Smoke Door - Lake Tahoe Saryo

I really wanted to love this place! I did! But ultimately it fell short for me. My friend and I tried the 6 course tasting menu, first three courses were spectacular, drinks were tasty but the last 3 fell short for me. Service was also very slow for a Saturday evening, the kitchen was backed up and when I am spending $400+ for a meal I'd like to have the courses flow better. I waited ~ 15 mins for our final course to arrive after the 5th course and drinks took forever too. I was very excited to try this place, but not worth the price. I'll stick to my San Diego fine dining. This was a bust for me.

Fantastic dining experience during both of my visits. I've had the 12 course and the 9 course meals, both were too much food, but I could not stop tasting every course. Highly recommend!
Crystal Bay as an area, is struggling right now as the Cal-Neva is under construction and the Biltmore sites in shambles, but Smoke Door is anchoring this area, along with Sole Domain, as must-visit places.

Last night we had a wonderful meal and overall a great experience here. The cocktails were a delight and every course of the prix fixe menu was delicious.
We were celebrating a birthday and the staff made it extra special.
Our group was experiencing trouble getting a cab or uber and again the team went above and beyond to help, Kate (I hope this is the correct name, my apologies if I'm wrong) when we thought we were stranded.
Smoke Door was a highlight to our Tahoe trip. Visit this treasure of a restaurant l!

Today I visited the Smoke Door Sanryo for lunch with my friend Isao Yoshikawa, the father of the new chef Kosuke Yoshikawa. All I can say is this was a truly wonderful experience with each course in the set lunch menu delivering uniquely superb taste that was delicately balanced with sauces that were extremely delicious. This is fine dining that shouldn’t be missed if you’re in the Kings Beach area of Lake Tahoe.

Nice Japanese tasting menu in Lake Tahoe area. High quality ingredients. Very nice sake selection. All ingredients are sourced locally or imported from Japan. It was nice to see that they use wasabi from Half Moon Bay. Staff were friendly and knowledgeable about the dishes. Their original location is in Yokohama 横浜. I’d like to try it one day.

Every course was impeccable. Drink pairings were perfection. Such a cozy, intimate setting. Loved every minute and recommended it to everyone I know.

1000% worth the drive from Olympic Valley, Reno, Stateline/SLT or wherever you are.

I love this place. Living in NYC for 15 years, this would do well there. And I’m happy we have it in Tahoe. The menu is creative, the food is exceptional, and the service matches. Highly recommended.

An experience we didn't want to end! The attention to detail, staff knowledge, intimate environment, and food quality of Smoke Door is unique for the Tahoe basin. My wife and I sat at the bar and ordered the Caesar to start (super neat presentation and utterly delicious), followed by the fish special, pork belly, and Wagyu. Everything was incredible. The presentation was simple, yet elegant. The different sides provided with the Wagyu (to include smoked salt and California grown wasabi) made for a unique and delightful dish. As locals in the area constantly in search of worthy dining options, we can't heap enough praise on this restaurant and the staff that made our first experience so memorable. You truly feel like your transported to another world as soon as you walk in the front door. It's our new favorite spot and we'll most certainly be back, hopefully sooner than later. Thanks to the entire Smoke Door team for such an incredible evening.

Great service from Sebastian, he had really good Japanese whiskey and sake recommendations. The Wagyu is totally worth it. Everything else is fantastic. The 6 course meal is plenty of food.

Waited several days to tell us a “glitch in their system” meant they couldn’t seat us for new years. Too late to book anywhere else. Thanks a lot.

It was an amazing experience and the food was artfully presented and delicious! The service was exceptional and it exceeded my expectation! What a fantastic gastronomical experience. Looking forward to the next visit. So glad I live in Tahoe and have such an authentic place.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Had a great dinner here the other day for our ninth anniversary. The avocado toast and wagyu beef were the standouts of the night.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

10/10 experience with the food, ambiance, pacing, and friendly education. Wonderful.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I reserve my 1-star reviews for when I feel obligated to warn people about what they're getting into. As a local resident and a strong supporter of our community and local businesses, I really appreciate all attempts to bring better food to North Tahoe. I can confidently say that this was not that. My girlfriend and I were thrilled to splurge on a night out after reading the glowing reviews for this new restaurant, and we were fine to pay a high price for a memorable dining experience. It was definitely memorable...

The prices are extortionate for the most bland tasting food I can remember ever having at a restaurant. It was so terrible that we just had to laugh that they even had the nerve to serve it. First, we got the pork belly bites, which were delivered as 4 small cubes of pork belly in semi-flavored water that ultimately tasted like you were just eating raw pig flesh. Next, we ordered the mushrooms as an appetizer and they tasted like sweaty gym socks that were rubbed in an ashtray. "Embered" they call it. Neither of us could handle more than a bite, and we love mushrooms. Our server noticed that we weren't quite vibing, and she generously offered to replace our mushroom appetizer with another option. We went with the eggplant, which was also "embered". While it was a step above the mushrooms, and lovely in presentation, I would describe it as ALMOST having flavor. Just when you think you're getting a hint of flavor, it gets overpowered by blandness and ashtray taste. It's incredible to have what seems to be thoughtfully sourced ingredients, but there's no sense in completely squandering those ingredients with poor preparation.

I'll take this opportunity though, to thank our server and the rest of the staff, who were absolutely wonderful, attentive and understanding. I give our server extremely high praise. If it weren't for how pretentiously bad the food was, I'd certainly provide a higher rating just for the service.

So then comes the "entree". I got the (half) of a cornish game hen because it didn't feel necessary to spend $60 for 2 ounces of beef (despite having positive experiences with wagyu elsewhere). The chicken was cooked without any seasoning whatsoever and then placed on a plate by itself and served with a tiny cup of sauce and a pinky-nail sized dash of togarashi seasoning, that you're supposed to try to ration and disperse over the chicken with your fingers to try to get it to taste like it was prepared for someone to actually eat.

At this point, we were over it. Although the staff was good to us, I really don't understand the positive reviews for this place. Smoke Door is an absolute parody of fine dining and Tahoe deserves better than what seems to be nothing more than a cash grab. Hard pass.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 1

Service: 4