SF Eats: Shizen

Shizen is such a gorgeous restaurant, but I'll warn you it's hard to find, you might just walk right by it.  With no obvious signage, you kind of have to pay attention and have the address on hand.  We had to make a quick call to the restaurant to confirm where it was, we kept walking up and down the blog, passing the restaurant.  In any case it was a cold night, so when we got inside we were more than happy to warm up!

My sister and I decided to share some sushi and hot delicious ramen.  Now, one thing I should mention about Shizen is that everything is vegan.  This was my first time trying vegan sushi and vegan ramen and it certainly did not disappoint.  Admittedly I was skeptical at first, excepting a cucumber roll and avocado roll and that be it, but I was in for a surprise.

We ordered The Candlestick and Open Invitation.  The Candlestick of course came to the table with a small flame in the rightside of the plate - totally awesome.  You're told to let the flame die out on its own.  The roll itself contains spicy bean curd, avocado, tapioca, cucumber, and seaweed pearls.  So delicious!  Open Invitation was the start of the show though.  Sweet potatoes in a sushi roll - incredible idea.  The sweetness was absolutely fantastic.  The restaurant also had a roll with roasted eggplant, we ended up getting that later (sorry, no picture), and it was also incredible.  I love the idea of roasted veggies inside of a sushi roll.  Anyway, Open Invitation had a tempura sweet potato (umm fried tempura, yes please), spiced burdock, shredded tofu, tapioca, and renkon chips (lotus root chips).   The lotus root chips on top looked so cool - the lacy form the chips take is just beautiful, and the added crunch to the roll gives it a great and complex texture.  

Then we went for the Spicy Garlic Miso Ramen.  It was so good.  Hot and delicious broth with pieces of tofu and bamboo slices floating around.  And, a huge deep fried tempura mushroom.  The flavor and creaminess of the broth was phenomenal.  I definitely did not miss the meat in any of this!  The noodles absorbed the delicious flavorings in the broth.  Fabulous and you can request Gluten Free, people.   Not that that really matters to me either way, but still, helpful for some of you to know I'm sure.  In any case, go. to. Shizen. now.  

Rating:  A