Sadko

I came here to do a group project on Russian food and wine pairing with some classmates. I’m not a huge fan of russian food to begin with, but the chicken was so good and tender, and I loved the way they made the solyanka. The guy didn’t really help us when we asked for recommendations, which was kind of a bummer. I ordered a glass of wine, he carded me but didn’t believe me. So that also was kind of a bummer. But he was really nice about it, and offered me some kvass instead which was so good.

Loved this place. I kept ordering more and more of this yammmy Russian food. Try the pelemeni
and the pork shashlik

I’ve had the opportunity to dine here twice. The fact that I returned for a second try is an indicator that I enjoyed it. Having visited Russia, I can say that the cuisine at Sadko seems authentic, and closely mirrored similar dishes that I had in Saint Petersburg.
Each time time I went, I had a variety of starters: roasted garlic potatoes, beet and cabbage salad, and smoked fish. All were excellent, but the roasted potatoes definitely stood out the most. They’re roasted with minced garlic, and they are crisp on the outside, while hot and fluffy on the inside. For an entrée, I’ve had a pan fried white fish, as well as a white fish that was baked with vegetables and cheese. I recommend both, depending on whether you’re in the mood for a baked item or a fried item. There is an amazing looking lamb shank on the menu as well. I didn’t have this item, but one of my dining partners did have it, and he didn’t leave a shred of meat on the bone, leading me to believe that it was delicious. One experience that I am missing there is dessert (sweet blintzes). Because Russian food is basically meats and starches, you’re pretty full after a couple of starters and an entrée.
The staff there is extremely polite. I’ve never had the word, thank you, delivered to me so much by restaurant staff ever before! On both visits, I was there at peak dinner hour, and the restaurant wasn’t packed with patrons, so it seems to be a good place to go if you don’t like crowds. Because it’s located on Clement, simply be prepared to hunt for street parking, if you go at peak meal times.

We dropped in on a Sunday evening to try something new as we walked through the neighborhood. The waiter was friendly and helpful with our allergy and other questions, though I had trouble with the accent at first.
The soup, solyanka, was delicious. The strogenoff was good. It was a bit bland, but that’s not the restaurant, it’s just how most food from that region seems to me.
I definitely want to go back and try several other items form the menu.

I’m sorry to read of the troubles that the previous reviewer had, and I’m glad we didn’t have a similar experience. We are American and don’t speak any European languages. The waiter answered my questions about food ingredients without any hassle (this can be a huge problem when you have allergies – people who don’t speak English as a first language sometimes don’t really understand what you’re talking about), and I can’t think of any issues we had with the service or the place in general. We saw Eastern Europeans there and Americans like us, too.
Eastern European food isn’t really my kind of thing (too bland for my tastes), but the menu contained a lot of interesting foods I’d never tried before. My seafood stew was fine, and my husband got a good «sausage soup» that was a little spicier. For the hell of it, I got a beef tongue and horseradish appetizer, which was also fine.
All in all, it wasn’t my kind of place, but I would have no problem returning if I want a change from my usual spicier fare (Thai, Indian, etc.) It’s also a good place to take someone interested in Russian culture, as there’s Russian TV playing, Eastern European languages being spoken, etc.

We were attracted to this small, simple Clement St. café by its Eastern European menu offering homemade dumplings and other comfort foods. The interior is very plain and basic by US standards, but would be seen as very fancy by Eastern Europeans, Ukrainians, Russians and other Slavs.
We were seated and the waiter, after learning that my grandmother was Ukrainian spoke to us only in Ukrainian. And that proved to be a terrible problem. Although my wife and I repeatedly told him that we did not speak any of the multiple languages on their menu, he continued to persist in Ukrainian.
Fortunately, the menu did have English sub-​titles.
We sat for a very long time before our waiter returned for our order. We asked if we could have a sampler plate of the four offered dumplings and then ordered, in addition, two main meals.
After a 40-​minute wait our waiter returned with two plated of twelve obviously hand-​crafted dumplings each. We were shocked, told him that the portions were too large and then asked which dumplings were which. He abruptly left for the kitchen, returning with two more plates of 12 dumplings each, making our total 48 freshly made dumplings.
We indicated that this is not what we ordered and he shrugged his shoulders, feigning that he did not understand us. But a miracle occurred when we told him to cancel our two main course orders. In perfect English he said that it was too late as the meals were already being prepared.
At this point the bloom was off the rose and we realized that we were getting screwed. We were mad.
We ate some of the dumplings, which were good and, after another 40-​minute wait, received our two main courses. I asked for boxes, which, eventually, were provided.
While all these waiting periods were being endured, a number of ethnic diners entered, were warmly greeted and immediately served. It was as if we were invisible.
We finally ended this 2-​hour ordeal by leaving with our boxes of food, basically being shrugged off by the wait staff, while we received glum stares from the other diners.
We had experienced a cultural enclave where we were not welcome. We were taken advantage of and treated rudely.
I would have enjoyed experimenting with the varieties of foods while immersing ourselves into another culture. But Café Sadko is a sad, unwelcoming café to be avoided.
You are not welcome, in any way. If you do have some linguistically skilled Slavic friends Café Sadko might be a great experience, but if not, you will immediately recognize that you have intruded into another culture where you are not welcome.
We will never return to Café Sadko. We suggest that you don’t even try it. You will be disappointed and offended, at the least.

If you like Russian food, this place is for you. You see, Russian cuisine appeals to a lot of people, including little babushkas and their boyfriends, Eastern Promises looking type guys covered in tattoos and chains, drinking a bottle of vodka with their lunch, women in weird looking high heels, furs and outrageous pink outfits, and then me and the Russian family I will soon be joining. I got to try a lot of different things here because of all the people I was eating with.
Now for the food. In case you’re from Mars, or never heard of piroshki, Russian food AIN’T light. This is not a place for a diet. The borsch here was very good, though a little heavy on the potatoes. It needed pepper and came only with a small dollop of sour cream, but other than that, definitely a winner. If you’re an adventurous eater like me, i would recommend the Holodyets AKA chicken aspic AKA chicken jello. It comes with a tangy red horseradish that really makes the dish.
The Odessa chicken cutlet is very similar to Chicken Kiev. Chicken stuffed with mushrooms and cheese, then deep fried. The menu said it was sauteed, which is why I ordered it. They lied. From what I did eat it was tasty, but it could also be described as a «gut bomb». It’s served with a side of kasha (buckwheat) to make up for any bulk you may be missing with these little chicken grenades.
Babushka’s boyfriend ordered the pork schnitzel. It was HUGE! I didn’t taste it, but it looked really REALLY heavy. Deep fried and served again with a side of kasha and some green beans to round things out.
The smoke fish appetizer with raw onions was one of the lighter dishes, and very tasty. Not the largest portion but if you are planning to eat an actual entrée, you’ll be very happy for that.
The beef blintzes were awesome, at least from the ¾ of one that i ate. Very oily, but really tasty. Oh and they also have Kvass, which has been described to me as Russian root beer. It’s essentially a soda type drink made with rye bread, yeast, and some other stuff. In case you don’t get enough carbs and fried things, this is the perfect thing to top it off, assuming you’re not doing vodka.
Needless to say, after this meal, I went home and took a nap.

The place looks clean and nice in European style. Maybe too fancy for casual sit in. Tried their Kiev, not bad.
Some reviewers criticize the cuisine itself because it is relatively simple, greasy, and maybe unhealthy. I must say it is not a valid criticism. It is how Eastern European food is. There will be dishes that you will like more and dishes you will like less, like any café. The environment and service is very nice. I will explain what I see as a problem below.
The problem is not with restaurant or people running it. Every weekend there are groups of people who often look like russian gangsters. They wear black jackets or athletic pants. Older men and women go outside near the door and will smoke right in your face if you walk by. Often you can hear them swear very badly because they think no one walking by will understand.
If the owner or someone who works at Sadko reading this, I think putting a few chairs outside would be very nice. because then the customers will sit in the chair near the window, instead of standing and scaring people.

I love Russian food, and this is my favorite place. Its quality food is priced right and the atmosphere warm and inviting. I am honestly picky when it comes to food, but this place is the closest I have found to my grandmothers home cooking, If you are in the area, treat yourself and check it out. One thing that really surprised me, especially being located in San Francisco, is the quality and amount of food you get for the money. Bang for the buck for sure. Hope you take the time to try it.

My sister and I stumbled across Sadko today after other lunch plans in the Richmond fell through. Neither of us had ever been to a Russian restaurant before, so in we went in search of adventure.
I got the lunch special — $ 11 for a bowl of soup (kharcho), an entrée (stuffed cabbage), and coffee/​tea (Lipton). My sister got the potato zrazi, which is a sort of stuffed mashed potato.
The food was excellent, especially for the price. The kharcho, which is a tomato soup with lamb, was thick, hearty, and meaty, almost a meal unto itself. The cabbage was cooked just tender enough to cut with a fork, stuffed with a savory mixture of ground meat and onions, and topped with a tangy tomato sauce. The zrazi was tasty and filling, but felt like it maybe wanted some sort of sauce for the potatoes to soak up. (Both entrees came with sour cream.) I wanted to try the blintzes, but the entrees were sufficiently filling that I thought better of it. Something for next time.
The only slight disappointment was the Lipton — I was hoping for something a little more exotic. After reading the other Unilocal reviews I’ll definitely be getting the Moscow beer next time.

Sadko… I’ve been coming here since ’05 or ’06, but sort of stopped because it became almost impossible to eat there. Maybe I’ve just had very bad luck the last several times, but it seems like they’re always closed to private parties when I go. Also, if you drive to Sadko for dinner, god help you. It’s very hard to find parking nearby, so I’d recommend public transit if you gotta have that schnitzel. Again, maybe this is just my bad luck.
Anyway, thinking back to the times I successfully ate there, I always had a yummy meal. I mainly would order schnitzel, and have poppy seed blintzes for dessert. Now, prepare yourself, because those blintzes are off the chain! So good!
The atmosphere is interesting. You can watch a Russian Idol type show on the TVs, and be serenaded by sometimes good, sometimes god-​awful singing. Also, you will probably be served by a very tough looking guy who looks like an extra from «Eastern Promises».
So yeah, if you can eat there, I think you’ll love it.

The poor ultra-​nice waitperson who was the only one serving everyone. He isn’t ignoring you when you walk into the restaurant, he’s just overwhelmed, but stoic about this. He’s the best thing in this restaurant. He has a higher voice than I expected, which made him endearing.
I really liked this restaurant and recommend it. Nice and homey. The Italian restaurant next door was full and we hadn’t made a reservation.
My husband had the Cutlet ‘Odessa’… -…9.50
ground chicken stuffed with mushrooms and grilled to perfection
Our friend had Baby Ribs… …12.95
pork ribs
I had Lulya kebab… …9.50
grilled ground lamb
My husband’s dish was incredible. Get it. Get it. Get it.
The ribs were pretty good.
I thought my lamb was OK. I guess I really don’t like ground any-​kind-​of-​meat.
Bring your Chinese parents.
It looks like a fancy place, but people are casual. One guy came in sweats. I didn’t look great either in my trench coat in hot weather. (I had two sweaters underneath. You could tell I haven’t been out very much lately.)
Moscow beer instead of Coke next time definitely.
What is Solyanka? Maybe I’ll order that…
They should leave the English translations out of the menus. Now, that would be fun!

One night while trying to decide on dinner, my co-​worker mentioned to me that he missed Russian food, and since I always eat Chinese food, I felt like it would be a good opportunity to try something new. We looked for restaurants in the city near our office, but it turned out that there weren’t a lot of choices for Russian food in SF. After deciding that all of our choices would be far away, we picked Sadko for their authentic menu and variety.
Parking was a pain, but I knew that before we left. There was only one party when we got to the restaurant, but we also arrived pretty late. I wanted to try out a lot of different things, so we started out with a soup and an appetizer. We got Solyanka, which is a pretty hearty tomato-​ey soup with lots of meats and a touch of sour cream, and since none of the appetizers stood out, we decided to split an entrée of pork dumplings, which my co-​worker told me are usually cheap foods. The soup was good, but I’m used to more savory soups made with stock, so it wouldn’t be something that I would get often. The dumplings were really good, and they reminded me of pot stickers shaped like tortellinis in a rich butter sauce.
I got the Schnitzel for my entrée, which is ground pork that is shaped into a patty, breaded, and then fried. You can choose a side of rice, potatoes, or fries to go with your entrée, and I of course picked rice. The rice was like a pilaf and was moist, and I was told by my co-​worker that this is how it is normally served. I still enjoyed it, but I like white rice because it sticks to food and flavors better. I usually eat ground pork steamed, but the fried Schnitzel was really good because it was browned on the outside which gives it a nice bite. However, it was a bit too greasy for me to finish. If I had some white rice, that wouldn’t be a problem.
Overall, the food and the ambiance were good. It’s somewhere I’d probably want to come back to just to try out the rest of the menu.

Specifically tried to order something not fried but the menu lies in many places. Got myself a cutlet Odessa dripping in grease when it explicitly stated «grilled to perfection». Very badly illustrating/​describing menu.
Was here with about 60 couchsurfers so i got to try everything on the menu. Only had russian twice but im told/​agreed that it was the least tasty we’d had.
The beer from Moscow was good!
Make sure you having a long loving relationship with oil and grease before you order at Sadko.

Sad story. Been there yesterday. Food was very average. Portions were big enough, but who cares, if you can’t chew the meat (bbq pork) or it is too salty?
Customer service was ugly. Typical Soviet Union style. I mean he (the only waiter in the restaurant) was trying to do his best, but «trying» won’t do it… Though, you may wanna go if you want how bad the service was in Soviet Union 20 years ago. Now, service in Russia and other post USSR countries is much better.
There were several drunks at the other table, though it wasn’t scary or looked dangerous.
Pricing is okay, average.
Over all impression: wasted time and money. Won’t go again.
Special note: staff is NOT kids friendly. :)

The key to a great dining experience at an ethnic restaurant is to go with someone of that ethnicity. We had lunch today at Sadko with a friend (our landlord, actually, who is super nice and knew that we wanted to try a Russian place). He gave us the lowdown on what was authentic and what was crap to skip. We also let him order for us, and I’m so glad we did! It was just amazing!
We started with the pickled veggies and Stuffed Kishka (chicken neck stuffed with stuff and sliced like a pâté). I actually enjoyed the kishka much more than I thought I would. We then went on to the Solyanka, which, as a fellow Unilocaler adequately put it, was indeed heaven in a bowl. In fact, I would go back just for some solyanka on a cold day! We then went our separate ways for entrees, our friend ordering the Potato with Chanterelles (soooo yummy!), the bf ordering the Chicken Tabaka, and myself ordering the Tongue Stew. I hadn’t had tongue in a very long time and thought this would be the perfect place for it. And indeed it was! Unfortunately, they were out of buckwheat, so I got the clay pot with mashed potatoes. The tongue was perfectly done and practically melted in my mouth. By then, you’d think we were too stuffed for dessert, but our friend insisted, and who am I to say no to dessert! We got the strawberry blintzes, which were also very good.
Many people have commented on the poor service, but I have to say that that was not our experience at all. Perhaps it was because it was a Saturday afternoon or because we were with a native speaker, but whatever the reason, I thought the service was good.
This is definitely a «will go back» kind of place! Especially on a cold, foggy, Clement street night!

Went here yesterday for the first time. Almost wet my pants over the Solyanka. Can we say heaven in a bowl!
Everything was delicious and the waiter/​owner was super sweet too.
The menu is pretty extensive so can’t wait to go back and try more of the yummy sounding dishes.

FORGET ABOUT THE SERVICE. «Russian service» is an oxymoron.
Actually 3.5 stars, but will bump it up to 4, just for being nice :)
The food is okay — there are definitely some hits and some misses.
HITS: try their pelmeni (meat pirogi’s), vinigret, Oliviet, lamb kebobs (really-​really good), tongue salad and hot borcht.
NO-NO’s: The Chicken Tabaka was FRIED, i mean DEEP FRIED, which is not authentic Russian, and therefore that dish tasted nasty. Dont try ANY salad that involves fresh greens, Russians are not big on those dishes.
If you are ready to cope with a either bad or cheesy service, go there.
If you have somewhat Slavic friend to advise you on selection of dishes — invite him/​her to come with you.
Be open minded :)

It was my first time having Russian food, even though I’m part Russian myself. Ordered some kind of fried mushroom-​stuffed ground chicken dish that was pretty good, but it was one of those bold flavored dishes that you tire of before you finish the whole thing. It was good though none the less, and I’d recommend it. Got the Buckwheat rice on the side, and even though I didn’t like it, my friend seemed to really enjoy it. Also ordered some of the apple cideresque drink (listed as Russian Root beer on the menu) which was O.K.
I’ve concluded that the whole meal was a variety of acquired tastes, but still worth a try. A positive dining experience in my book.
(The mafia was there also, which earned at least half a star on my review here.)

Russian service? Sounds like an oxymoron, especially considering the bombs of meals I’ve had at other Russian places where you are ignored unless you are a blood relative or a member of the Mafia. TVs in Sadko were blaring Russian Idol or some similar dance/​sing off show when we walked in.
We ordered potato patties with meat filling, cabbage rolls, and potato-​wrapped chicken stuffed with mushroom. The potato patties were fried but not greasy and the flavors were mild and subtle. The beef and rice cabbage rolls were served with tomato sauce. The one snag in our meal was that the chicken patties with mushroom filling were undercooked and had to be sent back. The servers handled it well and graciously sent out a whole new dish. Also, the rice served with the chicken was «flavorized» by Uncle Ben or some other miscreant, as it tasted of MSG and salt. The replacement chicken had a crispy potato string coating and mushroom sauce in the middle. The texture made the dish since you bit through crunchy potato to meaty chicken followed by mushrooms in the middle.
For dessert, we tried poppy seed blinchikis (a fried crêpe folded around a sweet or savory filling). They were delicious, although I’m not a fan of the raisins used for sweetening the poppy seeds in Russian cooking. Worth failing a drug test for.
Dishes are modestly sized, which is good since the food is rather heavy on meat and sour cream. Prices are also modest, with two big cabbage rolls going for $ 8 or so.
Our server, as he picked up the check, gazed downwards, and uttered «Sorry about chicken» in his thick Russian accent. So, two new things learned from this meal: 1) Russian service is not all bad, and 2) 50 year old Russian guys shaped like fireplugs can be somewhat endearing.