Tokyo Gogo, Mission District of SF
Ordered: Kobe Beef Tataki, Blood Orange Cosmo, Chinese mussels, shrimp tempura roll, curried cuttlefish
After seeing the movie “The Future of Food” a fellow foodie (of which I know very few, actually) joined me for dinner at Tokyo Gogo. We were supposed to go to Andalu that night, but unfortunately Andalu ran out of food and we were turned away. I had been to Tokyo Gogo, drunk, not that long ago though, and I remembered that it had pretty good food. So we meandered the 20 ft over to have dinner at Tokyo Gogo instead.
The Japanese are ingenious for inventing Kobe beef. It really is absolutely amazing stuff - well worth the price paid for it. Tokyo Gogo has an amazing implementation of it - their Kobe Beef Tataki. The meat is seared briefly on the outside, leaving the middle quite rare. They have it accompanied with a dash of Ponzu sauce, and a smidge of wasabi on each of the thin slices. Needless to say, the wasabi and ponzu worked really well together - they also worked quite well with the beef. Instead of being the main flavor, they were something of a background to the true flavor of the dish - the beef. Kobe beef, if prepared correctly, is extremely tender. I’ve never been a huge fan of red meat, since it always seems tough (which is why I generally get filet mignon - it’s less tough to chew). Kobe beef, however, belongs in a category on its own. Red meat just doesn’t have a consistency like that. If you’ve ever experienced it, you know what I’m talking about.
I paired this wonderful delicacy with a Blood Orange Cosmopolitan, made with sake. I’m not sure if it was the blood orange or the sake, but the Cosmo had a slightly unpleasant bitter taste. I was not a fan of it. It wasn’t terrible, but I definitely would not get it again. I finished it, of course (I never waste alcohol) but I chose not to drink too much of this with the kobe beef - I saved it for the dishes I liked less.
The other dishes were Chinese Mussels, Curried Cuttlefish, and a Shrimp Tempura roll. The Chinese mussels were interesting - with a bit of spice on the outside of the mussels. They weren’t anything spectacular, but they were quite good. Perhaps my perception was skewed since I’d had the Kobe beef first. The curried cuttlefish was good - the cuttlefish was tender, and not chewy or tough. Curry was an interesting flavor for it, but it worked out well. It also was probably overshadowed by the amazing Kobe beef dish. The shrimp tempura roll was nothing special either, but I’d ordered that just to be sure I was full at the end of the night.
All in all, a great experience. Helpful wait staff, a very trendy, San Francisco-esque interior, and great food. The only real blemish was the blood orange cosmo - but that could just be my personal taste.
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Taste of Food: 9/10 (The Kobe Beef gets a 10/10 in my book!)
Overall: 8/10
After seeing the movie “The Future of Food” a fellow foodie (of which I know very few, actually) joined me for dinner at Tokyo Gogo. We were supposed to go to Andalu that night, but unfortunately Andalu ran out of food and we were turned away. I had been to Tokyo Gogo, drunk, not that long ago though, and I remembered that it had pretty good food. So we meandered the 20 ft over to have dinner at Tokyo Gogo instead.
The Japanese are ingenious for inventing Kobe beef. It really is absolutely amazing stuff - well worth the price paid for it. Tokyo Gogo has an amazing implementation of it - their Kobe Beef Tataki. The meat is seared briefly on the outside, leaving the middle quite rare. They have it accompanied with a dash of Ponzu sauce, and a smidge of wasabi on each of the thin slices. Needless to say, the wasabi and ponzu worked really well together - they also worked quite well with the beef. Instead of being the main flavor, they were something of a background to the true flavor of the dish - the beef. Kobe beef, if prepared correctly, is extremely tender. I’ve never been a huge fan of red meat, since it always seems tough (which is why I generally get filet mignon - it’s less tough to chew). Kobe beef, however, belongs in a category on its own. Red meat just doesn’t have a consistency like that. If you’ve ever experienced it, you know what I’m talking about.
I paired this wonderful delicacy with a Blood Orange Cosmopolitan, made with sake. I’m not sure if it was the blood orange or the sake, but the Cosmo had a slightly unpleasant bitter taste. I was not a fan of it. It wasn’t terrible, but I definitely would not get it again. I finished it, of course (I never waste alcohol) but I chose not to drink too much of this with the kobe beef - I saved it for the dishes I liked less.
The other dishes were Chinese Mussels, Curried Cuttlefish, and a Shrimp Tempura roll. The Chinese mussels were interesting - with a bit of spice on the outside of the mussels. They weren’t anything spectacular, but they were quite good. Perhaps my perception was skewed since I’d had the Kobe beef first. The curried cuttlefish was good - the cuttlefish was tender, and not chewy or tough. Curry was an interesting flavor for it, but it worked out well. It also was probably overshadowed by the amazing Kobe beef dish. The shrimp tempura roll was nothing special either, but I’d ordered that just to be sure I was full at the end of the night.
All in all, a great experience. Helpful wait staff, a very trendy, San Francisco-esque interior, and great food. The only real blemish was the blood orange cosmo - but that could just be my personal taste.
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 7/10
Taste of Food: 9/10 (The Kobe Beef gets a 10/10 in my book!)
Overall: 8/10