Ryoko’s Sushi Restaurant is a small subterranean restaurant serving sushi bites in downtown San Francisco for decades. The underground sushi joint creates the vibes of a Tokyo sushi bar and claims to serve a fresh fish daily with a distinctive flavour that is hard to find. Also they are open until the middle of the night, so we were able to try it out.
Midnight Bites
While exploring San Francisco and it’s cultural offerings time passed quickly. Since many restaurants close pretty early in the night compared to other regions (e.g. the Mediterranean), options rapidly decrease at late hours. Still, some restaurants are in for a surprise. Way after midnight on a weekday we entered the small underground sushi restaurant for some quick bites on the go. The cocktail bar was very good (we had vodka with cucumber and mint served in a classical martini glass) and also the music selection was excellent with a resident DJ.
As a group we shared some tobiko (flying fish roe) gunkan and a selection of avocado uramaki (inside out roll) with hamachi (yellowtail), ebi (shrimp), ika (squid), aji (mackerel), sake (salmon), maguro (tuna back) and tai (sea bream) topping. The texture and taste of the fish was excellent way beyond anything we expected at such a late hour. As a last call for the kitchen we had some nice maguro (tuna back) futo maki (big roll) and some sake (salmon) uramaki (inside out roll).
Sushi Guide Verdict
Ryoko’s Japanese Restaurant is an authentic and particular sushi restaurant in the heart of San Francisco. It is a tiny place that tries to convey the vibe of a Tokyo sushi bar and is frequented by many Japanese customers as well. The menu options are quite good and the food quality is excellent. The drink menu is average and the service was friendly and forthcoming. Especially on a midnight stroll, this restaurant is a very good option for some sushi snacks.
Atmosphere
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Food Quality
Drink Variety
Service
Review date: June 8, 2019