Izakaya Sozai

Reviews 6

DI

Diana Chuang

I discovered Sozai a few yrs ago just a couple of months after their grand opening. Its located in a quiet residential corner of the outer sunset. My first time at the restaurant, i waited for more than an hr. Dying from starvation, I almost walked away but my friends urged me to hang on. Boy was I glad that i stuck it out, because Izakaya Sozai became my FAVORITE restaurant in the city, THE place to go whenever I just want some amazing quality japanese food and ramen. Sozai has by far the best ramen in san francisco. Its tonkotsu ramen has the perfect combination of broth, noodles, flavor, and oil. Having been there probably a million times by now, I still let out a happy sigh every time after sipping the broth. the tapa dishes (small plates supposedly complimenting drinks) are almost all good. some are more exceptional than others, but all come with quality. These tapa dishes are small in portion, function like bite sized snacks until ramen, the real stomach filler wraps up the meal. I have tried almost every item on their menu and am rarely disappointed. Desserts are delicious too! The food quality is over the top and Sozai is, in my opinion, the most authentic japanese restaurant in the city (LA quality)!! I am literally Sozais advertising manager because I recommend the restaurant to almost everyone i know or dont know! (owner/chef of Sozai, if you are reading this, I can use some commission ;)) I love this place so much I get excited telling people about it. But at the same time I wish no one goes there so I can walk in and have ramen whenever I want to:)

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OM

Omar Eduardo Fernandez

Minasan, listen up! If there are two things about me that any of my friends know are 1) my love for Japan and 2) my love for food. My friend took me out to Izakaya Sozai tonight and my goodness my life is complete now. The food was brilliant, we tried a fair share of the items in the menu and heres the lowdown. *(1) Ankimo Pate - AMAZING appetizer. One of the best Ive had. Just spread it over the bread and keep eating it. I will be posting a picture under photos here, so go over there and take a look. *(2) Skewers! Pork jowl (cheek), bacon wrapped mochi, bacon wrapped enoki mushroom. All of these were amazing, but my personal favorite was the pork jowl. Very tender and juicy meat, easy to eat and full of flavor. Amazing. *(3) Tofu steak with assorted mushroom. A must try, delicious all the way. It has a garlicy punch to it that just makes it delicious. I never thought tofu would be this delicious. *(4) Nasu dengaku (eggplant). It was good, but didnt quite take me to heaven. *(5) Squid. Good. *(6) RAMEN with Pork Belly. Now, this was the kicker, the broth in this ramen is amazing. Take it from a ramen lover who ate ramen in Japan 3-4 times a week on average every week for three months. This is one of the bests Ive ever had. And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Go enjoy and remember me as you go through the rest of your life. Youre very welcome. (oh, there was one thing that didnt thrill me, they didnt put a plum in my plum wine... but I forgave that as soon as I tried the first appetizer.)

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BI

Bianca M. Curutan

I came here with my bf after hearing a glowing recommendation from him about the ramen here. Although the ramen options are somewhat limited (theres just one broth - the Ritsu Tonkotsu Ramen, but it has numerous additions), it was sooo worth the trip out here to try it out! Sooo delicious! *heart eyes* I ordered it with the braised pork belly, and my bf ordered it with braised pork belly and a fried egg. I also ordered a seaweed salad, which was okay, but I probably wont be ordering it the next time I come here - and there *will* be a next time. The restaurant is somewhat small but with a good vibe. There are tables and half-booths around and some bar seating. Btw, if youre not willing to wait, its probably best to make a reservation or come early. (This was actually our second attempt since the last time he and I tried to come here, the wait was a bit too long for our like). We came around 5pm (when Izakaya Sozai opened) on a Saturday night, and the place was definitely full before 5:30pm. Its worth the wait though if you have the time :)

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TA

Tamara Farhat

After reading about their great Ramen, R decided we should go and try it maybe I change my opinion about Ramen. See he is a Ramen fanatic but me I dont see all the fuss about it. We started with some small plates to share between us. We had the wasabi tuna tartare and fried lotus root. The plate was shiny and clean in just few minutes. Yup, its that good. We also had two sea snails. It was the first time I have them and liked them. They taste exactly like a big snail.We ordered beef tongue skewers, and those were the highlight of the dinner. Real succulent and delicious! And the last small plate was the fried oysters. They were good even though two of them were a bit bitter. As for the Ramen, well it was mehh. Not only in my opinion even R didnt see what everyone was fussing about. The pork was delicious in it, and the egg was the best R had. Overall he gave it a 3.5 stars. It was good but not mind blowing.

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JA

Janet Cheung

The fish dishes are really delicious. (Both raw and cooked). And if I were to rate only based on food, it would have been a 5 stars. However, this place is not good for any group bigger than 4. There were 6 of us and were told that theres a min. charge of $25/person because we have 6 people. I can understand a fix gratuity for big groups. I can even understand a min. charge, but why just for big groups? And why not tell us when we make the reservation? In fact we were told after we made our first round of order... For what its worth, its not hard to hit the min. charge, with such delicious food. Particularly if you skip the ramen, since its not spectacular. Its just a little annoying that we werent told about it upfront and it wasnt on the menu. In any case, I would go back to the place if we have 4 or less people. And also, for a expensive Japanese restaurant Im surprised they dont take AMEX.

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JA

Jane Nguyen

They say Izakaya Sozais ramen is the best in the city. I might have to agree only because the city doesnt have amazing ramen anywhere. ALWAYS has a wait, so better to get reservations and dont go in groups. Youre going to be bumping elbows with the person next to you. Ive tried their albacore carpaccio (REALLY YUMMY!!) and tonkotsu ramen with the additional pork belly and spicy miso. Its nice that the spicy miso comes on the side so you can add to your liking, but why is pork belly an extra?! Oh well. Honestly, I cant remember anything that stuck out about Izakayas ramen other than the way they serve it but I do remember liking it a lot. It can be a pricey restaurant only because its mainly tapas. Ive never craved Izakaya though and I definitely wouldnt drive across the city for it regularly. Maybe Id feel differently if I were an Inner Sunset local

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