Jessica Sportsman: The Sake House

While doing business near California Street and Sixth Avenue, I noticed a new Japanese restaurant advertising its grand opening. It was lunch time, and as I walked by I grabbed an impressive, colorful menu from a rack outside the door. After a quick look at the choices, I went in for a noontime meal.

The Sake House is a very clean and bright cafe with an extensive menu, including many daily specials. There are several combinations and great prices, usually between $4.95 and $6.95. That day, I decided to go all out and have a bit of everything by ordering the bento box special for $6.95. The deluxe lunch bento boxes include a green salad, miso soup, California roll and choice of two other entrees out of a list of 10 possible combinations.

I chose chicken teriyaki and shrimp/vegetable tempura to go along with the soup, salad and roll.

Our waitperson was efficient and we got our food in record time. We started off with a small fresh crisp green salad with a light dressing and a cup of hot miso soup. I was glad for the small portion of soup and salad because when the rest of our order arrived, I was amazed at the sheer quantity of food that was delivered. Generally, box lunches have smaller portions of each item, but not at Sake House.

The chicken teriyaki featured a whole chicken breast, served hot and smothered in a homemade sauce that was a little sweeter than the common version. It was piquant, tender, tasty and obviously freshly cooked. While the tempura portion was generous, four pieces which included two prawns and two vegetables, I did find it to be slightly underdone. My pursuit of the perfect tempura goes on. The California roll was served cold. It was fresh and quite good, especially with a little pickled ginger on the side as a palate cleanser.

The extra large meal was more than I could eat.

My friend also chose a box lunch, but she ordered salmon teriyaki and gyoza (Japanese pot stickers). The portions for her meal were generous as well. The salmon was served hot with sauce. It was crispy outside and tender enough to cut with chopsticks. The salmon was cooked just right. The pot stickers were a little under cooked and chewy, but were plentiful and had a good flavor.

We both agreed we would definitely come back to try other entrees. Besides the bento boxes, there are other combination specials available for lunch and dinner. Sake House's eight-panel extended menu includes sushi, sushi platters, udon and sashimi. You can also select from a choice of appetizers, including gyoza and edamame, salads that include seaweed or noodles, and other cooked dishes from the kitchen, like curried chicken and vegetables.

For ease of ordering, management at Sake House spells out 20 different nigiri (sushi) and about 30 different "rolls" on the menu. They also have beverages and a selection of desserts available. Sake House is open seven days a week and offers free delivery. Lunch specials are available between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m., but the restaurant is open for sushi and other offerings all day. With pick-up and delivery orders, a complimentary beverage or California roll (with orders of $20 or more) is available.

Besides inside dining, carry out and delivery, Sake House has full catering capabilities, with very reasonable prices for sushi platters ranging from 40 to 72 pieces.

Sake House
4318 California St.
(415) 668-8666
Fax: (415) 668-7333