[wower]

Well. I searched again and couldn't find anything detailing Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market running a global restaurant chain. No doubt another company is just trying to cash in with a relationship with the Tsukiji Fish Market. Which I don't have any problem with because I live in Japan and probably won't eat there anywhere.

Frozen fish becoming more acceptable to top chefs (beef still not so much). Mind you they are freezing at tempartures far colder than normal home freezers (more around the -40C mark). It's processed and frozen right at sea hours after being caught, then trasported at huge expense and kept in huge super-expensive industrial freezers. I first learned of this in regard to previous Iron Chef Japan Morimoto, now in Philadelphia, who uses several varies of frozen tuna from around the world without problem. He has said it allows him greater freedom in regard to his dishes. I have since read other top Japanese restaurants outside Japan turning to frozen tuna, feeling that quality does not suffer it done properly.

I don't really turn my nose up at frozen fish because that is what we get at most keiten sushi places here and it is excellent. There has to be a very well organzied system in place to get it from the ocean in the morning to the plate by evening. Something only a dedicated restuant wants to attempt.

 

[Edwood]

For those that live in Los Angeles. There is a small "chain" of Sushi Restaurants called "Fusion Sushi". Most notably is the one in Torrance. Off of the PCH, right past Hawthorne Ave. (traveling West).

Not the best, but best bang for the buck. Best day to go is Friday. Gets pretty crowded after 7pm.

-Ed

 

[warubozu]

I was wrong in my previous post about Tsukiji Fish Market and restaurant Honolulu and the one in Tokyo operating under the same corporation. The owners of Tsukiji Fish Market and restaurant in Honolulu is using the name with permission and have a direct relationship with the corporate office.

 

[jjcha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by wower /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't really turn my nose up at frozen fish because that is what we get at most keiten sushi places here and it is excellent.

It's so easy to find a good neighborhood place that takes the time to do things right, and usually aren't all that expensive, I don't see how one could really call any kaitenzushi "excellent".

Don't get me wrong, I eat at kaitenzushi at least two or three times a week while I'm in Tokyo, and it's quite acceptable as a quick meal. But despite having gone to literally dozens and dozens of kaitenzushi (and I do have my favorites), I can't think of one that is on par with my old neighborhood place in Ebisu, or the one near my wife's place in Jiyugaoka, much less stuff you can get at Kyubei or other fine establishment.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[AudioDwebe]

The best sushi place I've ever eaten at is a restaraunt called "Todai." It is a buffet and has the best selection of sushi and other foods.

Back a couple of years ago when I was a US Army Recruiter living in Glendale, California, I helped a young man enlist into the service and it just so happened that his father, along with I believe five other partners, were the owner of the Todai chain of restaraunts. I really thought that for helping his son join the Army, the dad just might throw me a few freebie meals.

It never came. Maybe he was mad at me?

Anyway, check out Todai if you can. The prices are right and the food is excellent.

Ciao,

 

[wower]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha /img/forum/go_quote.gif I don't see how one could really call any kaitenzushi "excellent".

Well then you'll really hate that I would describe kaitenzushi as "amazing", "delicious" and "fun" too. Do you maybe want to re-word this?

 

[jjcha]

Fair enough, lemmie rephrase:

I don't see how one who has eaten regularly at a variety of sushi places at all levels of quality (well, perhaps not the crappy ones) can really call any kaitenzushi "excellent" from a pure quality of food standpoint.

It's really like saying In and Out Burger serves an "excellent" hamburger. I think it's almost always a pretty decent one, and one that is quite enjoyable from time to time. But it really does a disservice to truly excellent burgers, such as one at Shake Shack in NYC or Mr. & Mrs. Bartley's in Cambridge.

Hunt around a bit. I'm sure you can easily find a place that serves a much higher quality of sushi in your neighborhood. Even many top floor department store sushi places in Tokyo are fairly good. You may need to search a little bit as there are plenty of poor neighborhood sushi joints, but good places really are very common, at least in Tokyo.

Best regards,

-Jason

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrdelayer /img/forum/go_quote.gif Alright, Head-fi, here's a -fi I haven't seen on here yet. Yesterday was my birthday (the big 1-8) and, to celebrate, my girlfriend and I went to this sushi place, Yokonyu Sushi, in downtown San Antonio, TX. We sat down, ordered our drinks, looked over for the menu for a while. For an appetizer, we ordered the Rock Crab, a tempura-battered crab with a chipotle-mayo and a yuzu (apparently an East Asian citrus) sauce. This was an excellent start to the meal, an explosion of both flavor and texture. The crunch from the tempura combined with the softness of the crab, the spiciness of the chipotle mixed with the slight seafoody crab flavor and the hint of citrus. But I digress, as that is not sushi at all... After looking over the menu for a while, we decided to split the Nigiri Combo #1, and an Alamo Special for myself and the Downtown Roll for my girlfriend. The two rolls arrived first. We exchanged a couple of pieces and began eating. Mine—the Alamo Special—was not unlike a California Roll, but instead of standard crab (or imitation crab), it contained masago, a type of caviar, and half the pieces were wrapped in pieces of raw tuna, which simply melted in my mouth, for lack of a better word. It was also topped with the same chipotle-mayo sauce from the Rock Crab. The Downtown Roll was very similar, but no tuna or masago, but instead tempura shrimp, which added a nice little crunch to the roll, and was again topped with the chipotle mayo. Next, the Nigirl Combo platter. It contained one piece each of six different types of sushi: albacore, masago, salmon, susuki, tamago and tuna. We asked for a knife and split each piece and half. We started with the tamago, as it was on the end and was a lot less intimidating than the piece of the other and, the masago. (Tamago was an omlette, actually, which went very well with the rice and the small band of nori wrapped around it.) I don't know the order of the fish that came after that, but I do remember that they were all delicious and had a texture like I had never felt before. Except one, whose taste and texture was very similar to that of avocados, right down to that little aftertaste you get in the back of your throat. And I love avocados. The masago, while horribly intimidating, was surprisingly delicious. While the caviar didn't have much taste—a little salty, but that's about it—it did have a texture; according to my girlfriend, it was reminiscent of couscous. Next up was dessert; we looked at the menu for a bit and decided upon the Tempura Ice Cream, a green tea flavored ice cream battered in tempura, fried, sliced and drizzled with chocolate and strawberry sauces. The words to describe this escape me. Tempura again adds a nice little crunch, almost like an ice cream cone, but a different flavor. Exquisite. All of this food did, however, make a bit of a dent in my wallet. I had a $25 gift certificate, and less that, plus tax and tip, the check came out to around $70. (I'm sure we could have eaten for a lot less, but we did eat a considerable amount of food.) I do recommend it if any of you happen to be in San Antonio any time soon. Yesterday was my first time eating raw fish, but it most definitely won't be my last. (All of my prior sushi experiences involved cooked crab, krab, or shrimp, as far as seafood goes.) The funny thing is, I hate fish, normally. Anyone else into sushi?

Hell Yeah!!!

I can easily eat a pound or 2 of sashimi, Ahi tuna or Salmon with wasabi.

I went deep sea fishing for yellowfin off Maui. I didn't catch any but my friend did. they sliced it up FRESH right on the boat.... By far the best Ahi I have ever had, it melts in your mouth when its right out of the sea.

 

[Seaside]

I like sushi and sashimi, all kind of them except octopus, makerel and egg.
But I sometimes think sushi is overpriced and overrated. About a dollor for a small piece of fish on top of the roll is kinda expensive... when you eat it as la carte.

Todai is good place, bit expensive I guess, but its variety is great and... hey it's all you can eat buffet. It could be a good deal for hungry sushi lovers.
Todai in northern VA is at fairoaks mall in chantily VA, which is about an hour distance from where l live. But if you live near there, you certainly want to check the place out.

Another place I think have good sushi in northern VA close to DC is a place called heebin in alexandria. They technically are not a sushi restaurant, but they have sushi bar, and you can have sushi as much as you want if you choose to have buffet.

There's another sushi restaurant in northern VA called hana tokyo. It recently opened at duke street, and I never had a chance to be there yet. So I can not comment though, it looks like a great place for sushi lovers in northern VA.

 

[XxATOLxX]

Anyone else ever been in the mood for sushi but is flat broke?


A can of tuna and rice will make a fine substitute though.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjcha /img/forum/go_quote.gif Fair enough, lemmie rephrase: I don't see how one who has eaten regularly at a variety of sushi places at all levels of quality (well, perhaps not the crappy ones) can really call any kaitenzushi "excellent" from a pure quality of food standpoint. It's really like saying In and Out Burger serves an "excellent" hamburger. I think it's almost always a pretty decent one, and one that is quite enjoyable from time to time. But it really does a disservice to truly excellent burgers, such as one at Shake Shack in NYC or Mr. & Mrs. Bartley's in Cambridge. Hunt around a bit. I'm sure you can easily find a place that serves a much higher quality of sushi in your neighborhood. Even many top floor department store sushi places in Tokyo are fairly good. You may need to search a little bit as there are plenty of poor neighborhood sushi joints, but good places really are very common, at least in Tokyo. Best regards, -Jason

in general i agree with jjcha - kaitenzushi is usually not very good. however, i do like the one popular kuru kuri sushi place in harajuku...my favorite stop anytime i'm in tokyo (which hasn't been very often lately).

but no one here has given the venerable uni any love. it's my favorite sushi and the one i judge a sushi-ya by. fresh uni is like foie gras...creamy, sweet, and with just a hint of saltiness. bad uni is metallic tasting and has uneven coloration from sitting out for too long.

the best sushi i've ever had was in sapporo...the best oyster sushi i've ever had and also the best negi-toro i've ever had. what the heck, it was the best period. moving to phoenix (from northern cali) has been rough...the one japanese restaurant i've visited had awful sushi, even though it was owned and run by a japanese guy.

in hawaii the best sushi place (or my favorite, at least) is Mitch's sushi near the airport. if you're ever in honolulu you have to go there...and if you have a layover for a few hours, take a cab and treat yourself to some of the best sushi in the states!

 

[warubozu]

Haven't had the opportunity to try Mitch's in Honolulu. The best sushi I've had in Hawaii would be the ones prepared by the sushi chefs at Sushi Sasabune. The sushi bar at Sasabune serves up Omakase style sushi. They have the distinction as being billed the "Sushi Nazi" (similiar to the soup nazi character in Seinfeld sitcom). Nobu's also opened a restaurant in Honolulu about two weeks ago but I've yet to give them a try.

 

[kugino]

Quote:

Originally Posted by warubozu /img/forum/go_quote.gif Haven't had the opportunity to try Mitch's in Honolulu. The best sushi I've had in Hawaii would be the ones prepared by the sushi chefs at Sushi Sasabune. The sushi bar at Sasabune serves up Omakase style sushi. They have the distinction as being billed the "Sushi Nazi" (similiar to the soup nazi character in Seinfeld sitcom). Nobu's also opened a restaurant in Honolulu about two weeks ago but I've yet to give them a try.

i've heard good (and some bad) things about sasabune. i was hoping nobu would be open last Christmas when i was home for the holidays but no go...had sushi at the new york nobu and that was pretty good. not worth the price they charge, but okay as a one-time thing.

my friend used to work at sushi masa in ward center and that's a pretty good place, though overpriced IMO. yanagi sushi on kapiolani is another good place too...

man, with all this sushi talk i've got to find me some sushi for lunch...

 

[warubozu]

Yup, a friend of mines who goes to Vegas quite often make it a point to stop in at Nobu's while she's there. She tells me that I should give them a try when I have the chance but they aren't cheap and meal there can rack up a tab there depending on what you order.

Yanagi sushi I've heard also serves good sushi and their selection of Toro is quite vast, though parking there sucks when it's busy. The owners are Korean. Someone told me that they do offer a late night dinneer discount on their menu as they do stay open until 2 a.m. Mon thru Sat.

Sushi Masa at Ward Center has been there for years. Most of the time when I pass by there on my way to Borders, they're never busy. In fact most of the time no one is dining there, I'm surprised that they managed to stay afloat this long. Despite that, Masa is known to be a very skilled master sushi chef and his offerings are quite awesome from what I've read in some restaurant reviews.

Another restaurant that's been around for decades that serves good sushi and Japanese food in Honolulu would be Ideta. They're located across from Honolulu Community College next to the Kapalama canal. Their sushi offerings may not be as exotic as Nobu's or Sasabune but they do offer some of the best I've tried.

 

[mbriant]

Get it while you can !

I just saw a clip about how tuna is becoming more and more scarce so they are trying to find substitutes to fill out the sushi menus. And they have turned to red meat no less. Horse and deer meat were mentioned in particular. It said that horsemeat sushi was already being served in some establishments in Japan as an extra special delicacy. Ewwwww.

I used to live with a Japanese girl who's mom used to make it all the time, and have eaten sushi in all sorts of restaurants, both expensive and not-so-expensive, but the best I've had was from a small order-through-a-window shop in Kyoto, Japan. In fact, everywhere I tried it in Japan was if not better than, at least the equal to the best, most expensive places I've tried in North America. Makes sense, sort of, I guess.