Tataki Sushi

For dinner, I had planned to go with my Mom to Tataki Sushi in San Francisco. I had heard about it from a foodie friend, as well as read articles about the sustainable sushi and how popular this tiny place is... so clearly I had to try it!

One cool thing I read and found is that they have Happy Hour even on Saturdays from 5-7pm. Their signature "Kin Sangria" cocktail (with Riesling, Sake, and fresh fruit), beer, 5 different rolls, and calamari are cheaper than normal during this time. Jeremy and I tried the cocktail which was really good filled with apples, strawberries, and lychees, but I couldn't finish mine (I'm weak sauce plus I was driving). We also got calamari which was nice and tender on the inside but not as crispy as I'd hoped on the outside. However the flavoring and pepper on the outside as well as the sauce were quite yummy.

Since the restaurant's name is Tataki, we tried the kampachi tataki because my Mom likes kampachi. It came with avocado slices, a roasted jalapeno slice, and served in ponzu. We were a bit disappointed because the jalapeno and ponzu completely masked the fish flavor. On the second piece we removed the jalapeno and ate it without, even though the flavor still lingered. We thought that since they're using such a flavorful and valuable fish, why mask it with so many other overpowering flavors? If it was a cheaper fish, that would be fine, but I would prefer a straight sashimi, not even seared!

My friend had raved about the tataki and sushi, so I had to order the chef's nigiri special of 9 pieces. Items to mention out of the nigiri items are the arctic char (what they use instead of salmon), "faux-nagi" (seared black cod with unagi sauce to try to imitate unagi), and albacore tuna (or shiro maguro). The first thing my Mom and I noticed were that even though the rice was made fine, the rice was too big, making the rice to fish ratio unbalanced. I tasted so much rice that the fish was a bit in the background. The arctic char looked and tasted almost exactly like salmon. The "faux-nagi" in my opinion tasted nothing like unagi- not texture or flavor- and nothing to be excited about. The albacore was by far my favorite with the buttery melt in your mouth texture and flavor... My Mom and I also ordered our favorite aji nigiri but were again disappointed. The rice again was too big overpowering the fish so we had to take some out. Plus the fish just wasn't as fresh and melt in your mouth as the others we've had... that was a sad point when neither my Mom nor I "fought" over the last aji nigiri :(

The rolls were actually quite nice and my Mom was impressed. We got 4 rolls. The Pacific Sunrise was one my Mom wanted because it was 4 types of fish wrapped in cucumber, not rice. It was good but nothing special that I would be inclined to get again. We also got the Golden State roll, which in other Yelp pictures had golden flakes on it. I however missed the first description word on the menu- "spicy"- so was surprised when it came out. It is spicy scallops with apple pieces topped with albacore tuna and avocado. It's also supposed to come with gold flakes but ours was replaced with yellow masago... the economy perhaps? Anyhow, after I got past the spicy mix up, I really liked the mix of sweet apples with the spicy scallops and buttery tuna. Jeremy also picked out the Tataki roll which ended up being his and my Mom's favorite. It had cucumber, avocado, and 4 types of seared fish on top with a sweet sauce. The seared fish and avocado tasted great together and we all loved it (shown with the nigiri platter picture). The last roll was the arctic char and avocado roll which was one of the happy hour specials. It was very simple with just arctic char (like salmon) and avocado but the simpleness of it went so well together and we loved it!

For dessert we tried two different kinds- green tea cheesecake and the kinako mochi. The kinako mochi was served warm and was good but a little too sweet for my Mom's liking. The green tea cheesecake served with strawberries on the side (a little odd combo) was quite rich, but very tasty. I wouldn't be able to eat it all myself because it was very creamy and dense but Jeremy had no problem!

Overall, I enjoyed my experience and am glad I went. All the fish were fresh and tasted good, but not my new favorite sushi place that I would drive an hour for and wait 40 minutes to eat for!