Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant

Minako Organic Japanese Restaurant
2154 Mission St
San Francisco, CA

So a couple of weeks ago, I spent a week hanging out with friends and American co-workers in sunny California. I took the opportunity to wander around San Francisco for a few days and what a surprise, I ate a fair bit of sushi.

There are probably as many sushi places in San Fran as there are in Toronto, and certainly more “authentic” restaurants. But the one thing I noticed overall was that the price and quality were about on par with Toronto. I’m sure there are more high end places, but that really isn’t the focus of this blog anyhow.

Since I was there, and a tourist, I naturally brought my camera with me. But unfortunately, I didn’t even think to bring it with me on my first night, when I had dinner with my friend Chiara. All of the pictures here were taken with my Blackberry Bold 9700 under less than favorable conditions.

Chiara led me out to The Mission, which was a sketchy neighborhood at best. Heck, the crowd around the BART station put Parkdale to shame. But once we arrived at the restaurant, it was really worth it. While I personally think that “Organic” is a gimmick, and that my body runs on preservatives, I’m not going to turn my nose up at an organic meal. Minako is a small place, maybe half a dozen 4 seat tables, and curiously (though I’m told this is common for SF) you have to walk through the kitchen to reach the restroom. For the first time ever, we present a video of my walk from the table to the washroom!

I dined on Tempura Yam, Shrimp Teryaki (which disappeared into my stomach before I remembered to take a picture) and a very interesting take on Spicy Tuna maki. Note the brown rice, and the green eggs. The fish roe was flavoured with wasabi, which gave it the spicy kick. A bit too much for me, I’m afraid.

One thing I have to note was how fun the menu was to read, and the waitress was really fun to talk to. Big thumbs up for more of a “Japanese restaurant” than a “sushi joint” experience.

More to come from my SF trip!