Last week during Labor Day, Franco treated me to a special Japanese dinner before he left for Manila. By now, it’s quite obvious that my brother’s favorite cuisine is Japanese, so expect a lot of posts like these when I go out with my brother. This date was a spontaneous answer to our sudden craving for Asian food, sushi, and of course, all things RICE!
I promised myself 6 months ago, that before I left San Francisco, I would go down 19th Avenue and explore the Sunset district. I’m glad to have that item off my bucket list thanks to Franco. Along Taraval and 19th, there’s this hole in the wall Japanese restaurant called Sushi Zen which is famous for their signature rolls.
You would have to get through that tiny white door which could be tricky to open, but don’t be fooled by the size of it because it was quite spacious inside. It actually reminded me of the restaurants along Maginhawa, where the looks of the exteriors can get really deceiving.
We decided to get three plates of sushi for ourselves and Franco had a helping of miso soup on the side. I was quite disappointed that we had to buy the miso separately. Other Japanese restaurants would normally serve this while you were waiting for your meal. However, the service did not disappoint and so did the food. Our orders came right on time and our server paid extra attention to our needs.
When our food came, we were in heaven. See for yourself:
If the pictures aren’t enough, believe me when I say that this place serves the best sushi I have ever tried! For $30+ (~1,500php), it’s a fairly decent price for such a wonderful meal. It would be hard even for Omakase in Manila to top this precious gem.
This was the best dinner date I’ve had with Franco so far, and I’m looking forward to having more adventures with him in the future. It’s nice that we’ve finally grown up more or less on the same “age bracket” because now the 5-year gap doesn’t seem so apparent. Thank you, Franco for this wonderful dinner! Ate owes you a lot when she gets back.
