Eiji

I was having a craving for some good sushi and wanted to try a new place. Of course I used my trusty Unilocal app to help me out I was at church and market and using the «current location» Eiji came up I was impressed by the reviews and decided to give it a shot after checking out the reviews. I called to place an order and the person who took my order was very nice and asked me to hold while he asked the chef how long my order was going to take — I ordered it to go. He told me 40 minutes which was perfect as I still had a couple of errands. So this is a small place I would say maybe 10 tables or so but I liked how intimate and cozy it was in there. It’s located right on 16^th and Sanchez almost next door to Kitchen story. I got California roll, spicy tuna and the incredibly delicious ceviche roll everything was fresh and tasty total was almost $ 24.
I’m a fan and will definitely be going back !

ATTN LATE COMERS: You will lose your table if you don’t show within 15 minutes of your reservation. Be respectful to the owners and fellow diners and show up, on time.
Setting: seats 20 – 25
Menu: simple and traditional
Service: our waiter was new to the team but was very cordial and apologetic if he didn’t know an answer to something
dining experience: up to Japanese standards. It was intimate, yet intricate. Inviting and quaint.
Food: Oboro tofu is a must. Get their uni nagiri — they always sell out of this. Kanpachi was sub par. not the most fresh. End with a sweet potato gelatin + ice cream and a strawberry mochi
**and if you’re still hungry, top it off with a glass of Asahi bold**

Location: adorable. Food: fresh. Service: above average. I think my expectation were too high though, as nothing exquisite stood out about their rolls (too much rice), nigiri, or sashimi. Props for not being frozen… but I don’t have much else. the special miso had cream in it and the squid was undercooked, making everything a runny gelatinous texture, which I did not like at all. a very quaint, sweet place, with good sushi, just probably not one I’d frequent. it is worth a visit though.

I am a picky vegetarian and thought this place was OK.
— Very small but cute
— Service was slow
— We couldn’t get Strawberry Mochi at 8 pm on a weekday because they had run out
— Here are the items I tried:
1. Vegetable Roll (Good)
2. Oboro Tofu (Good). This is an attractive dish, highly recommend you try it if you haven’t. They make fresh tofu and bring it to you. It’s a different texture than your usual tofu. They give you a small plate of condiments to mix in with the tofu so that it has some flavor. Pretty light and warm on a cold day!
3. Eggplant Walnut Miso (I wouldn’t get it again). I like Chinese and Thai eggplant so I thought of trying this dish. However, the walnut miso sauce was only on the top and rest of the eggplant was pretty uncooked and without the sauce. You may enjoy this but I am not a fan of it.
4. Dessert with red bean sauce (I wouldn’t get it again). This dish may be to your taste but not something I typically enjoy.

This place is a hidden gem. An adorable little sushi place with just a few tables and cozy atmosphere. The service is quick and attentive. We loved their house brown rice tea, special miso soup (this time it was with salmon — yum!) and the sushi we ordered was fresh and delicious. The desserts are also fantastic. Everything is reasonably priced, too.

The service was unbelievably slow and bad. Our waiter started off by telling us that we weren’t allowed to use our phones because of ‘video streaming.’ Still not sure what she meant. We were not on the phone just surfing the web at the time. Then she brings out the order places it on table and begins to tell us what we ordered. She then figures out she is missing one piece. We tell her just to bring it later and leave the sushi but she refuses and takes all our food away. She then comes back with same plate and says we will bring out the other piece in a moment. Again not sure why she would take out food back especially if we asked her to leave it.
Then the chef (owner?) kept coming out and staring at people. Then he yelled across the restaurant at a customer who was taking too long to decide on her to go order. He said something like «hey she has four tables so you have to know what you want!» It kind of felt like we were having dinner at my senile grandparents house where every move was scrutinized
Food wise I must say it was very good!

Really quite fantastic and honest authentic Japanese dining.
Quiet corner, unpretentious experience filled with heart in the food and overall enjoyable with a friend or to dine alone. I’ve missed a dining experience like this (very similar to an LA spot called Hide on Sawtelle).
Recommend: warm tofu, spiced yam nigiri, hotate (scallop), scallion and yellow tail, specials board for offered meat, ikura (grated daikon), ume w shisho (ask for them to make)…
I enjoyed their special fatty tuna. Recommend if it’s offered.
Service was respectable, quick, and kind.
Cozy and trustworthy spot in the Castro!

I’m a huge fan of this cute sushi spot in the Mission/​Castro. The food is always tasty, and the strawberry mochi dessert is worth the trip, in itself.
Note: The are very few seats, so don’t plan a last minute table for a large party. Best to call ahead and make a reservation, or put your name in ahead of time.
The price/​value at Eiji is reasonable, the food is delicious, and the staff is very friendly. Would eat here any time!

After reading it was a top Sushi place maybe my expectations we set too high but sadly this was a very disappointing meal. The nigiri was fresh and ok but the rolls were worse than what you’d get at a convenience store or chain grocery store. My local chain sushi place does a better job all around for half the price. Being from the San Gabriel Valley maybe I’m just spoiled with fantastic sushi because if this is one of SF best then I feel so sorry for this town.
I was shocked you need reservations and shocked some man was very angry they didn’t have his although he insisted he ate their regularly. Maybe there is a secret menu but the menu we saw was very limited so it want like we could order the wrong thing.

This place is overhyped. Was excited to try out this new place after seeing such good reviews, but it was far from my expectations.
Service was slow, the staff seemed confused about customer’s orders, and they didn’t even get all of my order. But moving on from that to the food, it was very average store quality kind of sushi.
Ordered:
OboroTofu — tasted meh, had better fresh tofu and cost less
Shiro maguro & ika nigiris — average quality, nothing special
Toro negi — over priced, small portion, didn’t even taste like toro
Caterpillar roll — overpriced for the small portion and tasted more avocado than unagi
Overall it’s not worth the price at all for that quality and portion. Total bill was 50 something and I was no where near full.

Fairly decent sushi served in an intimate setting by real Japanese servers. There are only about 30 seats here, and they’re all squeezed tightly together, so expect waits on weekend nights.
Nigiri offerings like scallop, aji, hamachi, salmon, tuna, and eel were all fairly average and reasonably fresh, as were the sushi rolls that I tried. The strawberry mochi was a nice way to cap the meal. Given warm, genuine service, and the authentic Japanese atmosphere here, I’m willing to round a 3.5 star review up to 4 stars.

This place is a small, cute hole-​in-​the-​wall in the Mission area. It’s very unassuming on the outside. Inside is very tiny.
My friend and I shared the house-​made oboro tofu, which they make for you on the spot. It was really good, but you definitely have to love tofu to really love it. It came with an array of sides and a soy based sauce to season to taste. I loved mine with sesame seeds and bonito flakes.
We also shared a chirashi bowl. The fish was generally very good. I loved the tamago in it, and the ikura was not too salty for my taste.
And lastly, we had to try the strawberry mochi, for which they are known. And it definitely lived up to the hype. The strawberry gave it a slight tartness to complement the sweetness of the red bean. The mochi itself was very soft and delicious. I absolutely loved it. I think if I came back, I’d get one for myself. No sharing!
I really enjoyed my meal here. I’d recommend locals to try it out.
Tip #1: Try to come when it’s NOT during a heat wave. There was no AC so I was sweating bullets inside lol
Tip #2: Try to make a reservation. It’s not a hard to get a reservation (we made it 1.5 hour before our reservation time), but because the restaurant is so small, it’s hard to get a table without a wait.

Must try’s:
Tuna belly steak — 8.25
Ceviche roll — 7
Uni nigiri — 5
Monk fish liver — 9
Fresh strawberry mochi — 2.50
Other good plates:
Saba nigiri — 5
Hamachi roll — 6
Ikura nigiri — 8
Place was delicious and im counting down the days of when I can return! :)

Super fresh sushi/​sashimi. Never disappointed with this place!
They’re famous for making fresh tofu right before your eyes. It’s the softest, silkiest tofu you’ll ever taste.
Their homemade strawberry mochi is like no other! Large fresh strawberry wrapped inside a thin mochi layer with a very thin layer of red bean paste. Order this when you’re ordering your dinner; they frequently run out by the time you’re ready for dessert!
TIP: Make a reservation. It’s a very small restaurant that’s almost always full.

Not sure who thinks this place deserves 4 stars.
It’s a farse, trust me.
Not a lotta veggie options.
I ordered a squash/​avocado and cucumber/​avocado roll.
Tiny rolls, yet massive disappointment taste-​wise. Busted, just busted sushi.
So disappointing. Never again.
So many great places to eat in the hood, don’t waste your time or money here.

I realize why no one has recommended this place in the 12 years I’ve lived in the Mish. It’s because it’s bad. And by bad, I mean fucking terrible.
In the mood to try some new sushi, we saw the 4-​star rating and gave it a shot. But everything from start to finish was crappy. They had major trouble with our order, even though it amounted to adding avocado to a couple of veggie rolls. When the food came out, the veggie sushi was side-​by-​side touching the fish sushi. Poor form. And even when we looked past that, the sushi we tried was mediocre. I’ve had better at Trader Joe’s, yo.
Big fail. Pass on this one.

Wow– I’ve never had a worse customer service experience in my life. I warn you, STAY AWAY unless you want an awful, embarrassing evening.
It’s really unfortunate because the fish is fresh, really great little spot. They do have a very strict policy on seating; your entire party must be present. Completely understandable, many restaurants do this.
We sat down, had a great meal– the waitress wasn’t particularly friendly and all she seemed to care about was turning her table. As we were finishing up we ordered some food togo for our friend. Our friend arrived as we were getting the bill and sat at our table. Within SECONDS he chef comes storming out of the kitchen «YOU CANNOT SIT HERE». I told him it was OK, she was not eating and we were paying the bill– just waiting for our take out.
He yelled again «NO! Get out, you must leave!»
WOW. So my friend left, we canceled our dessert order, paid the bill (zero tip obviously) and left. NEVER AGAIN.

Love small hole-​in-​the-​wall Japanese joints. I’d expect to find something like Eiji in NYC for sure, but to experience this in SF was an added plus. I really love how tucked away and inconspicuous Eiji is, and it’s easy to miss, especially with the much more appealing décor of Kitchen Story right next door.
But you’re in for a sweet little surprise — once you step inside, you’ll notice that it’s a cozy yet brimming atmosphere where all patrons are clearly enjoying their meals. No pretense or overbearing ambiance, you come here simply for the food and some quiet conversation.
And as always, the best indication of an authentic Japanese experience is when the whole staff is Japanese! (Just sayin’.)
Favorites, in order of preference:
— Toro (melted in our mouths, literally; had to honor it with a few moments of silence)
— White fish carpaccio (excellent to start with as an appetizer)
— Uni (can you ever really go wrong?)
— Tofu (love that they make it in front of you, on the spot)
— Kampachi and salmon
— Purple yam dessert
Everything was at least a 3.75. With that said, I think I might have finally found my «go to» restaurant in SF.
We were sad, though, that we didn’t make it in time for the strawberry mochi, which is handmade. I’ll have to return just to try it and some of their other menu items.

I come from the land of Sushi (read: Vancouver) so what was I doing at Eiji? I was with a group just down the street at Brewcade and my coworkers said that they had a memorable meal at Eiji. I have yet to have excellent sushi in SF so I was game. Eiji is a small place, but we only waited for about 20 mins before we got a table for 4.
We ordered a variety of items:
Miso black cod from the Specials board — good, but not memorable. I’ve had better black cod from Toshi in Vancouver.
Oboro Tofu — homemade tofu that you garnish with a variety of toppings. It was a unique experience and I liked being able to mix and match toppings to get different flavours.
Variety of nigiri and maki rolls — all fresh, tasty, with the spicy tuna being especially good. I still the edge to Vancouver for sushi, given the price. I’m so spoiled with excellent fresh fish back home!
Now the real star of the meal was dessert. There are 3 dessert items that are homemade:
Strawberry mochi –SO good. The gigantic, «on steroids» strawberry had a thin layer of red bean paste, followed by the delicate mochi. This was flavourful and refreshing.
Purple Yam Cake — Not too sweet, nice texture, I liked it! My second favourite.
Ice cream crêpe — vanilla and green tea ice cream inside of a thin crêpe. This was good, but not as special as the above two.
The extra star was really for the dessert. I’d go back just for the strawberry mochi!

Friend and I were looking for sushi on a Friday night. We made a reservation. Come dinner time, I was 20 minutes late due to traffic (and starving– as usual). Lesson learned, your reservation will expire after 15 minutes and you’re back to the end of the line. Be on time since they don’t seat you until everyone in your party has arrived!
Luckily friend and I were here around a time that there wasn’t a massive line, so we only had to wait 30 minutes extra for a table. After rubber necking (politely), looking at everyone’s delicious food and studying the menu for a bit, we got seated at the bar.
We ordered/​shared the nigiri chef’s choice, seaweed salad, and an ichigo daifuku (strawberry mochi). We also ordered a spicy tuna roll and ume shiso (not on the menu but I always ask for it anyway) s.
The sushi here is some of the best I’ve had in San Francisco. So good, that I came back Sunday night in the same week. I’m typically annoyed and disappointed when it comes to sushi in this city because it’s so subpar. Eiji fills the void (of Shiro’s/most sushi in Seattle, a baby step behind but delicious nonetheless).
—
Second time around, ordered the oboro tofu, okra beef, ume shiso, and ichigo-​daifuku (strawberry mochi). It’s probably the BEST I’ve had in a very long time.
The oboro tofu is a MUST try. It has a slight «nutty» flavor when eaten on its own which I really enjoyed but the full deliciousness was with all the extras and the tamari soy sauce. I could probably eat this dish all on my own, shamelessly.
Well, all you need to know is:
1. Be on time with your full party
2. Order your OWN strawberry mochi
Aaaand I didn’t share the daifuku this time. Sllp! =D

Everything have been said about Eiji, so yes it’s awesome, yes, the strawberry mochi is great, and no, don’t expect a smile from the staff.
Besides that I discovered how good and creative tofu can be (I always have been suspicious about this «cheese» designation).