Yip on Sebo
Sebo * 517 Hayes St @ Octavia, San Francisco, CA 94102 * (415) 864-2122
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley
I went to this restaurant within the first few days of its opening, so I had heard very little. I live just around the corner, and I had been eyeing the construction over the past few months. I was thrilled to hear it was going to be "contemporary Japanese" (translation: sushi).
The Scene
It's hard to tell if this place is even open because their lighting is so subtle, and green sheaths cover the storefront windows. Decor is very minimal, but still very soothing, like there should be a fountain of running water somewhere in the restaurant. I immediately notice the wall mounted screen lights, which I love. As we walk in, two different patrons are leaving and both mentioned briefly what a great experience it was - deliciously fresh. Right about now, I am feeling pleasantly confident about taking my mom here on her visit to San Francisco.
The Menu
This is where it starts to go down hill, and we haven't been here but 10 minutes. There are two quirky things about the menu. (1) I have eaten sushi maybe 100 times, and this menu was rather "intimidating." Where is the maguro, the hamachi, the unagi? I had to have the waitress translate the whole damn thing for me. Good thing it was short. My friend Katy put it best when she said this place was exclusive, meaning it excludes people. (2) At the bottom of their menu, there is a little nasty-gram condescendingly asking you "not to drown" your fish in soy sauce. They get you to adhere to this by not allowing you to pour your own, and they don't leave it on the table.
The Food
Once you decipher the menu or you decide to leave it up to the sushi chefs, the food actually is very delicious. Good thing my preference is minimal soy sauce, but I bet they were cringing when my mom mixed her wasabi in with soy sauce dish.
The Service
Food was prompt, and the server didn't seem phased by my request for menu translation. However, while I was a little annoyed by the snide soy sauce remark on the menu, she continued the attitude when we requested additional wasabi. Sebo believes that only they know the correct amount of soy sauce that should be used (hence the portion control) and that only they know the correct amount of wasabi that should be used. When we requested additional, she tried to tell us that this wasabi was some special blah blah blah, and we weren't going to need more blah blah blah. Once she finally got on board for the age old service mantra "the customer is always right," she brought what can only be described as low-grade wasabi. It was noticibly different from what we were served initially. Maybe they realized we were only worth of the wasabi from the jar.
The Bathrooms
Too annoyed to bother. I'll just go when I get home mostly out of fear they will portion control the amount of toilet paper I am allowed to use, and I'll be forced to share a flush.
*************
In a spoonful, the fish is fresh and inventive, but its just not worth the attitude. If you can roll with it, I'd say sit at the sushi bar and go for their multiple course omakase experience (translation: to entrust). That is, trust them to tell you how you like it.
Yip gives it 1.5 spoons.
Cuisine: Japanese, Sushi
Neighborhood: Hayes Valley
I went to this restaurant within the first few days of its opening, so I had heard very little. I live just around the corner, and I had been eyeing the construction over the past few months. I was thrilled to hear it was going to be "contemporary Japanese" (translation: sushi).
The Scene
It's hard to tell if this place is even open because their lighting is so subtle, and green sheaths cover the storefront windows. Decor is very minimal, but still very soothing, like there should be a fountain of running water somewhere in the restaurant. I immediately notice the wall mounted screen lights, which I love. As we walk in, two different patrons are leaving and both mentioned briefly what a great experience it was - deliciously fresh. Right about now, I am feeling pleasantly confident about taking my mom here on her visit to San Francisco.
The Menu
This is where it starts to go down hill, and we haven't been here but 10 minutes. There are two quirky things about the menu. (1) I have eaten sushi maybe 100 times, and this menu was rather "intimidating." Where is the maguro, the hamachi, the unagi? I had to have the waitress translate the whole damn thing for me. Good thing it was short. My friend Katy put it best when she said this place was exclusive, meaning it excludes people. (2) At the bottom of their menu, there is a little nasty-gram condescendingly asking you "not to drown" your fish in soy sauce. They get you to adhere to this by not allowing you to pour your own, and they don't leave it on the table.
The Food
Once you decipher the menu or you decide to leave it up to the sushi chefs, the food actually is very delicious. Good thing my preference is minimal soy sauce, but I bet they were cringing when my mom mixed her wasabi in with soy sauce dish.
The Service
Food was prompt, and the server didn't seem phased by my request for menu translation. However, while I was a little annoyed by the snide soy sauce remark on the menu, she continued the attitude when we requested additional wasabi. Sebo believes that only they know the correct amount of soy sauce that should be used (hence the portion control) and that only they know the correct amount of wasabi that should be used. When we requested additional, she tried to tell us that this wasabi was some special blah blah blah, and we weren't going to need more blah blah blah. Once she finally got on board for the age old service mantra "the customer is always right," she brought what can only be described as low-grade wasabi. It was noticibly different from what we were served initially. Maybe they realized we were only worth of the wasabi from the jar.
The Bathrooms
Too annoyed to bother. I'll just go when I get home mostly out of fear they will portion control the amount of toilet paper I am allowed to use, and I'll be forced to share a flush.
*************
In a spoonful, the fish is fresh and inventive, but its just not worth the attitude. If you can roll with it, I'd say sit at the sushi bar and go for their multiple course omakase experience (translation: to entrust). That is, trust them to tell you how you like it.
Yip gives it 1.5 spoons.
posted by SoCalATA at 11:46 PM
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