Kiku of Tokyo

Kiku was my favorite lunch spot when I worked in the square. This authentic little Japanese restaurant serves up an amazing variety of choices during lunch. From the fresh tuna, ginger pork, steamed egg custards, and chicken dumbings (my personal favorite) to the daily specials that include short ribs and fried oysters, nothing is ever a disappointment. I’m sad that it’s closed due to water damage in the structure. Rumor is that they won’t reopen because the cost of remodeling is too high.

They are CLOSED for remodeling now…
I asked Hilton hotel but they didn’t know when they’ll reopen…
I went to Hilton website, Kiku of Tokyo was not listed on the restaurant list any more…

My husband hosted a little birthday celebration dinner party for me here, and I have to say that Kiku definitely provided for a great experience. We had a party of 9 people and got the private tatami room. I love it – you get to have privacy, intimacy, and quiet! It is a refreshing break from all the noisy restaurants in the city.
My husband and I went a bit extravagant and got the Kobe beef sukiyaki and shabu shabu dinners. I think that the kobe beef turned out to be a bit overpriced for what you get, it was definitely good. Everyone had a great dinner all around. We had a lot of fun eating, laughing, talking. We were very comfortable being a little loud in our private room. I loved it! I will remember this place in the future for dinner parties — great for having a conversation that the whole table can hear, instead of only being able to hear those immediately around you.

The shabu was purty good… she who must be obeyd had the «regular» beef meal thingy for 50 bones… we didnt do the wagyu. I had the double entrée. grilled salmon in salt and sashimi. sashimi .supa frosh. the salmon was a bit salty but washed it down with the beer and sake. mmmhmmm .not bad but not amazing… I give 3.5 stars… kinda pricey but was expected. service was great!!!

After suffering from Unilocal withdrawal for a while (blocked off at work. *tear*), I choose to review KIKU because it is definintely an understated restaurant inside the Hilton.
I have the privilege of walking here for my lunch since I work closeby, so no frustrations with parking. The décor is minimal with two tatami rooms. I prefer not to sit there as they require you to take off your shoes, and I really do not like to put my bare feet into a space where other people’s feet have dangled into before. Who knows what lurks down there, right?
Onto the food. the presentation of their food is not your typical «bento box». They serve each dish in its own bowl /​plate and is very nicely laid out. If you order from the set menu, you get all the goodies like miso soup, picked veggies, potato salad, and steamed egg custard all for less than $ 14 per person.
My only gripe about this place is that their service is very very slow. The hostess runs around like a headless chicken when its busy and of the many times I’ve been here, I was only served by 2 waitresses.

3.30.2007
1:20PM
I came into work 2 hours late today… and was sent home minutes later. I guess my managerials didn’t really appreciate the wafting scent of Ketal One in the office space… THANK YOU… I love you for it.
So, as I was stumbling straight zombie style back to the pad, I called up the old lady friend to see if she wanted food… of course…(we’re gluttons like that…)
We wanted Japanese… so we hit up Kiku of Tokyo inside the Hilton Hotel in Union square… instead of Katana-​ya down the way.
Fu*king…DELICIOUS…and CHEAP!
Who would have thought; the interior is tacky; think mid-​90s Japanese tonkatsu house called Saboten. The help is all Japanese, and a lot of local Japanese people come here for their meals. The gf and I ordered the Kaiseki Jyu and a Tonkatsu plate.
The Kaiseki Jyu is tailored to the Japanese palate… beautifully presented (for a lunch-​box set plate) with distinctly Japanese flavors.
Don’t order this if you’re not Japanese… I can pretty much guarantee you wont enjoy half the items in this assortment.
The tonkatsu was ok… didn’t really taste like it was fresh out of the fryer… but good.
for only spending $ 50, we had a monstrous amount of food that tasted fantastic.
Definitely one of the best Japanese spots in the city… for lunch.

I was very excited when I read the reviews of Kiku, I was even more excited when I arrived and learned that they had real Kobe beef from Japan — not «American Kobe», «American Wagyu», etc. This was real grade 12 Kobe beef from Japan. A rare find in the U.S. It was like butter — $ 85 butter. Go here for your shabu shabu fix.

I came here on a lazy friday night with my fellow Unilocaler. Of course knowing that this was a restaurant slightly above our wallet levels, we came prepared with a discount (coupon) and a empty stomach with an open mind. As we walked in, the waiter, a older Japanese genteman, asked us things in japanese, which to some people would be a bad point, but to me was very flattering. A quick jab at english and he knew we werent of the Japanese speaking set, and he directed us to our waiter for the evening, a older japanese female with traditional geisha style clothing. There are 2 types of settings to where you could eat your meal, Either a small authentic cubicle (shoes off) or a more modern american style of eating, OR even a yakuza style party room way in the back. We got the more modern style room, even though we regret getting that room over the «No shoe» room. Anyways my friend and I both ordered the Dinner special where you could get 3 out of 5 things. I got the Chicken teriyaki, Sashimi, and Tempura. I forgot what my friend ordered, but thats not important. Before we ate, we were served very interesting dishes, which is eluqeont to teh eye, but also something that looked as though you didnt want to eat it b/​c of its beauty (and inedibilty) but with an open mind I gobbled it up and to my surprise (cuz ima very discriminate eater) it was excellent. The food was delicate, yet powerful enough for you to taste it’s beauty! Truly Marvelous. Atmosphere was excellent as well. It had an authentic yakuza status feel to it and the whole time I felt as though I was being grandma-​d by the Waitress. Price was not so pleasant as the bill came out to about $ 60+ for 2 people, but since we had a coupon it actually came out to about $ 45, you do the math. Its a little higher in the class scale for food, but you got to spoil youself once in a while.
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«Where you would take your business associates for a light Japanese Dinner.»

Good place located just at the O’Farrell and Mason St corner of the Hilton Hotel. Parking is a little tough there and $$ at the near by lots. Not your everyday tourist trap — It’s in good management and quality controlled by the same people for over 15 years. Food’s Great — I’ve had almost everything on the Menu over the years. Very traditional and a nice quiet seating arrangement. It was remodeled in the late 90’s so it’s a lot more «Brighter» inside. This is not a regular spot for me, (for my kinda spending) but we go here for special times with good friends and family. *Good 3^rd date place.

Suggested from Dan V as one of the better Japanese restaurants in the city.
We all ordered the «gourmet» kaiseki meal for $ 86. It was a 10 course extravaganza!
–osechi style starters (good)
–sashimi of maguro, tai, and lobster tail (the live lobster was on the dish as well) (great lobster and tai, not so great maguro)
–grilled tai topped with marinated renkon (tasty)
–boiled veggies with broth (broth was very good)
–deep fried soft shell crab and veggies (good)
–vinegared seafood and veggies (average to good)
–boiled lobster claws and body (great)
–miso soup with boiled lobster body (best dish of the meal, although all of us were getting full at this point)
–tsukemono with steamed rice (average)
–macha ice cream (average)
For a kaiseki meal, the meal seemed too rushed. We were getting the next dish even before we finished the current one! The main part was the live lobster which they served in 3 different ways (raw, boiled, cooked in soup), but some of the other dishes were lacking the awe from the lobster (taste, quality, etc).

Nice and very Japanese reception area but just okay in the seating area (brightly lit in the «tatami» seating style– no bending legs but you do have to take off your shoes.)
Food wise, you would think it would be great since it is part of Hilton but unfortunately, it is nothing to write home about.
Service earned the third star. Food showed up promptly and the server was very nice.

I was damn fortunate to be invited to this company holiday party in one of the private rooms. thank buddha it was western style seating, otherwise i would have been limping like filmore slim. the tsukemono and sake was divine. the big surprise was eating nearly live lobster. i was blown away that they were still moving around even though they were all sliced up. the presentation was incredible and all of us were so yopparatta (translation: hammered) we started serving some of the lobster sake. we all thought they were drinking it too, i guess not such a bad way to go out. it was a night to forever remember as sadistic it may sound.

Interesting menu. Overall the food was average. I had the kobe beef shabu shabu. The quality of beef was excellent, the vegetables that came along with it were fresh but the quantity of them was medium. Regardless, a nice dish. Also enjoyed the deep fried crab which was good as well. Just nothing compelled me to give the place a higher number. though the service was very good!

The food is consistantly good here, little pricey, but lunch is very reasonable.
The basics, rice and miso soup, grilled fish, vegetable dishes were good. I’ve had Sukiyaki here once, little to salty for my taste.

Kiku of Tokyo is starting to become my favorite Japanese restaurant in San Francisco. If you want to experience some serious Japanese dining experience, head to Kiku of Tokyo.
Reason 1: Flexibility. You could have a nice business dinner and spend $ 80 – 100 per person or go there for a regular out of pocket dinner and spend only $ 30/​person.
Reason 2: Lots of food. When you order their course, food keeps coming, and each dish is substantial, which is normally not the case in most of the expensive restaurants in Japan. Set dinners here is exceptional value.
Reason 3: Quality food. This is no everyday Japanese food. It’s not quite at the level of ‘ryotei’, which is the highest level of Japanese restaurants, but more of an average Japanese business dinner establishment (which is actually at a very high standard).
Reason 4: Environment. A much more peaceful and roomy restaurant, compared to places other Japanese restaurant in the city. Best seats are the three semi-​private tatami rooms: one for a large party while the other two are for groups of 4 – 5 people. There are two large seating areas hidden off in the back, used mainly for laud Japanese parties (‘Enkai’). The regular seating area is not trendy like Bushi-​Tei or Ozumo (
), but there is sufficient spacing between the seats and the restaurant is relatively quiet.
Experience: From their neat entrance to their semi-​private dining rooms (where you need to take your shoes off), experience is much like those business restaurants in Tokyo. Hotel restaurants like Kiku often get a bad reputation, but I like this peaceful oasis in this laud neighborhood. Their service is professional and polite with waitresses wearing traditional dress — however, you won’t get the mom & pop atmosphere like Tekka (
) or Okina (
) that many Unilocalers enjoy. The menu you are handed, Japanese or English, tells you if they profiled you as a Japanese or American.
Menu: Four main categories; (1) sushi, (2) small dishes, (3) set dinners, and (4) courses. I haven’t tried their sushi, but the rumor is that this is not where they shine. Their small dishes menu include items like crab chawanmushi ($ 4), crab cream korokke ($ 6.50), mozuku ($ 6), anago-​ten ($ 9), mini-​gyoza ($ 8), chicken tsukune ($ 6), etc. One day, I want to order a bunch of these little dishes as my meal, but I know it will cost me a bunch.
Course Menu: In fall of 2006, their best course was $ 86. I tried this and it was amazing. Fresh and tasty lobster sashimi came with lobster head mounted on my plate with legs moving throughout the meal. Nimono had just the right amount of flavoring. Gindara kasuzuke was also very good. I cannot remember all that was included, but it was a lot of food. Other courses include Sukiyaki course for $ 47, shabu-​shabu course for $ 47, golden course for $ 67, and washoku course for $ 37.
Set dinners: THIS IS THE BEST VALUE FOR $$$. At $ 23.50, you get to choose two dishes (tempura, beef teriyaki, chicken teriyaki, grilled fish, and grilled kurobuta) and it comes with a small dish (tofu dish when I went) and sunomono. It includes dessert (mango ice or macha ice). Tempura came with 3 pieces of shrimp! Sashimi included thick slices of tuna. Grilled kurobuta was very nice with potato salad on the side. Very filling and it’s a steal at $ 23.50. They probably profit the most from those business customers, but they also try to attract family customers by offering set dinner items, which business customers would never order.
NEGATIVES: Parking in this area is difficult. Head west to the sketchy neighborhood for the best opportunities. Food here is good and at professional quality (oppose to home style cooking at places like Kuishimbo (
) or Tani’s (
)), but don’t expect innovative food here. Places like Koo (
) or Ozumo will give you a more entertaining culinary experience. Also, food here is good, but not as refined and delicate as some of the quality restaurants in Japan.

This place has some of the most authentic Japanese food I’ve had in the Bay Area. It’s a bit pricey, but you won’t find chicken with corn starchy teriyaki sauce either. My uncle was here from Japan and his travel agent recommended this place. I had never been, since I kind of thought it wasn’t around anymore; no one I know has ever talked about it! The service was impeccable; all the waitresses are older and wear kimono to serve you. It’s a traditional kaiseki menu, so I don’t want to describe every course, but everything was so fresh, I was very impressed.

Some of the best Japanese food I’ve had was right here at Kiku. The place is a bit underwhelming in décor, granted, but it somehow feels very natural and unpretentious. The food was simply terrific. I ordered a variety of sushi and all of it was fresh and memorably delicious. You pay for quality, of course, and the bill was a bit higher than would be at most places, but I’ll always remember the food here!

The tempura set was better than most that I’ve had in the city. The service was good, but the menu lacked the creativity that most places try for. Very possibly an authentic replica of hotel restaurants in Japan — showy & decorative, but not a whole lot more than average.

Real great and traditional japanese restaurant.(located inside Hilton Hotel) I would highly recommendated for «LUNCH». Great Price n’ Food~~But their hours are kind of catchy!!! close 1:30 for lunch. (call to check on their time first)

Best Japanese Restaurant. You will enjoy real Japanese food. There is Kobe beef, you can have shabu shabu, sukiyaki and steak. You will enjoy seasonal food also.