We first ate here when they first opened back in April 2022. We thought it was interesting and decent, but not enough to warrant another visit. I heard about the limited time snow crab menu on the Fine Dining discord, so I it seemed like a good opportunity to try them out again.
It was a bit of a crazy evening in San Francisco because power was out in a large swath of the city. It’s still tricky to find the place if you don’t know where it is because there isn’t really any signage and even when you get upstairs right where the restaurant is located, the outside signage is still the old signage from the previous tenant so you have to peek inside to see the signs for Yukji itself.
We were the second pair to arrive. We seated ourselves directly in front of the case with all of the proteins (the first pair of guys seated in front of the main chef’s prep area already). The restaurant only seats 9 total and there would only be 4 pairs/couples for this first seating at an early 5pm (which was ok by us old folks). Andrea was the only non-Asian in the restaurant.
We went ahead with the sake pairing as we are wont to do and it keeps it simple.
The meal is kappo style which showcases a wide variety of techniques used for the various courses. First course was the Assorted Appetizers which was a quartet of dishes. There as the ankimo ponzu, a puréed white asparagus soup, Iwamozuku seaweed, and marinated brussels sprouts. We had become fond of ankimo ever since having it Sushi Yoshizumi. This was good and Andrea of course liked the ponzu, but nothing seems to come close that preparation at Sushi Yoshizumi. The asparagus purée had some Hokkaido uni and some salmon roe although I can’t say I really tasted much of the asparagus (granted white asparagus is a milder than green asparagus of course which would have been far to strong for this dish). This seaweed was interesting and had an almost smoky flavor to it. The half a brussels sprout was topped with some bonito.
Next course was the Dobin mushi. This was essentially a fish soup in a clay teapot. We were encouraged to pour out the broth into a teacup. This was perfect for a rainy December evening. I absolutely loved the light and flavorful broth and heartily drank it all up.
Next came the sashimi course. This featured kingfish, prawn (amaebi I assume), and orange roughy (I think). I thought the kingfish was hamachi when he was slicing it, but this was definitely less rich than hamachi. The prawn was so sweet and I thought it was delicious.
Next preparation was grilled fish. This was marinated black cod with some roast peppers and pickled ginger stem. The ginger was the most interesting part of this. The fish was vender tender and moist, although te skin was also soft which is not something Andrea enjoys. Andrea said she had wished the peppers were served warmer though.
Next came the Japanese wagyu steak. I forgot which prefecture, but it definitely wasn’t Miyazaki. Before cutting up the wagyu, you could see it had nice crosshatching on all sides. This was served on a piece of black slate with some truffle salt and fresh wasabi. The wagyu was perfectly cooked and rich with the meaty unctuousness that practically melted in your mouth. The truffle salt was a pleasant touch for the first bite or two, but then after that just tasted too artificial (the truffle salt kind of made me think of the first time we had Don Julio 1942 tequila where the vanilla flavor had an interesting immediate appeal on the first sip or two, but then after that also seemed artificial and no longer tasted like tequila). The wasabi was an interesting touch and made us wonder why don’t get wasabi with meat more often. This would only work with fresh wasabi which is much milder than the fake horseradish wasabi (then again, you eat horseradish with prime rib too so…).
Next came the chawanmushi. This was made with the snow crab and mushrooms. We both thought this was good, but definitely not the best chawanmushi. Perhaps we just like our chawanmushi to be a bit more savory.
Then came the Snow crab spring rolls. These were fried spring rolls. The spring rolls were so perfectly formed cylinders, tightly wrapping the snow crab. Lightly fried and were not greasy at all. On the side, there was a crab miso sauce served inside a crab shell. It was good and we did finish the dish.
The Female snow crab was the final snow crab dish and featured a snow crab meat and eggs mixture set atop sushi rice and all topped with uni. This was also a good dish.
The last savory course was the Kamo dashi ramen (or duck broth ramen). We were both pretty full by this point. I enjoyed the broth. The duck was subtly flavored (and in general I prefer more full flavored taste to duck). Noodles were good, but again we were far too full to finish them.
Dessert was a Matcha cheesecake with some rich matcha ice cream a match Pocky-type stick and a bit of sauce (buckwheat?). It was pretty tasty and I love matcha, but I still couldn’t quite finish it.
Part of the reason we got so full was because of the pacing. It’s definitely a bit brisk with 12 courses in about 90+ minutes. Across the 8 of us, they were starting to clear dishes before everyone had finished their dishes, so I think that contributed a bit to feeling so full (it wasn’t a huge amount of food, it as just a good amount of food in a relatively short period of time).
All in all, we thought it was a good meal and it reinforced our feelings about the place from our first visit. I appreciated the array of techniques and variety of preparations. There were some excellent ingredients at times. Flavors are a bit on the reserved side which at times was very good, but at times left me wanting for a bit more.
Leave a Reply