Looking for a good Sushi place in San Francisco ..?
06-25-2004, 10:25 AM
#18
Originally Posted by AzN121184
i went to kitaro and i think they are pretty good. Not expensive, and the food isn't bad at all.
06-25-2004, 02:51 PM
#21
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There is a rad place that i take my girlfriend to, on chestnut. It's called the naked fish - and is so uber-hip its almost laughable. Total date place - but, also, i'm a white dude from the hills of placerville. It's really not traditional, and may only be related to sushi because they share the same raw fish ingredient. Either way, the food is so good it melts my face off. Its good to see the other sushi places listed here though - cause regardless of my welshness, i still think sushi is food i would eat everyday and never tire of - its just my wallet can't hang in there with me.
06-25-2004, 03:16 PM
#23
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woah, very nice. That sounds like the kind of place i would be asked to leave from. There was a place in berkeley that me and kid from work went to twice before they asked us not to come back. We tipped very well, were very quiet and outrageously polite. But hey, who knows...maybe my legs are too hairy.
06-25-2004, 04:24 PM
#25
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hahaha, i have no idea - we thought we were all hot_isht for landing these sweet jobs, so we go cruising down to this nice sushi place, and after almost a half an hour of not being served in our far back corner table, we get reluctant service - and then told not to come back! Sure, im a swarthy enough guy, but i don't have tatoo's or yell or bad manners for that matter, and neither does my coworker. Who knows - we were the only white dudes there, so instead of rushing to the racial discrimination conclusion too early - i think they just didnt want young guys hanging out in there, regardless of how much money we spend or how polite we were.
06-25-2004, 04:33 PM
#26
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Originally Posted by bushido
i want traditional. A place with (shoeless) tatami seating etc...
There were always big groups of drunk *** Japanese business men in there having "meetings". hahahha!!! More like getting drunk and singing...
06-29-2004, 12:27 AM
#29
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If you want tatami seating and excellent, fresh sushi and sashimi, I HIGHLY recommend Takara in Japantown's Miyakko Mall. We've had several i-Club meets there and everybody left happy. JV loved the omakase nigiri there, ask him yourself 
Just don't expect any "sushi nouveau" bullshiet there. It caters mainly to Japanese cuisine traditionalists (like me). If you want negative reviews, I've got a few for you too. But first, a DISCLAIMER: I don't want to offend anyone with my critiques, I'm just expressing my personal opinions. Plus, you have to remember that I'm a food fascist and picky as hell, so I may make some points that seems nitpicky at times. But to me, these are valid flaws that prevent me from enjoying my meal 100%.
-Ebisu: ah, how the mighty have fallen. Onetime king of sushi restaurants, it's become complacent with its name and fame. Once the home of fresh fish and rare finds, it's now only a ghost of its former self. The owner no longer works the sushi bar himself, and has instead hired unhygenic "chefs" who obviously have had no formal, traditional sushi-ya training. Proof? I caught one of them playing around with loose pocket change before prepping a roll: BIG NO NO! DIRTY!! Furthermore, good traditional sushi such as hamanegi maki has been replaced with such bullshiet as "teriyaki chicken rolls" and "gyoza rolls". A pathetic condition for a once bright star. But why is it so crowded? Because people aren't there for the sushi, they're there to be seen: "Oooh, isn't that so-and-so? He MUST have good taste to go to such a restaurant". Please.
-Kabuto: this one hurts me badly. I was schoolmates with the head sushi chef/owner's sons, and this used to be my regular place. However, the portions have gotten smaller as the prices have risen. Normally, that wouldn't phase me too badly. What made me leave was a piece of saba that I had ordered that was ROTTEN! Not unfresh, but totally rancid! Unacceptable. I considered returning, but I hear the backbone of their sushi menu is now "nouveau sushi". Sad.
-Kitaro: I don't even consider this to be a Japanese restaurant. It's a very typical Hong Kong idea of Japanese food: big, messy, unclean, and inaccurate. But cheap as hell. Reminds of a horrible place in Hung Hom, Hong Kong, called Katiga: the place gave me really bad food poisoning. Don't waste your time or money here.
My personal opinion is that 90% of the world's sushi restaurants are of an unacceptable standard. To be a good sushi restaurant, you need several things: 1) A formally trained sushi chef who knows the traditional ways of selecting, prepping, and cutting fish, 2) Impeccable fresh fish, because what is sushi without a sumptious piece of fish?, 3) A good, clean environment for raw food to be prepped and handled: the last thing you want from a sushi restaurant is diarrhea, 4) Well-prepped, quality rice that is cooked just right, with neither too much nor too little mirin, 5) High quality nori to wrap the sushi with.
Just don't expect any "sushi nouveau" bullshiet there. It caters mainly to Japanese cuisine traditionalists (like me). If you want negative reviews, I've got a few for you too. But first, a DISCLAIMER: I don't want to offend anyone with my critiques, I'm just expressing my personal opinions. Plus, you have to remember that I'm a food fascist and picky as hell, so I may make some points that seems nitpicky at times. But to me, these are valid flaws that prevent me from enjoying my meal 100%.
-Ebisu: ah, how the mighty have fallen. Onetime king of sushi restaurants, it's become complacent with its name and fame. Once the home of fresh fish and rare finds, it's now only a ghost of its former self. The owner no longer works the sushi bar himself, and has instead hired unhygenic "chefs" who obviously have had no formal, traditional sushi-ya training. Proof? I caught one of them playing around with loose pocket change before prepping a roll: BIG NO NO! DIRTY!! Furthermore, good traditional sushi such as hamanegi maki has been replaced with such bullshiet as "teriyaki chicken rolls" and "gyoza rolls". A pathetic condition for a once bright star. But why is it so crowded? Because people aren't there for the sushi, they're there to be seen: "Oooh, isn't that so-and-so? He MUST have good taste to go to such a restaurant". Please.
-Kabuto: this one hurts me badly. I was schoolmates with the head sushi chef/owner's sons, and this used to be my regular place. However, the portions have gotten smaller as the prices have risen. Normally, that wouldn't phase me too badly. What made me leave was a piece of saba that I had ordered that was ROTTEN! Not unfresh, but totally rancid! Unacceptable. I considered returning, but I hear the backbone of their sushi menu is now "nouveau sushi". Sad.
-Kitaro: I don't even consider this to be a Japanese restaurant. It's a very typical Hong Kong idea of Japanese food: big, messy, unclean, and inaccurate. But cheap as hell. Reminds of a horrible place in Hung Hom, Hong Kong, called Katiga: the place gave me really bad food poisoning. Don't waste your time or money here.
My personal opinion is that 90% of the world's sushi restaurants are of an unacceptable standard. To be a good sushi restaurant, you need several things: 1) A formally trained sushi chef who knows the traditional ways of selecting, prepping, and cutting fish, 2) Impeccable fresh fish, because what is sushi without a sumptious piece of fish?, 3) A good, clean environment for raw food to be prepped and handled: the last thing you want from a sushi restaurant is diarrhea, 4) Well-prepped, quality rice that is cooked just right, with neither too much nor too little mirin, 5) High quality nori to wrap the sushi with.
06-29-2004, 12:43 AM
#30
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To elaborate, a formally trained sushi chef is the head of the sushi restaurant, and the materials are the backbone. I insist on a traditional chef for several reasons. First, he would know how to properly prep a fish. It takes much more than just going to Safeway, buying a slab of salmon, giving a few slashes then giving it to someone. That's an insult. A good sushi chef knows that the fish must be top-grade, and knows which parts of the fish are the tastiest (often the oily underbelly). Furthermore, he knows that the fish must be flash-frozen then thawed to kill bacteria and parasites. It MUST NOT be served fresh off boat unless you want to give a customer diarrhea. Next, a good sushi knows how to use the grain of the fish's meat to his advantage. When slicing, a good sushi knows to break the grain of the meat in order to make the piece have a pleasurable texture in the mouth. He also knows to slice diagonally against the grain to achieve this effect well. He also knows that in prepping a piece sushi, whether maki or nigiri, only his fingers are to touch the sushi. Using the palms is the sign of poor training or laziness, and is unacceptable. Handling of the sushi with the bare hands is to be minimal, and hands ought to be rinsed between each order.
Quality fish and ingredients are the backbone of a sushi restaurant. If a piece of fish is not as fresh as it should be, the experienced customer WILL know. If the fish is a poor piece or an undesirable cut, again a sharp parton WILL notice. Serving a customer a rotten piece of fish is unacceptable, period. Ingredients too are vital. Cheap rice will make for poor texture in a piece of sushi. Quality rice, when cooked properly, is slightly chewy and can be picked up with a pair of chopsticks grain-by-grain. The last thing you want is dry, mushy rice that forms into a single bar or doughnut shape. Quality nori, or seaweed, often has a faint, fragrant aroma of the sea and of roasting. It should neither be too brittle that it breaks and sheds particles, nor should it be so tough that it is chewy. Both are bad. Just a bit of insight on sushi ingredients.
Oh, and a fun fact: the oh-so popular spicy tuna roll is a great way for sushi restaurants to unload their aging ingredients upon unknowledgeable customers. They usually take their unfresh, sometimes about to rot tuna, chop it up, and add tabasco sauce to it to cover the stinky, fishy flavor. And yet most people think it's such a cool roll that they order it! If you made a spicy tuna roll in Japan, you'd be out of business in less than a month. Now mind you, it's different that Hawai'ian poke. Poke is made with fresh tuna in a light shoyu sauce with onions and a dash of chilis; if the tuna is rotten it WILL be noticeable.
Happy hunting, sushi afficionado's!
Quality fish and ingredients are the backbone of a sushi restaurant. If a piece of fish is not as fresh as it should be, the experienced customer WILL know. If the fish is a poor piece or an undesirable cut, again a sharp parton WILL notice. Serving a customer a rotten piece of fish is unacceptable, period. Ingredients too are vital. Cheap rice will make for poor texture in a piece of sushi. Quality rice, when cooked properly, is slightly chewy and can be picked up with a pair of chopsticks grain-by-grain. The last thing you want is dry, mushy rice that forms into a single bar or doughnut shape. Quality nori, or seaweed, often has a faint, fragrant aroma of the sea and of roasting. It should neither be too brittle that it breaks and sheds particles, nor should it be so tough that it is chewy. Both are bad. Just a bit of insight on sushi ingredients.
Oh, and a fun fact: the oh-so popular spicy tuna roll is a great way for sushi restaurants to unload their aging ingredients upon unknowledgeable customers. They usually take their unfresh, sometimes about to rot tuna, chop it up, and add tabasco sauce to it to cover the stinky, fishy flavor. And yet most people think it's such a cool roll that they order it! If you made a spicy tuna roll in Japan, you'd be out of business in less than a month. Now mind you, it's different that Hawai'ian poke. Poke is made with fresh tuna in a light shoyu sauce with onions and a dash of chilis; if the tuna is rotten it WILL be noticeable.
Happy hunting, sushi afficionado's!