It’s no secret that Japanese food is having a moment in San Francisco right now. In the last month, I’ve tried a slew of restaurants, each specializing in something slightly different in the cuisine (see Kinjo for omakase and Onsen for the bathouse experience). Okane Restaurant brings something unique to the scene as well—Japanese brunch.
The Japanese counterpart to American brunch is far from sweet. Traditionally, it includes a variety of savory offerings filled with umami. Okane aims to deliver just that, offering four different versions of bento. The plates differ in type of meat (braised chicken, pork belly, sesame beef, or vegetarian), and then a variety of sides. You can’t go wrong with any of the choices, but my personal favorite was the Megumi—the miso glazed cod was one of the best I’ve had.
The bento boxes are already a lot of food, but save room cuz there is one thing on the a la carte menu that you can’t miss—the okonomiyaki. When I visited Japan, I fell in LOVE with okonomiyaki (I even made a gif of it in this post). It’s cooked at street stalls, serving as comfort food or in my case many times, a hangover cure. I’ve been on the hunt for good okono in SF and I finally found it here at Okane. Order it after the bento so you make sure to eat it hot and fresh.
Japanese food no longer means sushi in San Francisco, and I’m excited about that. It’s about time to show how nuanced the cuisine is, and Okane is an important part in realizing that.
Okane Restaurant
669 Townsend Street
Open for brunch, lunch, and dinner
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