San Francisco is known for its wonderful cuisine, and the Japantown (Nihonmachi) neighborhood is no exception. Except that while the rest of San Francisco is dining on cioppino, clam chowder in bread bowls, and whole crabs, Japantown is eating more exotic fare, including lots of dishes you won’t find in your local sushi bar.
You’ll find okonomiyaki, a variety of udon and ramen dishes, takoyaki, yakiniku, shabu shabu, plenty of tempura, and a few things even I wasn’t willing to try. Never fear though. Just like in Japan, most restaurants in Nihonmachi have plastic displays of their food at the front of the store if you want to visualize what you’re about to order.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints, my friends and I were only able to eat at three of Japantown’s many restaurants while we were there. I’ll discuss these with you to give you an idea of where to start when you visit San Francisco.
May’s Coffee Shop
If you’ve seen any number of slice-of-life animes, you’ve seen at least one of the characters munching on taiyaki, a fish-shaped griddle cake with various stuffings (sweet been, chocolate, etc.).
Kannagi goddess Nagi eating taiyaki
Well, be sure to drop by May’s Coffee Shop in the Kintetsu Mall for your own taiyaki. They offer sweet bean, chocolate, or chocolate and banana stuffed taiyaki for between $1.50 and $2.00.
If you’re lucky, you can watch them make a batch of taiyaki.
They also have lots of other dishes, including more traditional breakfast and lunch items, so it’s a good place to drop in first thing in the morning before you begin your day.
Tanpopo
Located in the Buchanan Mall, along Osaka Way, is a small restaurant with big flavor. Tanpopo offers a wide variety of dishes, from ramen soups to various squid dishes. They even have natto if you’re feeling up for some fermented soybeans.
One of the dishes that my traveling companions insisted we try was takoyaki, a battered dumpling stuffed with baby octopus and topped with kyupi mayonnaise, Bulldog sauce, and fish flakes.
Apparently, most places that offer takoyaki just heat up the frozen variety. Not Tanpopo. They make it fresh on-site; so fresh in fact that the batter is still cooking when the plate is brought out. Here’s a video of the takoyaki. Notice how the dish is so fresh, the heat of the still-cooking batter causes the fish flakes to move around.
Takoyaki at Tanpopo in Japantown San Francisco from Austin Otaku on Vimeo.
It’s a small restaurant, but definitely worth the wait if you get there and it’s full.
Juban – Yakiniku House
Located on lower floor of the Kinokuniya Mall is Juban, a yakiniku restaurant. Here, they serve a variety of thinly-sliced raw meats, fish, and vegetable, which you cook on a gas grill in front of you. Okay, so it sounds like a lazy man’s restaurant, making the customers do their own cooking. But that’s part of the appeal, in my opinion.
If you’re not a very good cook, don’t worry. Cooking yakiniku is pretty easy. Just cook each side until it doesn’t stick to the grill surface anymore.
You can grill your own ribeye, lamb, or Kobe beef. Each item is served a la carte, so your meal can quickly become costly. I would recommend reserving Juban for a special night out.
So there is my whirlwind tour of dining in Japantown. If you go there, definitely give these restaurants a try. And, just because my readers are so special to me, here’s a link to some Japantown coupons so you can save some money on your trip.