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.
Ijji recently opened in February but don’t wait too long to snag a spot. This traditional sushi restaurant is small and can seat about 16 people at a time. A credit card is required to hold your reservations. If you cancel, they will charge $100 per person so be certain you can make your reservations. Tip: go early to find parking. Ijji is located on Divisadero so street parking is tough to find. I was half an hour late because I was spending 30 minutes looking for parking. Luckily, I called the restaurant to let them know I was late looking for parking, and they were very accommodating. The restaurant is hard to spot since there is no sign outside but look for the wooden door.
I was seated at the bar and thoroughly enjoyed watching the chefs prepare the fish. I noticed the fish was stored in bamboo boxes instead of lined up on the counter. Every time the chef opened the box, I felt like like a giddy kid trying to peek inside a box of chocolates. I tried not to do this every time since all (chefs’) eyes are on you when you sit at the counter. Yes, even when you’re eating.
The menu only offers appetizers, nigiri and sashimi. I went with the omakase option. Menu said it came with 10 items and an appetizer for market price. I assumed it was an appetizer and 10 pieces of nigiri. However, it turned out to be an appetizer and 9 pieces of nigiri. Looking back, I would have opted for ordering from the menu instead since the omakase was the same price as each nigiri combined. All the fish was fresh but I personally would have been fine going without a few of the “omakase” selections. I also opted to add a few pieces in the end.
We added the ankimo nitsuke to the omakase. It is ankimo (monkfish liver) marinated overnight in a soy broth. It tasted like salty, soy ankimo. I personally preferred the sweetness of the regular ankimo.
Fresh sushi places for a decent price are hard to come by in the Bay Area with its rising cost of living. Kiku Sushi keeps their prices reasonable despite being in Berkeley. The upside to this is getting to enjoy fresh sushi without breaking the bank.
The negi toro roll was decadently fatty. After one bite, I wanted more and couldn’t stop until the plate was finished.
From the specials menu, I got the sardine and hiramasa. Hiramasa (yellow amberjack) is the pink fish pictured below. It was fresh and delicious. I was excited to try the sardine since it was served in two parts: two nigiri pieces and a deep fried body. The nigiri was salty, just like sardines, but flavorful. The fried body is dipped in a special ponzu sauce before consuming. It was crunchy and tasty.
The chirasi bowl was different from the norm since they only offered one slice of fish per variety. It had eel, sardine, hamachi, salmon, albacore, tuna, and tomago. The fish was fresh however, the eel was coated in a cinnamon sugar sauce, which was off-putting. Otherwise, I would recommend this.
Hawaii was the first place I tried poke. I haven’t been able to find a place in the states that makes it just as good. So when I came back to Hawaii, I was excited for more poke. Fresh Catch just blew the poke game out of the water. If you’re on the hunt for the best poke, look no further. The fish is fresh, and the marinades will delight your taste buds. None of them are too salty or sweet. Sold by weight, buy as much as your heart desires.
The tuna was the perfect savory balance to the salmon’s sweet marinade.
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.
In search of poke, this place kept popping up in recommendations, but I didn’t try it until I attempted to go to Haili’s Hawaiian Food. To our dismay, they were closed. Ono Seafood was across the street so I decided to give it a shot.
I ordered the super bowl with an additional poke flavor for 50 cents more. The super bowl comes with rice, extra poke and a drink. I chose the Shoyu Ahi Poke and Haw’n Style Tako Poke. The Shoyu Ahi has tuna, shoyu (soy sauce), green and white onion, limu (algae), kikul, chili pepper, and sesame oil. The Haw’n Style Tako has octopus, sea salt, green and white onion, limu (algae), kikul, and chili pepper. Overall, I found the pokes to be mediocre. Nothing was outstanding.
Swan Oyster Depot was established in its present location over 100 years ago in 1912 by four Danish brothers. They delivered fresh seafood throughout San Francisco using a horse drawn carriage. In 1946, they sold the business to the Sancimino and LaRocca family. Over time, the Sancimino children took over, and today they continue to run the business along with delivering fresh seafood throughout the city. Today the shop looks just like it did in the past. A long narrow seafood bar that seats only 18 with an antiquated register adding to its charm.
The oyster combo comes with oysters from around the world but I wasn’t able to catch the names. They were all very fresh and delicious, as acclaimed. My favorite were the small oysters due to their sweetness.
Got their clam chowder bowl and crab cocktail. I would pass on the clam chowder. It was full of clam flavor but lacked body. I tend to like my clam chowder to be thick and filled with clams. The crab cocktail was delightful. Com’on it’s a bowl of shelled crab meat!
You can taste the freshness in the sashimi plate. It comes with salmon, tuna, yellowtail, halibut and scallops. My favorite were the sweet scallops.
Tip: Go early for there’s an hour long wait for a seat. Bring cash and lots of it. For two people, this meal can run up to ~$100.
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:
Bento box filled with all types of tuna- tataki, seared, and chu-toro- makes this is a tuna lover’s delight. The fish was fresh. The chu-toro was smooth.
You can find this at one of the stands in the food hall at the lowest level of Isetan. Only cost ¥1447.
10 piece omakase for $33. Mine came with (front to back, left to right): kanpachi, red snapper, black snapper, wild salmon toro, shima aji, ocean trout, tuna, wild hamachi, baby lobster, chu-toro, and freshly grated wasabi.
I started with the black snapper. It was delectably sweet, which I didn’t expect. I had the red snapper next and didn’t find anything spectacular about it. The ocean trout was smooth and tasty. I was excited to taste the baby lobster but found it to be chewy. The chu-toro was also nothing spectacular. My favorite was the wild salmon toro. It was buttery and smooth. Overall, the fish was fresh but not all of them were amazing. There were some delicious ones but when I eat omakase, I expect all fish to be highlighted to its true potential. Next time, I would get the chirashi bowl ($18) or 20 piece sashimi ($35) instead. Those had HUGE slices of fish, so it’s definitely worth the price.
YUMTRAVELS 