Saru Sushi Bar, San Francisco CA

Great little sushi restaurant with an intimate vibe, top-tier omakase and wine/sake selection. I wish they took reservations.

Wow! Easily my favorite sushi bar in the city. Service was excellent and the fish was even better.
Highlights for me were Chu Toro, Taramiso, Unagi, and a couple others I can't find the name of. I'll be back soon to figure that out =)

Best omakaze in the city, in addition to amazingly friendly staff. If you want a heart warming sushi experience this is the place for you!

I went to Saru Sushi for the first time with my friend a few days ago and we ended up waiting for a little over an hour to get a table as the restaurant only accepts walk-ins. Saru Sushi is quite a small establishment, so understandably it contributes to a pretty long wait time during peak hours. It was not too bad of a wait though as we killed time getting drinks at Mr. Digby's Bar, which is about two minutes walk away.

Once my friend and I were seated, we ordered the halibut tartare, 8-piece nigiri, and a naked scallop roll.

Of the three items we ordered, the halibut tartare was the least impressive. Saru Sushi serves this dish with halibut bones, plaintain chips, and a small portion of seasoned raw halibut. While the halibut bones and plaintain chips tasted alright, I do not think my friend or I would order it again. Essentially, we felt like were just eating chips. The naked scallop roll, in my opinion, was also alright. It consisted of snow crab, scallop, smelt roe, and avocado all wrapped in soy paper. A little sweet from the soy paper and savory when dipped in soy sauce. The 8-piece nigiri omakase, on the other hand, was quite solid. The otoro, or fatty tuna, was one of our favorite pieces. I imagine Saru Sushi stands out most with their sashimi and nigiri.

In terms of service, the chef was quite sweet. While personally I would have stuck with just the omakase, I think the evening service was decently well rounded (minus the wait time)

One of the best sushi restaurants in San Francisco. Authentic Japanese is hard to duplicate the unique experience. Very impressed with food quality. A bit more expensive than others. But well worth the money and a friendly staff is a huge plus. Definitely will recommend this place.

Very impressed with omakase. Intimate venue and very legit and friendly staff. I love that it feels like a tucked away yet very high quality sushi bar in now. Will definitely be back.

Pretty rude and inconsiderate service that takes away from the experience. After more than an hour wait time for dinner, the staff kept trying to push us out, only 40mn after we got in. The sushi is good, but the service is unfortunately not.

Second time here. Ingredients are fresh but certain dishes are not to my taste.

The hamachi truffle was good. The sauce was not overwhelming; it helped bring out the fishs taste.

Blue fin tuna avocados sauce was too heavy, overwhelming the Tunas creaminess. I would use less sauce. (Maybe I should not have mixed everything up.)

White trout roll was my favorite. Fish was buttery, clashing with the rice in my mouth. Yum.

The eel roll was okay. No profile whatsoever.

Lovely service.

This might be the best sushi I've ever had. They don't take reservations or do takeout for a reason. This spot is in high demand so be prepared for a bit of a wait. The inside is fairly tiny but a great vibe with nice murals on the walls and a bar wrapped around the small kitchen so you can watch the chefs do their thing.

We got a ton of different sushi rolls and every single one was so fresh. This was my first time seeing a sushi restaurant use crab stick that actually tasted fresh and like real fish. I genuinely enjoyed a California roll for the first time!

Next time I'm in SF I will be making my way back to Saru. Extremely fresh, high quality fish and great, quick service. What more could you ask for?

Be aware they told me they no longer have outside seating for food orders. The sushi is okay, not amazing. There are many other restaurants with better sushi.

Yum! Use QR code to look at detailed menu!

4 piece omakase was 28 bucks l:

Kelp cured red sea bream, Japan (14)
(Brandon fav)

Wild Yellowtail, Japan (13)

Wild horse Mackerel, Japan (14)

Aburi O-Toro (18)

Saves 1.5 dollars doing omakase and includes a yummy pickled cucumber salad

All nigiri are dressed! No soy sauce needed!
We Ordered extra:
Scallop (yum - like sugarfishes)

Toro toro

Shoyu ikura (yum)

Rolls: white out
Toro toro hand roll m

Appetizers to try:
AJI TATAKI

SPICY CRAcker - seaweed
Cracker with spicy tuna

One of the best sushi in san francisco, but their booking is awful. You call to make sure they have room, you take a cab, arrive within 5 mins and they tell you 45 mins to wait.

Delicious sushi and super friendly staff. It is on the more expensive side but definitely worth the money for the quality of food.

This place gets very busy very quickly. When there's a queue 1/2 hour before they open for dinner, you know there might be something good going on.

The food is astonishingly good even if I do find the ordering menu overwhelming. Having said that, the wait staff are really good at walking you through and suggesting items for you to try. Try getting one of the outside booths. They're good.

Exceptional sushi in a teeny tiny place. Truly one of the smallest restaurants I've ever been inside! A treat though, come early to avoid missing out on a seat.

Lovely little neighborhood spot with quality sushi! They don’t take reservations, so be sure to get there early to beat the line.

The hilly terrain of Noe Valley provides the ideal backdrop for this gem of a sushi restaurant; thus, as you make your way inside, you will find a lively (read: exciting) atmosphere. The menu is almost entirely Japanese with certain dishes inspired by California cuisine, such as shishito peppers roasted and mixed with crisp daikon in ponzu sauce. Make sure to begin with the trademark dish, which is a seaweed cracker that has been tempura-fried and then topped with avocado and spicy tuna. After that, delectable little morsels may be had in the form of precisely sized taster spoons of seared ankimo with scallions and halibut tartare with yuzu. Nigiri, which may contain kampachi, baby snapper, and snow crab, are the sushi selection that loyal customers choose, even if rolls are also available. There are a number of omakases available, including one that consists entirely of salmon, if you would like the chefs to make the selections.

Small store front, very intimate experience. Food was on the pricier side even for SF. Very good quality though. Would go again but not regularly.

This is my favorite sushi house. I love it here. Show up at ten to twelve and you always get right in, no reservations. Decent coffee next door although parking can be a challenge.