Get To Know Amasia Hide's Sushi Bar, Serving Duboce Triangle for 15 Years

Get To Know Amasia Hide's Sushi Bar, Serving Duboce Triangle for 15 YearsPhotos: Stephen Jackson/Hoodline
Stephen Jackson
Published on January 15, 2017

When it's raining outside, Amasia Hide's Sushi Bar slashes prices on sake.

Even if it's just a drizzle, this classic Duboce Triangle eatery offers customers a small carafe of hot sake for just $2.

Headed up by chef Hide Matsumoto and his wife, Shoko, Amasia has provided quality sushi in a cozy environment at the corner of Noe and Henry for the past 15 years. The pair met in Hawaii and moved to San Francisco in 1996; in 2002, they took over the prior sushi restaurant in the same location, Take Sushi. 

Shoko and Hide Matsumoto.

Take Sushi was run by the Takemori family — friends of Hide's — since 1986. Before that, Hide said the location was another sushi joint called Ariake. Altogether, the corner where Amasia stands today has been serving raw fish for at least the past three decades.

"We made up the word, 'Amasia,'" Hide said. "It's a combination of 'Asia' and 'America', you know, because we are Asian," he chuckled.

Hide learned to make sushi more than 30 years ago while living in New York City. "I like to eat sushi, but in Japan, it was traditionally very expensive. I wanted to be able to eat it more, so I learned how to make it," he said. 

Inside Amasia Hide's Sushi Bar, (koto pictured on right).

Although Shoko doesn't help with food preparation, she's very much a presence in the tiny restaurant, helping out in all areas. Her true passion, however, is playing the koto, a traditional Japanese string instrument.

She teaches private lessons Sundays and Monday nights; one is on display near the sushi counter, covered in silk. Diners may catch a impromptu performance by one of the staff members, several of whom are koto players as well. 

Shoko and her koto.

Along with the prospect of live music, Amasia's myriad specials give diners a good reason to stop in, no matter the weather. A daily sake deal includes two selections of premium sake offered by the cup at half price. (A wooden masu box-cup of Kurusawa, normally $17, costs just $8.50.)

They also run a daily happy hour from 5:30 to 6:30pm where beer and a rotating selection of bottled sakes are half off. On weekdays, customers can get a chef-selected order of nigiri at a 50 percent discount as well. 

They even have a "BYOH", or "Bring Your Own Hashi (chopsticks)" deal, where customers who do so are rewarded with a free dish of edamame.

"We're eco-friendly!" said Shoko.

Specials aside, Hide and Shoko said Amasia sets itself apart from other places by offering reasonably-priced sushi that's prepared entirely by Hide himself.

Mixed carpaccio (seared maguro, hamachi, sake, served on a bed of onions, seaweed salad and roasted tomatoes), $10.95.

When we asked what his speciality was, he laughed and replied, "sushi," before explaining that although the majority of sushi places in San Francisco get the same exact fish, flavors differ widely as a result of preparation methods.

Hide prepares each cut from a whole fish in the most traditional manner he knows. He said he even prepares his own tamago, along with his shrimp and mackerel, something not all places do these days.

Catterpillar roll (burdock root, cucumber, snow crab, avocado, fish roe), $14.95, and Nasu (eggplant) nigiri, $5.25.

Two-piece orders of nigiri at Amasia run between $5.25 and $6.25, including several vegetarian options. The Sushi B combo (pictured below) costs $19.95, and comes with a miso soup. Also, be sure to check out the specials presented on a sandwich board the server brings right to your table.

Sushi B combo (yellowtail, tuna, albacore, salmon, shrimp, bbq eel, tamago, tekka roll),  $19.95.

Despite its charm, Hide and Shoko report that business has been increasingly slower, and the cost of doing business has gone up across the board, including the price of fish. Hide said area rent increases have caused many regulars to move away and that it's been difficult lately to fill tables. 

The sandwich board displaying nightly sake deals and other specials.

"If we don't start making more of a profit, I may need to think about changing the menu," he said. "Nowadays, ramen is very popular in San Francisco, and less expensive to make. I may need to switch to that." 

"This is a great neighborhood and we love our customers," Hide added. "It's also very quiet. The other side of market is too busy, but being in this location also makes it difficult to attract new customers."

Hide hard at work behind the bar.

For now, Hide and Shoko plan to keep things running the way they always have.

If you stop by, make sure to say hi to Shoko, who will greet you with a smile, and might even invite you to the Koto concert she's in at Herbst Theatre on May 13th, where she'll be playing in an orchestra of about 25 other performers. The show is headlined by her instructor Kazue Sawai, along with Soju Nosaka, two koto virtuosos from Japan.

So, the next time we get a deluge-level rainstorm — or a few sprinkles — consider popping into Amasia for a $2 hot sake to keep warm.