Warakubune — Restaurant in San Francisco

A good sushi place is typically about the attention to details and not just the taste of the sushi . That function is typically owned by the sushi chef him/herself. Warakubune has some work to do on that front. A good sushi chef is fully aware of every customer he can oversee. That's from whether drinks need to be refilled, ginger replenish or reading searching eyes for something special. Warakubune falls short on these little but highly appreciated items. Presentation is another part, in particular when you load up the sushi boats. There is no need to overload a sushi boat, rather get each plate presented to look nice and clean. We do eat with our eyes as our taste buds.

So now to the plates, I worked myself through a criss cross of selections. From the top: As it was a cool evening I started with miso soup, unfortunately the soup lacked depth and flavor. The sake sushi was fantastic, I must think they just got fresh salmon. It was plum juicy yet firm and tender all in the same time ... Great job. The maguro on the side must have had a tough life, it didn't have that tuna flavor or texture.. bummer for me and bummer for the poor fish. The spicy scallop handroll was also a bit disappointing. Neither the scallop flavor nor the supportive spice came through. It felt like I ate a roll with rice and something... Last but not least the Uni. I love uni, if I'm in a sushi restaurant I must try at least once piece. This uni was alright but doesn't stand out. One of the key issues with uni, you can't serve it very cold as the flavours are lost and of course not warm as it spoils but right before it starts to warm up the flavours come out. At 12$ a piece I expect the sushi chef to know such details.

If you ask me if I'd go...

Don't come here if you're expecting high quality fish! It is, after all, sushi served on conveyor belt boats! Do come here if you're just planning on a fun night out with some friends chatting and ogling what's floating by the bar in front of you next! All the dishes also really adds-up so it's not really that great in terms of value either. As a small Asian girl, I would say it will cost you at least $40 per person to feel full at this place.

The biggest surprise for me here was the deep-fried seaweed-wrapped taro and shrimp. This strange combination is strangely addictive! Apparently this is a special that isn't served every day! They really should make this a regular item though because I would come back JUST to eat it. It's one of those dishes that makes you daydream about starting your own food truck that sells just this one particular item and making a...

This is what a neighborhood sushi spot should be. High quality plates, good portion sizes, and a fabulous selection. The house special shrimp tempura roll is a can’t miss. The white tuna tataki is heavenly. Note; the spicy tuna is spicier than you might expect.

Great for families early in dinner service (they love kids!), great to come bring a book and eat by yourself later in the evening. It’s easy to make conversation with those around you. I’ll often make sure to bring visitors here, and very often I’ll find myself near people who moved away and specifically came back to eat here when visiting.

For those saying prices are a turn off, it’s less risky to take a $6 3-piece roll here and decide you don’t like it than an 8-piece roll for $18 at other sushi spots. You can just try the next thing you see...