In my lexicon the term “favorite dive” usually doesn’t extend to sushi restaurants. Often I forgo nondescript places for flashier well-lit places. San Francisco is chock-full of high flash sushi joints that a place like Akiko’s Sushi Bar is easily overlooked. Located on Bush Street, half-way between Grant and Kearny, Akiko’s looks less like a sushi mecca and more like a place you might pick up a bento box for lunch. Don’t be deceived.

Now despite the word “bar” in their title, if you are craving a large variety of saki, Akiko’s is not the place. If are seeking saki in San Francisco go to Ozumo’s. Ozumo’s is the perfect contrast to Akiko’s. Ozumo’s is a trendy, open-concept sushi joint. Someone hired both a PR team and an architect to put it together. The sushi, while good, is obviously not the top priority. It’s the kind of place designed for venture capitalist types to entertain for business.

On the other end – Akiko’s is solely about the sushi. The restaurant’s cramped interior would make a nice dinner for two or maybe four, it’s not the kind of place you could entertain, unless you were renting out the whole restaurant. Even then, the flow of conversation would be poor.

So enough about the ambiance –let’s get to the food.

The menu features several kinds of toro, belly commonly refers to tuna, including salmon and hamachi. Along with ordering one of each for the first course I also tried the masago, kanpachi and sawara. All were excellent cuts and very fresh. My only complaint about the initial course was that the miso was of the very forgettable out of the box variety.

I had room for one roll for the second course which was their Volcano Roll (pictured to the left). Again the presentation was not pretty, not that my camera phone helped, but the taste was outstanding. The crunchy tempura bits had pieces of smoked salmon skin in them and were soaked in chili paste. The roll itself had well prepared spicy salmon, avacado, cumber, and thinly cut radish for an extra crunch, with a generous helping of tobiko and topped off with crab. The dish, like its namesake provided an excellent amount of heat while providing several layers of texture.

The service was very attentive, helpful with suggestions, and there was no attempt to rush us through the second bottle of house sake after we were done. If you want an inexpensive sushi joint that’s light on flash but heavy on freshness and taste, next time you are in San Francisco give Akiko’s a try.