tokyo go go, happy hour

the other day i went to tokyo go go, which procaims itself to be "san francisco's funky, hip sushi bar and restaurant". normally i avoid these "funky, hip" places, finding them pretentious, irritating and anything but "hip". not that i would know this hippness if it wielded it's wide ass around a sharp bend and hit me smack between the ears with either cheek. oh, that remindes me of an incident i recently witnessed on the 22 fillmore wherein this ample teenage girl in tight lowriders got up from her window seat and tried to scootch to the aisle to disembark when the busdriver, late no doubt for his crack connection, put the pedal to the metal. the poor girl didn't have a chance. she fell straight backwards and a little downwards, right smack into the scaberous face of the bum who'd sat next to her. mortified, she apologized. the bum's response was classic, "better you than him", he said, pointing a blackened and cracked digit at the fat guy standing in the aisle next to him. truer words were never spoken. the giggling men who witnessed the exchange all bobbed their heads in agreement.

what was i talking about? oh yes, i was ranting about "hip and funky" places and a little ass in the face, therefore it must be tokyo go go. i wandered in early one sunday evening for a drink and a snack. they have this sweet little happy hour deal where you get a choice of handrolls for three bucks and kirin on draft or hot sake for another two bucks. three for well cocktails.

the decor is "hip and funky". the food is good. the service is unbelievable. unbelievably bitchy (yes, that old sexist term is the best fit in this case). i've been coming here on rare occasion ever since they opened and the service has continued to astound me. i think they use the same personality exam as the federal government uses to screen for dmv workers. not a slag on all the servers and hostesses there but, well, it's been pretty consistent for me. for example, dropping by for the happy hour cheapo deal, our server exhibited surprise and a chilly disregard when we told her our order of a few beers and handrolls. "that's it?" was her response. "yes, just a little snack" we replied. "you're not kidding" she retorted as she snapped up the menus and walked away with nary the shadow of a smile. the retort is not common, but the chilliness is.

but back to the goodstuff, the food. happy hour hand rolls are tasty and included (on our visit) a choice of: shrimp tempura (with cucumber), unagi (with cucumber), spicy tuna (with cucumber), crab and smoked salmon (real crab, smoked salmon, spicy mayo and cucumber), hamachi (with scallion and tobiko), albacore poke (with onion, wakame and schichimi), veggie (chef's choice), dynamite (baked spicy scallops with wasabi tobiko), and sunshine (hamchi, cilantro, wasabi tobiko and quail egg). the handrolls are a decent size, the rice is well seasoned and the fish is high quality. the kirin draft is light and smooth and excellent.

if you're looking for a bargain (you don't want to get too thrifty when dealing with raw fish), don't mind a certain chill to the service you do get (be prepared to be aggresive in flagging down your server during happy hour - or better yet, just sit at the sushi bar), and crave some tasty sushi, tokyo go go is really a good value. and unlike most places, their happy hour is everday of the week: monday - saturday 5:30 - 7:00, sunday 5:00 - 6:30.

tokyo go go
3174 16th street
san francisco
415 864 2288

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