I make it a point to come to Pabu at least once every time I am in San Francisco, and it never disappoints. Fabulous food, sake, and service- what else can one ask for? Stewart, the sake sommelier, gave us wonderful advice, and even shared his personally brewed sake - fantastic. Make sure you don’t miss the okonomiyaki or the tsukune - two absolutely must haves. Can’t wait to go back again.
Pabu has not missed a single beat since its untimely departure from the Four Seasons Baltimore, which is to say it's nothing short of spectacular. Friendly, knowledgeable staff serving the most delicious and expertly prepared Japanese food. I traveled cross-country to come here and came with lofty expectations. All were exceeded. Well done Pabu. Still the best!
Delicious, but overpriced
The food is absolutely amazing, loved everything we ordered. The okomiyaki and robatayaki was delicious. However, despite how tasty the food was, it is more on the pricy side of things. For the size of the food, some items seem overpriced, especially the robatayaki.
While I am expanding my ability to cook Asian food at home, I am nowhere near the level of many restaurants, and I just don’t know if I would ever trust myself to try to make sushi at home, so Japanese food is definitely one style that I am always eager to go out and try. I actually rather enjoyed Ramen Bar on my quest for San Francisco’s best ramen (in fact, I’ve made several trips there), so I knew that PABU was going to be one of the places I had to go to so I could try out more Japanese food by the same group. One night we ended up deciding to go out last minute, so I managed to snag a booking here to try out on our way home.
Sushi with an urban flair. Unique sushi creations and a willingness to customize upon request. Ultra hip bar with fun concoctions...great happy hour spot in the financial district. Also has outdoor seating...terrific spot!
Quite simply this is a pricey izakaya restaurant downtown that pumps out volume. You won't be served anything bad here, but it's really poor value and doesn't have anything special to it. It's great for taking clients out on a business lunch, or for grazing if it's a special occasion, but very easy to give this a pass, especially given the prices.
Pabu bills itself as an Izakaya-style restaurant, although one could almost argue that sushi is its strongest point. We find it hard not to drink and dine at the bar; unfortunately, the Tasting Menu is not available there. The 8 course Omakase Tasting Menu is a really great and interesting way to taste nigiri variations. The sushi courses provide a great way to see and taste how fish of the same biological genre can be so different in flavor and texture. It's probably not for everyone, but pristine sushi followed by decadent Wagyu beef shabu shabu was just the right amount of food for us.
Why did we dine here? – Pabu is a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant in San Francisco’s Financial District from Michael Mina in partnership with Chef Ken Tominaga. The chef’s Hana restaurant in a Rohnert Park had garnered a local following including Mina. This is the first Japanese restaurant for Mina.
Paul Pettersson (Petersson Fersman)
+5
Very very good Japanese fine dining. I came here with a group from work at first we had problems finding places in the bar but we had a table booked for a later time. Wine and food is simply very very good service. Yes, very nice and friendly as well. Atmosphere is very nice. We were all very happy with the food and drinks - will be back!
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Ideally, I'd give this place a 4.5/5.
My friends and I went to Pabu on a Saturday to try out their SF restaurant week. They had a happy hour going on till 5:30 pm, and they also had a half off menu (only on Saturdays) so we ordered a few items from those menus in addition to the restaurant week prix-fixe menu. In hindsight, it was a mistake. Even though their restaurant week menu has a lot of shared items for the table, it's still plenty of food to fill you up.
The moment you walk into the restaurant, you are greeted with a sleek and stylish ambiance with a buzzy and energetic atmosphere. The restaurant is designed to evoke an old-world Japanese feel, with warm lighting, wooden accents, and a minimalist aesthetic. The spacious dining area provides ample room for both intimate gatherings and larger groups.
The service at Pabu was amazing - the staff was very attentive and knowledgeable. They were quick to refill drinks and clear plates, ensuring that we had a seamless dining experience.
As far as the food goes, everything was really good except the meat. All the seafood items we ordered were fresh and delicious, but the short ribs we got were underwhelming. It was very chewy and had a dominating burnt smoky flavor, which took away from all sweetness of the juices.
Chicken karaage was soggy and also not that great. The eggplant dish was okay. We couldn't really taste the eggplant much.
With that being said, Pabu made up for all of it through their seafood items.
Inari was very light and delicate and had notes of sweet, savory, and umami flavors.
The hamachi was fresh and delicious, and the portion was very generous.
Yakisoba noodles were delicious. The noodles were cooked well. They had a slight bite with a tender and satisfying chew. The noodles were evenly coated in the sauce, ensuring that each bite was bursting with flavors. The sushi plate had fresh and thick pieces of fish. We wanted to try their other nigiri options, but we were struggling to finish all the food that we got.
The black cod was also delicious. It had caramelized skin, and it was buttery and melt-in-your-mouth tender with a slight flakiness that provides a delicate contrast.
The chocolate dessert we got was the perfect way to end our dinner. It was very creamy and rich in flavors and had us craving for more.
Pabu is one of the tastiest sushi restaurants in San Francisco. Upon arrival, the atmosphere is more trendy and feels like fine dining compared to other sushi restaurants. Everything was delicious aside from the uni, which had a slightly odd taste. I recommend ordering uni from Santa Barbara if you’re looking for the best uni that also doesn’t break the bank. Service was excellent and servers came to check in on us frequently. If you sit at the bar, the chefs may throw in a complimentary snack! Overall, the price point is on the steeper side but the quality of the ingredients and attention to plating make up for that.
Revisited this place and upgrading my review to 5 stars. It was much better this time. 👏👏
The cocktails were great. The fish quality was so so. The ice cream and sorbets were excellent. We spent $400 for the 2 of us so I expected to be wowed. I was whelmed.
I loved everything about this meal from beginning to end. For starters we did the house made pork gyoza along with thr wagyu and shrimp skewers. Fantastic! We also ordered a few sushi rolls which were melt in your mouth delicious. Our drinks were also strong and tasty. I highly recommend this place for a date night! It's on the pricey side but so worth it.
Dishes, sake, service all excellent. We will be back. Dragon Roll is outstanding. Seating layout, acoustics and atmosphere make a large space feel comfortable and having a quiet conversation is quite easy even when the restaurant is very busy.
Good food, service not so good they took time to get our drinks, instead of one guy there were 3-4 and it was sort of a mess.
Nice restaurant for after business have a beer or something to drink.
Update: Came back here post pandemic. We didn’t have a reservation but got the last seats at the bar. Many places were closed and was glad that this is still open.
Made reservations for noon on a Friday. It was full but not crowded. This place has a few sections. One by the bar, a second that has a more traditional feel and another by the windows. Ordered sushi rolls and miso. The rolls came very quickly before I even had two sips in my hot tea. I ordered Japanese whiskey too. Will definitely be keep this in mind when I have a business lunch or dinner.
Love this place! Red haired hostess sat me at the sushi bar right away and was very sweet. Sushi is really good I recommend Ken's roll and the Super Spider although someone mentioned them having new menu. Always great service from the staff here, which makes me feel really welcome. Will definitely be back.
What is there to say beyond the food here is utterly stunning? Well, the decor is beautiful, the service is excellent and the cocktails are to die for. Try the M Bison cocktail which comes with an ice cube the gradually sheds ash into the drink: it truly is an experience. Ultimately it is the food that sparkles. The sushi is exquisite, even the house salad had us feeling like this was the best salad we'd ever had. Of course it is breathtakingly expensive. Definitely for a special occasion.
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