While Old Town Sushi is all the rage in San Mateo, I discovered Dash Japanese Tapas and Sushi last year. It surely didn’t disappoint. I recently went again and fell in love all over again. The shop is inconspicuously located in the alley of downtown San Mateo next to the movie theater. There’s not much of a wait but reservations are recommended for dinner.
We started with the baked baby scallop with uni. This dish was amazing! The creaminess from the uni was well balance with the scallop and roe.
Owned by a little Japanese man and whom I presume to be his wife, although she spoke Chinese to him, this little hole in the wall place will electrify any sushi lover’s taste bud.
We called Kin Chan Sushi and made reservations for 8 pm but arrived late at 8:30 pm due to traffic. When we walked in, they were surprised to see us and tried to send us away because they were out of rice. We told them we had reservations, so they seated us but informed us the selections were limited. I was sad we didn’t get to try the omakase but after the meal, I was overly satisfied because this was one of the best sushi meals in my life.
We started with the negitoro roll. Most places will give you low grade toro but this was a decadent piece of toro. You can taste the fattiness.
The salmon was so fresh, buttery, and smooth that I ordered it twice.
Chef Kinji took five minutes to build this aji, but it was worth it. My taste buds exploded from the freshness! Hands down the best aji EVER! I’m drooling over this as I type.
The hamachi was fresh, smooth and flavorful, which is rare to find. It was also the best hamachi I’ve ever had.
By the chef’s suggestion, we ordered the hirame. You can taste the natural sweetness of the fish.
Limited on options we ordered the fresh maguro (tuna).
The Hokkaido uni’s sweetness did not disappoint.
Beautiful shima aji (striped jack) to end the meal.
The chef’s knife skills and sushi knowledge is shown when you taste each piece of fish. Do not be deterred by the chef’s lack of English because it makes the dining experience better when he tries to communicate with you. He was shocked to learn people from California had found his little restaurant and knew Japanese sushi terminology. Look out for this “must go” restaurant at the Waterfront Plaza. I will be back! I just hope he’ll still be running it.
Be prepared to wait for Sushi Dai, one of the two acclaimed sushi restaurants at the Tsukiji fish market. By wait, I don’t mean 1-2 hours. I mean over FOUR hours. You have to be committed, or just wake up super early to be first in line. I got to Sushi Dai around 5 am and was immediately told it will be a four hour wait. So I waited….and waited….and waited 4.5 hours for:
YUMTRAVELS 