Sushi trip reports - starting w/ Kiss Seafood in SF

[El Diablo]

Jason,

That was Blowfish. Very good place. That and Sushi Groove South are my two favorite regular sushi places in SF. I've written about Blowfish in other threads here.

Random facts for everyone:

a) Strassa is v. nice and cool in person, I'd hang out w/ him anytime.
b) Strassa looks like a goofy mofo in pics but looks totally normal in person.
c) Strassa can eat like a motherfkr. I sure am glad he was nice enough to buy me dinner, because the boy can put down sushi like crazy.

[Banks2334]

[ QUOTE ]
I sure am glad he was nice enough to buy me dinner

[/ QUOTE ]
Not to hijack, but perhaps a thread on how you get everyone else to pay for dinner would be appropriate. Or would that be giving away too many secrets? Seems like you and Ray Zee are nationally ranked if not world class at getting others to pay.

[toss]

$60 is really good value for all the stuff you're getting (especially the toro). Now if I didn't live 5-6 hours away from SF...

[El Diablo]

Sushi Ran, Sausalito (across the Golden Gate Bridge from SF)

www.sushiran.com

This place has been a pretty popular local place for a while, but recently got a ton of buzz because it was awarded a prestigious Michelin star. It does both sushi and lots of hot Japanese/California fusion style hot dishes. I had been before and just had regular sushi, this time wanted to try out their specialties. They fly in fish from Tokyo fish markets.

Started out with the seafood trio ($15-20). Crab wrapped in smoked salmon was very tasty. Second was a tuna tartare, relatively lightly seasoned with bigger than normal diced tuna, clearly the focus was on the tuna here, very good. Third was a tempura salmon roll, a little sweet, very tasty. Overall, very good.

Next we each had the Sushi Omakase (chef's sampler of nigiri) ($28/per). This was 7 pieces of sushi. Squid, half-beak (sayori/needlefish), bonito, toro, Japanese snapper and a couple more. The sushi was very good, but I thought it was not quite as good as the nigiri course at Kiss.

Then had a soft shell crab roll ($10). Very tasty.

Finished off dinner with the miso glazed cod ($15-20). Wow, this fish was buttery and delicious. Yum. Only place I have had better miso cod is Nobu.

For dessert we had a tempura malted chocolate chip ice cream (wow, tempura was good, but ice cream was spectacular!) and a custard trio (espresso, banana coconut, orange ginger chocolate - all three were good, but espresso was incredible) ($8-10)

With green tee for both of us and a couple of glasses of sake for me, total was $170 including tax/tip.

This was a very good meal. Kiss had better fish imo, but Sushi Ran definitely had more creative dishes. Kiss is probably overall better execution and experience, but is a very traditional Japanese meal. Sushi Ran definitely focuses much more on flavors and sauces and creative dishes, while Kiss is really more about simplicity and focusing on the essence of the items. Two very different meals and experiences, both of which I recommend.

[El Diablo]

All,

New favorite sushi place for me.

Ino Sushi in SF Japantown.

Small husband/wife place. Maybe 10 seats at counter and three four-top tables.

Japanese style - mainly just sashimi/nigiri with a couple of very basic rolls.

The nigiri is a little smaller than most sushi places, but the quality is incredible and the fish/rice ratio is perfect.

Most nigiri are either $4 or $5 for 2.

We went with omakase.

He put some ginger on the counter, then started us off with three pieces of tuna: maguro, chutoro, and otoro. No wasabi - he puts the right amount in the nigiri. All three were delicious, ranging from standard to fattiest. The chutoro was actually my favorite. The otoro was delicious and like butter, but the chutoro was super rich while maintaining a little more of the fish flavor.

He then did scallops. Two different types of Japanese scallops. One was more delicious than the other, but both were great!

Then two types of yellowtail - hamachi and kanpachi (amberjack). Again, yum.

So far, everything had been incredible.

Next came aji (mackerel) and squid legs. The mackerel was very mildly fishy, much better than mackerel I've had elsewhere, but still not my favorite. The squid leg was surprisingly tasty. Again, not my favorite though.

Then we had a couple of pieces of monkfish liver (ankimo). Wow. This was like foie gras. Incredible.

Here he asked us if we had had enough or would like more.

We said definitely more. Still hungry at this point. Stopping here would have probably been about $45-50/per (including beers/tax/tip)

He gave us uni (sea urchin) next. Best uni I've ever had. Perfect place to taste it and realize that I really just don't like uni very much.

Next we got some flounder and seabass. Yum.

He asked us again, we requested more!

Next came Albacore (bincyo) and marinated tuna (something maguro). The albacore was incredible. The marinated tuna was just good, not great. The marinade cooked it a bit, so it was almost like a seared tuna, which is not my favorite sushi.

We asked for three more pieces to finish. We contemplated asking for our favorites, then decided, f that, let's be adventurous and have him surprise us with some stuff we'd never normally order. He did not let us down.

monterey squid / conch / octopus - I was not a fan of the conch. A little too rubbery for me. But the monterey squid was very tasty. And the octopus was the first time I haven't found it rubbery at all - very tender and delicious.

Total w/ tax and tip was $70/person including a couple of beers. We could easily have gotten out of there for $60/person but we wanted to go all out.

I highly recommend this place.

[DrNo888]

What was the price for omakase?
It sounds like an all you can eat premium sushi buffet.

[xxThe_Lebowskixx]

im surpised you dont like mussels and oysters if you like all of this stuff.

[egj]

In the South Bay, a *great* Japanese restaurant is Kaygetsu in Menlo Park. Not too sure about the sushi specifically, but everything else my wife and I have had has been fantastic.

[El Diablo]

DrNo,

So, wait a sec. You're telling me you read that post and somehow are not aware of what the cost was?

Are you f'ing serious?

[Kneel B4 Zod]

Diablo,

seems like when you go for sushi you typically go for the omakase. do all sushi places offer this, or only nicer ones?