Tonton Restaurant — Restaurant in San Francisco

Tonton, regrettably, is yet another example of Japanese restaurants in The City used to be authentically owned and operated by Nikkei have been sliding into less unrecognizable than Japanese. I used to have ramen noodles on my lunch break at Tonton on weekly or biweekly basis until the main chef who happened to be Nikkei left the position sometime in 2022. Please don’t get me wrong, first of all, anyone without racial, ethnical or geographic boundaries can cook any cuisine originated from anywhere in the world not to mention America is the greatest country in the world beckoning anyone from anywhere for their pursuit of “American Dream.” Having said that, however, in order to excel as a chef for any cuisine, one would need to roll up your sleeves devoting themselves through apprentice or self-learning rather than mimicking with an attitude of “don’t give a shit” because “attitude is everything to success.” I have recently returned twice having the same “house ramen” that I had for many times which turned out to be a disaster with overall diminishing quality: no flavor in Dashi (that is the soul of any Ramen imhv) at all while noodles remain in its old egg noodle fashion, less pork Shasu and lacked flavor. Under the circumstances, I would not likely return until current owner Tonton “wakes up to smell the coffee.” (BTW, according to the Secretary of State the ownership of Tonton which is “422 Tonton SF LLC” terminated on 12/31/2022. Finally, with all due respect I am perplexed by some of most reviews from several fellow Local Guides despite the fact that “late night” visit or drinking “a sake” might have improved both their mood and taste buds. The City truly has a variety as to cuisines but not necessarily the quality as there is a saying “she could be an easy San Francisco 8” without intending to offend anyone under the protection of the First Amendment. However, I am deeply concerned about the quality of Japanese food after learning one of the TOP10 “Best Sushi on Clement Street” has been recently (April 7, 2025) ordered to close its door after failing the inspection conducted by the San Francisco...

My friends and I came across this restaurant after hearing about the current hour long wait at Little Sheep and decided to give it a try. The restaurant's kind of small (maybe 5 tables?) but we were instantly seated - there were only maybe 2 other parties who were also there. It's definitely not the classiest/prettiest place out there as the interior was pretty dark and it has more of a fast food place kind of vibe.

We all ordered some form of the katsu curry - I got the chicken katsu curry and it was actually really good. There was potato in the curry and the katsu was nicely fried. Portions were very generous and the main thing that pleasantly surprised me was the price. Each dish was only $10! As much as I do believe that the food itself is very good especially for such a cheap price, especially in SF, I'm taking off 2 stars because of the customer service. They told our group to "please calm down" and while we were definitely the loudest group there considering that nobody else was really talking in the restaurant, we were talking at a pretty reasonable level and we've never dealt with that in any other restaurant. They also placed the check on our table and came by again to ask if we could pay when we were only halfway through the meal (we didn't come anytime near to closing).

Despite the bad customer service, I think I'd still come by to get takeout or if I was trying to grab a quick meal but definitely don't come here if you're coming in a larger group and want to...

Now I have a review already up on Yelp and I will update that review after this. But I normally come back to San Francisco year the 15 months or so. I want to eat here because the vert first time was back in 2015 and they had sushi then and it was so darn good. In the year 2017, I came back and eat there for 10 days straight for lunch. Now it's 2020 and I had to pay my respects and help out as much as I can. This COVID has affected us all and I love supporting the Japanese communities and the food they do serve to the public. Such good food at Ton Ton. Can I honestly say this, most America eats sushi wrong from the very start and never learn, so, therefore, the sushi bar that was once there doesn't affect the quality of food Japanese dishes they have. Oh, my panda. so good that it will make you smile and continue to eat. "NOTE: There is always one waiter so please discuss the lack of staff since we are in a Pandemic. The sake is always good and Sapporo DRAFT is my recommended choice and not a bottle. " My optional as I live and work in Japan myself" I'd care about the Japanese communities in San Francisco and I wish I had the power to make their lives a little better. But, one person can make a difference with just one open heart. I will love to come back next year and visit and eat here again.

It's an honor to eat and to be severed by some amazing staff and owner of Ton-Ton aka Katanaya. Hands down the best hot Japanese curry dishes in the...