Miki - Japanese, San Francisco

3639 Balboa St, San Francisco CA 94121
(415) 387-0874
Parking: street parking
Hours: Tues-Sat 11:45am - 2pm, 5pm-9:30pm

Last Visited: April 13, 2013

Food: 3 to 4 stars
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $ to $$

Amos recommended that I watch the movie Jiro Dreams of Sushi and I enjoyed it so much that when he asked his Japanese friends for a sushi recommendation, I trusted his friend's suggestion of Miki, which she described as a place where you could get food like you would find in Japan.  The first two dishes were specifically recommended by his friend. 

I arrived at Miki at 5pm, right when they opened, and there were already two tables there.  It was a pretty small place with few tables and as we ate, the restaurant quickly filled up.  I was surprised at the simple decor and the hole in the wall type feel.  The area by the window where we sat was a bit dirty - noodles and other random things along the window sill. The paint on the wall could also be retouched.

The server was very fast to approach me and when I told him I wasn't ready, he came back very quickly again.  I ordered the first two items and he strongly recommended that I complete my order.  He explained that if another table's order came between my multiple orders that I would experience long wait times.  I found this a bit frustrating because it was my first visit and I had no idea what to get; however, his advice was certainly true - I waited over 25 minutes for my first dish to arrive because he held my entire order to submit to the kitchen at once, and two orders got into the queue ahead of mine.

- Mentai Omelet - I had no idea what this was and had to google it when Amos told me to get it.  Mentaiko is the marinated roe of pollock or cod.  The flavor is definitely reminiscent of the sea, but not fishy.  The salty roe is cooked inside a fluffy egg omelet that is still slightly moist, but cooked through.  The combination is very delicate in texture and flavor and quite delightful.  Must try.  $4.50

- Tako Karaage - Five small octopi are marinated, lightly breaded, and deep-fried.  A single lettuce leaf is used as garnish below the karaage and a slice of lemon is placed on top.  The octopi is tender and has a good bite.  It wasn't too chewy and tasted very fresh.  The breading is really light and while it is prettier on top of the lettuce, it would probably be better without it because some of the moisture from the lettuce made the delicate fried batter a little soggy.  Remove it from the dish quickly and you should be fine.  Another must try.  $6.50

- Sushi Nigiri (2 pieces each)- Tuna $3, Salmon $3, Hamaichi (yellowtail) $3.75, Unagi $3.75
First, the prices here are lower than what showed in the menu.  They just changed their menu and aside from reducing their selection, they also increased their prices. Most nigiri is $4 for the pair. While the fish is fresh, I found the rice to be a bit dense - not too bad, but it could be a little looser.  The temperature of the rice was also fine.  The best of the four was definitely the warm unagi and its flavor. 

- Tonkatsu (pork) Ramen - Garlic Miso - Each bowl comes with a slice of pork, bamboo shoots, seawood, half of a seasoned boiled egg, and green onion.  As is typical with ramen, many sides and additions are available.  The pieces of roasted garlic made this bowl very flavorful and the noodles were done nicely - still a little al dente.  I thought this ramen was pretty good, but the garlic can be very strong, especially the aftertaste.  One of the customers was mentioning that he had lived in Japan for six years and the ramen here comes close to what he expected to find in Japan.  Good.  $9.75

- Tempura Side - Two pieces of shrimp, green bean, zucchini slice, carrot slice, yam slice, broccoli -  The warm tempura dipping sauce came with grated daikon radish in it which added to the texture.  While the shrimp were large and fresh, I thought the broccoli wasn't very good - as one often finds with broccoli, the florette gets too much batter and becomes dense and soggy.  The other vegetables and the shrimp were okay and the breading was crispy.  $7

In general,  I thought the service could be improved - while their demeanor was fine, I definitely felt like I was rushed in ordering.  The thing the staff did best was keep coming back with tea to refill our tea cups.  Improvements could be made in removing dirty plates faster and getting food to the table faster - the bell in the kitchen seemed to ding multiple times to indicate that food was in the window.  As mentioned above, it also takes a while for food to come to the table - there seems like not a lot of folks in the kitchen, but the takeout orders add to the length of the wait time. 

There are definitely good dishes to be found at Miki, but I would recommend going for sashimi if you want fish.   Selecting cooked dishes and choosing ramen are your best bets because the attention to detail is present on cooked items and the flavor is good.  Also, during lunch and between 5-7pm during dinner, they have a happy hour special on Sapporo draft for $3 as well as sake specials.