Typogra-food at the Ferry Building

Medicine Restaurant

Miss MoNKeY invited me out to very interesting restaurant yesterday. Medicine has a quite unusual concept. As explained on their menu, they are using a revised version of the Shojin cuisine, a cuisine based on the belief of the Zen monks of Japan—that "food should be taken as MEDICINE for the health of the body."

With that said, I was quite skeptical, yet I kept an open mind and was thrilled to discover something quite special.


Indeed, the interior is very geometric, very Zen. Big long wooden tables stretch across the width of the dining room or "eatstation" as they call it. The seats are wood as well, and if you want to take your time and enjoy every morsel of food, be prepared to have a sore derrière by the end of the meal!


We were both treated to a tasting of 3 premium sakes. Served cold, they were a wonderful compliment to our appetizers. Our favorite happened to be their cheapest sake on their menu, the Ohyama. It's sweetness made you yearn for more, lots more.... (click on the picture to enlarge it)


This is the Medicine Roll, their signature sushi: Avocado, umeboshi, shiso, carrot, kaiware. It was served with a rough wasabi which had whole white sesames inside. This had a very scrumptious crunchy texture. It is not an illusion, the rice IS pink. It is a 9-grain rice. It melted in your mouth.


my favorite, this is the Sesame Tofu. It's described as a house-made "tofu" of sesame milk thickened with kudzu (whatever that is). I found this to taste very similar to Tahini, with the texture of custard.


Our third appetizer, highly recommended by MoNKeY, was the Maitake Tempura. This was served with a wedge of lemon (with all the seeds included :-) and sea salt. That is all it needed! It was absolutely awesome! Still dreaming about it.


Next, we moved on to our main course. This is the Kyoto Soba, MoNKeY's choice. Buckwheat noodles in a clean light shojin broth, with fiddlehead fern, wakame, and umeboshi.


This was my choice for the main course, the Curry Udon. Being that curry is usually served with meat, I rarely ever eat it, but this time I didn't need to worry! No meat! My curry udon was so very comforting and warm. Juicy udon noodles in spicy creamy curry broth, kakiage garnish, which I assume is a type of sweet potato or gourd... They were lightly tempuraed and when drowned into the broth, were mighty excellent!


For dessert, we went for MoNKeY's childhood treat, the Yaki-Imo. What this is is an oven baked sweet potato medallion, here, served with maple syrup and black sesame seeds. Rich, soothing, and mild in sweetness, it was a perfect ending to our meal.

You know you ate something good, when you are thinking about it the next day—all day long! I know that this is a place I will go back to very soon, and I think MoNKeY is of the same mindset as I (Well this WAS her second time...).

Some things to note:
This place is open for Lunch and Dinner everyday.
A 17% service charge is included in the bill, no tip is accepted.
The average cost for two people for a filling dinner, such as ours, was $45 ($22.50 each)—pretty decent, no?
Their menu is seasonal.
Plate portions are very reasonable. 3 shared appetizers, one entrée each and a shared dessert was a perfect quantity for two, without feeling bloated after the meal.
They have two tasting menus that serve a 6 course meal, and are pricier than everything else ($30–$55 per person)

161 Sutter Street @ The Crocker Galleria, San Francisco, CA | (415)677-4405