Bar Crudo

I pass by this tiny nob hill "modern raw bar" every day on my way to work. It's been in the Chronicle's Top 100 for the last two years, and my friend suggested going there after reading some positive reviews. Taking some queues from yelpers (despite my disdain for yelp in general, I still skim reviews to see any ordering trends), we ordered the crudo sampler (left), the lobster + beet salad (right), and halibut cheeks (not pictured). They actually gave pretty fair pieces of fish in the sampler, but the flavor combinations weren't anything astounding. The halibut was quite impossible to eat - bones everywhere and barely any meat.

I think the only thing worth going back for would be the lobster and beet salad - light and refreshing, even with the chunks of buttery burrata. Sharing the salad between two people, with some $9 (seriously) Hitachinos would be a nice afternoon snack!

[MORE...]

[CLOSE]

Asian Food in the Sticks

At Geoffrey's request, here is my list of Asian food in the Richmond/Sunset

richmond:
- shanghai dumpling king (balboa & 34th): good xiao long bao (ghetto and dirty)
- shanghai house (balboa & 38th): hand-cut noodles
- oyaji (clement& 33rd): japanese tavern food
- burma superstar (clement & 4th): burmese - super trendy, long wait, but good!
- mandalay (california & 5th): burmese - less trendy, no wait, still good! and cheaper than burma superstar. the "special noodles" are really good
- tofu house (geary & 11th): korean tofu soup
- brothers (geary & 3rd i think): korean bbq
- taste of formosa (clement & 26th i think): taiwanese
- kitaro (geary & 18th i think): cheap japanese/sushi
- mayflower (geary & 27th): chinese - good for specialty dishes (and more expensive), supposedly good dim sum

sunset:
- san tung (irving & 11th): korean chinese, good dry fried chicken, dumplings, spicy peanut noodles
- "korean restaurant" (taraval & 40th i think): don't know the real name, but there's a sign outside that says "korean restaurant"
- cheung hing (irving & 30-something?): good BBQ pork
- PPQ (irving & 19th): pho and other vietnamese food
- pho hua (irving & 19th): I like their pho better, but some of my friends don't agree
- south seafood village (irving & 15th): decent dim sum
- ebisu (9th? & irving): decent sushi (a bit on the expensive side)
- hotei (9th? & irving): decent udon

[MORE...]

[CLOSE]

Sushi House

2375 Shoreline Dr. (@ the marina)
(510) 865-0999

Japanese in Alameda

Anyone who went to Cal has been here. Just a 10 minute drive down 880, Sushi House is the reason why people even know where Alameda is. It has definitely gone downhill over the years (portions are smaller, food is less carefully prepared, etc), but it will always hold a special place in my heart as comfort food should.

What's special about this place is the large selection of sushi rolls - many of them baked or accompanied with a special sauce. These mega rolls have caught on to most sushi restaurants, but none can beat Sushi House's. The Bay Scallop roll is by far my favorite, but almost all of them are good (another popular is the Lion King which is a California roll topped with salmon and then baked with a sauce).

Another dish I like to get here is the chirashi, which is like a sashimi salad or an open sushi roll, depending on where you are (like in San Diego, there's this place where it really is like a salad salad). At sushi house, it's just a bunch of raw fish and stuff on top of sushi rice. Since Sushi House is so popular, they are constantly getting fish, so you know it'll be fresh. Hamachi is like butter here.

If you have never been, you should eat at the restaurant at least once. It's a long wait though. You honestly would have to go at odd hours in order to avoid any wait at all. Calling ahead and getting take-out is ideal if you don't have the patience.

[MORE...]

[CLOSE]