Hama-Ko Sushi Restaurant

That was really spoiled evening! The treatment was unpolite from the first seconds of our visit (notice: we are normal family: me, my husband and his mother - and we have never experienced as unfriendly welcome in San Francisco as this one before).
We were waiting for a menu for half an hour. And the first signs of food appeared in an hour (In fact all other clients had their food already, so we were the only people, waitng for a meal).
After waiting for an hour we asked, where is our food, and (that's really nonsence for japanese restaurants) the host started yelling at us.
No excuses!
They just decided that we are tourists (we do have accents) and would never return there again (that's right).
Or they decided that if things went wrong from the very beginning they wouldn't try to excuse or change our opinion.
I was really disappointed.
The food was good (except oysters), but there is no quality that can approve such service!

I found the elderly couple to be incredibly sweet and charming. If you're expecting the customer service of a chain restaurant, go elsewhere - but come here to experience incredibly fresh sashimi. At the sushi bar, we met a sushi chef from another restaurant who told us that this was the best sushi in SF. I have to agree.

Pros: Location, quality of sashimi, charm of elderly couple

Cons: Limited cooked food on menu

This is definitely the freshest and best sushi we've found in SF. We read reviews and knew that there may be a wait and that it is just run by a husband and wife team. But there was no wait and the duo was fabulous. So cute, and I felt like I was eating with family. Can't wait to go back!

Pros: fresh sushi, sweet service

Cons: bright lighting

like other Sushi restaurants in US. As a Japanese who travels frequently from Japan, I would like US citizen to know the place as a real Sushi restaurant. Somebody says the service is not good, but I suspect they are not prepared to experience real rule in this kind of restaurants. I know many sushi places in Tokyo, and many of them have rude owners in accordance with US people's definition. Sorry, but true. Most important is how faithful owners are in terms of taste and quality. I think Hamako is one of the best in the world.

Pros: taste, selecting customers, customers are good

Cons: english ability, selecting customers, small

This place is a gem. The sushi is made by an old master of the craft, very much in the trditional manner, and the quality is superb. Sushi is a vehicle for the best fish the chef can find, and Hama-ko consistently finds the best one can get in this part of the world. Be warned, however. You are in the presence of a master. Be impeccably polite, and after a few visits, they may deign to serve you the best cuts. Definitely in the mould of a real Japanese sushi restaurant, where only the regulars get the best.

Pros: Highest quality, Authentic, Consistent

Cons: Need to be a regular

I love this place, the food and ambience are great. A true mom and pop sushi shop. For best service, go earlier in the evening. Once the tables fill up, Ms. Sushi serves them in order of seating, and you might not get a menu for 15 or 30 minutes. When they are busy, I go elsewhere because they both get frazzled. Ask about the specials -- they don't post a sign, but always have things not on the menu. She'll also tell you what is extra fresh that day.

Pros: moderate price, Muni stop, great fish

Cons: , parking

My experience with this restaurant was the worst I have ever had with any restaurant in the city. I wanted to have a dinner there with my husband but he was running late. I asked for a table for two and explained that my husband would join me shortly. While the wife, who served the tables, was willing to seat me, her husband openly expressed discontent and suggested I go somewhere else. I excused his rudness by his very poor English but he said what he meant. I made an effort to explain to him that this was not the right way of treating potential customers but he simply turned his back to me without even listening to my arguments. I rushed out of this madhouse determined to never come back to this awful place. Stay away from this restaurant, this bad-mannered couple will kill your good mood.

I visited Hama Ko on Saturday... What a disappointment. I thought since it seemed like a small mom and pop type place it would be interesting or at least high quality. The placed smelled horribly of unfresh fish, the service was slow, which was forgivable because there is only the husband and wife team. I ordered the sushi combination which claimed to be an assortment of nigiri and maki, but got nothing but cucumber rolls and horrible quality fish. I'd pass on this one folks...

Overpriced - and extremely rude. Though I wanted to be nice since an elderly Japanese couple own the restaurant, it was BY FAR the WORST service and experience we have ever had in ANY restaurant. They act like the Sushi-Nazi and their awful personalities should be banned from such a wonderful neighborhood like Cole Valley.

Pros: NONE, Absolutely NONE

Cons: Service, Overpriced

The couple who owns this restaurant should win an award for "Worst Service of the Year". We waited 15 minutes, without even being acknowledged, then when we were finally seated, told that "sushi making" would take at least 30 minutes. We glanced at the menu and saw the OUTRAGEOUS prices...and LOW SELECTION. They do not even carry fresh salmon.

Go here if you really want to waste your time, money and patience.

Pros: zero

Cons: everything

I've been to nearly every good sushi restaurant in the city (hamako, ebisu, ozumo, sushi groove, kabuto, tanuki, tokyo go-go, etc.) and have to say that unfortunately I can't count Hama-ko among them. The staff is friendly, and fogiving of bad japanese, but the fish is mediocre and on the high end of the price range. I've had better quality at We Be Sushi, and for the money, I'd eat there any day.

Pros: Quaint, friendly, neighborhood joint

Cons: overpriced, middlin' quality, slow

Maybe if I hadn't gotten my sushi education at Murasaki this place would wow me. It's good, it's fresh, the service is prompt and friendly. Quite possibly the second best sushi place I've been to in SF, but I'm failing a compelling reason to go back.

Pros: Fresh, friendly service

Cons: Too bright

We checked this place out because of all the hype. Were we ever disappointed. After the long wait, we got some old fish that tasted like We Be Sushi but unfortunately wasn't priced that way. It's cute and I want to like it, but it's just not good. Even Grandeho's on Cole is better.

Pros: cute

Cons: bad fish, long wait, cole crowd

The best sushi I've had in the Bay area (not saying much but still searching for that perfect one). This is a no nonsense straight up sushi place with none of the trendy roll creations that seem to blight the really expensive japanese restaurants. It was like dining at a japanese friends house with their mother and father serving you. Not appropriate for all but perfect for some.

Pros: Homely, Cosey, Fresh fish

Cons: Small

but Hama-Ko is without a doubt my favorite sashimi spot of all time. I don't want you to know because it's small and I don't want it to get too hard to get a table. But of course, I want Hama-Ko to be successful so that I can enjoy visiting there for the rest of my life. I love it THAT much.

Pros: Best fresh fish, Import from Japan, Excellent service

Cons: Expensive

Best Sushi, hands down. None of this fusion crap here, just sushi the way it was meant to be served. The fish is fresh, the rice is right and the meal is a delight. Sure it is small here and can get crowded, but c'mon it is well worth it. There are few places in the Bay area let alone any of the major cities in the US that serve sushi as authentic as Hamako. Kudos to not breaking down and serving what some of the modern food snobs expect is sushi.

Pros: freshness, Fish

Cons: small, busy, small staff