An SF Comicle food critic has once again drifted south to B'game for a Sunday section restaurant review. They seem to like the downscale "strip mall" view of B'game's scene. Back in November 2021 it was Soleil Ho reviewing Kaiseki in our one-and-only strip mall. She (I think) has moved on to much more important woke reporting at the Chron, but Cesar Hernandez visited Kuma Nori several times and has written a balanced review:
Chad and Monica Kaneshiro are some of the most singular chefs cooking on the Bay Area’s Peninsula. I constantly fantasize about the plump garlic shrimp and salty-sweet fried chicken plates from Diamond Head General Store, the restaurateurs’ casual Hawaiian spot in San Bruno. I was sad to see their Hawaii-inspired brunch restaurant Morning Wood close because it had one of the best loco mocos I’ve ever had.
The good news is that the Kaneshiros are back with an intimate Japanese restaurant called Kuma Nori, located in a Burlingame strip mall. Refined comfort fare is the specialty at Kuma, which is loosely defined as a shokudo-style restaurant, a genre of casual hole-in-the-wall spots in Japan. If the categorization seems open-ended, that’s intentional; the chefs don’t want to be put in a box.
Decadent comfort with massive portions is where Kuma dazzles. The piquant mentaiko crab pasta ($35) was a masterful remix that tasted like a spicy vodka sauce swirled with shiso oil and umami-rich fish eggs. Those little beads of roe clung onto the spaghetti like sequins. The secret to achieving such flavor is a concentrated dashi in the sauce.
You can click through to read further details on multiple dishes. Kuma Nori doesn't take reservations and has 27 seats, so perhaps waiting a bit to let the Chron crowd visit would be wise. Or pop up to San Bruno and check out the sister restaurant.
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