SJ
Sasa Japanese Restaurant
Artful sushi meets modern elegance in the heart of Japantown.
4.4(5 reviews)
sushi-bars
$$$
Artful sushi meets modern elegance in the heart of Japantown.
Sasa Japanese Restaurant offers a refined dining experience in San Francisco's Japantown, specializing in high-quality sushi, sashimi, and omakase-style cuisine. Known for its visually stunning 'mystery box' sushi presentations and diverse menu, Sasa provides a relaxed, clean atmosphere ideal for casual dining and small groups. With a focus on fresh ingredients and expert preparation, it's a go-to spot for sushi enthusiasts seeking both traditional and innovative Japanese dishes.
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Chef-curated multi-course sushi experience with seasonal selections.
Artfully arranged fresh fish, including nigiri, rolls, and sashimi.
Small plates like spicy salmon tataki, unagi kabayaki, and chawanmushi.
Full menu available for both lunch and early dinner in a relaxed setting.
Accommodations for small groups with privacy spacing and casual ambiance.
Sushi as art. A welcome relief to order expert delivery on high-quality Japanese sushi/sashimi without having to go the omakase route. Subdued elegance in its decor, a nice lunch or early dinner option when exploring the Japantown Mall.
December 2025 Japanese restaurant specializing in Omakase style cuisine. What makes them different is their mystery box style sushi 🍣 collection which is much of an IG feast in itself. Service is standard and very informative The place is very clean and bright with a relaxed layout with good privacy spacing. Ideal for small groups and casual dinning. No in place toilet
Located on the 2nd floor of the East Mall (above the Daiso), the interior is just a little larger than it looks from the outside. I've always seen this place packed during the meal rush times on weekends and got a reservation for my visit on Saturday for a 6pm dinner, which worked out as a good idea in hindsight. We were seated quickly due to our reservation. Service was incredibly spartan with the staff swinging by the table only for the essentials (what's the order, bringing food with a quick intro of what the nigiri are, and dropping off the check). No questions on how's the food, if we need anything else. I wish there was more on the service side, especially as our tea went cold, but understand they're in the thick of the dinner rush. Food was hit and miss. The soba-cha was just okay as the teapot arrived less than hot to begin with, and was cold far before we finished eating. We got the spicy salmon tataki too start which was great! Good flavor and fun as an appetizer. The unagi kabayaki was also good, with the eel flavorful, miso hot, and chawanmushi silky. It was plenty large for an entree. However, the 10 piece sushi tasting was a huge disappointment, as each piece was loaded with far too much wasabi. Big green blobs sandwiched been the fish and rice, resulting in the whole tasting having just an overwhelming flavor of wasabi in every piece. We were hopeful it was just the first few pieces, but the amount was consistently too much on all ten. Peeling apart the nigiri and scraping it off didn't help the wasabi menace as it had permeated all the slices of fish by the time we decided to give it a shot. The fish looked visually great, but they all had far too much wasabi. We were successful with getting wasabi off one tuna piece, and the fish was alright flavor-wise once it was mostly wasabi free. If I do go back, I would stick carefully to only some items on the menu, and the avoid nigiri/omakase. As there's plenty of other fantastic spots in Japantown I'm okay with passing on Sasa.
Pretty solid location. We tried eating somewhere else first but the place just never opened. We thought it opened at 5 and then waited till six thirty. Never ended up eating there so we went to this place. I forgot how cool Japan town is. Definitely a great spot to hit if you are in town. Anyways this place was solid. I liked that they just hung sticks on their wall as decoration. The food was great. They had a diverse menu in terms of sushi items. Got a few rolls which were good. Nothing super spectacular but none the less a very solid place. Service was good. Atmosphere was great. I liked the set up and feel of the place except for the table we sat at. The chairs were set up somewhat difficult to get into the inside of the table. Not sure if that makes sense but it was still hard to get into the inside of the table. Overall great spot but I am bias towards sushi I think. It’s just too good you know. Also I’m planning on starting a cooking club at school so maybe I’ll do a sushi night if we get it approved. My Beli gave it a 8.7 which is pretty high to be honest. I think in terms of sushi spots it a little more than average, like a 7.2 but overall great spot.
Amazing. Pricey and worth it. The egg custard appetizer was sublime. Ocean trout belly was superior, incredible. No rush patient service. Great selection of fish, dishes, options. Definitely a treat, will come again. Even if it’s just for the egg custard, a roll:)
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