Sushi trip reports - starting w/ Kiss Seafood in SF

[BretWeir]

Good sushi is hard to come by in the DC area, but there's a good place called Yamazato in Alexandria. Went there tonight and had two pieces (nigiri) each of hamachi, white toro, unagi and aji (mackerel). Very fresh, nicely cut, good flavor but not fishy.

[guids]

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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?

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well you said 60 to 70 bucks per person, but how many people did you have w/ you?

[El Diablo]

KBZ,

For sushi I actually usually go to SGS or Blowfish in SF and order relatively standard stuff, a few nigiri/sashimi and a few rolls, $40-ish meal. But that's sorta boring to post about.

I've seen two things referred to as omakase in Japanese restaurants.

One is what I described at Kiss above, where it's like a tasting menu type deal. This is generally only offered at nicer places and often places that are Japanese restaurants doing sushi + other food. Nobu, for example, does set omakase menus (though I recommend just ordering off the menu).

The other type of omakase is available at most all sushi counters. Here, the sushi chef just serves up whatever he thinks is good. You just put yourself in his hands and let him serve you stuff until you're full. I generally only do this at nice places where I want to sample random stuff that I don't normally order.

[DrNo888]

[ QUOTE ]
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?

[/ QUOTE ]


Um..the amount you mentioned included drinks. I was asking for the base price without drinks.
I don't drink so have no idea on their prices, especially for someone as balla as you since your price range is huge.

[El Diablo]

DrNo,

Where are you from?

[Evan]

Diablo, do you have a preference in the two types of omakase you described? It seems like the second kind (less fancy one) might be more fun because there would be more interaction between you and the chef. I've never done either, just curious.

[UptownExpress]

Do people rate Tomoe's Sushi (NYC) like at the top-top? My experience there has always been amazing, been there like 5,6 times always incredibly fresh never been to a really fancy plays like Nobe or watev.

[Zeno]

I enjoy sushi but have no real good places to go beyond standard fair or chain type establishments. So the experience is better than getting a sharp stick jabbed into the eyeball and the sushi tastes better than dog food. I guess that's something.

By the way, the person that mentioned about soup at the end of the meal - that is not that uncommon. A light soup at the end of a meal is a nice capper and good way to clean the palate and is quite refreshing. Soup given at the end is usually a lighter fare. At least that was my experience at some restaurants and self serve places in Taipei, where my Chinese co-workers always had soup at the end (for lunch that is).

-Zeno

[blah_blah]

The best sushi I've had was at Sushi Ota in San Diego

we started with a sashimi plate with toro, salmon belly, sea urchin wrapped in yellowtail, as well as some other things I've forgotten (amaebi and the like). all of their fish is imported; the toro comes from spain, the salmon belly from scotland, and so on - only the shrimp was caught locally. iirc the toro was like $5 a piece when ordered a la carte; it was unbelievably good and easily the best fish I've ever had.

the garnish on the sashimi plate was the top half of a lobster, freshly cut in half (with legs still moving!). After we finished they friend the lobster and served it with kobe beef strips wrapped around asparagus - both were excellent.

we had a couple of rolls next; a rainbow roll and some sort of inside-out unagi roll with avocado and smoked salmon on top. the rainbow roll was good, if a little unremarkable, but the unagi roll was excellent and had a very nice, slightly crunchy texture.

the remainder of our meal consisted of nigiri, many varieties of which I had no prior experience with. First up was tuna tataki, which has never been one of my favorites but which was quite nice anyways. The rice they use here is very delicate and has a very pleasant texture. Next was snapper, which again is not a favorite of mine but was high quality nonetheless.

Next up was some halibut nigiri, which was quite interesting, as well as halibut fin nigiri, which I had never had before. It was somewhat tough but very tasty, and the contrasting textures of the fish and the fin were very interesting. Next up was needlefish with a bit of ginger on top, which was absolutely fantastic, and to finish was some sea urchin (which I declined, being nearly full), and unagi, which was absolutely fantastic - the best unagi I've ever had, and a perfect conclusion to the meal.

We had some japanese ice cream at the end which was quite nice, but honestly, after the sushi, anything would be a letdown.

Total price was about $125 a person (no drinks) I think; I didn't pay.

[DrNo888]

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DrNo,

Where are you from?

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South Bay