Liholiho Yacht Club, San Francisco

Reviewer: Foodnut.com Liholiho Yacht Club 871 Sutter Street San Francisco, CA 94109 415-440-LIHO Liholiho Yacht Club Website

Exciting food in an energetic atmosphere.

Why did we dine here? – Liholiho Yacht Club is a Hawaiian influenced restaurant from Ravi Kapur, formerly of Prospect and Boulevard. He returned to Hawaii and found inspiration in the cuisine he grew up with. It is a very popular restaurant with hard to get online reservations, so book on Resy weeks in advance.

You need to wait 30 minutes or more before it opens to grab one of the open butcher-block tables if you walk in. Last visit in fall of 2023.

They also run Good Good Culture Club

Insider Tip – Get there early

Cuisine – Hawaiian Fusion
Location – San Francisco Lower Tender Nob Hill
Opened – 2015

Food is innovative and fun, not to mention fantastic.  Great place to go with larger parties, so you can share ohana style. This place is busy and loud, lots of energy here. One of the great reasons why San Francisco is still an exciting place to come for dinner.

Service – Liholiho Yacht Club had better than expected service. Helpers were circling and the friendly waiter helped us navigate the menu. Water refills did lag after a while.
Verdict – Liholiho Yacht Club lived up to its billing as an inventive restaurant with a splash of Hawaiian. A fun place with bold, cutting edge cuisine that is especially good with groups. Prices are as expected.

Is this restaurant worth a 5 minute drive? Yes. 30 minute? Yes. 1 Hour? Maybe

Liholiho Yacht Club Signature Dishes – Buns, Spiced tuna belly, Spam fried rice, Lamb Ribs, Ling Cod

Liholiho Yacht Club’s Menu is fairly compact. 6 large plates along with 12-14 smaller plates. Not a lot of options for vegetarians but they can modify dishes.

Website Liholiho Yacht Club Menu

Liholiho Yacht Club Food Picks:

Beach Break ($16) rum blend, rainwater madeira, curacao, lime, pandan, pistachio with is one strong cocktail, a bit too much ice. 9/10

Summertime Sling ($16) bayab burnt orange & marlua gin, leopold bros baraschino is slightly sweet but also very strong. 8.5/10

Crimson King ($16) is a great drink for mezcal lovers. Other, not so much. 9/10

Tuna Poke ($11) are part of their single serving appetizers. A nice portion on a crispy cracker. 8.5/10

Fried Oyster ($6 ea) are small but delectable. Nice crunch/soft interior. 9/10

Poppyseed Steam Bun ($10) with beef tongue is a fun take on the usual bao.  Not as good as the oyster. 8/10

Ukoy ($16) with corn starch-based deep fried romano beans, yellow wax beans, sweet potatoes and more is a vegetarian delight. 2 nice dipping sauces. They changed the veggies on our different visits. 9.5/10

Gulf Shrimp ($22) with longanisa stuffing is also a wonderful dish with a lot of crunch and tender fresh shrimp. 10/10

Shaved Pigs Head ($18) sounds exotic and scary but in actuality is so beautiful and modern. 9.5/10

Red butter lettuce ($19) is a hidden gem of a salad. Brokaw avocado, cucumber salsa, forbidden rice, chili crisp, coconut crunch makes for a nice mix of textures and flavors. 10/10

LYC Kimchi Fried Rice ($16) with house made spam is a bit greasy but worth ordering. Vegetarians can get the spam on the side. 8.5/10

Rendang Curry ($40) andersen valley lamb or sweet potato, daikon, tumeric butter naan is a big plate that hits the spot. We got the sweet potato vegetarian version. Fairly spicy curry (5/10) – very nice eggless hot naan. 9/10

Swordfish Katsu ($39) russian dressing, gherkins radish, caper butter is a play on a Hawaiian dish. Nice crispy crust. 8.5/10

Pork shoulder chop ($39) pistachio, preserved lemon, savoy cabbage, dates is a large meaty dish with tender, juicy pork. 9/10

Steamed Ling Cod ($42) shirmp crust, jummy nardello peppers, coconut currty is the better of the fish dishes. Cooked perfectly, really nice curry that is less spicy than the rendang. Glad we had rice from the curry dish! 10/10

Baked Hawaii ($13) is a variation of Baked Alaska. Beautiful, Really well done. 10/10

Strawberry Gallete ($13) looks great and was cooked perfectly. 9/10

Mom’s Butter Mochi ($12) is a bit bland, but okay if you like mochi. 8.5/10

Chocolate cake ($13) is something everybody loves. Not really unique. 8.5/10

Sorbet with coconut candy hits the mark. 9/10

Picks From the past – Pre-Pandemic

little gems, avocado, cherry tomatoes, delicata squash, pistachios, herbs, toasted quinoa ($13.25) was solid but more of a good bet for vegetarians. A good sized salad with lots of avocado and cut corn. Heavy on the vinegar.

roasted octopus, curried raisins, castelvetrano, butterball potatoes, fresh coriander ($16.75) was one of the better dishes of the night. The potatoes were crisp and fabulous.

spam and rice ($14.75) is a variant of the menu’s spam fried rice. Ask for this off the menu item.. 3 patties of Homemade quality spam (Not as salty) cooked and placed on seaweed and a bed of rice.

lamb ribs, black vinegar, almonds, stone fruit ($16.25) are sticky ribs with lots of fall off the bone meat. Mint aioli.

fried cornish game hen, cashews, tamari glaze, broccoli, flowering kale ($34.25) is a popular but huge dish. Deep fried goodness makes this excellent. Moist interior and a ton of meat. Deep fried kale goodness. Good enough for 2 people.

OK: (Order if you like this dish)
None

Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
None

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