Suika Bento Cafe

So now Suika and Ken Ken Ramen are at the same location, not next to eachother like they used to be. The owner’s girlfriend who started the restaurant biz together is behind the lunch counter and they operate as Suika for lunch. Despite the «bento» in their name, they no longer serves bento. According to her, it was very difficult to predict how much bento to make daily and there was a lot of waste. Now they do curry at lunch time. They also mentioned they were hoping to do a bar in the back of old Suika building, but it was taking too long to get a permit so they’ve decided to rent it out instead
I tried their lunch combination which was half vegetable curry and half pork curry plus a salad. There were 3 options for the salad, seaweed, jelly fish and kimpira, so went with kimira. The salad was really good with kimpira mixed with arugula. The curry was pretty good as well. Vegetable curry has kabocha pumpkin, which makes it a bit sweet. The pork curry was more savory. Loved the fukujinzuke (red pickles) that came with the curry. I’m more of a beef curry person, but pork curry was pretty good. Next time I need to go at night so I can try Ken Ken ramen.

Lunch: Vegetarian Curry… incredibly flavorful!

I can’t attest to the flavor of the curry, as I had to decline my meal after seeing the young woman behind the bar pick a dropped nugget of sticky rice off the counter and push it into the rice already on the plate she was preparing for me. No gloves and no hand washing before preparing my food and after handling cash. Yuck. I know more happens in restaurants that I see, but you could at least try to hide your unsanitary food prep habits!

$ 8 for pork curry plus $ 2 soft boiled egg. Decent.

I don’t understand why there is a sign out on the sidewalk that says Suika Bento when the business is closed, and has been for some time, according to the people at Ken Ken Ramen.

The new Suika is much different from the original Suika. I didn’t see any bento boxes and they redecorated (it looked better before). Now there’s a lunch counter where you can sit and place your order. For lunch they didn’t have a menu. You could choose veggie or pork curry. I’m not sure how much it cost because there was no menu and no receipt given… but the curry and drink were $ 11 so the curry was probably $ 7-​$ 8.
* Pork curry: It’s basically a lot of sauce with a few tiny pieces of veggies and maybe one small piece of pork with steamed white rice and some pickled ginger. There wasn’t enough rice. The sauce has been cooked a long time and had deep flavors and wasn’t too salty, but I wish they had the option to add a cutlet or something to it to make the meal more substantial. It’s made with Ken Ken Ramen’s stock.
The lovely desserts they used to have (Frozen Kuhsterd, cakes) and the cheese mochi are gone (very sad) but you can still order Boba Guys tapioca drinks. They had three kinds. Once again there was no menu so I’m not sure how much it was.
* Iced soy tapioca drink from Boba Guys: not as creamy as their regular drinks, a bit too sweet but with nice not bitter tea flavor, the tapioca balls were perfect — fresh, sweet, chewy, bouncy
I liked the old Suika better. I miss the bento boxes and desserts.

Today, for some reason, they were only offering veggie and pork curry at lunch. I wasn’t looking for anything special, just a cheap meal, so I ordered the pork curry.
I was pleasantly surprised. The pork curry was savory, and the portion size was a bit smaller than I would have liked for $ 8, but it was reasonable.
The boba from Boba Guys complimented the curry well. The white dude who served us was gracious and unobtrusive.
Finally, this café is in the same building as Ken Ken Ramen, which has a… stunningly beautiful bathroom. My jaw dropped at the forest foliage in the ceiling and the stone floor. It felt like walking into a forest cave. Surreal.
If the portion size were bigger, I’d rate five stars.

Why do I crave ramen on a warm San Francisco day?
I was happy to find Suika Bento café almost empty last Saturday. But was sad when they weren’t serving Ramen for brunch. They had a traditional Japanese brunch set instead.
I ordered the salmon shioyaki and this came with tamago yaki (traditional egg dish severed cold), miso soup, daikon nimono and tsukemono. My body was probably very thankful that I didn’t barrage it with a lot of sodium from ramen, so I thought «well, I have room for sugar then!»
Don’t ever ever skip the boba here! The Boba Guys are the gods of the tapioca world since they got the art of cooking boba down to T! (get it? T as in Tapioca!)
I’ll have to come back and try their ramen next time. Suika is a great choice in the Mission if you don’t want to eat Mexican food.

Their teas are amazing. Come later at night for some of the best ramen I ever did have. I love the environment. Perfect for a foggy early afternoon. The server, Rachel is sweet, hospitable and plays great music to boot!
–J

Delicious pork or veggies curry over rice with pickled ginger.
Pair it with organic boba (think organic tea, strauss family farm dairy and perfectly sweetened tapioca with just the right chewy goodness) and you’ve got yourself an awesome lunch.

$ 8 for their curry pork bento. The pork was thinly sliced and lean. The sauce? Well. you can just buy the box kind right?
Bar area seating only.

Well I don’t really know where to put this review because I went to Suika today and hoped that I can try a bento. Upon arrival, I found out that the place was closed. There was an arrow pointing towards ken ken ramen. The lady inside ken ken said that they are not serving bento anymore but they are serving veggie and pork curry everyday. So I bought the pork curry. After I took the first bite of rice and curry, my reaction was ehhhhhh… The rice was so wet and mushy. The texture is just nasty. The curry is so water down. I can barely taste the curry. Onto the carrots in the curry. There is consistency issue. Some carrots are undercooked and some are cooked. Next is the pork, they probably used pork belly. The pork slices are so fatty…50% fat and 50% meat… And the pork curry and rice costed $ 8. It was a complete waste of money. So my conclusion is don’t buy it.

Suika Bento wasn’t open. an arrow pointed to Ken Ken (same owners, next door) where a few selected items were offered:
–bento boxes (3 kinds, 9ish)
didn’t buy, didn’t think about it,
later i wondered when the bentos were made, since they weren’t open. day before?
–cheesecakes, pastries, whole category of cakes weren’t offered.
–japanese snacks (from japan in potato chip like bags)
about 6 types, all potato chip like, fried.
eats:fried potato cracker (4.5)6 ounces
–very sweet, addictive, maybe some msg
–guessing ranch 99, marina market, nijiya may be cheaper.
notes:
–wiil try again sometime for them cakes.

Curry dish mostly sauce, one or two tiny beef and vegetable bits. Otherwise the frozen custard and jasmine tea with almond jelly were decent.

When I made the walk to visit the newest Bento place, I was hoping for more. This resto gave me much, but the food was as cold as a hike up Mont Blanc. Perhaps it is because I have only been in this country a little while but I have never had cold rice, chicken and unidentifiable black slaw served in a box. Maybe I have not been led correctly to know what a Bento box is, the only other one I know is at Blowfish Sushi on Bryant where I feasted on fresh fish, hot rice and the addition of miso.

I was excited to find a tapioca place in this area and gave them a try. Their milk tea tapioca is yummy, the tea itself is not overly sweet, you can really taste the tea and milk rather than pure sugar and the tapioca were chewy balls of perfection. The price was a bit steep for $ 4 a cup, compared to the $ 1 or $ 1.49 ones at other chain stores but I guess you’re paying for fresh ingredients versus powdered milk.
I also tried the mille crêpe cake, it was layers of crêpe with custard like filling in between each layer. Delicious :) Like all Japanese desserts, it was really light and not loaded with sugar.
Their bentos looks delicious and I definitely want to try their cheese mochi next time!

Taka knows what he’s doing when it comes to traditional ramen and now with these Suika Bentos. I had the (saba) mackerel bento last night and the fish blew me away. The fish was cooked just enough so that it retained most of its moisture. The taste reminded me of well flavored sardine. Keep in mind Saba usually isn’t my fish of choice. The bento is rounded out with a good amount of veggies and rice. Recommend for those looking for a satisfying lunch or dinner in the Mission District. Also they have pastries, frozen custard and boba drinks.

The latest entrant in the Mission foodie wars, sub-​category: asian-​vs-​asian. By 12:30 Friday, they were out of two bentos, with only the vegetarian and pork options remaining. My partner and I got both, and some of the green tea cake.
vegetarian bento: much better than expected. Squash, rice, lentil cakes, tomato, lettuce, some other vegetables. I stopped trying to enumerate the specifics, and started concentrating on eating the distractingly delicious bento. A more detailed review will have to be left for later.
pork bento: imagine pork, all this other stuff, pork. Need I say more? Try to direct the conversation towards something that will keep your lunchtime companion busy before purchasing, so that you will be able concentrate fully on eating something delightful.
green tea cake: a green tea cannoli? Fantastic. Speechless. Resolved: try all the desserts, and hello lover, coffee ice cream.
Helpful and energetic staff, minimal Japanese/​hip aesthetic, some seating. What a delightful addition to the neighborhood!

I am trying to explore more places around the mission. I work really close by, and was craving boba, so i was excited to try the boba guys boba here at Suika. I didn’t get a bento because I wanted a snack. They were all out of the Potato Croquette, so I opted for the cheese buns. They were pretty yummy! The boba was yummy as well. Although I didn’t get to explore the whole menu, I am giving them a four star review because the customer service was on point, and now I can get boba on my lunch break. The other bonus: They take card! I can’t wait to try more! I know I’ll be back.

** Note: Suika is at street address 3376, Ken Ken is at 3378.
Suika (means watermelon in Japanese) bento shop is right next door to Ken Ken Ramen (same owners). Mainly a lunch only takeout place, but there’s a few side tables for those who wish to dine inside.
Bento = 3 or 4 stars
Bento menu changes daily, at least 3 choices each day. So far: minced beef katsu, Karaage chicken, pumpkin croquette, pork ginger, pork kimchee, and saba (mackarel) for $ 8 each, or salmon for $ 9.
Avoid the salmon bento, it’s the most expensive item ($ 9) and also the worst one. I bought this on the 2^nd week open.
The fish was overcooked and dry. So I deducted one star.
Each bento box includes white rice, potato salad, and a pair of veggies (selection varies each time) like fresh broccoli, Kinpira Gobo (strips of burdock root and carrots), Hijiki seaweed, and/​or cubes of Kabocha squash. Note: Tamagoyaki (omelet cake) is no longer included in the bento.
Snacks menu = 4 stars
Imported japanese snacks ($ 2-​$ 5),
A Piece Desserts cookies ($ 4.50), potato croquettes ($ 2.50), and «cheese mochi» (5 for $ 3).
The last snack item is not really a mochi (glutinous rice dumpling), but a Brazilian snack that is now popular in Japan. It’s a cheese bun («pao de queijo» in Portuguese) made from tapioca or rice flour, eggs, milk and cheese. This bread is also available at Bolivian (cuñapes) and Colombian restaurants, but made with corn or cassava flour. In SF, Sunstream Coffee also has cheese buns.
Desserts menu = 5 stars
Japanese cheesecake ($ 3.50), chocolate cake, Mille crêpe cake ($ 4), delicious!
Atelier Kawashima’s French macarons, and refreshing frozen custard (flavors: Four Barrel coffee, Thai Iced Thai Kustard) from Frozen Kuhsterd. Honestly, I like the desserts more than the bentos. The cakes sold by the slice and all cookies, are made by Yuko Fujii, former pastry chef at Bushi Tei.
**Updated Hours: M-​F 11:30am-2pm, Sat-​Sun noon-​4pm.
For large orders, remember to bring a tote bag (IF u want to save 10 cents), because starting on 10÷1÷12 the city requires local retailers to charge 10 cents for a large paper bag (exception: free small bags, to hold loose snacks like the «cheese mochi»).

Date & Time: Saturday September 29, 2012 @ 12:30pm
Dining Companions: Husband & Doggie
Scene: Guys in UniqloTees & Girls in Super Dry Tank’s + Short Shorts
Décor: Modeled after Japanese Bento Café. Small, Cute Space w/​Window Counter-​Seating + Wood Benches Indoor & Out
Service: Very Nice Ryan Philippe Dead Ringer
Imbibe: Soy Boba
Devour: Pork w/​Kimchee Bento, Chicken Karage Bento, Cheese Mochi, Japanese Cheesecake & Four Barrel Frozen Custard
Total: $ 28.50
Note: Brought to You By The Guys of Ken Ken Ramen & Boba Guys– Located Right Next Door