Basa Seafood Express

YUM this place was great!!!
I took le fiancé on a surprise date this past weekend, and was looking for some place in the area to eat before we went to Urban Putt Putt. We had literally JUST been talking about how we had been too broke of late to eat sushi and we were both craving it, so when this place popped up I knew we had to go!
So the problem with us is not that we can’t afford sushi, persay, it’s more like we’re both pushing or over 6’0 and thus need to consume a decent amount of food to reach desired fullness levels. And sushi is just not cost effective at most places. But this place was great! The fish was fresh, the menu was intriguing, and we had an amazing meal. Between us we split some spicy salmon poke, a dragon roll, and a plate of fried oysters, fish and shrimp.
Service left a little to be desired but eh, what can you do. With that fresh fish at those prices, I’d put up with a lot worse.

They sell both prepared food, hot food, and raw seafood so its semi grocery store but also half mini restaurant.
I love it. Sashimi so fresh and poke so good plus you can’t beat the prices! The shrimp taco I had was good, about average.

Shoutout to Unilocal for this hidden gem!
High quality fish with such a low price — and so much variety! We had two sushi rolls and two orders of poké. The sushi rolls were on a special, but one get one. They were both pretty good (but I think the price made it taste amazing lolol). The poké was excellent but I was so disappointed that I didn’t see the creamy version! A reason to come back here.

Thank god this place is affordable and worth every bang for my buck… because it’s two blocks from my house.
Scott has owned this place for the last seven years and I hope they keep bringing the fresh fish and seafood goods forever.
The spicy salmon poke with tobiko is amazing and just melts in your mouth. You can order other cuts of sashimi on the spot and they’ll cut it in front of you, or fresh fish to bring home and cook!
The lowkey ambiance is all good by me considering you can get California rolls and poke for just $ 10! A fancy dining room is not needed when the food here shines all on its own! And they bus the table for you so what more do you need!!!

Basa is great! Low frills, but low cost and high quality. The poke is awesome and their sushi is generous and very good quality. Not the greatest ambience, so we usually get it to go, but perfectly fine to spend a few minutes for a quick bite.
Their sister seafood shop around the corner – Sunfat – is great, too.
Wish they had a location in SoMa!

The outside/​interior looks like a plain, maybe even a bit hole-​in-​the-​wall, seafood market, but it’s such a gem!
They have a small sushi counter in the back where you can order then eat at the seating available.
Highlights:
— Poke: Your choice of salmon ($ 6) or tuna ($ 7), and spicy or shoyu. Spicy comes mixed with this creamy, spicy sauce, and shoyu comes with a side of shoyu (soy-​based) sauce. Not enough to eat by itself in a meal in my opinion, but SO GOOD AND FRESH!
— Sushi rolls: Like everything else, super affordable and tasty. You can still taste the freshness of everything inside the rolls too! Current special is buy one Volcano Roll, get a free Caterpillar Roll ($ 11.95). AMAZING deal and very filling.
I’ve never bought the non-​prepared stuff from behind the counter, but all of the seafood they have for sale looks super fresh at a great price. Excited to buy some of their selections sometime soon.
BEST place to satisfy your sashimi/​sushi cravings for the best price in SF!

Spicy salmon poke for $ 6 was a win in my book. Not too spicy and not too mayonnaise-​y, but just right and topped with some tobiko. Yum! This mini mart type of spot is one I would visit often if I lived nearby. It’s super quick with some fresh seafood prepared daily or made to order depending on what you get. If I weren’t planning on visiting other spots for lunch, I would have had my fill on other things they serve here.

I’ve always walked past this place on 24^th and never even thought about stepping into it — probably because the sign outside had a combination of sushi, burgers, fries, and clam chowder. But as many other reviews have said, salmon poke is really delicious and nicely marinated!
I ordered the caterpillar/​volcano special — for $ 12 it’s worth it! However, I wasn’t a big fan of the volcano roll because it tasted really breaded from the outer fried shell. The clam chowder was average, your typical creamy buttery soup. But I’m happy to find a cheap seafood gem in the middle of 24^th!

Usually in a hurry to catch one of the all-​too-​rare MUNI 12-​Line buses, I never paid much attention to this small 24^th Street seafood market out of pure ignorance. I didn’t know they had a little café set-​up in the back until I took a longer look at which point I took a look at the Unilocal app and saw a flood of glowing reviews. OK, I should give this a try since there’s a lonely formica table with my name on it. Not literally but I put my backpack on one of the empty chairs to secure a space. Perusing the overhead menu, I was struck at the variety of seafood you could order — sandwiches, ceviches, sushi, tacos, oysters, poke, clam chowder (photo:
). Could they possibly prepare everything that well?
I started with my usual sushi litmus test, a $ 9.95 Rainbow Roll (photo:
). It was prepared in a no-​frills manner with just tuna and salmon offered on the outside. Inside was more like a California roll since a crab salad and avocado made up the filling. It was quite fresh-​tasting, so I had no complaints on their variation on it. The price was certainly right. Speaking of which, I also went for a medium $ 3.99 cup of the Clam Chowder, which bolted me from Japan to Maine with the first spoonful (photo:
). Thick with a good amount of clams, it wasn’t overly creamy which made me happy as I usually find an overuse of cream overwhelms the freshness of a chowder. Not here though as it was quite satisfying.
I felt a need to try the $ 10 half-​dozen order of Marin Miyagi Oysters, which were as fresh and briny which I was hoping they would be (photo:
). Presented on a large tray of ice, they were gone quickly since I am an expert slurper. The three squeeze bottles of hot sauces also helped them go down the gullet easily. Because I was not quite sated, I finished my meal off with a couple of $ 1.99 Fish Tacos (photo:
). Although full of fresh ingredients including what I believe was cod, the tacos were not quite at the level as the other goodies. I think what I learned was to stick with the items where the seafood is the main event. Regardless, the prices are right, and the selection wide-​ranging enough to make anyone happy.
FOOD — 4 stars… fresh seafood sold by the pound or in a variety of dishes in a no-​frills way
AMBIANCE — 3 stars… just a few tables and chairs surrounded by a lot of fish
SERVICE — 4 stars… order at the counter and they come serve you pretty quickly
TOTAL — 4 stars… an unusual seaworthy find deep in the Mission well worth seeking out

All your basa are belong to me.
But really, we ordered about 10% of their menu because it was JUST SO DANG AFFORDABLE. Also, we eat with our eyes. Gobble gobble glare.
Between my friend and I, we shared two $ 6 poke dishes (tuna and spicy salmon), $ 7.99 fish & chips, $ 6.50 clam chowder bread bowl, two $ 2 fish tacos, and a $ 4.99 side order of seaweed. My favorite was the poke because I love me some raw fish, especially when it’s cheap. The fish and chips were hot and crispy, and I liked the fact that their breading is bread crumbs rather than a flour-​based coating. The clam chowder and fish tacos did their job in filling the belly. And the seaweed is always greener, in somebody else’s lake ;)
Go to Basa for poke so that all their basa can belong to you too.

Bookmarked Basa after reading Cherylynn’s glowing review. We headed there to pick up scallops and to grab a bite to eat. I got the soft shell crab sandwich and he got the fish and chips. Sandwich had lightly fried soft shell crab topped with lettuce, tomato and onion with (homemade?) tartar sauce on the side. His fish and chips were in a cornmeal coating and lightly fried. Both were simple but still pleasing and fresh.
The scallops were $ 18 a pound and they were huge! I enjoyed them later that night. Glad to see Basa in the area offering affordable seafood and some cheap lunch eats as well.

So fresh, I half imagine the fish to just keep swimming, just keep swimming…
Okay, that’s a disturbing thought, but the fish here are serious eats.
Although Basa Seafood Express with a worn-​out awning and unassuming exterior looks like a place you would not trust to be consuming raw fish from, I agree with fellow Unilocalers that their food preparation process is quite clean. The interior is starkly down-​to-​earth, which may be non-​ideal especially if you are used to all the ambiancey Japanese restaurants in SF. I therefore suggest take-​out – there’s nothing more badass than coming home with fresh sashimi cuts from the fish market.
They serve a limited selection of sashimi, including tuna, salmon, and hamachi. It comes in large butcher slabs of different sizes, so you have your pick for appropriate portions and pricing. Other items of interest include creamy poke, diced sashimi, and ceviche. They make sushi rolls as well: made-​to-​order maki for which there seems to be some sort of ongoing BOGO deal, and pre-​packed California roll/​nigiri combos (similar to the to-​go sushi you see at Whole Foods, only without the brown rice avocado sushi and other Whole Foodsy options).
I went with the tuna and salmon (boring I know… but classic) because the poke looked a bit too creamy to me. I also picked up a CA roll/​nigiri for good measure, and the total came down $ 28 total for a yummy sashimi meal for two. This does require some work and creativity on your part, but it can be as minimal as slicing the fish and throwing stuff together. We even got take-​out rice from a Chinese restaurant instead of making sushi rice :3 I added some arugula and wasabi furikake and it was delish. I only wish they offered me wasabi and ginger, since I forgot to ask so all we had were the small dollops from the sushi box.
I know haters may complain about the use of disposable plastic containers; honestly though, I don’t know how well fish could last in paper or whether BYOB for sashimi would be feasible. What about those expensive biodegradable take-​out boxes you may ask? In my opinion the display in the black plastic boxes with clear lids is something of a tradition, an integral part of fish market sashimi, and practical as well for selecting your piece of choice while ensuring no contamination among pieces.
The verdict? I still have qualms eating raw fish not prepared by an official restaurant, but there were no adverse GI reactions. DIY sashimi is a good idea… the same $$$ could probably only have gotten me a chirashi or the cheapest sashimi combo at a sushi bar.

Omg, finally tried this place out!!! Poke was so perfect for this sunny day and this place has been bookmarked for months. Glad I finally checked it off my list.
Ok, so let’s see. Getting here isn’t too bad but it’s the Mission so prepare for a shortage of parking and lots of traffic coming to this area. Once you’re in though, prepare for magic in your mouth.
Basa Seafood Express is a gem that I probably wouldn’t have known about if it wasn’t for my fellow Unilocalers. This place could be easy to pass up as it looks like any old seafood market on the street. But once you go in, you will see a variety of fresh fish, ceviche, poke and cooked foods at the back.
When I first entered, the place was fairly bright with lights which made it easy to spot the food. You could just see how fresh the fish was and how clean the place is.
I ended up getting the spicy salmon poke which is the best $ 6 I’ve ever spent on food and their fish tacos ($ 2 each). I am a sucker for raw salmon and this poke was absolutely amazing! I can’t tell you how perfectly spicy it was and how fresh the salmon tasted. The fish tacos were average, nothing to rave about here but the poke was too delicious. Portion wasn’t too bad for $ 6 but I wasn’t full after one order of it.
Seating is minimal, they’ve got 5 tables max which can probably seat 12 people at most. You also don’t pay for your food until the end of your meal and you pay at the front register. Service was good, the owner offered us water and one of the customers kept recommending the salmon burger so I may have to try that next time.
Overall, I would come back only for the poke as I didn’t try anything else (not counting the fish tacos which you can easily get anywhere). Also, they appear or deliver! Maybe I’ll try their delivery service next time since I’m usually really lazy to drive into the city. 5 stars for poke, 5 stars for the price, 5 stars for the service. Only thing I would change about this place would be the location as its tough coming from Daly City and trying to find parking. We just got lucky this time ;)
Side note: they ran out of fresh oysters around 2pm so not sure how early you’ll have to come to get some!

If this place had a door, I would give it 5 stars. So many flies coming through the front with it being wide open. One of them landed on the part of the soda can that I put my mouth on :(Luckily they had straws. And now I’m on a tangent. ANYWAYS.
I tried the salmon poke, spider roll, fresh hamachi, and the seaweed salad. This place is my and my coworkers’ new spot! The hamachi was buttery and incredibly fresh. The salmon poke was perfectly marinated.
If you’re looking for a spot to grab a quick lunch or if you’re craving fresh fish, this is the place to go.

I had never tried «poke» before, and decided to try it here. It was really good! Just basically little bits of raw fish mixed with a little sauce and also fish eggs. Share it with someone else though, bc it’s quite large and I think you’d get tired of eating it if you had to eat the whole thing alone.
My friend and I also tried some other rolls. One of the rolls was supposed to come fried, but when the man at the counter heard that I don’t like fried rolls, he offered to make it not-​fried. I appreciate that kind of service! The rolls were large and good, but definitely the scallop roll was our favorite.
This place is nice and clean although not really a typical restaurant setting lke we were expecting. It was basically a counter for you to order your food, 4 small tables, and you sat at what felt like a grocery/​fish market. Not very fancy ambiance, but the food made it a great experience!

Really small place right smack in the Mission, but it offers a great selection of fresh seafood & sushi.
I was so torn on what I wanted b/​c I loveee seafood, but b/​c I’ve been searching for dank poke, I got the Spicy Salmon Poke ($ 6). It was a bit smaller than I had expected as it’s cut into very small pieces & put in a small sushi box; however, it tasted so amazing & super fresh! I used it to make a poke salad at home, but I wanna try it w/​chips, yum. Def recommend their salmon poke!
Overall, great place to check out for reasonably priced seafood. I will definitely be coming back to try out their other stuff. Service was very friendly. Parking around here can be a hit or miss, but luckily, I was able to find a spot right in front the day I came. Hopefully I’ll be lucky again when I come back!

This place is great! Kind of sketchy in the terms of location, but a great hole in a wall for seafood and sushi.
Poke — $ 6 a box — spicy mayo salmon! The cut/​box is a bit small, but guarantee it is fresh and flavorful! I usually would bring a box to-​go and have my own tortilla chips/​avocado at home to enhance the poke flavor. fresh salmon and well-​marinated fish. I love it because they keep the flavor with the box and they don’t «make it» when you are there, because all the flavor gets soaked into the fish =D
Sushi rolls — lots of variety, but if you are sitting in (special deal), I would highly suggest getting the sushi roll deal with buy one volcano roll and get a caterpillar for free. The price is $ 11.95. the volcano roll is tempura outside, with either salmon/​tuna on the inside. The caterpillar is like a california roll topped with avocado. the best deal out here. $ 12 for two rolls! which means $ 6 a roll! I couldn’t even finish it with my sister…
Clam chowder — fresh and really tasty. comes in small, medium, large or a bread bowl. if you’re sharing, I would suggest to just get a medium so you and your friends can try different things on the menu!
fish taco — $ 1.99 — I would pass on this because I thought it was a fried fish taco, but it was actually grilled. It was OK and nothing special about it.
soft shelll crab sandwich — $ 7.99 — YOU GOT ME HERE!!! I love their softshell crab sandwich. super fresh, hot and delicious. the price tag is also not hefty so this sandwich is my go-​to when i come here!
overall, i love this place especially for the portions and prices. i can’t wait to have a big group so we can share more variety and sushi/​sashimi platters. family owned business and the service is always excellent! super nice and friendly family business!
Parking — I would highly suggest to park on harrison, but not so much on the main street on mission. there are a lot of street parking (no meter) around, so jus gotta search a bit!
Payment — min. $ 10 for credit/​debit

What a discovery! This place is a compilation of a bunch of different things-​come here for fresh fish or fish and chips made to order. They have a bunch of premade sushi in addition to a menu where you can sit down and order. Small space, maybe 4 or 5 tables, but it gets the job done.
I had a big serving of salmon poke for $ 6… $ 6!!! AND it tastes good??? Am I still in San Francisco…
Since it’s so small, seems like the kind of joint where you get food to go. The workers were so helpful, and even though they seemed out of salmon poke, I asked anyway and voila!
Will definitely come back here to try the sushi rolls. Such a convenient spot in the mission, with both metered and street parking around the corner.

If you’re looking for cheap and good sushi, then this is the place. Their sushi rolls are amazing and I love their never ending volcano and caterpillar roll special. I love getting their salmon poke too — very simple and delicious at the low price of $ 6. Things I noted is that it’s amazingly bright inside here and their fish market is also a pretty good deal too.
I’ll have to check out ordering one of their sushi platters for a party one of these days. For the price you can’t go wrong. I think they make so much sushi that I don’t worry about the freshness of their fish. There’s also good sandwiches and fried seafood too. For the price, you get a pretty tasty meal.

I really really wanted to try Basa Seafood during my visit to SF! And yes, I made it happen! I have had this craving for poke for over a week… so I was really excited to try theirs.
I ordered their popular salmon poke. I have to say I was not really impressed with their quality of seafood. I don’t think the salmon was that fresh and the taste was just okay. I also ordered a clam chowder bread bowl. Which was about average. I wouldn’t go out of my way to come back here.