Why did we dine here? – Sushi Ota is a well known Sushi hot spot in San Diego. We were vacationing in San Diego and decided to give it a try. We were trying to find something representative of this town and came up with this?! They are rated 4.5 stars on Yelp. Also they are famous for their Uni but had ran out.
Why did we dine here? – Best Sushi in the San Francisco? Sushi Yoshizumi, San Mateo, California is a new One Michelin Star receipient for 2016. They serve the expert crafted omakase menu of Chef Akira Yoshizumi. Ingredients are sourced both domestically and internationally (Tokyo) for his Edomae sushi style cuisine.
Why did we dine here? – Pabu is a Japanese Izakaya-style restaurant in San Francisco’s Financial District from Michael Mina in partnership with Chef Ken Tominaga.
The chef’s Hana restaurant in a Rohnert Park had garnered a local following including Mina. This is the first Japanese restaurant for Mina.
Best sushi ever!
Why did we dine here? – The first food we think about when we were planning our Japan trip was Sushi. Sushi or sashimi is a favorite dish of ours, so we were eager to plan a pilgrimage to eat some real Japanese authentic sushi.
Why did we dine here? – Located in the upscale Xinyi district near Taipei 101, we decided to dine here because our hotel was 2 blocks away and because top quality Japanese in Taiwan has been highlighted by several friends.
Why did we dine here? – Maruya had gotten written up in a local San Francisco magazine and was creating a lot of buzz. Was this going to be the new top Japanese restaurant in the city? Located in the trendy SF Mission district, was Maruya better than Akiko’s, Kiss or Ino? We would soon see. This restaurant has lots of exposed wood, from the planks on the front window to the walls and floors. The air was heavily scented with cooked fish, they should improve the circulation. San Francisco is still slowly catching up to top Japanese food outpost like LA or NYC. Guess we just don’t have to population to justify tier one restaurants.
Sushi Ran is a popular Japanese restaurant in Sausalito run by chef Taka Toshi. They describe their food as “vibrant fusion of traditional Japanese and Pacific cuisine”. Since 1986 they have been serving up top notch Japanese food in Marin. They have the standard Japanese fare you would expect, including Omakase (Trust the chef) plus lots of dinner specials and cooked items. They have an extensive wine and sake collection. You can eat in the main dining room or in the sake and wine bar next door that has an outdoor patio. Our last visit was in the summer of 2014.
Why did we dine here? – Kani Kosen was recommended by a friend. This is a old school, little known sleeper restaurant located in a strip mall off the main drag. No one would find this place unless they knew about it. They specialize in fresh fish and sushi.
Tsukiji Sushi is a Japanese Restaurant in downtown Mill Valley that opened in July 2009. Haruo Komatsu is the Sushi Chef, he was the head sushi chef at Sushi Ran for many years. Tsukiji uses Koshihikari rice (a super-premium rice) and rice bran oil for their frying. The restaurant is named after the Tokyo Tsukiji fish market, the largest fish market in world. Most fish is sourced from this market. We decided to try this place because we’ve been to Sushi Ran so many times.
