I have mixed feelings about Wako as I write about my omakase experience here. This is due to the fact that it was one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants. However in 2016, Wako converted to omakase only and as a result, we lost one of our favorite family sushi restaurants. As such, I have not been back until recently despite when earning many acclaims including a Michelin Star.
The above is a partial showcase of the sushi we were able to order for our family of six (this included our four kids aged 3 yrs to 12yrs at the time). For the first two years, Wako had table seating where you can order a la carte items such as small plates, tempura, nigiri, and dessert. The counter table was reserved for omakase at the time. We really enjoyed Wako during this time and came regularly until they went omakase only. It’s one of the reasons I have not visited Wako until our last visit as our kids missed their food.
Craving sushi, we happened to see reservations available in December 2017 on opentable and confirmed they were counter seats by phone. The 10-eat sushi counter is run by chef/owner Tomohru Nakamura. I actually had sushi from Chef Tomo when he worked at the Geary Street of Sanruku. He is a very talented chef which you can tell from his adroit slicing technique and fast nigiri molding skills. The table seating is served by his second in command, Chef Atsushi. He is talented as well but with table seating, the temperature of the shari is no longer optimal for omakase. As such, if your paying for the price of high end omakase, you have to get the counter seats.
Wako serves a hybrid kaiseki/nigiri style omakase. I’m not a fan of this style as I feel the nigiri progression is interrupted. Chef Tomo alternates several pieces of nigiri with his kaiseki dishes. My preference is the Ginza, Tokyo style, where otsumami (small plates) served first then followed by all the nigiri. The first course was the Hassun, or seasonal appetizer, comprised of six mini-courses, which is a nice beginning.
The hassun is followed by four nigiri courses. The shari is made from kome-su, which is rice vinegar. I prefer red vinegar in my sushi rice, but Chef Tomo’s shari is good. It is warm and well seasoned, not as strongly seasoned as a Jiro origin, but pretty good. We had the following during this trip:
- Konbujime Tai ( seaweed marinated snapper)
- Sayori – halfbeak
- Shima aji – striped jack
- ika topped with uni
A dashi owan course breaks up the nigiri flow. It is clear dashi with a fried shrimp dumpling, fish cake, and shimeji mushrooms. While very good, I would have preferred it not to interrupt the nigiri progression.
The owan is followed by the sashimi course. Maguro, hirame, and botan ebi were paired with fresh wasabi,
Four pieces of nigiri followed one after another:
- Saba – mackerel
- Winter buri – mature yellowtail topped with yuzu kosho – a little strong for edomae
- katsuo – skip jack tuna that was straw smoked
- Jalepeno infused soy zuke akami – while good, the strong japepeno flavor messes up the taste progression of the nigiri.
Shiso wrapped uni tempura interrupted our nigiri flow. Underneath was a tempura botan ebi shrimp head. The tempura at Wako is excellent. Before they went omakase only, you were able to order several styles of tempera from Kanto to Kansai batter, showcasing Chef Tomo’s mastery of tempura.
After the tempura course, we switched back ton nigiri:
- O-toro topped with caviar and gold flakes – gold flakes is tasteless and useless
- House-cured ikura
- Bafun uni hand roll
Our nigiri continued with the following:
- Anago – sea eel
- Mirugai – geoduck clam
- A5 wagyu – while I loved the dish, always question wagyu in edomae sushi as it is heavy and messes with the flow.
When we visited before they turned exclusively omakase, we loved their tamago. It was delicious as it was cake-like with a good flavor of seafood. In fact, we use to order a bunch of this when they had a la carte at the tables, which I posted an old photo of back in 2014.
After the tamago, we had a choice of red or white miso soup. My wife and I had one of each and got to try both. Chef Tomo has great command of dashi as the miso soup was very good.
Dinner wrapped up with dessert pudding. One was yuzu and the other was matcha. I love how they were both not too sweet and had a refreshing finish.
While we thought the pudding was our final course, we got house-made chocolates after we paid the bill.
Despite my mixed feelings about the kaiskei/nigiri hybrid progression of the meal, I really enjoyed eating at Wako. Chef Tomo has high attention for detail and also a high level of execution in both his kaiseki and nigiri courses. While I prefer aka-su in the shari, his kome-su shari is well seasoned with decent temperature control. While I miss being able to bring the whole family, I would recommend Wako as a top 5 option for omakase in San Francisco.
Restaurant Information:
Address:
211 Clement St.
San Francisco, CA 94118
Phone: (415) 682-4875
Hours: Tuesday — Saturday ; 5:30pm – 10:00pm
Website: http://www.sushiwakosf.com/