We stopped in for a late bite at Aka Tombo in Japantown because to be honest, nothing else was open. This accidental discovery turned out to be a great sushi find.
Aka Tombo (Red Dragonfly) is only a few months old, and serves impeccably fresh sushi and other expertly prepared dishes. Service was outstanding, and the owner/chef perhaps too friendly for his own good - he gave us so many freebies I wondered how he's going to manage to stay in business. If you want a fun evening, sit at the counter and chat with the outgoing and friendly chef, whose name I still don't know. When we asked, he told us his name is Marlon Brando. I've googled him and still can't figure it out. So, from here on I'll refer to him as Brando-san.
As soon as we sat, a server brought us delicious complimentary chawan-mushi. These were a satisfying mixture of creamy and comforting, yet fresh and balanced. When we asked for a recommendation, Brando-san prepared his version of a delicious ceviche that was seasoned with shiso and jalapeno. For our main course we ordered maguro-don (fresh tuna over rice) and an ultra-luxurious ikura and uni don - salmon roe and sea urchin on rice. These dishes came with a clear soup.
The preparations were exquisite and everything of top quality. After engaging in some discussion about uni (check out the large live uni in Brando-san's display in my photo), we were treated to a sensuous morsel of uni flown in from Japan, topped with gold, in a tiny covered dish.
Our bill wasn't overly high for our remarkable dinner - but at that point we'd lost track of what we'd ordered and what we were treated to. I'll return soon for my next sushi fix.
Aka Tombo
1737 Buchanan Street
(between post and Sutter)
San Francisco
415.674.1984
Wonderful pictures and great looking restaurant.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason your blog is popping up on my blog list so late ? I guess that is what I get for living in the county and can only use "comcast" the worst cable/internet in the world.
Now that my daughter is moving to Santa Monica I won't be able to check out this restaurant.
I found a Korean restaurant in LA called "Mapo" that sounds great... can't wait to try it.
I still think about your intriguing short story... I want to know what happened to the yakuza. I also just started the book you mentioned "Tokyo Vice "
cheers, parsnip
Hi Parsnip!
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, as always. It's entirely my fault my posts are appearing so late...I have a habit of starting 5 or 6 drafts of posts, and when I finally publish them, the date appears of when I started the post, not actual publish date. I need to finish writing more quickly!
I hope you enjoy Tokyo Vice. I'm planning on posting more short fiction - sooner rather than later I hope!
domo arigato...Aki
Mmm... All the food in this restaurant look delicious. From your photos I can feel how fresh all the ingredients are. I wish I had a good Japanese like this one in London.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I can't believe the size of a sea urchin sitting in the display case in the first photo. I'm scared!