Bushi-Tei Bistro

Maguro Donburi

Donburi (rice bowls with meat or fish on top) are simple, standard Japanese food.  Bushi-Tei Bistro in Japantown makes a Maguro donburi with a western twist that keeps me going back for more.  Seared and sliced tuna sit atop perfectly cooked short grain rice drizzled in a sesame oil dressing with minced bell peppers, black sesame seeds, shredded carrots, and pine nuts.  I love this combination!  The dressing is mild, but over the rice it is refreshingly delicious.  A wonderful twist on donburi bowls that are usually seeped in shoyu (soy sauce).

We usually go to Bushi-Tei Bistro for lunch because of the ramen combos.  You can order ramen with either a miso or shoyu base and then choose a side dish to go with it for $10.95.  The ramen is tasty and comes with sliced chashu pork (slow roasted pork).  One of the side dishes you can order is Chirashi donburi, which is basically the Maguro donburi but with a piece of shrimp, salmon, scallop and tuna.  This is a bargain - I highly recommend ordering this.   For the kids, we usually order the ramen and gyoza combination.   You can never go wrong with gyoza - thin wonton wrappers filled with pork and vegetables that are fried and then steamed.   If you haven't tried Japanese gyoza, believe me, they are so much better than Chinese potstickers!

Chirashi Donburi

Miso Ramen

Gyoza

Zaru Soba

Bushi-Tei Bistro also offers pastas, salads, and other noodles such as udon and soba.  All of the dishes are of high quality, especially for the Japantown mall.   Most restaurants in the mall are cookie cutter average, but Bushi-Tei Bistro is an exception.  This is probably because it is the casual, inexpensive version of the French/Californian fusion Bushi-Tei restaurant located just up the street (I've eaten there twice and the food is creative and unique - at one time it had a Michelin star).    Bushi-Tei Bistro is the perfect place for a Japanese lunch with western influences.

Bushi-Tei Bistro is located at:

1581 Webster Street
San Francisco, CA  94115
In the Japantown Mall at Post and Webster
415 409 4959

Hours:
Open 7 days 11:00 a.m. - 9:30 p.m. 
http://www.bushiteibistro.com/