No doubt about it, Koo excels at serving wonderfully fresh sushi and sashimi. Chef/owner Kiyoshi Hayakawa (Sushi Ran, Ace Wasabi’s, Tokyo GoGo) turns out impressive quality fish with daily specials from his simple, clean Irving Street sushi bar and restaurant. There are also fusion dishes like shrimp and scallop dumplings with a drizzle of chili oil and mango puree, grilled artichokes, and duck breast salad with a mustard-ginger-pineapple sauce. The latter is our favorite, but overall, the sushi bar items are really their forte. Servers are always courteous and efficient. Koo has a nice selection of sake and my husband likes the fact that they serve Asahi Black which he can't find at many restaurants in town.
One unique and fun dish to eat is appropriately named A Spoonful of Happiness. You actually receive two delicious spoonfuls: one with uni (sea urchin), quail egg, tobiko and ponzu sauce; the other with ankimo (monkfish liver) wrapped with whitefish, ponzu and truffle oil. A shot of dry sake accompanies them. The first bite is smooth and creamy and the second bursts with flavor. Wow, my tastebuds do cartwheels.
A few of our favorite types of sushi here are the wild aji (mackerel) garnished with green onions, the otoro or indulgently fatty blue fin tuna, wild King salmon, and nasu or Japanese eggplant. Rather than rattle off a long list, let's just say that my husband and I haven't met a fish here that we didn't like.
We recently discovered that they don’t like to do substitutions which created a minor hiccup when we took our kids there for dinner last week. My son wanted to have white rice instead of mashed potatoes (they call it potato salad) with his chicken teriyaki, but they said they couldn’t do a swap. So, we ordered a bowl of rice on the side. And, their chicken comes with a sweet chutney rather than classic teriyaki sauce which my son wasn't too keen about. He and my daughter were both happier with the tempura.
Again, if you focus on goodies from the sushi bar, you are bound to go home happy. This is a nice place to go with a group of friends for dinner. Just note that parking can be difficult in the neighborhood, especially on weekend nights, and it can be tough to get a table if you don’t plan ahead. Be sure to make reservations and give yourself extra time to park.
Koo. 408 Irving Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues), San Francisco, CA 94122. 451.731.7077. Closed Mondays.
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About Me
- Grubalicious SF
- A U.C. Berkeley graduate with journalism and restaurant research experience, I am a former corporate meeting and event planner turned gastronomic explorer in my native San Francisco. We all lead busy lives, but nearly everyone stops to eat, whether it be a burger from a fast food joint, an organic mixed greens salad from the purveyor of locally grown ingredients or a fancy plate of foie gras accompanied by a glass of wine from an upscale eatery. No matter how short or long on time you are in this amazingly diverse city, lunch should be a culturally rich and enjoyable experience. Neophytes and gourmets alike should be able to walk away completely satiated, if even after a brief meal's visit. On this blog, I will share my passion for and knowledge of the San Francisco restaurant scene, divulge the must-try gems so that visitors and transplants can get away from the tourist traps, and celebrate with natives all the exciting dining experiences that we are so lucky to have here.
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