Thanks to @J_L, @Sgee, and @CiaoBob for the hamasaku rec. I started with the one of everything omakase and ordered some krazy american rolls for dessert.
Overall a pretty good value. My only critiques are the rice was too soft and compressed and the fish was cut a little thick. I’ll have to come back and try more of their rolls.
#Sushi Yuzu
I was in the mood for some rolls so decided to check this place out. However, i made a tactical error by ordering the 15 piece omakase as an appetizer, when the entire restaurant was packed with people ordering from the roll menu.
Bottom line, come for the rolls and stay to watch what not to do in a sushi restaurant, e.g. belly flopping nigiri rice side down into a pool of soy sauce, eating nigiri in 2 bites, rubbing chopsticks together, mixing wasabi and soy sauce, and topping sushi with a pile of ginger.
I’m so glad I have you guys. But I wonder where these habits come from, especially the chopstick rubbing. It’s not ignorance, well not intentional anyway. They were taught; but if not by the itamae, then who?
the fish was fine, but the rice was disappointing, under-seasoned and gummy. at $85 for 15 pieces, with 3 of those pieces being the half order of the negitoro roll, it wasn’t cheap. ordering the omakase at sushi yuzu felt like getting a cheeseburger at a dairy queen.
I started a topic on HO about mixing wasabi in your soy sauce. Apparently this is another no-no, although every sushi place I go to gives you a mound of it with just about every service. It’s likely that this is a thing where really high quality Nigiri sushi has just the right amount of wasabi in its preparation and using more is like adding salt to your food at a fine restaurant. I’m not sure if it’s as bad as rubbing chopsticks together though.
That topic also produced a ‘rule’ that Nigiri is eaten WITH chopsticks and rolls are eaten with your fingers. I recall being told the opposite, but may be off base.
You can eat nigiri with either hands or chopsticks. Eating nigiri with your hands is often ideal - and some consider it the proper way - it’s easier to maneuver the correct way.
Do not rub chopsticks together if you’re at a nice place - that indicates you think their utensils are poor quality. If you’re eating takeout, go ahead get rid of the splinters.
Do not add wasabi to your nigiri sushi. It’s ok to add wasabi to your sashimi and then dip in soy, however. Ginger is a palette cleanser in between different servings.
Ummmm. Probably. But I’m now more interested in whether or not the chef is putting wasabi on the Nigiri where I do go. Easy enough to check. Just lift and peek. Otherwise all’s pretty good as is.
II u Definitely going to check in the future, but this does raise a question. Why would the placement of a dab of wasabi (or whatever they’d use) be overlooked at low end sushi bars but not at high end? Takes a second and the material can’t cost much. I’m a linear thinker (obviously) and it just doesn’t seem to make sense.
I don’t get to have much really higher end Nigiri. Most memorable was at Matsuhisa in LA a long time ago. I know it was possibly the best I’ve ever had, but always though it was more about the quality of the rice and fish and the environment. Closest to what I remember in Japan.
I think because people eating at those restaurants don’t understand the nuances, and maybe straight wasabi on their nigiri might upset them? Too spicy, or something.
Where do these improper habits come from? I learned long before the Sushi School thread to NOT do the things @PorkyBelly witnessed at Yuzu. But these were all things I was instructed to and did at onetime.
Cents
