Keiko à Nob Hill

Every dish is so fresh here. There are a lot of seafood dishes (crab, cod, red snapper, hokkaido uni), which my brother and I love. We were having a great time until they brought out the scallops. But it did end well with this mouth watering piece of wagyu beef. I think I can still feel it melting in my mouth.

Off the bat they were very accommodating & let me make a reservation for five, one over max. Was a little confused on how to get in, but after figuring out to go in through the at 1224 & wait for the doorman, I was all good. I was the first one to the restaurant for a party of & had the WHOLE ROOM to myself. They were so gracious & waited as long as possible for the rest of my party to arrive. (Arrive early/​on time! Family was 20 min late, after I told him to be there by 6:50! I was pretty irritated, 3.5 hr dinner!) Btw, was trying to be sober but had a glass of rose & a Chenin blanc w/​dinner.
1^st — Sakuramasu/​日本 Trout
Came w/​a little smoke dome that was beautifully removed. The smoke flavor was not overpowering and the cucumber geleé like accent was perfectly refreshing. Slightly acidic & citrusy. Nice start to an amazing meal.
2^nd — Uni/​Hokkaido Sea Urchin
Presentation of this dish was ADORABLE! It came in a little sea urchin shell. Definitely one of the highlights of the dinner. Topped with, I forgot what kind of caviar, & gold leaf. The Uni itself was sweet and mild and not fishy or salty & had a great umami taste. The texture was so velvety & the caviar on top was so subtly salty. I would eat this everyday if I could. It was also on top of a jelly like tasty substance. (Sorry I’m terrible at remembering descriptions, but it was delicious!)
3^rd — Zuwaigani/​日本
Most dishes had micro greens & presentations that were gorgeous & this one didn’t disappoint; although the size of the spoon & the diameter of the glass didn’t help the easiness of eatibility (Yes, I know that’s not a word). The snow crab was on a bed of tangy tomato sauce & an umami flavored thicker consistency aioli. Didn’t get the roundedness of the dish until I had all layers & crab together. Good, but not in top 5 for me.
4^th — Foie Gras
Lightly seared Foie Gras with espresso reduction, sweet potato purée & house made brioche. This foie gras is so smooth on the palate & I savored every bite. The espresso reduction was a little overbearing for my own liking, but I ate it sparingly & it didn’t distract too much from the star of the show. The brioche was nice & buttery. Honestly, if you ruin foie gras in a Michelin starred restaurant, you should go play in traffic.
5^th — Kaki/​日本 Oyster
Tbh I was hoping for a raw oyster since I usually am not a fan of the way the oysters change their taste and texture when deep fried. That being said, I liked the oyster soup very much & the fried one was okay. The soup tasted like a creamy oyster that coated my mouth parts nicely & a little kick from black pepper was a nice touch. I also dropped my phone & knocked the whole thing over & was sad faced, but the waitstaff brought me a new one. Extra points. (I really thought about dropping my phone on the remaining future courses, just so I could have double servings)
6^th — Hotate/‘Hotate’ Scallop
I was so focused on the presentation that I have no idea what the green purée was. Either some special turnip or edamame. The scallop on top was seared lightly & was good, but I love my scallops more raw. The other three were perfectly prepared & exquisite. Top 5
7^th — Tsukiji Market/​Special fish from ‘Tsukiji’ fish
The special fish tonight was Golden Eye Snapper. The broth added table side was saffron soup. One acronym… OMG! the skin was so thin & crispy. Even when dropping some skin in the soup for 10 seconds, it was still crispy. The fish was cooked so well, w/​a buttery mouthfeel. I purposefully ate this as slowly as possible. The microgreens just got in my way. Top 2
8^th — Cornish Hen|’Sous Vide’ with 3 Sauces
Hate to admit this was my least favorite dish. I say that even though it had black truffle mushroom. The texture of the hen was not the business. It took a while for this dish to come out, & the hen texture was like overcooked chicken. Although not dry, there was not much flavor to it. The mushrooms were my favorite part of it.
9^th — A5 Wagyu|Yuzu-Soy Foam, Honwasabi
YES! Grade A5 Wagyu Beef. I was looking forward to this dish & it far exceeded expectations. As simple as the presentation is, a cut this special doesn’t need bells & whistles. The wasabi & pepper really set it off too! Have to admit I was longing for a starch, but the meat was so tender it was like eating a stick of butter. If you don’t know what that’s like, ask my niece. She’s been know to take a bite out of butter & she loves it. Top 3
DESSERT
2 ways: Sorbet,| Purée|Sponge (like Filipino mamon)/Powdered yogurt|Garnished w/​rhubarb| «syrup» on the side to sip after every bite! It reminded me of & pairing & I tasting the changes after sipping the syrup. This dessert was fun! So many different taste & texture combinations to choose from. My part was definitely the purée. The whole dessert was good, but that though. TWSS
**This meal was truly an unforgettable experience and by the end of it I was stuffed.**

I’ve always loved this venue. I came about 8 years ago when it was Le Club and it was a lovely lounge that I was saddened to see go.
However, come Keiko’s– a delightful 1 Star Michelin restaurant in Nob Hill.
I first dined at Keiko’s with my boyfriend about 3 years ago. Back then, it was just under $ 100/​person but the A5 wagyu dish was actually a pretty hefty supplement. So, having returned here this past weekend to celebrate our 3-​year anniversary, we were delighted to see that this menu was really straightforward, no supplement/​up-​selling of any sort –just a straight forward pre-​fix menu. Yes– the price has gone up since then– $ 155/​person. But for the quality of the food and how each dish is executed– this is absolutely reasonable (especially now that the A5 Wagyu is inclusive).
As others have mentioned– the venue is small. The main dining room only seats 7 tables, and for this reason they only have 1 seating per night. 7:30pm on weekends and 6:30pm on Sundays/​some weeknights. Some people don’t like this but I personally do because the ambiance is intimate, romantic and each table gets a great amount of attention from the service staff and the co-​owner, Keiko’s husband. While Keiko is busy in the kitchen, her husband comes around and ensures that each table is well taken care of and takes time to explain certain elements of the dish (if the service staff hasn’t done so already).
The square footage of the place is actually larger in the back– they have two more dining rooms that are rarely used but for special functions– they will utilize them more if you make a request.
There was no amuse bouche but the menu is extensive enough where you feel absolutely satisfied — 9 dishes, a cheese course, a dessert, and Mignardises. For this, I find Keiko’s really a good value, too. At Coi for instance, the 9 dishes included the dessert courses– they weren’t measured independently from the main courses.
Favorites included the Scallop & Turnip Dish, the Tsukiji Market Dish (cooked with a Saffron soup), their signature A5 Wagyu, and their cheese course. They change their menu seasonally but ever since they’ve opened, I’ve always seen a varation of their Foie Gras (most popular is their Foie Gras with espresso sauce version), Uni, and Wagyu.
They have several wine pairing menus — the basic at $ 138, the magnifique for $ 295, and their Kyukyoku for $ 880. Keiko and his wife are huge winos and have a book as thick as a bible– their collection exceeds 100,000 bottles, hence why they have such high end wines. We opted to order several wines by the glass instead, which ranged between $ 15-​$ 30/​each.
All in all, Keiko’s is really the ideal restaurant for a romantic night out or a special celebration. Due to the small space, make a reservation well in advanced and keep it to a party of 2 or maybe up to 4.
They do have a very very strict cancellation policy — if you cancel within 48 hours, you will be charged $ 100/​person, so prepare accordingly.

4.5 Stars
Went here on Thursday night and was very delighted with the food and wine pairing. Plan on 3.5 hours for the dining experience as that is how long it will take from start to finish with 12 courses. Also don’t come starving or full as each course is very petite but are rich in flavors.
The owner /​sommelier did a fantastic job with the wine pairing and explaining each wine we had. Not pretentious but rather informative.
The only reason for the half star deduction was the last 2 courses came slow and we were tired after being there for 3.5 hours.

Really about 3.5 stars but I’ll go ahead and round it up to a 4.
Came here for dinner on a Sunday night with my two friends who just recently got engaged and I wanted to treat them to a nice dinner off on a recommendation from a friend in LA who highly praised this place.
Overall, I thought it was good but not great. It’s a 12 course menu made mostly from seasonal ingredients and we went ahead and did the magnifique wine pairing which is about $ 295 per person.
Some of my favorites were the uni, prawn and trout dish. The natural flavors really stood out and it was delicious. The other dishes were good and unique on its own but it didn’t leave me wanting more. My least favorite was the tempura but this is only bc I really do not like tempura being a part of a tasting menu/​omakase but that’s just my preference.
The service was fantastic and the sommelier was very informative without being pretentious and in fact, was very personable. The timing of each dish was perfect and my friends and I had a good time.
I’d recommend this place to those who have not had a tasting menu dining experience but to those that have had such dinners, you’re not missing out on too much.

Pricey but a very good dining experience. My sister and I took our mom here for Mothers Day for a 4 hour meal. They only offer a set menu that changes based on seasonal ingredients for $ 155. We also ordered a bottle of wine that was an additional $ 85.
My favorites were the sous vide hen, market fish from Tsukiji, wagyu beef, and dessert! The dessert was especially unique and refreshing. It was a strawberry themed dish done many ways (e.g., with mousse, ice cream, shortcake, and fresh fruit). Everything meat wise was well cooked and had very clean flavors. I definitely finishing the meal feeling really good.
I really appreciated how much variety of food you get to taste in Keiko’s menu. I got to eat trout, crab, uni, foie gras, scallops, chicken, wagyu, cheese, and a bunch of sweets in one sitting.
Service was good and as others have mentioned, they tack on a 18% gratuity automatically. I think this makes sense given it’s a very small restaurant with only one seating time each night. We were super lucky to get a reservation the day of through Open Table because I’m pretty sure someone cancelled. Overall, solid fine dining restaurant in the city and very deserving of a Michelin Star!

I haven’t been to very many Michelin starred restaurants, but Keiko on Nob Hill was probably the best dining experience I’ve had.
It was a 12 course menu. I can not pick a favorite. They were all amazing and different. Each course offered something unique.
I for one liked the machine like service. I liked how they only serve their dinners at a certain time. I also liked how they serve each course to everyone at once. I liked how they describe each course in detail. It just made everything feel perfect and structured. I guess the engineer in me liked that.
Like I said, I liked all the courses. Even though I can’t pick a favorite, the worst was the dessert course. But I’m not a fan of dessert anyway. I actually liked the mignardises at the end of my meal better than the dessert.
For the wine pairings, you can choose among 3 options: grand, magnifique, and kyukyoku. The kyukyoku wine pairing, which translates to «ultimate,» is about $ 880 per person. It features the rarest wines and requires 4 people to get it. We only did the grand wine pairing.
Here is a brief account of the courses:
Japanese Cherry Trout — I lived the smokiness.
Paris Soir, a potato soup with caviar and French fry. I loved the umami of this dish.
Japanese Snowcrab — very refreshing. It was like a gazpacho with yummy crab meat.
Foie Gras with espresso — very good. Loved the espresso with the foie gras.
Hotate — great fresh scallops
Uni risotto — rice was nicely done and fresh uni.
Red Snapper — another umami goodness and loved the saffron broth.
Sous Vide Cornish Hen — loved the Parmesan foam. Chicken was juicy.
A5 Wagyu Beef — great beef. I liked the soy foam.
That’s all I can remember about it. The wine pairing went well with each course. I mean, I can’t really say anything bad about this experience. It was one of the top dining experiences of my life.
If you like Japanese food, or seafood, elevated to a high level, you must try this place.

If you have the patience and time definitely try out this place. It’s about 3.5−4 hours total and only 7pm is available.
It’s a great experience the minute you walk in.
The 12 course chef tasting was excellent, food was good portioned and delicious.
Service was excellent, new silverware for each course and the waiters were very attentive.
It was overall a good experience!

12 course tasting menu, $ 155pp.
One seating at 7pm per evening.
I wasn’t as fully aware of my impatience until I experienced these 12 courses over a period of 4 hrs on a precious SF night. A third of the way through the courses I was ready to skip out for in n out. I know that sounds blasphemous. I was hungry, eager, and disappointed by the first few courses. Don’t get me wrong– I’ve sat through many a multi course multi hour long Michelin dinner, but I didn’t feel inspired here.
The décor was a bore– old fashioned, dark, extremely quiet (as another Unilocaler mentioned, you can almost hear whole conversations of other diners). The ambiance lacked energy and over a 4 hour dinner… You better come here with someone interesting or you’ll end up like one of the couples in my dining room– utterly exhausted of conversation looking bored until each was on his/​her phones.
The food was good with impressive ingredients, but wasn’t overall spectacular given the standard reputations of Michelin starred restaurants costing $ 150+. Here’s what I mean– black truffle appeared in at least 2 courses as did foam; these were repetitive. Ex: Cauliflower foam (not enough essence coming through), Yuzu soy foam (salty from soy), and another that I can’t recall. Dessert included English pea cake with chocolate ganache. The chocolate is such a strong flavor that I missed the subtlety of the taste of pea in my dessert.
I don’t take myself to be as talented a chef as Keiko, so I do appreciate the gift and the opportunity. However, competition is hot in the Bay Area and many a dollars are in play.
Notes–
Please do not mistaken the first glass of champagne to be complimentary! I read someone else’s review glowing over this first gesture which led me to believe it was like an amuse Bouche— btw, there was no prepared amuse bouche here.
The service is impeccable here. The staff was quite attentive. Service was the best thing about this experience.
18% gratuity was included even though it was a party of 2.

The sister came to visit from LA and wanted to try this place. The reviews looked good and the menu seemed appealing. Dont be late, the restaurant serves the dinner pre-​fixe all at the same time so its almost like whole restaurant is one group.
I was impressed with the a few of the dishes and most of them looked better than it tasted. We all the know that the cooler the dish looks, the more instagram worthy it is and that matters!!! The prefix offers a good variation of land and sea, from steak to uni to lobster.
I just moved to SF recently and this is pretty good for my 1^st Michelin Star experience in SF. Maybe i need to come back again after I had a chance to try other Michelin joints in SF.

Superb food, stellar service and very knowledgeable staff!
First of all we were trying to get reservations at French Laundry but because they were always unavailable, my sweetie had to change our plans quick for my birthday… one day we will get there in the meantime, Keiko’s was suggested to us by one of his good friends.
We came early since they’d called twice to advice us to come 15 minutes early for our dinner reservation. We were greeted with a warm welcome of all of the staff and were seated immediately at our seats. Since it was a Valentine’s weekend, there were only 4 tables for 4 couples, I presume.
Our sommelier greeted us with complimentary champagne brut or rosé was a nice touch. Ambiance was unassuming, unpretentious and the room was warm. You can definitely hear what everyone was saying.
My sweetie treated me this dinner because we were celebrating my early birthday and it so happens that they were serving Valentine’s prix fixe menu which was more ($ 195). However the presentation and the tastings were outstanding, wanting me to say more, more, please! I paired my course with their Gran wine pairing and the sommelier was a stellar! She was great with her narratives of where the wine came along with their stories, and she also served some of our courses, as well. Everyone had their A game on!
All courses were thoughtfully and carefully created all the way down to the dot of a wasabi for their A5 Wagyu beef course. There were at least 10 courses and although it was a 3 hour dining, it didn’t feel like we were there for that long and we never felt it got boring. The wait staff made sure our glass of water was always filled, I felt like princess, ha!
Keiko’s was a well-​worth one star Michelin. How does one get 2 or 3 star Michelin?
I have been to Gary Danko’s which I love going there all the time but Keiko’s is definitely a different and unique experience, since it was a very intimate dining experience.
I was very blown away and very impressed! It was really was great experience!

Lovelovelove! Went here for valentines and had an absolutely amazing experience. The place is really intimate, with just a few tables in a small room, but with enough space between each party for private conversation. Food was exquisite, and ingredients very fresh. The entire dinner of 12 courses took about 3 hours, so make sure to keep that in mind when booking activities for after dinner.

Japanese French themed chef tasting menu meal course restaurant. 145 dollars per person. Their steamed media was really good. The parfait was amazing. It is Japanese owned and the staff waiters are Japanese. They kno their wines as I did the wine pairing and described about the wine well detailed. Once again Parkin is hard to find. The downfall the food took a long time. But maybe the reason why is because their was a loud snobby demanding group of 7 people who kept ordering bottles after bottles which slowed the pace of the food.

Let me preface this review first by stating that we’ve experienced many fine dining establishments in both North America and Europe. This isn’t new to us and we’ve been to some of the best restaurants in the world.
I don’t know how this restaurant managed to obtain a Michelin Star, but whatever it was, it certainly no longer exists.
We were greeted and brought to our table in a manner that came off as completely fake. Most fine dining establishments treat you like guest. Here I felt like a patron. I cannot remember the décor as it was so plain it was unnoticeable.
This is not a restaurant where you’ll get to know your waiter – or their personality. Everything is a performance. They bring out the dishes to everyone at the same approximate time. They do so in silence. After they’ve placed the plate on the table they step back, recite what it is, and leave. That repeated itself 12 times (1 for each course).
The name implies French/​Japanese. The food was completely Japanese, but for a token fois gras thrown into the mix. The wait staff (save a token caucasian) was completely Japanese.
The food ranged from bad to good. Nothing was outstanding. The uni wasn’t fresh, the tuna was gristly, the wagu sliced 3/​8″ thin. The duck was horrible.
They charge $ 18 – 25 for a glass of wine. Yes, they charged us $ 8.50×3 bottles of VOSS water. I only noticed us going through 1 ½ bottles, so it seems like this racket is 2x worse than it first seems.
They automatically charge 18% gratuity. I can see why: everyone does exactly the same thing and no table has a dedicated waiter. In other words, the service is subpar, and they need to retain their staff, so auto-​tip is the solution.
The bill came to $ 541.86 for two people.
I’ve paid up to $ 3000 for a dinner for 4 before (Joel Robuchon, LV). I look back at that meal fondly and feel it was worth every penny. However, this meal was a total and complete rip-​off. Definitely not the most expensive ever, but as far as feeling like we got what we paid for, it was the worst value, by far.
In a city like SF this place should be gone. We have so many better restaurants to choose from.

I went there with my wife and another couple.
We have been to French Laundry and a lot of other 2 and 3 Michelin star restaurants in the area and all over the world.
This was our second time in Keiko and the second time the food was excellent and the service was on par with the food.
The chef is very creative and all combinations have very unique flavors and you keep expecting more and more even when you are very full already.
I really like this place that consistently delivers high quality!

If I had to choose one word to describe my meal here, it would be «inconsistent.» I feel bad giving a bad review because the waitstaff was really friendly and attentive. But having been to several of the prix fix tasting menu restaurants in SF (eg Michael Minna, Quince, etc) I have to say this place just is not up to par. Out of 9 or so courses, maybe 2 of them were really good, and the rest were either mediocre or bad. It’s possible we caught them on an off night, but I wouldn’t go back because it’s too expensive to take another chance on it.

Such an excellent dining experience! The food was so so so delicious, and the service was on point – often coming to fill our waters and take plates, but never interrupting our conversation. As for the ambience, it was definitely intimate (our dining area only had 4 tables total).
Oh, the food. It was a fixed menu on Christmas Eve ($ 195/​person). My favorite dish by far was the foie gras espresso. It was melt in the mouth amazingness, and with the espresso sauce, it was… je né sais quoi! Such a wonderful, unexpected pairing of flavors. It also came with the most perfect crisp-on-the-outside,-soft-&-still-warm-in-the-inside biscuit ever.
My second favorite was the special fish from the Tsukiji fish market in Japan. It was fried with the scales on giving it a great crunchy texture with every bite. According to the waiter, it’s the only fish with which you can do that and have scales that are actually edible.
I won’t go into detail about every item since there were 10 more, but basically, everything was delicious. The one critique I would have is that for a few of the dishes, I didn’t feel like the sauce enhanced it at all. I mean the main component of the dish was already amazing alone, but I had wished that some of the sauces would bring the dish to the next level and blow me away (like the espresso sauce did).
Would go back & would definitely recommend!

We had a lovely meal here for the mister’s birthday. But first: beware of where you park if you wear heels. This is literally on top of the hill (like the name implied) so you would have to endure some steep climbing before getting to the restaurant. I suppose you could Über if you live within the city proper.
The restaurant is nestled inside of a nice hotel. The plaque outside is not too obvious, but also not too hard to find. The inside has a very low key yet luxurious atmosphere — it almost feels like you’ve stepped into someone’s billion-​dollar home, waiting for some butler to serve you an intimate meal.
They have a seasonal set menu with many dishes, and a lot of them with Japanese influence. Our meal consisted of ingredients like uni, hotategai scallops, foie gras, Muscovy duck and wagyu, amongst other delicious seafood.
The highlights of the meal included the snow crab, which was served chawanmushi style (steamed atop egg custard), and was very light and complex in taste. Or the wagyu with the delicious yuzu foam that comes with it. Our absolute favourite was the special cheese course — instead of the usual fruits and cheese wedges, the chef had whipped up a cheese dish with a caramel crust that looked more like a crème brûlée, except it was savory and tasted heavenly. It paired well with the seasonal fruits atop the cheese, and it wasn’t overly rich, so it was very befitting as the course between the main dish and the dessert.
We would just come here again, if only just for the cheese dish. That is pretty much the reason this is rated 5 stars.

What not to love about this place?! The place is elegant and cozy. The service is spectacular.
I can’t stop telling everyone how much I liked the meal, especially the foie gras dish!
The playing is beautiful, but not overly done. The portions are perfect, more than just a few bites. The ingredients are superb. The flavors are amazing. The menu covered a diverse options of protein, great combinations!
The desserts are just perfect, not too much, not too sweet!

A new experience for me. If you’re not into raw high quality fresh seafood then you should skip this. Otherwise the 12 course meal is really a wonderful experience. Fresh high quality seafood and beef prepared to perfection. Great service and if you add wine pairing you’re in for a special treat. This is a special occasion meal. Each course is small but the fresh quality is well worth the visit.

I haven’t been here in awhile. I learned that they haven’t had their bar menu for awhile. This disappointed me as my life has changed and am now on a budget. So, now that Keiko’s does not have a bar menu, this pushes me out as a potential customer and limits clientele to those who can afford their prices. I really like the foie gras here so I guess I will need to look at other restaurants that serve foie gras that I can afford. Please consider bringing back your bar menu for the rest of us who would like to enjoy your food, wine and elegance by giving us the choice to either go with the multi-​course meal or a la carte. People like me are going out for dinner less and less, so by making your food available for all to enjoy, will further keep your business sustainable. Thank you.

I’ve been wanting to visit for many years and was let down. I’m giving them a 3 for overall experience, an average between very good food (4) and disappointing service (2). As many others have indicated, the food is stellar — fresh ingredients (except the uni and anago which tasted old and previously frozen), innovative presentations and tasty sauces — but the service leaves much to be desired.
My favorite dishes were the katsuo sashimi (with cherry wood smoke), seared foie gras, and duck.
A few things to note:
— Unengaged service. To start off, our server (s) did not greet us nor ask if we wanted something to drink. Wouldn’t one of the cardinal rules of a server be to greet your patrons — especially at a high end place like this — and welcome them to the restaurant. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited and waited for someone to stop by and take our drink order — they did drop off the extremely small wine list with the food menus — but ended up having to flag someone down and asked if we can order our drinks. To add insult to injury, none of the servers engaged in any conversation with us – no «good evening, how are you,» no «are you celebrating a special occasion,» no «how is your food,» after any of the courses, no «can we get you something else,» etc. But they do charge a mandatory 18% gratuity. In other words, the service we received was something I get at a pizza joint or ramen shop.
— $ 8.50 water — please please please give your patrons a choice between paying this or tap water which I’m assuming is free (or maybe not?). We ended up spending $ 50 for water (for a table of 4) which is just plain unreasonable.
— I was denied butter with my brioche because «there is butter IN the brioche» — ummm ok but I wanted butter anyway so couldn’t I have some?
— They only serve wine; no beer; no full bar. And the entire wine list (glasses and bottles) fits on ¾ of a page. One of our friends does not drink and there were virtually no options for her. Only coke, diet coke, sprite and ice tea. No fruit juices, spritzers, tonic water, etc.
— Parking — Hey I get it, it’s Nob Hill on a Saturday night in December so it’s a little extra busy but again, at a place like this either offer valet parking or give patrons warning ahead of time that it’s a difficult neighborhood to park in and offer several options. When the restaurant called two days before to confirm our reservation they did not provide this information. When I asked where we should park they mentioned one garage nearby which was full. We were more fortunate than our friends who drove around for 50 min until they found parking.
You can get all this for the low low cost of ~$ 200 per person ($ 145 course menu, $ 20 glass of wine, $ 8.50 water, 18% gratuity).
It is tough being a Michelin-​starred restaurant because they are viewed under a microscope and have a lot to live up to. That said, there are so many non Michelin-​starred restaurants that are deserving of a star (or two or three) because they’ve had better food and service where I’ve left having had a fantastic experience and can’t wait to return.

Surprised this restaurant for my manfriend’s birthday and we had such an amazing night. Dinner starts at 7pm sharp and can roughly last until 10pm. I chose this place because we love to experience michelin starred restaurants for special occasions. Well, I mainly chose this place because… every item on the course menu seemed mouth-​watering.
I loved the fact that everyone’s dinner was the same thing at the same time! Whenever I eat out somewhere, I get a little antsy when I see another table receiving their food first – NOT HERE! Or when you see a waiter walking by with a delicious plate and you’re thinking to yourself, ‘why didn’t i order that’ – NOT HERE! There is no impatience and no feeling of missing out on several dishes from the menu!
Food is impeccable! Let me tell you, every single dish was so precisely prepared that we scraped off every piece of sauce/​food on our plate. My favorite dish was the uni and caviar, a5 wagyu, duck (i don’t even like duck), and their fois gras. Scratch what I just said – like i said, every single dish here was phenomenal! However, I truly feel that you will only be able to appreciate this restaurant if your palate is familiar with Japanese cuisine like sushi. If you’re not a big seafood fan then I would not recommend this place seeing that majority of the dish here was fish… fish dish!
It ’twas indeed expensive but money well spent. Sometimes you spend that amount at other places and feel robbed. Here, I actually left with the «just take all my money» meme. ~.~

I am truly torn in a 4 – 5 star rating merely because of the restaurant not making it clear that I would be paying $ 8.50 per a bottle of VOSS water. So beware! I have warned you. Ask for tap water and don’t burn a hole in your wallet like we did.
Besides that fact. the food at Keiko was amazing. Truly a great experience for my taste buds. The entire meal was about 3 hours, but didn’t feel that long since it was three hours of enjoying delicious food!
The dining room only has 7 tables and is pretty dim and very quiet. I definitely felt like I had to whisper, and I could hear every little clank on from the silver wear to the plate.
I want to keep this review simple because I definitely think that anyone should experience it themselves, but I cannot write this review without saying how AMAZING the Wagyu was… I can’t stop dreaming about it. I can’t stop talking about it to all of my friends. It was like butter… and it melted it my mouth. A lot of people use that term, and the beef they talk about it good, but it will never be anything like the Wagyu served at Keiko… I’ll never forget how it tasted!
Service was impeccable. Waters constantly filled and topped off even after a few sips. Plates taken away quickly and food served with great knowledge of each ingredient. They add an automatic 18% gratuity and it is much deserved.
12 courses for $ 145 is definitely worth it and we got super full, so don’t let the big fancy spotlight make you think otherwise. Try it out for yourself!

I am absolutely furious that they charged us for water at $ 8/​bottle and didn’t bother to inform us. Yes, there was a disclaimer on the menu that drinks are not included in the course menus but water? Isn’t water a basic drink most restaurants offer for free? Upon sitdown, the only question asked was whether we preferred still or sparkling water. I felt that it was deceiving not to let your customers know about the charge. Their service was so attentive that they kept the refills coming each time I took a sip. By the end of the night, I was charged over $ 20 for water alone! (Please adjust your menus to show water prices and to inform your guests that refills aren’t free.)
As for the food, I honestly enjoyed my experience. There were some strange dishes but overall most dishes were tasty and done with excellent care. Take your time to enjoy as it is a 3 hr intimate dinner.
As for atmosphere, the lighting was a bit too dim for me. Along with the food coma all I wanted was just to sleep.

Had high expectations and was a bit disappointed.
There is only one serving per night so don’t be late. They start promptly at 7PM and although I overheard that if you arrive after they’ll start you at whatever course is served at that time, I saw that they brought out the previous dishes for the tardy table. A bit stressful if there’s unexpected traffic jams or if you can’t find parking in that impossible neighborhood.
We found that the fish/​seafood dishes were well prepared and very interesting. Crispy skin on the fish, refreshingly chilled uni, well battered tempura. However, we didn’t like any of our red meat dishes. The curry sauce for the duck was odd, the Wagyu was ok but my biggest gripe is w/​the foie gras. It wasn’t seared well and as we know foie gras is a bit rich and hence the usual pairing of something sweet or light, ours was paired w/​an extremely strong espresso sauce. It was so strong I couldn’t eat it. Period. More for the hubs.
There was a $ 50/​person supplement for the truffle that was optional for our tempura fish. I didn’t find that it added much in terms of flavor but they are generous w/​the shavings.
Distilled water is $ 8.50/bottle and the refill every time you take a sip.
18% gratuity is automatically added to your bill w/​an extra line to add more if you found their service deserving.
I can’t exactly say my meal was worth $ 570.

I really like this place. The spirit of service, the way they choose food supplies, wine, music, they pay attention to every details.
It feels like in Japan. They speak Japanese here too.

I can’t say that I am NOT impressed, however, there were just a few things that made this place shy of 5 stars for me.
I made a pretty quick and easy reservation on Opentable for this restaurant about 3 weeks ago as I knew I wanted to dine here. They only do one seating per night at 7PM so be sure to get there on time or even a little early. This place is TINY. We’re talking like 7 – 8 tables that seat a maximum of 18 people. The night I went there were only 16 people.
The staff are friendly, but inconsistent. You do not have the same waiter, and therefore whenever you ask a question some waiters are just more knowledgable than others and you don’t get the same experience across your entire meal. The coursings were perfect and the pace was good.
However little things annoy me like … how they did not bother to fold people’s napkins at the beginning of dinner after they had gone to use the washroom, but only did so after. They did not clean up the table prior to different courses of the meal. They kind of discriminated in serving size and portion between men and women which IMO is a bad assumption on any restaurant’s part. And finally, they didn’t take care to clean the plate or ensure consistent plating between two people at the same table. Sometimes his plate was kind of a mess when it came out and they didn’t bother to fix it. I can’t believe the kitchen allowed it to come out that way!
The wine pairing, I can’t say would have been worth it since it goes up to $ 880 pp. (!!!) but the food was delicious. I especially enjoyed the A5 Waygu. It was probably one of the best I’ve had in the US!

Food: 4.5÷5
Service: ⁴⁄₅
Overall Experience: ⁵⁄₅
During my first visit to California, I was lucky enough to be able to dine here with my bf for a special occasion. It was both our first times eating at a Michelin star restaurant (Keiko just received its first), and we both were excited and had high expectations. Our expectations were met.
Keiko is located on the first floor of a residential building in the Nob Hill neighborhood and is a fairly intimate restaurant with only around 11 tables per night. They only have one seating time per day so it’s important to be on time so you don’t keep everyone else waiting. Our excitement caused us to be the first one there.
Service: Overall, service was friendly, efficient and on time. We had several different waiters throughout the 3-​hour evening who routinely filled our glasses and introduced each course of the meal. Since we also opted to do the grand wine pairing, the server (Keiko’s husband) did a great job in introducing each wine to us. The only kink in service was: 1) a server accidentally dumped a bunch of ice on the table when trying to refill our drinks and 2) another server accidentally took away my glass of champagne even though there was still ½ left. Luckily, they replaced it when I asked about it.
The Food: There were 12 total courses, including dessert, and all of them were great. A few standouts:
Foie Gras with Espresso Sauce and Sweet Potato Purée with Brioche. This was STUNNING. The Foie Gras was warm and succulent and literally melted in my mouth like butter and the creaminess and flavor of the sauces were perfect. This was my favorite dish of the entire evening. So sad when it was gone.
A5 Wagyu. Such a tender and succulent cut of meat, and perfectly seasoned.
Caviar and Uni: This course was beautifully presented and had a ton of flavor. The caviar gave off a strong, briny flavor that was perfectly complemented with the uni. Delicious.
My least favorite dishes of the night were probably the Tsukiji Market fish simply because the fish seemed a bit tough (the broth was fragrant and wonderful, though) and the Mignardises or dessert selection which was simply an assortment of sweets.
I nitpick, obviously, because this was hands down the best dining experience of my life thus far. I’m still in awe I got to experience this place.

Funny story. I got a message on Unilocal and a guy asked me out. Long story short, he invited me out here for the first time we met. I was surprised, but looking forward to it.
Anyways we got there and it was quiet atmosphere. There was 4 other couples there at the same time we were dining. It’s interesting because everyone is seated at around 7pm for dinner. The dishes all came out at the same time, but they were so beautiful. The place is owned by a Japanese couple; the wife cooks the food and the husband serves everyone along with the other waiters. The food uses lots of Japanese ingredients with French cooking techniques which made things amazing. The service was impeccable and I did enjoy most of my food. They had mentioned they get their fish fresh at Tsukiji Market in Tokyo and get it shipped out daily to get the fresh fish.
I would list all the dishes I got, but really, it would be meaningless since they probably change their menu a bit. If I had to choose, my favorite dishes were the caviar and uni; lobster; and the wagyu beef. The caviar and uni was the most decadent dish out of the dishes we had that night. Great and beautiful presentations.
The only dish that I definitely didn’t like was the cheese course which was a cheese brulee. I thought it was strange because I guess in my mind I think the expectation is that it would be sweet since it was brulee. The other dishes for dessert were great too!
Overall, great food and the service was impeccable. Enjoy the entire experience if you plan on going and dining.
Protip: Just enjoy the experience and if you end up eating a bit slower than the rest of the people there, you can see the next dish as other people in the restaurants are getting their plates. I do wish I kind of took smaller bites to enjoy the experience even more.

(November 5, 2014) Words cannot even describe our experience here. Boyfriend made a reservation at Keiko for our one-​year anniversary. I must say it was the best dining experience I’ve ever had and probably ever will have. This restaurant was very attractive to me because of its Michelin star rating. I’m a huge foodie and also fresh of college, so it’s not the common dining occasion where the final bill matches the check of my college apartment rent. Anyways. I was clearly very excited.
When the night came, we dressed in our finest and drove down to the restaurant. Everyone is to begin dinner (I should say culinary journey) at the same time, so we made sure to leave extra early in order to arrive on time. We were actually the first to arrive. Again, we were really excited. I really enjoyed the cozy and intimate couch-​like seating arrangement. We requested the wine pairing with our food. With each course (there was 12) the waiter brought out a different wine and explained the story and flavor behind each one. I loved how dishes had French and Japanese influences, bringing new dimension to each course.
Each dish was so unique and enjoyable. I took the smallest bites to savor the taste. A few courses stood out to me. The Wagyu that was prepared must have been the best cut of meat I’ve ever had. The Cornish Hen Galantine and the brioche was my second favorite and also the best piece of bread I’ll ever have the pleasure of eating. My third favorite was the Hotate scallop dish. I can’t even explain how good everything was… it just was. Dessert was also a dream. The Chestnut Parfait was the perfect light but sweet finish to the night. Three hours and twelve courses later at the very end of the night, we were the last to leave, having ordered tea to sit back and take in the last bits of our magical dinner. I had absolutely the best dining experience of my life and I’m so grateful that I have a boyfriend that understands my love for food as well.
I wish I could say that this is definitely a place to return to, but I don’t think my current budget would allow it. I would if I could.
Ambiance: ⁵⁄₅
Food: ⁵⁄₅
Service: ⁵⁄₅
Overall Experience: Seems silly that I’m even rating with numbers, because Keiko a Nob Hill is out of this world. — A MILLION STARS/​5

«Excuse me, you can’t take pictures with your flash on.»
Death glare at the white waitress boy who apparently doesn’t know what he is getting himself into. This pouty face will have HER ways…
Prior to our reservation, I specifically asked for a quiet corner so I can take PICTURES with my flashes on. Did you not read my notes because your other coworkers got the memo. I didn’t care; I used my flashes throughout dinner. HEH!!!
Guys, put on your big pants and pay… wait a minute, you always pay! Thank you!
For $ 145 per person, you will be having at least 10 courses plus dessert. The restaurant said serving French food, but they were leaning toward Japanese fusion more. About 85% of our dishes was Japanese influence. I was a little bummed when the owner told me. I came here for the French food, not Japanese. Maybe you should update on your website!!!
Even though I was deceived, the food was excellent. The dessert was even better! Be prepared to sit for at least 3 hours for dinner.
P. s. Parking can be tricky at this residential area. Be sure to give yourself enough time upon arrival. Cheers!