YakiniQ Cafe

A couple years back, my friend Angela and I went to YakiniQ Cafe. I haven't heard about this cafe until maybe two summers ago. I haven't gotten around trying this until Angela suggested it. Honestly, I have forgotten about this place and if she didn't suggest it, I would have not tried it at all. Anyways, back to the review.

Any non native San Franciscians out there can find this cute cafe in Japantown. Forgive me for not using street names right now, but basically you go to Ichibankan. Look across the street, you will see a Shisedo, look to the right. You will see and giant sign that says "YAKINIQ" Now look to the left of that. There should be a single glass door with a colorful board standing outside promoting one of their lattes. When you see the table under the window to the left of the door, you are there.

As soon as I walked in, the first thing that caught my eye was the bench with the cushions on top. I didn't realize right away what it was for, but I soon realized that it was like Starbucks. You order, and you can choose whether to have it to-go or you can just sit down and sip your tea. This place has a Coffee Prince/Secret Garden feel. You will notice a very quiet and studious atmosphere right away because everyone is just typing away on their laptops. I just love it how there are couches, family style dinner tables and regular tables that are big enough for four people but sometimes used for two. As you walk in, one of the first things you will see are the cookies, pies, and other baked goods. The menus are written by hand, but I think it adds a nice touch. What I really like about the menu at YakiniQ Cafe is the variety of drinks. Sure it doesn't have a whole wide range, but they have interesting drinks that I never heard about. Then again, I don't really drink anything else besides, tea, water and milk.

Angela and I took a while to figure out what we wanted. I think I took like five minutes because I really didn't know what a latte was. Of course I did ask them to explain it to me. So Angela ordered a green tea patbingsoo. I did not get the impression that the people working there are Korean, but I didn't bother to question them because it's just God dang rude. So for those of you who don't know what patbingsoo is, it is basically Korean shaved iced. From my experience, patbingsoo is basically shaved ice with condensed milk, ice cream, red beans, and some fruit or mochi on top. I think it is better than any ice cream sundae I ever had. Sure that was like my second time eating it, but I love eating good food, SO WHYY NOT~?

The one problem so far was that the minimum charge for credit card is 10 bucks. I know a lot of places in Japantown are like 5-10 dollar minimum charge for credit card, so I wasn't too surprised about this. I was just glad that they didn't have a sign that said "CASH ONLY." So after ordering, we just sad down on the couch. Smack down in the middle of the room, there is this couch that is big enough to fit maybe three or four people. Angela and I just sat there taking random pictures around the Cafe.

I love the idea of recycling items to create something beautiful. For example, this vase, it's actually a mug. I think decorations are best when you don't spend a whole lot on them. I think it's the main attraction that counts. These little pumpkins just add warmth into the room. Of course in the Fall, these would stand out. So if you walk into the cafe and look straight you will actually see this really nice bookshelf. 

As you can see the bookshelf have all kinds of knickknacks. Now I apologize for not being able to describe what lies on those shelves, but I was too busy absorbing everything that I didn't bother to go and take a closer look for myself, I guess I will go again soon for study dates and tell you the details about the shelves next time. In front of the bookshelf, you can see this family style dinner table. I just love how they have like a basket of fruit smack down in the middle. I think I can really go there to work on big projects that require a lot of space. THAT TABLE WILL BE MY NEXT STUDYING TABLE! I really think you can have a study party there, but I only suggest going with a group of people when you know there won't be a lot of people there. Remember the quiet studious atmosphere I mentioned earlier? WELL....

When you walk into YakiniQ Cafe, you will notice how ridiculously quiet it is. THIS PLACE IS QUIETER THAN ANY LIBRARY! I swear, it is so quiet that you feel pressured to just whisper even though the person you are trying to talk to is right next to you. Everyone is so concentrated on their studies that it's just really quiet.

Let's talk service. Now I didn't know how YakiniQ Cafe works. My first assumption was that it was like Starbucks, you wait for your stuff to be ready and then you go to your table. But no, you just sit down and then they serve the stuff to you. It's pretty awesome. Waiting for the food to come didn't take that long at all, five minutes top. I ordered a vanilla latte and apple pie. I don't remember the last time I actually had pie, so I guess it was a good time to have some.

You see that center piece on the table? It's just a mug of water with flowers in it. HOW CUTE IS THAT? It really amazes me how simple decor can add up to the atmosphere of the room. Just these flowers alone made me feel like I am in a cozy home. As you can see, the patbingsoo has even portions of fruit, red bean, mochi, and a big ol' scoop of green tea ice cream. I love how the apple pie crust has this traditional criss cross thing going on. Now look at the latte for a minute: Do you see how tall the cup is? This cup is taller than my fork. HOLY CHEESE. I am amazed on how full you can get from sharing a piece of pie, and patbingsoo. The latte took me forever to drink and I usually drink my drinks within the hour。

If you are looking for an evening dessert after an early dinner or something sweet to have while you are studying or having a casual coffee date, then I highly recommend this place. I'd go back here again and again.

Kushi Tsuru

          Tired of the poor college kids' good old pal, Cup of Noodles, but still want ramen? Well, Kushi Tsuru is the place to go! Kushi Tsuru is a small casual Japanese restaurant located in our very own Japantown! I know what you’re thinking, “What? Japantown? But it’s so expensive!” That’s where you’re wrong. I’m just like you, someone who is on a budget and wants to eat good food.  

If you’re not sure of what dish to try, do not worry, Kushi Tsuru has two displays of the food: one small display of some of the bentou’s, Japanese lunch box, and three shelves of food display right across the front of the restaurant. 

The dishes on the displays are labeled, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t listed in the menu. You can always take a couple of minutes to look at the display before deciding whether to try this restaurant or not. Now, let’s talk décor, menu, and atmosphere.

            Just as I set a foot of the entrance, I was able to notice that soy sauce smell. I looked up and the man at the cashier area greeted me with a bow. I replied with a bow to be polite. He immediately said “We have a table,” when I looked at him. That was interesting because I didn’t have to ask. When I walked inside, I was directed with a polite gester to one of the wooden tables. The table I was sitting at was, in my opinion, the best seat in the house because I was at a window seat, where I was able to see the stores in the bridge and Nipponya. To go along with the semi-traditional Japanese restaurant theme, the seats are benches with a thick cushion for comfortable sitting. I’ll admit, the inside of Kushi Tsuru can get a little bit warm, like 70 degrees, but the waiters do open the window. The décor inside the restaurant is more amazing than the view outside. The restaurant does have that Japanese dark lighting setting going on. The colors on the walls ties in with the lighting. The wall colors are red, yellow and white. But the main color scheme of the restaurant, including the uniforms and curtains, is red and black. For the atmosphere, as soon as I walked in, I felt pretty relaxed because of the Japanese instrumental music playing in the restaurant and the restaurant wasn’t as loud as I expected. I actually expected to hear conversations from the other side but I could only hear light clashing of the dishes every few minutes. I found no problems talking to my group of friends I came in with. The volume in the restaurant is just perfect. It is at that level where you don’t need to raise your voice to speak and nobody would be able to hear your conversation. Now, let’s talk service.

            The waitresses at Kushi Tsuru are polite. On a scale of one meaning rude, to five meaning polite and nice, I give the service there a five because as soon as I walked to the table, the waitress gave me the menu and oriented it so the front page faced me and not her. Afterwards, she took the teapot and filled my teacup with light green tea. The green tea at Kushi Tsuru isn’t as strong as I am used to, but I love it. The green tea they served was filtered so the leaves were left out. Along with the green tea, each of the tables has one small bottle of Kikkoman brand soy sauce, the same ones anybody would see at a Chinese restaurant or a Vietnamese restaurant. Yes, the soy sauce bottle with two openings on the side.  Right next to the soy sauce bottle, there’s a small bottle of spices. It took me about ten minutes to figure out what to order because the menu included pictures of some items. The prices ranged from $3 (Edamame) to $10.50 (Bentou’s or Udon). I took those nine minutes to look at the pictures because the food looked so appetizing. Once I ordered my food, in about two minutes, the waitress brought me a spoon, disposable chopsticks, and other things that go along with the dishes I ordered. After the food has arrived and you are eating the food, the waitresses actually go around the restaurant and ask the customers if  you’re doing okay. I was actually surprised because I never see that anywhere else. Now let’s talk about the number one thing, you have been waiting for. No, not the prices, the food.

 In about five minutes, the gyozas, fried potstickers, arrived. I was quite pleased with the gyozas because of the presentation and taste. As for the presentation, I was blown away how the chef lined up these cute potstickers. 

As you can see in the picture, the chef even added a thick slice of tomato, orange and three half slices of cucumber. Fried gyoza means oil right? It is true, but what the chef did with these cute little half moons shaped appetizers was that he placed a long strip of white paper under the sauce, gyozas, and fruit to absorb the access oil from the gyozas. As for the taste, I felt like I was eating peppery tortilla chips with meat in the middle. These potstickers have more peppery flavor than salty, which is why the chef provided a small dish of soy sauce to balance the palate. The potstickers are so crispy that you get that loud chip like crunch yet, the juice of the meat inside the potstickers. For just five dollars, all of the fried goodness can be yours.

 The last but not least item, the ramen.

 The ramen didn’t take long to come at all. I waited about ten minutes for it. When the waitress brought the ramen to our table, she actually had to hand it to me because I was across the table, I didn’t mind but, I was afraid of burning my hands from holding it. However, my hands were fine. The ramen was hot but it wasn’t hot enough for me to shout “Ah! It burns!” It was the perfect temperature, like ready to eat without blowing on it temperature. I will say this once and only once, Kushi Tsuru’s ramen blows Cup of Noodle’s version of the ramen out of the water. Why, you ask? The ramen from my shouyu ramen ($8), soy sauce ramen, are like long yellow curly locks, just like how your hair would look like after curling it with a curling iron. But the Cup of Noodle’s noodles are like hair after it has been braided and pulled apart. Next, the soup, since I ordered the shouyu ramen, I had the soy broth. The soup is salty but not salty enough to make you want to drink five cups of water. I am assuming the soup is diluted. I would guess the water to shouyu ratio is: 2:1. The soup is just like the soup used for soba and somen. The chef topped this dish with: bamboo shoots; bean sprouts; one piece of  naruto fishcake; one piece of cha-shu (pork); green onions and one piece of seaweed. This ramen was nothing like I’ve had before. You have that balance of bland and salty, yet this big bowl gives your tongue a blast of flavor from the two pieces of meat, soup and of course the noodles. Cup of Noodles can’t give you that because you can taste the MSG, monosodium glutamate, but for the ramen, you can taste the broth. Another difference is that this shouyu ramen can and will fill you up. When I was eating this giant bowl of ramen goodness, I was getting full about half way through. But I did manage to finish this super filling dish. If you try this dish, don’t be afraid to finish the soup. 

Overall, I like this small Japanese restaurant. They accept credit cards, debit card is fine. Lucky for you, Kushi Tsuru is not in some far away land. Kushi Tsuru can be easily reached after taking the 28L and 38L. After getting off of the Laguna bus stop, simply: cross the street and walk to the Miyako Mall’s hall of restaurants. Kushi Tsuru should be the last restaurant on your left before you reach the bridge. Don’t feel like taking the bus? No problem. Japantown has a big garage. Yes, street parking is possible. Just make sure you have coins to pay for it. Need parking validation for the garage? No problem, Kushi Tsuru can stamp your parking ticket. The environment is very relaxing, if you count in the décor and the dark lighting, you got yourself the perfect place for a date with that special person. The food there is not only, delicious, the price are appropriate for anybody with a budget. I would recommend this restaurant. On a scale of one, meaning I’ll never come back again, to ten (I will come back with friends), I’d give this restaurant a ten because, it is a good place for big groups. If you have to wait in line, yes there are no reservations, do not fret, the waiting time can be as short as ten minutes. Don’t feel like standing while waiting? No problem. Kushi Tsuru has a small waiting area at the door for people who are waiting for a table. That was my second time eating at that restaurant, but both times I left with a smile and a full stomach.

ADDRESS:

1737 Post St

(Between Buchanan St & Webster St)

San Francisco, CA 94115

BUSINESS HOURS:

Mon-Thu 11:30 am – 9:00pm

Fri-Sat 11:30 am - 9:30 pm

Sun 11:30am-9:00pm

GOOD FOR:

Lunch

Dinner

Additional Info and Pictures Provided by:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/kushi-tsuru-san-francisco