Fish & Bird Sousaku Izakaya

Fish and Bird is an all around ripoff. Low quality fish (both frozen and stale) which the owner admits, though they charge more than the most expensive restaurants in the entire Bay Area (avg. $20-22 for two pieces). When I asked, Yoshika the owner admitted this, and arrogantly stated that "the customers are not that sophisticated and would never notice" . Unfortunately, after living in Japan for years, we did noticed this was anything but "authentic Japanese", including the Salmon Gindara which was the consistency of paste from being over-marinated for too long and was so salty we couldn’t eat it (we were charged for it anyway). Anyone from Japan would have been ashamed. We paid nearly $300 for an inedible meal served inexperienced waitstaff managed by an unapologetic owner that cares only about her profits. Don’t waste your time here - the experience will end badly. You’ll walk away, hungry, disappointed, and with a hole in your wallet.. Our advice - Stay away….

Fish and Bird is an all around ripoff. Low quality fish (both frozen and stale) which the owner admits, though they charge more than the most expensive restaurants in the entire Bay Area (avg. $20-22 for two pieces). When I asked, the owner admitted this, and arrogantly stated that the customers would never notice . Unfortunately, after living in Japan for years, we noticed right off the bat, including the Salmon Gindara which was the consistency of paste from being over marinated for too long and was so salty we couldn't eat it (we were charged for it anyway). We paid nearly $300 for an inedible meal served inexperienced waitstaff managed by an owner that cares only about her profits. Don't waste your time here - the experience will end badly. You'll walk away, hungry, disappointed, and with a hole in your wallet.. Stay away....

Delicious food and a wonderful atmosphere. I can highly recommend this restaurant for a special occasion and a great evening with cocktails and delicious meals.

Went here for my husband's birthday. We both had the pre-set menu.
Food: The sea bean and corn tempurawith a side of matcha. They were tasty, but no different from the tempura I've had at other restaurants.
The sashimi salad was also tasty, but nothing special. Just a salad with a few pieces of various raw fish.
I had the Salmon Kasuzuki. I have to say this was actually delicious! A perfect blend of sake and miso with the salmon. It was a lovely cut of meat and perfectly cooked. Delicious!
My husband has the Wagyu Bikini Hamburg steak. I would say it was nothing special. A big chunk of hamburger. Good quality hamburger and not too oily, but still just ground beef.
The Matcha Tiramisu was tasty. Not too sweet.
Overall, I'd say a little over priced for what you get. About half the dishes stood out as above average.

Atmosphere. The atmosphere was pleasant, although the music was a bit loud. The high ceilings help with the noise. While we were there, the table next to us brought a DOG into the restaurant...not a service dog ..which I thought was against the health code, but no one said anything to them.

Service.
The service was attentive. She checked in with us after each dish was brought to make sure everything was good. Although my husband's main dish was brought to the table at least 5 minutes before my dish arrived. Not good for, but not the server's fault. That's the kitchen's fault.

Overall a good experience, but a bit pricey. It was about $200 for two prix fix meals , drinks, tax and tip.

We love this place. This was our third time, and our guests were impressed as well, particularly with the sushi.

We all quite enjoyed the restaurant and the food. The seating which was located in the rear near the restroom area, not so much. For beverages we had a large bottle of Sake, Gin&Tonic, and Waters. Loved the Sake!! We started with the appetizers of the French Fries and Sea Beans & Corn Tempura - delicious We had various sashimi and sushi rolls, Unagi, Spicy Tuna, and assortment of fish.....again on point and delicious. One critique was the distance between service which at times felt like awhile before the next serving of food came along. It was busy, so we put that equation into the review and well, we relished the sake and conversation with our family, so all was good

Absolutely fantastic food, amazing fish, and deserts are devine. But the service was mehh. Nothing happened that would ruin our night, but it was lacking.

Tuna collar… delicious! Five starts

Their homemade tofu is to die for. Seriously, it's far, far superior to anything you can get in a store.

If you go here at all you'll need to check the prices before deciding what to eat. Sushi is roughly twice as expensive as restaurants we go to in San Francisco and Novato. This leaves choices like the Chicken and the Saba. The latter tended to be on the salty side even without adding any shoyu, the fish was on the small side, and not cut in half. Tea will add $8 to the bill. But despite the high prices you will be charged 3% if you use a credit card. That is pretty chincy.

Having lived in Japan for many years this just isn't very good and didn't need to be as expensive as it was.

I love coming here for special occasions or just to enjoy a quiet meal with hubby. The choices are excellente, everything we ate was really good and some of their unique dishes out of this world!

Excellent food, first server didn't know what he was doing, he was a trainee, second server was very good. Portions are on the small side and pricey but uniformly delicious.

Amazing service and excellent food. Everything came out hot, quickly, and with great drink pairings. If you enjoy sake you must try the house sake and if that's not your thing the cocktails are delicious as well. Overall, an amazing experience!

Good ole trusty Fish & Bird. Love this place, have been several times. Always a great experience and meal. A bit on the pricey side, but worth it for such fresh and unique dishes.