Came on a weekend night with reservations and got seated immediately. The service is really quick though somehow the sushi took longer than our hot food to get to our table. We ordered a few different things to try like the Agedashi tofu (5/5), beef tataki (2/5 - wasn't to my liking), beef udon (4/5 - standard), and a few rolls. Nothing really stood out to me but what was really good was the ginger yuzu crème brûlée. That was not too sweet and was just right.

I have been here 5 or 6 times and each time my meal was exceptional. Sure it's a little pricy, but it's a great value for what you get. I just ate there again on a Friday, and when I walked in, the place was empty and only one other couple came in to enjoy the fabulous food. Please support this fine establishment. We need to make sure it stays open!

There are very few restaurants left in San Francisco that serve decent fish. Akari is one of them. Their fish never feels defrosted and the selections are curated for freshness and seasonality. I had the best Unaju in quite some time here recently. The filet was generously portioned and grilled expertly. The flesh was just the right balance of firmness and succulence and the tiny annoying bones had all been removed. My only complaint is that the types of pickles served as accompaniment do not compliment the unagi. I would have preferred either salt pickled cucumbers or takuwan. Nonetheless this was a memorable dish. Yesterday I had their cold soba and vegetable tempura. It was the perfect dish on a rare San Francisco heatwave afternoon. The tempura was excellent, with each vegetable light as air and their individual flavors preserved within the crisp batter. It is an art to make tempera that is not ponderously heavy and greasy and Akari does an excellent job.

The chefs are so fast and focused on creating the perfect dish for all customers that just watching them is like watching symphony in motion. The servers are so nice and friendly. They explain and accommodate for small changes . They are so patient with answering questions. The indoor decor is simple and true to the Japanese culture. The food is fresh , sumptuous, tasty and delicious will presented. I will not miss it for any other food option.

This place was easily a 5 star food restaurant. I haven't ate much at San Francisco since 2020 but have recently been dining out here. AKARI is on Folsom and I decided to explore out from my usually Valencia, Dolores heights, clement and Irving street. I have to say the quality of fish and care put into it was very authentic. I've ate at so many Japanese looking restaurants that serve raw fish but so many disregards the care you have to put in. Sushi and sashimi isn't just slicing fish and eating it with rice. Depending on the fish, you have to let it rest with moisture absorbing paper for 1-2 days, sometimes wrap in kombu seaweed and let it rest overnight, sometimes sprinkle salt and remove unwanted water for 10min and wipe it away to remove unattractive fish scent, etc. Akari seems to put care in everything that they serve and if you want to eat at not cheap but at decent price, you get everything you pay for I believe. Deluxe Chitoshi is $70 but for the quality and all the side items that are prepared authentically and with care and the ambiance and dishes they use, I might even say $70 is cheap. Tonight was my first time coming but I will come try Kaiseki, but if you want to explore for $100 a person including tips and tax, I say please come try their 65-70$ kaisendon series. I don't think you will regret it.

Wonderful, friendly staff. We had an early reservation for birthday and it was just an intimate setting. The staff explained each dish that was in our set. The fish was better than most. Tasted and smelled very fresh. A lot of what I got was different than what I could get at other Japanese restaurants which was also a great selling point of this place.

Dropped by as a walk-in on a Saturday night (8/3/24, because according to their website, the prices increased?). The front bar area has a bunch of Shohei Ohtani bobbleheads and paraphernalia to accompany you as you eat. The Deluxe Chirashi was beautifully presented and comes with a couple side dishes. Everything had a very clean and fresh taste. The sides were good and certainly not an afterthought; time and care was put into each step of the dinner. The final bill was $50 something. But apparently the same dish I got is now $70 (at the time of this review posting), so I guess I was lucky to try this place out before the price increase. I'd still go back to try some of their other options as I had a really good experience here.

WHY had I not heard of this place before?! The food quality, presentation, taste, service, and experience matches almost exactly what you'd get in Japan. Does it seem like a steep price when you look at the menu? Sure. But it's been a VERY long time since I walked out of a restaurant and thought 'that was 100% money well spent' so I think the price is justifiable. Friend and I had the dinner sukiyaki course meal and *chef kiss a million times*. I highly recommend the course meal so you get the appetizers and sashimi. Ofc if you do not like seafood, it might not be your thing - but if you do, it is amazing. Not just in presentation but quality and taste of all of them. Even if you usually arent a fan of some of the items, try them! You may just be happily surprised~ And the course meal is a lot of food. Don't even worry about that. We overestimated our stomachs and were waddling out of the place afterwards lol And ofc the food was amazing and star of our visit, but service was impeccable as well. The server cleared tables quickly between dishes, kept an eye on our table, and helped cook the sukiyaki throughout the meal which was great. He was also very helpful for sake recommendations so ask for recs! There was another table next to us and i overheard him being super helpful there too - even offering to show pictures of food items that the customer was unfamiliar with. You do not see that kind of service around here often! One FYI that's good to know ahead of time; if you choose a nabe meal, it is that one nabe dish for anyone else at the entire table. This is bc the set up for nabe will literally take up two tables as it comes with the burner, nabe pot, one huge plate of veggies, one huge plate of meat, broth container, and serve wares. I think you may be able to get kaiseki or other menus separately - but i'd ask. Anyway, hate to have it be impossible to get in here in the future, but I hope this place explodes in popularity because they really do deserve it. This place is absolutely going on my to-revisit list.

Ballin' on a budget. If you have a hard time committing to expensive fine dining meals like I do but still want to enjoy a nice, quiet sit-down meal.... Three words: Lunch at Akari. A year young, Akari is Menya Kanemaru's Kaiseki restaurant that's Japanese owned and operated. They're open for takeout, delivery, and indoor dining. Rezzies on Tock are required for certain kaiseki sets at dinner. Check out their website and menu for more details. M E N U Lunch: Ramen, chirashi, rice bowls, and bento ($21-$45). There's also daily specials. Dinner: Kaiseki, a traditional multi-course Japanese meal using various cooking methods ($60 pp -$250 pp). They also have Nabe, Japanese Hot Pot available ($63 pp -$179 pp). Vegetarian friendly. SJ's Anton SV Pâtisserie's Mille Crêpe Cake available for purchase. Sake, plum wine, and beer available. F O O D Makunouchi Bento Gozen w/ sashimi, tempura, beef, fish, rice, miso soup (Lunch - $45): https://tinyurl.com/4x4xu4ve and https://tinyurl.com/3u5p76mw OFC dinner will be a different, more elevated experience but I would call this an express, wallet-friendly kaiseki meal since it has some of the same theme/courses: soup, pickles, sashimi, grilled, simmered dish, etc. * Miso soup * Okra, sweet potato, burdock * Chilled Braised Fish w/ sunomono (pickles) * Braised Fish w/ tofu, carrots * Beef Shigureni * Simmered Fish w/ tamago * Tempura w/ shrimp + veggies * Sashimi: Sake, maguro, hokkigai, ikura * White rice Simple yet thoughtfully presented bento. My fav part of the meal was the sashimi, the fish was fresh and the rice was perfectly cooked. Second fav was the tempura...hard to go wrong with fried foods tho a touch overdone (shrimp was dry). The rest of the bento was heavy on the braised fish (tuna) and the braised dishes ran quite salty particularly the beef shigureni (simmered beef) so I was able to create an extra meal to pair with more rice at home. S E R V I C E Kind and attentive. Only table at the time so prompt food service. A M B I A N C E Minimalist with open kitchen and French jazz playing. Very quaint during lunch time. P A R K I N G Street parking only which can be challenging at night. Overall, Japanese owned and operated restaurants are becoming a unicorn these days so if you got the monies, it may be worth splurging for their kaiseki at dinner. While the braised dishes ran too salty for me, it could have been an off day. I wouldn't hesitate to return for lunch again...for their chirashi.