Minako

06/10/07

Poor value for the money

by dgmw at Citysearch

Sorry to rain on the '5-star' parade going on around here, but for us, several reasons made Minako a definite "no-repeat" experience:

1.) While the lure of 'organic' does imply SOMEWHAT higher prices, the pricing is highly unreasonable for the quantity of food you actually get. We ordered wakame salads, which turned out to be tiny for $8.00 each. Plus, the flavor of these salads was very unappetizing. (As the appetizer prices are omitted from the menu, we only learned JUST how disappointed we were when the bill arrived.) The "appetizer" portion of the tofu teryaki was, for $12.00, woefully tiny.

2.) Very slow service. For a 2-person dinner, how long can 2 plates of teryaki take? Pretty damn long, we learned. The timing of the delivery was off as well, as one of us was served our entree 20 minutes before the other.

In summary, our experience with the pricing and the mediocre quality of the dishes makes this place a very poor value for the money you spend.

• Cons: Prices not listed in menu, slow service, overpriced for quantity and quality of food you get

11/16/06

Please don't eat here because you make the wait longer for the rest of us.

by ashsf at Citysearch

This is the best restaurant in SF.

Yoko and Judy make the experience feel like going to eat at your long lost japanese family's house. The food is fantastic, with tons of creative choices and artful presentations.

The restaurant is so small that sometimes there's a long wait and that can be annoying. It is nice to see people complaining about the restaurant because if everyone had a positive experience there, I'd NEVER get a table! In fact, the owner deliberately discourages restaurant reviews in local papers because she doesn't want bigger crowds than she already has. They have a very loyal clientle who loves them as much as I do, so if you're not there for the whole experience and show up with a bad attitude, please go to one of the yuppie restaurants around the corner on Valencia instead.

• Pros: Great food, good for vegans and people who want organic, wonderful owners, nice ambience once you're inside
• Cons: parking, people who are in a hurry and rushing the waitstaff

06/10/06

best japanese restaurant in san francisco

by acura1993integra at Citysearch

minako's is very talented at japanese food. their fish, whether it be in something cooked or raw, is always fresh and delicious. but they also have excellent sukiyaki and other traditional japanese dishes. if you're a vegetarian looking for japanese food, minako's is one of the few japanese restaurants i know of that also caters to vegetarians and even vegans. their veggie eel is not exactly like real eel, but it's very tasty. and they're also environmentally conscious to boot, as everything they serve is organic. as long as you're patient and friendly (don't go there when you're in a rush -- they have just one chef in the back doing ALL the work and she really works hard to make all the food just right), minako's is an excellent choice for dinner.

• Pros: service, food
• Cons: parking, neighborhood