Sushi!
I'd been having a sushi jones for a few weeks now; Larry's Market by my work closed and they had a pretty decent sushi maker; spicy tuna rolls at least, that was all I got there. The QFC sushi stand...well, I'm sure 'tis tasty but the rolls are definitely smaller. There's also a couple of real sushi joints nearby too; Ken Zaburo Mrs. P and I tried last year and it was delicious but again a bit steep for lunch. So we went through our new Entertainment coupon book looking for a place and settled on Yamashiro's Sushi Bistro. A quick search showed it was getting 4.5 / 5 stars on citysearch.com reviews so that a good sign. Off we went!
The scene:
Unless you are actively looking you'll drive by it a couple of times before you know it's there. Squeezed into the corner of a small stripmall, between a teriyaki place and a bubble tea house of the August moon (sorry couldn't resist) Yamashiro's shows a modern glass and steel exterior that opens to a wood accented interior; bar to the right, tables, sushi bar to the left. Asked by the (drink)bartender where would we like to sit "Sushi bar" was the unanimous answer. Bo the rollmaker gave us an quiet but direct "Irashaimase" (Was he the apprentice? He claims two and half years experience; making rolls and nigiri even before learning to make the rice!) A pint of Kirin, a small bowl of edamame and a row of fresh fish under glass in front of me I was set! (Menus? I don't need no stinking menus. Wife? Wife what who? :-} ) A quick conversation leads to the discovery that Yamashiro has won Best Sushi in Seattle - AOL guide two years in a row. Best in Seattle? That is a bold claim in this town.
The food:
Even tho' I was focused on nigiri the menu was tempting with an assortment of maki sushi (rolls) and kitchen items (Las Vegas roll with crab! Honey walnut prawns! Mrs. P's weakness...if she was ever on "24" they'd have to call that episode "half an hour" "Ok where's the hideout!?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "I got honey walnut prawns." "Ok it's down off I-405 at the 108th st. exit, take a left...") Basically I all needed from the menu was do I want the 8 piece with roll or 10 piece w/ roll chef's choice? 8 piece it is.
I'm gonna skip all the conversation with Bo and get straight to the food:
Tempura appetizer: delicate crispness! Fresh veg's and prefect shrimps coated in crispy air. Delicious.
Mrs P had: 1 tuna and 2 pieces of shrimp and a bowl of miso soup "The bloom was beautiful and there were jewels of tofu at the bottom."
8 piece chef's choice with roll: I made two requests for the choices: unagi (mmm...eel) which I'd never tried and mackeral! Bo looked at me like "This guys nuts..." but I explained I was pretty new to the nigiri aspect of sushi and I wasn't afraid of "fishiness" It's fish after all...you don't go "huh...that potato was a bit too potatoey." So in order of consumption:
Dynamite Roll: yellowfin, tobiko (flying fish roe), jalepeno and avacodo deep fried in that amazing tempura batter. Worth getting by itself and the spicy sauce was just that! Others at the bar commented on it's zing also.
Shrimp - delicious and tender but also it's shrimp, not a lot going on with it either.
Squid - Tender! Raw? I don't know. At the time I thought it was but now I'm not sure. It wasn't as opaque as fresh, seemed to be whiter, more cooked. Either way it's worth seconds to find out.
Unagi - Wow! Not at all what I imagined. Rich, tender, warming (must be whatever they cooked it in, soy and something) it just melted on my tongue. Bo said it was a favorite with sushi eaters that wanted to avoid fishiness.
Tuna - Why I eat sushi. The clean flavor, the perfect texture and being cold didn't hurt; I'd just had a piece of roll with a bit too much spicy sauce on it. Tuna stocks be damned! I want maguro!
Geoduck - So a few years ago these guys up here got busted for poaching geoducks, they'd really hit the beds hard and deservedly got some stiff sentences but I remember thinking "Is there that big of a demand?" After having some last night...yes there is! Similar in flavor to razor clams with more "surf/smell of the ocean" thing happening, a little chewing was needed, alas as with all mollusks. An eye opener.
Whitefish - Clean a bit of fish flavor. Overall though it was "whitefish."
Yellowtail - MMM good good good. I'd had it before at Ken Zaburo's and was glad it was one of the chef's choices.
Mackeral - Ok the second reason I'd wanted sushi (unagi was the first). Long story short: we went to a potluck, a guy made stew with mackeral, I barely managed to eat what I'd served myself. I have read you must handle mackeral properly or it's overpowering...that was overpowering. Yamashiro's handling? Impeccable! Delicious! Firm flesh, fishy yes but...proper. Not too much, enough to wake you up to "You're eating fish right? Fish tastes like fish yeah? If you want to avoid fish taste eat something else." Take a chance people, have a piece of mackeral...at Yamashiro's tho. Can't speak for anywhere else.
So the finale: All night Bo had been pushing "We got fresh toro. It's really something...market price." And what was market price for piece of tuna belly, the fattest richest part? $9. Hmm...that's a not insignificant price for what 1 - 2 oz. of fish? Maybe it was the Kirin or something in the mackeral but "Hey bartender give me a shot of toro!"
So there it was...pale pink, glistening, it just looked like if you left it sit it would melt under the lights. I pulled of a pinch from the end for the missus and we popped them in. WOW...wow....wow...you know the phrase "melts in your mouth?" This literally melted in the mouth. But the flavor!!! If you could sink a bottle to the depths in the middle of the ocean, close it up and bring it up that was toro. There was the essence of the ocean brought to you courtesy of the tuna. That is why tuna goes for crazy amounts at the fish auctions. And that is also why I'm gonna need a second job if I start going to sushi bars with any regularity. $9? Hell! Yeah!
Best sushi in Seattle two years in a row? Yeah I can get behind that. Click the post title for Yamashiro's webpage.
The scene:
Unless you are actively looking you'll drive by it a couple of times before you know it's there. Squeezed into the corner of a small stripmall, between a teriyaki place and a bubble tea house of the August moon (sorry couldn't resist) Yamashiro's shows a modern glass and steel exterior that opens to a wood accented interior; bar to the right, tables, sushi bar to the left. Asked by the (drink)bartender where would we like to sit "Sushi bar" was the unanimous answer. Bo the rollmaker gave us an quiet but direct "Irashaimase" (Was he the apprentice? He claims two and half years experience; making rolls and nigiri even before learning to make the rice!) A pint of Kirin, a small bowl of edamame and a row of fresh fish under glass in front of me I was set! (Menus? I don't need no stinking menus. Wife? Wife what who? :-} ) A quick conversation leads to the discovery that Yamashiro has won Best Sushi in Seattle - AOL guide two years in a row. Best in Seattle? That is a bold claim in this town.
The food:
Even tho' I was focused on nigiri the menu was tempting with an assortment of maki sushi (rolls) and kitchen items (Las Vegas roll with crab! Honey walnut prawns! Mrs. P's weakness...if she was ever on "24" they'd have to call that episode "half an hour" "Ok where's the hideout!?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "I got honey walnut prawns." "Ok it's down off I-405 at the 108th st. exit, take a left...") Basically I all needed from the menu was do I want the 8 piece with roll or 10 piece w/ roll chef's choice? 8 piece it is.
I'm gonna skip all the conversation with Bo and get straight to the food:
Tempura appetizer: delicate crispness! Fresh veg's and prefect shrimps coated in crispy air. Delicious.
Mrs P had: 1 tuna and 2 pieces of shrimp and a bowl of miso soup "The bloom was beautiful and there were jewels of tofu at the bottom."
8 piece chef's choice with roll: I made two requests for the choices: unagi (mmm...eel) which I'd never tried and mackeral! Bo looked at me like "This guys nuts..." but I explained I was pretty new to the nigiri aspect of sushi and I wasn't afraid of "fishiness" It's fish after all...you don't go "huh...that potato was a bit too potatoey." So in order of consumption:
Dynamite Roll: yellowfin, tobiko (flying fish roe), jalepeno and avacodo deep fried in that amazing tempura batter. Worth getting by itself and the spicy sauce was just that! Others at the bar commented on it's zing also.
Shrimp - delicious and tender but also it's shrimp, not a lot going on with it either.
Squid - Tender! Raw? I don't know. At the time I thought it was but now I'm not sure. It wasn't as opaque as fresh, seemed to be whiter, more cooked. Either way it's worth seconds to find out.
Unagi - Wow! Not at all what I imagined. Rich, tender, warming (must be whatever they cooked it in, soy and something) it just melted on my tongue. Bo said it was a favorite with sushi eaters that wanted to avoid fishiness.
Tuna - Why I eat sushi. The clean flavor, the perfect texture and being cold didn't hurt; I'd just had a piece of roll with a bit too much spicy sauce on it. Tuna stocks be damned! I want maguro!
Geoduck - So a few years ago these guys up here got busted for poaching geoducks, they'd really hit the beds hard and deservedly got some stiff sentences but I remember thinking "Is there that big of a demand?" After having some last night...yes there is! Similar in flavor to razor clams with more "surf/smell of the ocean" thing happening, a little chewing was needed, alas as with all mollusks. An eye opener.
Whitefish - Clean a bit of fish flavor. Overall though it was "whitefish."
Yellowtail - MMM good good good. I'd had it before at Ken Zaburo's and was glad it was one of the chef's choices.
Mackeral - Ok the second reason I'd wanted sushi (unagi was the first). Long story short: we went to a potluck, a guy made stew with mackeral, I barely managed to eat what I'd served myself. I have read you must handle mackeral properly or it's overpowering...that was overpowering. Yamashiro's handling? Impeccable! Delicious! Firm flesh, fishy yes but...proper. Not too much, enough to wake you up to "You're eating fish right? Fish tastes like fish yeah? If you want to avoid fish taste eat something else." Take a chance people, have a piece of mackeral...at Yamashiro's tho. Can't speak for anywhere else.
So the finale: All night Bo had been pushing "We got fresh toro. It's really something...market price." And what was market price for piece of tuna belly, the fattest richest part? $9. Hmm...that's a not insignificant price for what 1 - 2 oz. of fish? Maybe it was the Kirin or something in the mackeral but "Hey bartender give me a shot of toro!"
So there it was...pale pink, glistening, it just looked like if you left it sit it would melt under the lights. I pulled of a pinch from the end for the missus and we popped them in. WOW...wow....wow...you know the phrase "melts in your mouth?" This literally melted in the mouth. But the flavor!!! If you could sink a bottle to the depths in the middle of the ocean, close it up and bring it up that was toro. There was the essence of the ocean brought to you courtesy of the tuna. That is why tuna goes for crazy amounts at the fish auctions. And that is also why I'm gonna need a second job if I start going to sushi bars with any regularity. $9? Hell! Yeah!
Best sushi in Seattle two years in a row? Yeah I can get behind that. Click the post title for Yamashiro's webpage.
9 Comments:
my better half and i were in your neighborhood for the home fair on sunday. about 12:30, 1, we walked up to chef liao's panasian fusion garden and they don't open for lunch on sundays - we were very bummed. no sweet potatoes fries in mudville that day :-(
Before I get distracted on sushi, where was the home fair? Shopping for roof tiedowns?
Now, on the the fish:
Some of my faves -
Ibi is shrimp and I haven't figured out the names for the varieties, but the small freshwater shrimp can be great. They don't show up on menus that often. Otherwise I agree, shrimp tend to be shrimp, good but not "wow".
Uni - sea urchin. An acquired taste, I know plenty of sushi eaters that don't eat it. I don't think Steve's Tsuma-san likes it. Not something to eat a lot of either (too rich). When I was at JTorres we all went to the Fulton Fish market one morning (early early) and bought fish for a sushi lunch. I think the sea urchin came out of the water less than 6 hours before. Really great. It has sort of custard texture and tastes like the ocean was made into a pudding. Must be extremely fresh. Can be amazing.
Tako - octopus. Very good and good for sushi novices (not "fishy" ) but I try not to eat it (too many Discovery and National Geographic specials on how intelligent they are). I haven't had tako in a while but not sure if I will give in again or not.
Saba - the infamous mackeral. I like it, but try not to burp the next day, you'll think you had cod liver oil with breakfast.
Inari sushi - fried bean curd sheets that make a pocket filled with rice. Sometimes it's vinegar rice, sometimes sweetend, sometimes with some slivered veg thrown in. (Read in the paper here that you can't kid yourself inari is healthy, the sweet ones are "Japanese candy bars".
Abalone - worth trying. Can be chewy.
And there's so much I haven't tried. I've tried the basic roes, ikura and tobbiko but would like to try some of the less common ones. I'm told cod sperm is a specialty, but that's one I would have to think twice about.
Also, I've heard that a way to judge a sushi place is get the tamago (egg omlette) - it's simple but also easy to make a mediocre one. If they put care into that, chances are they are serious about the rest.
When you guys are on Kauai you definitely have to schedule some sushi eating. The fish just doesn't get fresher.
i posted a reply but the stupid thing lost it. i think that word verification thing doesn't work quite right sometimes....
oh, and i forgot, in the immortal words of Homer Simpson, "FUGU ME!"
"I'm sorry Homer but the lab results aren't good. Here's a pamphlet that explains what's going to happen"
" 'So you have 24 hours to live' ??"
"23 really...there was a mix up in the lab"
Yeah been perusing Snorkel Bob's recommendations, probably will get 1 sushi in between saimin.
so anon: "the ocean was made into a pudding" how hard would that be to redo as a custard? would spiking the salt level throw off the eggs ability to set?
I told Tsuma-san that I would try Fugu when we go to Japan but she said it's out of season when we are going to be there.
the fish is already lethal, how bad could it be out of season?
ps: it was "other" not "anon" who raved about uni. and it would be more like a loose custard set with agar agar than a eggy custard. but try to replicate it when you could just crack open a spiny urchin and chow down.
so who does snorkel b recommend for sushi on kauai?
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