liholiho yacht club

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Liholiho Yacht Club

• 871 Sutter St., San Francisco, 94109, USA
• $$$ · Asian, American

Reservations are not available for this restaurant on our site

There are no yachts to be found at its current Mission residence, but hordes of locals and enthusiasts remain quite eager to book passage on Liholiho's love boat. Fusing Californian technique with the flavors of Chef/owner Ravi Kapur’s native Hawaii, this earthy, bustling, and airy space is known for strong cocktails, shareable plates, and near-impossible reservations. Walk-ins are welcome, but make sure you arrive in time to beat the crowds. Pivoted around a large, open kitchen, the dining room hums with groups savoring the likes of short rib bao or whole fried fish marinated with coconut and turmeric. If you turn your nose up at Spam try the house-made version. It just might convert you.

Facilities & Services

• Air conditioning
• Wheelchair access

Credit cards accepted

Information

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photo credit: Carly Hackbarth

Liholiho Yacht Club

February 27, 2023

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The shaved pig head salad from Liholiho Yacht Club will overwhelm you with awe. You know, the kind inspired by a top-down, golden hour drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. Frisée and Asian pears, tossed in a zingy fish sauce vinaigrette, surround glossy slices of pig head like an edible halo. And the meat melts the second it hits your tongue. The salad is a spot-on indicator of what this Lower Nob Hill spot does best: completely original dishes that are in their own class. 

A lot has changed in Liholiho Yacht Club’s world since their two-year hiatus starting in 2020. The restaurant underwent an interior refresh. And the team opened Good Good Culture Club , the lively sister spot in the Mission and one of the most fun places to eat in the city. What hasn’t changed is that Liholiho is a bucket-list restaurant for milestone life moments you’ll be telling stories about for the next ten years.

The menu is described as “heritage driven,” and here that translates to salads, snacks, and meats and seafood influenced mostly by South and East Asian cuisines. Liholiho is doing its own thing, combining every flavor under the sun to turn out dishes that feel new. And the impressive presentation makes them almost too pretty to eat.

Just look to the rendang curry that arrives with an entire turmeric butter naan baked over the top. It’s one of six rotating entrées, and one to get on your table. Stab the bread’s shell to release the fragrant steam like it’s a pore-opening facial. The swordfish katsu is the other standout. It’s decorated with a Russian dressing drizzle, radishes, and gherkins, and stays crisp atop light caper butter. Smaller plates are as deserving of the spotlight. Beef tongue and miso aioli between soft steamed buns are saucy and umami-packed, gulf shrimp are leveled up with sweet longanisa stuffing, and the previously mentioned pig head salad is, quite simply, a masterpiece.

While the food is the main event, the space is where you want to be on nights that call for multiple rounds of wine, and pandan or li hing mui-infused cocktails. The open kitchen, smack dab in the middle of the airy, brick-lined dining room, is a hub of constant movement. Staff add the finishing touches on some katsu, light sparklers on top of a baked Hawaii, and move around so fast they blur. Get to this buzzy place for any celebration you can think of, including to experience a dinner that's unlike anything else in SF.

Food Rundown

Shaved Pig Head

Rendang Curry

Swordfish Katsu

Grassfed Ribeye

photo credit: Krescent Carasso

Poppyseed Steam Bun

Baked Hawaii

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Liholiho Yacht Club

San Francisco, US

Inspired by his uncle’s 1980s beach parties, chef Ravi Kapur brings together fun vibes and flavours from his Hawaii homeland at Liholiho Yacht Club, even though sail boats don’t actually form part of the vista. Californian seafood leads the menu, with highlights such as tuna poke with nori crackers and yellowtail sashimi. Other tasty bites include scallops with misoyaki pork belly and kimchi fried rice with homemade spam (a Hawaiian favourite). Book the Ohana Table to enjoy a set menu for between eight and 12 guests.

Key Information

• Average price per person $60
• Tasting menu from $65
• Dinner: Mon – Sat
• +1 415 440 5446
• Visit Liholiho Yacht Club's Website

871 Sutter Street, Nob Hill, San Francisco, CA 94109

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Liholiho Yacht Club

871 Sutter Street, , CA 94109

(415) 440-5446

liholihoclub

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where jess ate

[sf] liholiho yacht club.

By Jess Wednesday May 10, 2017

Unless you’re in Hawaii, Hawaiian cuisine isn’t really common. So, it’s no surprise that the Hawaiian-inspired Liholiho Yacht Club is one of the hottest tickets in town.

Located in the Lower Nob Hill neighborhood, the restaurant occupies a beautiful space – an exposed brick wall, high ceilings and funky floor tiles. Very Instagrammable! The front of the restaurant houses a long bar which features large a black and white photo of a young woman (the Chef and Owner’s mom from back in the day – cue the aww’s!) behind the counter.

The interior

Reservations open up at midnight 30 days prior to the date and are highly recommended. We were online exactly 30 days prior but the best we could do was a 9:30pm reservation so the tables go fast. But not to worry, they save a third of their restaurant for walk-ins.

Liholiho Yacht Club offers a fantastic selection of cocktails. They have a separate cocktail bar downstairs called Louie’s Gen-Gen Room which is a must-visit if cocktails are your thing. We dropped in the night before and loved the cozy space which features a completely different cocktail and food menu. Like the restaurant, reservations are recommended if you plan on dropping by.

The restaurant is the brainchild of Hawaiian-born Chef Ravi Kapur who started Liholiho as a pop-up around the city. For this venture, he partnered with Allyson Jossel and Jeff Hanak from Nopa, one of the essential restaurants of the city.

While Liholiho isn’t a white tablecloth kinda place, the price points are on the high end so a meal here will set you back a pretty penny. But then again, we quickly found out that everything in SF is really expensive.

The extensive menu that Chef Ravi has created is divided into three sections: smaller snacks like popcorn and duck hearts (ranging from $5.75 to $17.25), larger plates (from $14.75 for a salad all the way to $88.88 for a wagyu striploin) and extra large plates which are meant for sharing (from $32.25 for the country pork steak to $42.75 for the grilled short rib).

We started out with the Tuna Poke – sesame oil, radish, nori cracker ($17.25). Poke (marinated raw fish) is quintessential Hawaiian fare which has been gaining a ton of traction. It seems like poke joints (along with sushi burritos) are popping up on every corner these days (or at least in Toronto). I’m still not sick of it yet!

I really enjoyed Liholiho’s version which consists of saucy chunks of tuna sitting on top of a large seaweed cracker. You definitely get the punch of sesame oil in the fish and the drizzled spicy aioli on top was a nice finishing touch. I also loved the contrast between the tender chunks of tuna and the crunchy nori cracker. All in all, it was a definite hit and a great way to whet your appetite if you weren’t already licking your lips from reading the menu.

One thing I should note: I can’t remember if the price includes two or three pieces. We may have added a third since there were three of us.

Another huge hit was the Beef Tongue – kimchi, cucumber, poppy seed steam bun ($14). Again, this may only comes with two buns. We may have added a third. This was one of my favourite bites of the trip. The poppy seed studded bun added a nice textural contrast to the fluffy white bun and there was a great filling-to-bun ratio. The tender slices of beef tongue were paired with kimchi, cucumber slices for some freshness, scallions and sesame seeds. The perfect bun!

Beef Tongue

The last dish we ordered from the snack section of the menu was the Duck Liver Toast – jalapeno, pickled pineapple ($11). It consisted of a smooth and silky duck liver mousse spread on a thick piece of brioche. There were sliced jalapenos on it for pops of spiciness and the pickled pineapple added a nice sweetness. It was a good dish but the least memorable one of the evening. It just wasn’t very exciting.

Duck Liver Toast

Up next was the Roasted Octopus – curried raisins, castelvetrano, butterball potatoes, fresh coriander ($18.25). The octopus was impeccably cooked and the fried potatoes were extra crispy, just the way I like ‘em. I love sweet and savoury combinations so the sweet bursts from the raisins paired with the briny olives were right up my alley. This dish doesn’t really shout “Hawaii’ as the ingredients were Mediterranean inspired but nevertheless, it was a damn good dish.

Roasted Octopus

Liholiho offers an off-menu House-made Spam on Rice dish (or ‘deconstructed musubi’ as our server called it). They also offer a fried rice on their menu which has bits of spam in it but this one consists of three thick slabs of straight-up spam on a bed of rice. The rice is topped with scallions, togarashi (Japanese chili powder) and furikake (a Japanese seasoning which contains dried fish, seaweed and sesame seeds). It’s not a fancy dish by any means (it’s like eating hot dogs on rice) but it’s super tasty and incredibly addictive – probably because of the generous amount of furikake used.

House-made Spam on Rice

While we didn’t ball out and go for the nearly $90 wagyu, we did try the Whole Maine Lobster – preserved black bean sauce ($51). By the time this came out, we realized we had ordered way too much food for the three of us. I love black bean sauce and the lobster was cooked nicely but like the duck liver toast, it wasn’t as memorable as some of the other dishes we had this evening.

Whole Maine Lobster

The last savoury dish to arrive was the Cornish Game Hen – cashews, tamari honey glaze, pineapple, broccoli ($37.25). Since Cornish hens can often be dry, I tend to stay away from ordering it but it came highly recommended from our friend who dines here often. Glad we listened since this was definitely some next-level Cornish hen. The pieces of hen were fried to perfection with an extra crispy skin coated in a sweet and sticky glaze. The best part? The meat wasn’t the least bit dry!

Cornish Game Hen

The hen was served with some ridiculously tasty broccoli. They had a nice char to them and the florets acted like sponges as they soaked up all that delicious sweet and spicy glaze. They should really consider selling this as a side vegetable dish. So amazing.

Liholiho has several tempting desserts on their menu but their most popular one is definitely the Baked Hawaii – caramelized pineapple ice cream, vanilla chiffon ($11). Our friend told us that the last few times he was here, they ran out of it so we made sure to reserve one in advance since we had a late dinner reservation.

Baked Hawaii

As you can guess, the Baked Hawaii is their take on the baked Alaska, a dessert made with ice cream, covered in meringue and baked for a short period of time – the meringue acts as insulation preventing the ice cream from melting. I’m not the biggest fan of baked Alaska’s but this was a winner for me. Not only was it beautifully presented but I loved the pineapple ice cream and the short bread crust.

After a gluttonous meal at Liholiho, I totally get the hype. Sure, the food may not be traditional Hawaiian fare but that doesn’t detract from the experience at all. The food was excellent and with an extensive menu with dishes I’d still love to try, I wouldn’t hesitate to come back. For those just looking for some drinks and small bites to eat, their basement bar, Louie’s Gen-Gen is also a must.

At a glance:

• Serving up Hawaiian-inspired fare from Hawaiian-born Chef Ravi Kapur
• Reservations are a highly recommended; tables open at midnight 30 days prior to the date; a third of the restaurant is saved for walk-ins
• Closed Sundays; open Monday through Saturday for dinner from 5pm
• Also loved their cocktail bar, Louie’s Gen-Gen Room, located in the basement
• Excellent cocktail list which is different from Louie’s Gen-Gen offerings
• Not a white tablecloth establishment but price points are on the high side
• Overall, a great experience and I wouldn’t hesitate to come back
• Highlights: Beef tongue buns, Cornish game hen

Ratings (out of 5):

• Food: 4 stars
• Service: 4 stars
• Atmosphere: 4.5 stars

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• Address: 871 Sutter St, San Francisco
• Phone Number: (415) 440-5446
• Website: http://liholihoyachtclub.com

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