By Carol Gore
FoodConnect, San Francisco
carol@foodconnect.com

I fell in love with sushi about three years ago. I loved the clean flavors, the beautiful simplicity of it all, and showing off my new-found chopstick skills. At the time, I was finishing up my undergrad in North Carolina, and the only sushi to be found was shoved in the corner of Japanese steakhouses, where chefs flip shrimps into the waiting mouths of diners. It was a great self-esteem boost; sitting at the sushi bar, sipping sake, and feeling smug as I watched tables full of people applaud onion volcanoes.

Over time, my tastes have evolved quite a bit. A california roll made with imitation crabmeat just doesn’t cut it anymore, and neither do the establishments I’ve dined at of late. Sushi Bistro, in the Richmond District, boasts a large menu of specialty rolls. Many of these concoctions are breaded and fried, sauced-down, and a far cry from the poetry of an unadorned, perfectly sliced, piece of raw fish. After a recent, and regrettable, visit to Sushi Bistro, I walked out with a mouth tasting of salt, and burps reminiscent of mayonnaise based sauces. I couldn’t have felt worse if I’d eaten at Burger Kramp.

A few nights ago, I was attacked by a sudden craving for sushi, and decided to try Tataki, a fairly new restaurant that has taken residence in a former Subway. Tataki prides itself on the fact that all of the seafood it serves is sustainable, and therefore you can feel environmentally responsible while you eat. I tried the maguro sashimi, which was fishy, hotate (scallop) sashimi, that tasted nothing like a scallop, but rather something sour and squishy, and the suzuki sashimi (striped bass), which just okay. I also tried the extinguisher roll with spicy kampachi. The roll tasted of little else than heat, and on the plate was a flaming pile of liquor-soaked salt. I suppressed my eye roll until the waitress turned around. I don’t care for restaurants gimmicks, especially on my plate. Also, an extinguisher is something that puts out fires, so shouldn’t a roll so named be something cool? On the bus ride home, I complained to my dining companion that if Tataki talks a big game about sustainability, the fish should be fresh. He replied, “They only claim it’s sustainable, not fresh. They sustainably caught that tuna a month and a half ago.”

And so the search continues.

Sushi Bistro
Neighborhood: Inner Richmond
445 Balboa St
(between 5th Ave & 6th Ave)
San Francisco, CA 94118
(415) 933-7100

Tataki
Neighborhood: Pacific Heights
2815 California St
(between Broderick St & Divisadero St)
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 931-1182

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