sushi tsujita

los angeles, ca

website

being a huge fan of their noodle shops - tsujita la and tsujita annex, i was very excited to try the new tsujita sushi restaurant. unfortunately, it didn't live up to my high expectations. some early dishes were very good - the starter pictured had amazing flavor - each ingredient was delicious. but the later sushi courses were underwhelming - while good, i think you could get sushi just as good for half the price down the street.

kanpai

palo alto, ca

website

yes! finally! two things to celebrate. 1 - derek and i finally found a decent sushi spot in palo alto and 2 - i've finally caught up with all of my posts. i ended up skipping a few places because i either forgot to take a picture or i had taken a picture, but couldn't remember the restaurant. i hope to blog more regularly in the future but we'll see how it goes... anyway, back to the food -- kanpai received some pretty good ratings on yelp, so we decided to give it a try. as soon as we walked in, the atmosphere reminded us of authentic japanese restaurants we visited in tokyo and manhattan, so that was very promising.

derek knows all about my love of uni. as soon as we sat down he asked the waiter whether they had uni. the response - "yes, and it's very fresh!" and it was amazing uni, some of the best that i've ever had - extremely fresh. in fact, i ordered another piece after eating the first. the rest of the sushi was good, but not the same quality as the uni. next time, we know to ask them for what is "very fresh" that day. they also serve the sweet shrimp nigiri with the shrimp heads deep-fried, so you get all the good brainy bits too. delicious. in addition, kanpai has an excellent sake list and really good rolls - we'll definitely be back!

sasabune

los angeles, ca

website

you know a place is going to have good sushi when ... (1) it's recommended by cindy c and (2) you're greeted with a sign that warns you that they don't serve california rolls, spicy tuna rolls, or teriyaki. the only real option at sasabune is the omakase -- the waiter asks you whether you'd like the japanese or the american tasting menu. (we chose japanese, of course!) i had no idea how much lunch was about to cost, but i didn't particularly care. i had been deprived of good sushi for far too long to let financial concerns interfere.

amazing sushi, definitely around seki-level quality. we started with two plates of sashimi - toro in a ponzu sauce and what i think was raw clam with pink salt. so good - extremely fresh, buttery sushi. then the waiter brought us the nigiri courses, two pieces at a time. my favorites were the uni and ikura (pictured) and sweet shrimp, although every piece was fantastic. finally, they serve crab hand rolls - they don't look appetizing, but they were delicious. lunch ended up costing about $100 (incl. tax and tip) so this is definitely a special occasion spot, but i was very happy with the entire experience.

akane

los altos, ca

link to yelp

derek and i have been desperate to find a quality japanese restaurant in the south bay. akane is not it. derek chose this restaurant because it had a favorable rating on yelp. i'm not sure why. maybe it was an off day but when derek and i went, the food was very disappointing.

i ordered the nabeyaki udon. the only thing right was the poached egg, which was perfect with the udon noodles. but the broth was bland and the fish and the chicken were overcooked (and bland). we ordered a sushi roll and some nigiri. the uni tasted funky and not in a good way. the mackerel was not fresh. the sushi roll consisted mostly of green onion and what little raw fish was included was tasteless. sigh.

blue ribbon sushi bar & grill

58th (8/9)

website

y&a know where to eat. they know what to order. follow their lead and you'll never go wrong. derek and i headed up to midtown for an amazing meal at blue ribbon sushi bar and grill. y&a brought the baby, who was doted on by the staff (thus the stroller-friendly tag). service, overall, was super friendly and helpful - standard for a high-end japanese restaurant in the city. we started with melt-in-your-mouth miso marinated black cod, then duck meatball noodle soup. the fried chicken with wasabi honey was also excellent.

my favorite, however, was the bone marrow with teriyaki sauce. so good. while enjoying the deliciousness, we started wondering about who in history first decided to split open bones and roast the marrow. then we started lamenting the thought that there were bones in the world that were going unsplit and unroasted... anyway, derek and i weren't very good at portioning out the marrow for the bread. we had leftover marrow and no more bread. the good news though, is that our next dish was the oxtail fried rice, so we added our leftover to the rice. delicious. decadent. i can't wait to go back!

yama

new york, ny

link to yelp

i think i might i have found my new local sushi place (replacing haru). neal was in town and craving sushi, so i did some yelp searching. found this lovely little spot hidden away in the basement of what was once washington irving's home near irving place.

there was a bit of a wait, but i can understand why - this place has monster sushi. giant rolls. huge slabs of fish over tiny pieces of rice. neal and i shared 6 sushi pieces and 3 rolls - it was more than enough. really fresh fish, friendly service - i'm really glad that i found this place!

hatsuhana

new york, ny

website

another seamless web find - i've never actually been to this restaurant, but i discovered that it delivers incredible sushi to my office building. it's a bit pricey so you can't order a whole lot, but the chirashi (pictured) is a good amount of fish for about $30. high quality, fresh fish over a bed of seasoned rice.

one of my favorite things about this restaurant is that they put a lot into the presentation. the sushi is served in a pretty box with the hatsuhana logo on top. even the tamago has a "hatsuhana" stamp on it. it's like receiving a little present when you're stuck working late in the office.

sushi seki

new york, ny

link to yelp

this is my favorite sushi restaurant in the city and it is very difficult to get reservations. fortunately, i managed to snag a table for 3 at 8:30 pm on a wednesday night for myself, eric and jenny. if you're a sushi-eater, you have to get the special platter or the omakase. otherwise it's a waste of a reservation. (for non-sushi-eaters, i hear their other options are fantastic, though i have never tried them.) my first visit to sushi seki was in 2005 when the special platter was called the omakase, had huge pieces of fish, and cost around $30. a steal. it now costs $45 and has smaller pieces of fish. a separate omakase option now starts at $60. i'm sad that the price has increased so much, but i understand the economics of the decision.

derek and i once celebrated an anniversary here - we told the waiter how much we wanted to spend and chef seki sent out plate after plate of amazing sushi. it was one of the best meals i've ever had. since then, however, i've stuck to the special platter which includes most of my favorites from that meal. seki has unique sauces and preparations for each type of sushi. unlike the omakase menus at other restaurants, these special preparations generally stay the same every day. my favorites are the tuna topped with a creamy light tofu sauce, salmon served with onions and tomato, seared king salmon sauced with soy and sake, seared scallop. even the eggplant is melt-in-your-mouth good. definitely try this place if you've got some room in your budget for amazing sushi.

haru

new york, ny

website

everyone needs a local sushi place. in new york, it should be within walking distance, preferably just a few blocks. there should always be a seat available. and the sushi should be reasonably priced (for sushi). although you can't expect the sushi to be flown in daily from the tsukiji market in tokyo, the sushi should always be fresh and tasty.

despite the fact that derek and i have lived in the gramercy/flatiron area for over a year, i have yet to find the perfect local sushi place. instead, i've settled for haru. it tends to be a bit too trendy for me with loud music, an unnecessary waterfall, and expensive rolls. but it does have very good cocktails and unique rolls. my new favorite roll is the double toro roll - yellowtail toro, salmon toro, asparagus, carrot and cucumber. sounds strange to be sure, but it turned out to be a perfect combination of fresh fish and crunchy veggies.

6/19/2010: reposted with photo of giant platter of sushi

blue ribbon sushi

new york, ny

website

turns out derek and i don't have as refined sushi sensibilities as we thought we did. we ordered the omakase menu at blue ribbon sushi and were underwhelmed because, well, everything tasted like fish. the salmon was melt-in-your-mouth good and there was a particular sashimi that reminded me of fishing trips my dad used to take us on when we were kids. good memories, good sashimi, but that's all i can say about the meal. i think derek and i prefer the unique sauces and preparation in sushi seki's omakase menu.

when we were done eating the sushi and sashimi, they deep fried the fish head and bones. for us to eat. i ate the meaty parts of the head but i could not eat a fish's head whole. derek crunched on a few fried fish bones. not fun. we kept coughing as if the bones were still stuck in our throats on our walk back uptown (where i got a custard at shake shack and derek stopped by mcdonald's because we were still hungry). maybe if we had more sophisticated palates and stomachs we would have been satisfied by the amazing spread of fresh fish at blue ribbon sushi. unfortunately we don't and next time we go, we'll probably order some spicy rolls and tempura.