Wako Japanese Restaurant
Wako runs two set menus on Clement Street and nothing else. A sushi tasting was $120 in March 2024 and the 19-course omakase $165. Take the counter: that is where the strange courses go.
Why go
A deep-fried squid ink spring roll arrives with pepper jack gone gooey inside it. A piece of dried persimmon comes pinned to a square of miso cream cheese with a toothpick. Chen's point is that you only meet them from the counter seats.1
The omakase runs long. Bite-sized appetizers come first, then miso soup, then nigiri torched, cured and brushed with soy. It closes on strawberry granita. The room is small enough that the counter is the room.
I have not found a second publication on this kitchen.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the omakase, at the counter.
- Avoid: a table, if a counter seat is going.
What locals & experts say
- Julia Chen, The Infatuation, March 2024, 8.4: the counter is where
you'll get to experience their more inventive dishes that set this place apart.
1 - Chen again, in the same outlet's nineteen-room city sushi guide, on either menu: it is
filled with an aquarium's worth of seafood, all prepared from across the counter with finesse.
2
Good to know
- Getting in: book. Two set menus, no a la carte.
- Where: 211 Clement Street, in the Inner Richmond.
Verdict
could-visit — Wako sets two prices and offers no way round them. Pick your price before you sit down.