Murasaki Sushi Bar

Toshi was the most warm hearted sushi chef I have ever met. I dined here when I first started to photograph what I ate. He noticed this and made me the tiniest nigiri for me to photograph!
Toshi also made the best ankimo I have ever eaten. THE BEST ankimo. I have had many ankimo dishes since but none them not nearly as delicious as the one he gently steamed and seasoned.
Rest in Peace Toshi Sasaki.

I am reading that Toshi passed away? Is this true?
My family went to Murasaki ever since my mother was pregnant with me in the 1980’s. We went there religiously and Toshi and his wife were so kind and made us delicious specials all the time. Toshi and Murasaki will be greatly missed. I am so sad to find this out just now…

Great loss! When I walked by this place and discovered the notice, I was saddened. There are so few genuine Japanese places run by us – JAPANESE, NIHONJIN! (Most are either Korean (Kankokujin), or Chinese (Chuugokujin) Japanese wanabes)! Some are indeed excellent like Yuubi on 6 Ave and Balboa, but most are just not the same as found in Akihabara, or other parts of Japan. I will surely miss this place. This was last true Japanese restaurant on Klemento-​gai (Clement Street).
I suppose one must really go down to southern California for real Japanese community and places to eat as our community here in SF has dwindled over years being replaced predominantly by Chinese community. SoCal has HUGE J-​Community, Little Tokyo, Sateru (Sawtelle, or ‘Little Osaka’) in West Los Angeles, and community in San Fernando Valley as well as in or near Long Beach area. This despite San Furanshisko-​no-​Nihonmachi (Japantown of San Francisco) being largest of three surviving Japan centres in America. (Shamefully, even it is being consumed by Korean and Chinese community)!
There is also small Takka-​no-​shushiya on Balboa near 6 Ave.
What ever plane of existence this nice fellow Sasaki-​san is now from Osaka (?) in or on, I do hope his present existence is still being happy one! Watashitachi wa hontōni o kokorokara nogasu! (We miss you dearly)!

R.i.P chef Sasaki-​San, the Richmond district will always miss your authentic sushi and I’ll miss how close by you were for all my sushi cravings back in the day! :(

Found Sasaki –san’s death through a paper today on 8÷2÷13.
Memorial will be held on 8÷3÷13, but still couldn’t believe it.
I remember his smile, his pride and love of his family.

Sasaki-​san passed away.
What a great loss! He was a real Sushi-​chef trained from Japan.
I believe that he was a cancer survivor or something.
I still remember that he was bitching about making jiveass rolls to keep his business going for non-​Japanese Asians when I was sitting the counter. He was the one who told me that how sushi-​rice is the most important element making sushi.
He was One of the Original 5 star Sushi-​Nazi in SF, that’s for sure.
Sasaki-​san, Thank you. Rest in peace.
A great info from Susy C. San Francisco, «Sasaki-​san had esophageal cancer. He went through a few rounds of chemo, but it was too late.»
tom p. San Francisco, «Yup. I’m going to try out some places you recommended, but will miss him a lot. He had a big heart.»
jim b. San Francisco, «I’m sorry to hear about Sasaki-​san. I could tell it was true Japanese but suffering a little from neglect. Maybe it was just wabi-​sabi. It was a good Japanese place in the Richmond, one less now. Thank you for explaining what happened, I appreciate our reviews very much.»
Hen A. San Mateo, «actually had one of my best omakase here… sorry to hear he passed… »

I found out from Susy C. today that dear chef Toshi passed away. This is a huge loss for the foodie and Richmond community :(Besides his delicious food, his energetic presence and smiling face behind the sushi bar were the best part of dining at Murasaki.
I will always remember the time Susy and I dined there together, immensely enjoying the crab salad, ikura, sweet, sweet uni and raucous girl talk. Toshi was extremely funny and offered me a tangerine in exchange for my diamond ring, which he claimed was about the size of the tangerine anyway. I’ll never forget the way he made us giggle all the way to the car. Rest in peace behind that big sushi bar in the sky, dear sir.

Rest In Peace Toshi Sasaki. You are greatly missed.

RIP Toshi =(
You will be remembered for your perfect house-​made Ikura, finger-​licking Unagi, and sweet, umami packed Dobin Mushi…

So sad to see the closing of Murasaki and the passing of its sushi chef, Toshi. The place shaped my memories of the Richmond, and perspective on amazing sushi.
Thank you, Toshi, for the heart and soul you put into your art … and for opening your sushi bar to us for all these years.

I’ve heard that this place has really good fresh sashimi, but I always get their Udon. Their broth is lighter and less salty than most places so it tastes very refreshing accompanied with a nice cold beer after a long days work. They do tend to close a bit early though.

Was surprised our experience here was so meh; had previously heard good things about this place.
First off, we were the only table of people in the whole place at 7:30ish on a weeknight. Second, the quality of the food was ok but nothing special in my opinion.
For the trek to the Richmond, it’s surely not worth coming here.

I took my beautifuls here for her bday and omakase was, of course, the way to go.
IF you are looking for the new trendy type of sushi joints where they put sauce on nearly everything, fry their rolls, or put hip names on their rolls, this is NOT the place for you.
IF you want quality fish, quality chef with awesome knife skills, and traditional sushi, try this place out!
Our 12 course omakase offered quite a wide variety of food. We had uni nigiri, typical cuts for sashimi, grilled fish, nigiri, and then some.
Things I LOVED:
Mung fish liver= OMG so good! the red roe is just delicious!
Salmon sashimi = Salmon is my go-​to fish for any sushi place, this place tops nearly every place I’ve had it.
fatty tuna nigiri = the tuna just tasted soo good. I’m not a fan of tuna at all because most of the time, it’s tasteless.
egg custard mushroom soup=the soup/​egg custard was infused with the flavors of shitake mushrooms.
Things I didn’t like:
Rice and salmon roe=I didn’t like the taste of the roe, it was too bitter for me.
Things I wished:
Because this place is more on the traditional side, I wished the chef was more creative with some of the dishes.
Summary:
Try the Mung fish liver, salmon sashimi, fatty tuna nigiri!

Momo E. and I came here after a long day of errands and were looking for a bite to eat in the Richmond. Our first choice wasn’t walking distance from where we were so we decided to come here. The restaurant is fairly small though so beware! We almost missed where the restaurant is but we found it!
Anyways our waitress was very nice and brought us hot tea and water right away. It was not too busy for a Saturday evening but there was a fairly large & noisy family that just demanded a lot of attention. And with there only being one waitress at the time we had to wait a bit to order. It was not terribly long though and gave us a sufficient enough to consider some of the specials on the tiny white board located on the back wall. We ordered Ikura (Salmon Roe), grilled whole squid (special from the board), one of the sushi combos (can’t remember specifically but definitely came with an assortment of nigiri), then another special sushi (it was a nigiri) from the board that I again can not remember… ARGH. Sorry! Sigh well about the food.
–Ikura: Good, fresh, and well crafted. Not too much Ikura where you can’t even eat the sushi and not too little where you feel like you are getting shafted and it is 95% rice. Also I will say that this one of my favorites so I have high standards and expectations even though it seems very simple.
–Squid: Excellent. Clean flavors and cooked well. There is a lot of squid though since it is the entire squid. The sauce that it was in was very good, it seemed like a blend between tonkatsu and teriyaki. Sauce was sweet and tangy without being over-​bearing on the squid.
–Nigiris: ALL very fresh, cut well, and delicious. I especially enjoyed the hamachi (yellowtail).
Overall excellent experience and we will definitely be back if we are in the area.

Love this place! The food is good quality and the people are nice. It’s very cozy inside (and very small). We’ve only eaten here once for lunch, and we tried:
— ramen (only one kind, with your choice of broth)
— unakyu roll
Both were superb! The unakyu roll was probably the best I’ve ever had — super fresh and delicious. The ramen was really good too — very simple but full of flavor.
The only issue we had with the meal was the pork in the ramen. It had absolutely no fat and wasn’t tender. I like a nice fall-​apart-​in-​your-​mouth-​covered-​in-​fat piece of pork in my ramen, but this wasn’t enough to ruin the meal. My husband kept saying, «Well at least it’s healthy!»
We will definitely return.

It was my first time here with my cousin, and seeing the great Unilocal reviews, we decided to come here. We walked in and there were only four people, including the chef and waitress, there. We sat down, got our menus and a hot towel. They didn’t have as much on the menu, but enough to choose from. We ordered the spicy himachi, the spider roll and the sake roll. Although our waitress was very kind, it took a while for us to receive our teas and drinks.
We finally received our food after about 10 – 15 minutes. It didn’t make sense because there were barely five people there. But we didn’t have any plans that day, so it was fine. The portions were quite small for the prices. The sushi was alright. The spicey himachi was definitely a kicker, but not too bad.
Overall, I’m not sure how often I’ll be back. It’s a pretty small restaurant that seems to accomodate no more than 15 – 20 people.

Ummm… no imitation Crab and Mayonnaise for me please…
Ahhh…yes a true California Hand Roll made here!
So I came in here craving some Sushi before going home.
Place is small, Place is nice, Place is clean, Place is pleasant,
Chef is nice, Waitress is nice, Cash and Credit Card accepted here.
Ahh…after a long hard day’s work I came in here for some Sushi before going home.
I was greeted and seated.
First thing brought to me was a nice hot wet towel.
Yes, a hot wet towel to sooth and relax and making sure I have clean hands before eating.
Next the menu…
Tuna is my favorite…
One order of Maguro Sashimi
For rolls… I love Hand Rolls over the regular rolls (Hand Rolls have the seaweed wrapped on the outside like an Ice Cream Cone.)
They had a 3 Hand Roll meal… and you can chose which you want from the menu.
I chose the:
California Hand Roll
Spicy Tuna Hand Roll
Unagi Hand Roll
So the waitress took my order and brought me water, tea, soup and some cucumbers while I waited for my sushi.
The Chef was nice to tell me about the ingredients he uses in making Sushi.
What I loved best was the California Hand Roll.
Yes, he uses real crab… not imitation crab.
Real Alaskan King Crab used in my Hand Roll…
Spicy Tuna Hand Roll was good… not too spicy
And the Unagi Hand Roll was good as well… nice and fresh.
The waitress had asked if I wanted more… but this was good enough for me.
I love good sushi and I love good service… I will for sure return here for more.
As many stars as I can rate… I have to say 4.5 to 5 stars.

This is a cute little, hole-in-the-wall’ish sushi bar open til what? midnight?! plus plus.
The fish was very fresh, especially the uni, escolar, & amaebi. The nigiri peices were on the smaller side but nothing to complain about. The sushi rice, however, was a little on the harder side. Maybe it’s cuz I went at 10pm? Prices are average.
They gave a free green tea mousse dessert when I was done along with hot green tea itself!
The sushi chef had an interesting sense of humor, but was very nice. There is a slight language barrier. Very authentic, Japanese.

Not my usual go to sushi place, but sometimes you have to try new things. Instead of ordering my usual simple sashimi, my lover (yes I said lover) and I ordered the pre fixe chef special menu. And a barrage of dishes assaulted us in the best way. Salad, deep fried soft shell crab, sashimi plate, chawwanmushi, assortment of rolls, UNAGI!!! sweetest stickiest thickest sauce. Finally ending the assault with green tea ice cream. Soooo Good.
Just a 2 person operation. Tiny little place. Recommended for couples.

Murasaki is a tiny little place, but on a Saturday at around 7pm, I had no trouble snagging a table for 2. I would recommend making reso’s anyway because it’s such a small place.
Beware, do not let their overall 4 star review deceive you! The sushi is NO BUENO! Typically, at good sushi restaurants, I order sashimi as a true test of the caliber of the restaurant. Turns out, the fish tasted old, fishy, and gross — and it was not cheap either! For the first time in my life, I asked them to take back my sushi. In retrospect, I should have done my research as most the reviews complain about the same thing, so it’s strange that they have a solid 4 star average.
After, I ordered the ramen ($ 10) — they prepare the broth for each bowl individually, so keep in mind that it takes 20 minutes for it to come out. If not for their redeeming ramen (delicious broth, and decent noodles), I would have given this place 0 stars. I also liked the chawamushi (steamed egg dish).