The Sushi Thread

[El Diablo]

Sucker,

Sounds like a great plan. Not sure how significant this really is given all the controversy about the selection process here, but FWIW Sushi Ran did get a Bay Area Michelin star.

[ethan]

One resource people may find helpful is chowhound.com. They've done well by me as far as recommendations both locally (LA) and in most any other major city. Even if you're not looking for local restaurants, you may find interesting content.

[edtost]

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lastly, get some money, go to a NICE sushi bar and literally just let the chef make you things for a night.

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Yes, do this - it's awesome. It's called Omikase - you basically pay a fixed price and the chef makes you interesting things all night, usually based on what's fresh and good that day. The times I've done it it was a mix of different things - some of it was traditional nigiri and maki rolls, but also a bunch of other good stuff like seaweed salad or tako yaki (octopus balls).

For those in the seattle area, there's an awesome place in West Seattle called Mashiko. Their omikase is like ~$40 / person and was really, really awesome.

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anyone know a good place for omakase in nyc, besides the hyper-expensive (though i'm sure excellent) masa?

[El Diablo]

ethan,

I'm a big fan of chowhound.com. Yelp.com and Citysearch Best Of guides (just click on any Best Of guide and you can then get to a bunch of categories) are pretty good too to get a quick idea, but I think the reviewers generally suck hard compared to chowhound reviewers.

[punkass]

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Unagi is very palatable, as it tastes something like teriyaki fish on rice. I don't know if that's the best way to ease into raw fish though, since, well... it's not raw fish. I think regular tuna is a good starter since it's pretty neutral tasting. Go to a half-decent sushi place and the tuna won't smell fishy. Yellow tail would be okay too.

Sushi is awesome -- just don't get weirded out by the texture of the raw fish and you'll be all right.

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I love sushi, and I'm pretty open to all new things sushi. I had sea urchin for the first time the other day, and while I won't go out of my way to get it, it was definitely a new taste and texture. Favs of mine are salmon and tuna (obviously the fattier the better). I prefer nigiri vs rolls because I like just tasting the fish.

I have a question to a friend of mine who is new to sushi. She eats the cooked rolls when we go, and she has reservations on the texture of raw sushi. I advised that when she was ready to go past the cooked salmon/tuna/scallops she gets now, I picked a tuna roll as her first experience into raw fish, since it has a mild flavor and ok texture. Any other suggestions?

[offTopic]

All you can eat/buffet-style vs. a la carte

I don't dig AYCE. The best experience I've had with one of these places was at Todai in San Diego because it was packed, and everything was pretty fresh. A la carte costs more on a per-piece basis, but IMO the quality is worth it.

Nigiri vs. cut rolls

We generally don't order rolls at our regular haunts, but my family makes futomaki every new year's and my wife and I have made both California Roll (with king crab from Costco) and spicy tuna handroll (with negitoro from Mitsuwa marketplace, mayonnaise, and togarashi) at home. We also recently did up spicy hamachi handroll with fresh hamachi...I cut up most of it into sashimi, and then went at some of it with a cleaver to make the spicy handroll filling. It was good. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

At a place with good fish, I much prefer nigiri, and will, once in a great while, get chirashi.

Imitation crab rules

Really, really, really disagree. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

Wasabi & soy sauce

No wasabi, unless eating sashimi. The chef is supposed to put the proper amount of wasabi on the nigiri, and at one of the regular places, we trust him to do so. I don't think it's being pretentious to recommend dipping fish side down and then eating it fish side down...it makes a big difference in tasting the fish.

Drinks

I prefer either beer or hot tea. My brother-in-law is a sake snob. Too much beer affects my fish consumption, though.

I would also add:

Favorite fish

I am a big kanpachi fan, and the Masked Man is right: When you get some fresh shiro maguro (albacore) it's right up there with most types of toro!

Damn. Hungry for fish, again...

[traz]

I only eat All-you-can-eat with my friends. It seems to be a more social thing, and since we're young, it's alot more bang for your buck. Also, most of them couldn't tell good sushi from crap sushi anyways. Regularly, with my family or with a select few people, we'll go to a real sushi house and have the good stuff.

I'm a huge fan of unagi when it's done well, pretty much my favorite. I love salmon and toro...mmmm.

I hate ginger/wasabi, and only use soy for my sashimi. Everything else I eat plain. ahhh, I really want sushi now.

[fmxda]

I am a really big fan of sashimi done in the Korean style, served with a sweet, vinegary and definitely spicy sauce.

[NoahSD]

Anyone who's never had albacore or toro,
Try it.

I also like just going to Whole Foods and buying myself a sashimi grade raw tuna steak, cutting it up, and eating it with soy sauce... sometimes just plain. The quality of fish at the Whole Foods near my house is amazing considering it's just a supermarket.

[Howard Treesong]

My favorites in LA are Roku (on Third, just east of the Beverly Center) and Koi (on La Cienega, just north of the Beverly Center). Mrs. Treesong, who hails from Hawai'i and lived in Japan for some years, is convinced that restaurants use slightly older tuna to make spicy tuna rolls because the flavoring can hide imperfect freshness. Because my sense of taste is quite poor, I argue with her on this point for fun, without any basis whatsoever.

Thus far, I have not found a good sushi restaurant in Minneapolis.