Even if Mother’s Day isn’t exactly a real ‘holiday’ in the sense that we get time off school or work, I take it as a great excuse to get together with my family and try some hip SF restaurants that have been on my list for a while. I enjoyed 4 awesome meals with my family this weekend, but for starters I’ll guide you through my Friday night dinner at Wako, a small sushi restaurant located in the Inner Richmond.

          

Just a tiny little restaurant with no more than 5 tables and a few seats around the sushi bar, Wako was my first up-scale sushi meal in SF since my arrival. The menu includes few a la carte dishes (only a few appetizers and nigiri), with a pretty great sake menu. Food-wise, what you’re really supposed to order here is the Omakase – otherwise known as Chef’s Choice. With two options to choose from the Omakase is most definitely the way to eat at Wako.

My Omakase was a mix of sushi, sashimi, hot dish, soup, salad, tempura, and dessert. The other option included only sushi. Both meals hovered around the same $80/person price point. The reason why the sushi-only Omakase was more expensive was for the Uni and Wagu beef additions, which were more exclusive and higher grade.

I personally thought the mixed Omakase was fantastic. I’m a sashimi fan and being able to enjoy both sushi and sashimi made it worth it. As far as highlights, the tuna sashimi was some of the best tuna I’ve had in my life (and that’s saying a lot considering my sushi-eating background!). The texture, freshness, and taste of the tuna was quite simply exquisite. For sushi highlights, I found both the Toro (fatty tuna), and squid (raw but lightly torched on the top) to be of special significance. The hot appetizer of the day, miso marinated black cod, was also fantastic.

Wako’s ambiance was warm and intimate (perfect for a chilly San Francisco night!) and the sushi chef’s were smiley and informative. And if you’re lucky, you might just end the meal with a take-home goody bag of house-made truffles.