When we moved from the bay area to London, my husband told me that he missed three things about living there: The curry, the beer and the brass bands. Fast forward six years when he’s ready to move back and the things he misses about California are the sushi, the wine and the sun. I guess our tastes change (although he still does love brass bands). Since sushi is his number one choice of food these days, I thought the best way to celebrate his birthday was by booking the chef’s table at Sushi Hashiri. We’ve had elaborate Japanese dinners before and enjoyed them, but when we went to Umu and The Araki in London, it always seemed like it was an amazing experience, but for the price, not something worth doing again. I had a feeling that this might be the same, but when it’s a birthday, you really are just looking to have a great day and a fantastic meal, even if it’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
We didn’t forget the day part of a birthday either. We went on a tour of tasting rooms around San Francisco before dinner, so we were already feeling pleasantly happy when we arrived for our seating. It’s a very modern take on a Japanese restaurant. Interesting art adorned the walls and there were projection screens on the ceiling providing a moving image above. The restaurant offers three tiers of dining (with three increasingly expensive price points): The dining room, the sushi bar, and finally the private chef’s table. The chef’s table is only available during the week, but we were fortuitous that his birthday was on a weekday, so we were shown to our own semi-private dining area. At the table there were menus awaiting us to show us what we were going to be having for our meal (with a special happy birthday message on them). They offered both a sake and a wine pairing for the meal, and we opted for the sake.
Next, the chef’s omakase meal started. The restaurant is all about what is in season, and we were happy to be receiving a nice, summer menu. We started with a quite large amuse bouche, followed by a plate of small bites. There were quite a few interesting things on that plate, including an aspic (hooray for old school French cuisine) and an amazing piece of black cod. All the bites were interesting and tasty, and it did give us a bit of idea of what would be coming up in the meal.
Next we had a soup with eel and noodles. The noodles were tied up into a neat knot making it incredibly easy to eat. It was such a clever trick! After that was salmon with a dashi gelee (and a raw quail egg) that was rich and delicious. Following that was a wagyu beef shabu shabu with walnut sauce. This was an amazingly tasty course, and the walnut sauce was fantastic. It was probably one of my favorite courses of the evening.
Next was my least favorite course of the night: Chicken with pickled wasabi. There was more to it than that, but for me, the flavors kind of clashed and really weren’t my favorite. It wasn’t offensive, just not something I really would want again. Next on the menu was watermelon droplets. At this point after all the amazing sake and food, it isn’t something I remember except that it wasn’t at all what I expected (which was spherified watermelon). Finally, the star of the evening started: The nigiri made at our table. The sushi chef arrived and we were shown the selection of fish we were having (there were close to 20 things!), and asked us if we liked more or less wasabi. He grated the wasabi at the table, so we knew we were in for a great treat.
Nigiri after nigiri followed. The chef would slice the fish, make the two nigiri, and place them on our plates which we would eagerly eat afterwards. It was the first time I had ever eaten barracuda at a sushi restaurant, so it was a fun and exciting treat. Everything that came out was fantastically fresh and delicious. The nigiri course was also served with three different sakes that we got to try (with the option to revisit if we ran out), and all three were really very good and quite different. (And we did manage to revisit two out of the three.)
The last two things we had during this amazing nigiri experience were uni and tamago which are two of my favorite things to eat. And I wasn’t disappointed; both were phenomenal. We were also given the option to revisit any of them, so we had to go with another round of uni and tamago. I was tempted by the barracuda, but unlike some of the other Japanese tasting menus we had had, I was actually getting quite full at that point, so we just decided to move on to dessert. But first, we were given a palate cleanser to get us ready.
The first dessert that came out was a vanilla ice cream served with fruit, gelee and a cookie. It was a great light and tasty dessert, and really showcased the ingredients of the summer. Finally we were given three small meringues, and someone came out to make some matcha for us at the table. The meringues were a nice sweet counterbalance to the earthiness of the matcha, and both were a great way to end the meal.
The meal from start to finish was about three and a half hours, which in my book is a enjoyable length of time for a fine dining meal. It always feels nice not to be rushed through a meal. The service was very attentive as we had our own private dining room, and having the chef come to our table to make the food for us was really a treat. (And hopefully a great birthday gift!) I definitely think this experience ranks higher than The Araki in London (which was started by one of the sushi chefs who trained under Jiro in Tokyo), so that is saying something right there. While the price is ridiculous, it definitely didn’t feel like something I would never want to do again (just something I may not do again for quite a long time) so it exceeded my expectations for a meal. The combination of environment, food, drink and service really made it a special birthday meal. If you’re looking for something special, you love sushi, and you have a whole lot of extra cash on hand, I highly recommend the chef’s table at Sushi Hashiri for an amazing experience.
Food: ★★★★★
Service: ★★★★★
Atmosphere: ★★★★★
Value: ★★★★☆
Overall: ★★★★★
Sushi Hashiri
4 Mint Plaza
San Francisco, CA 94103
What an awesome experience. Thank you for detailing every bite! Drool…..
Thanks Jamie!
I mean not every bite, but a lot of them!