭐️ Sushi chefs. Shari was properly prepared, bouncy but a bit hard. I am a koshihikari diner. The chief chef sliced the fishes 1/3 of the thickness and length of how they should be sliced. I declined to eat fishes not from Japan. He also tried to put horseradish instead. I stopped him and told him to use real wasabi. Moritsuke was elementary he was still using fingers. 1⭐️ Food. They only had tamari shouyu. No matured shouyu. No reduced salt shouyu. I ordered $130 of omakase. No green tea, no handmade pickles, no miso soup. I have never in my life been offered sushi without those compliments. Omakase must end with tamago... No tamago. Absolute amateur work. The chef didn't know where his botanebi was from. It was frozen. The honmaguro (bluefin) was from Mexico. I declined those. 1⭐️ Waitor had zero knowldge on the food. I don't know who the manager is but he doesn't know how to brief his staff. I asked for breed of chicken, which area of breeder is it? He didn't even know there are 100 breeds of chicken in the USA. He just said free ranged cage free chicken from southern California. He had no knowledge where the fishes came from. Nor did he know what kind of tuna or salmon it was. 1⭐️ They charged my visa card and lost my card. I cancelled my card.

Not a good restaurant. They have fast food restaurant...