For our 3-year wedding anniversary (time flies!), my husband and I wanted to go out for sushi. Sushi has been a constant in our relationship: our first date was at a sushi restaurant, our first meal in New York was sushi, and for our honeymoon, we went to Japan and ate A LOT of sushi.
The verdict: all were excellent! The seaweed salad was a generous helping, and had perfect flavor. The gyoza were deep fried (often, they are steamed) with a spicy ponzo, which was surprisingly good! The tuna tataki were just exquisite. This dish is one of my favorites, and ordering it served to remind me that I should really get it more often!
 |
| (Source) |
We considered all of the many options for sushi in San Diego…seriously, there’s lots of sushi in this town. However, as with most things, more can mean MORE disappointing sushi. We didn’t want to go somewhere new and be disappointed, but I was really ready to try a new spot. I scoured the spots around our apartment, and found Azuki Sushi, a mere 8 or so blocks away. I’d driven past this place many times, and I’ve been curious, but something about the name, Azuki, makes me think of dessert, like the azuki ice cream, so I never considered it as a sushi spot!
The décor inside is quite chic, very different from what I expected from the exterior (see picture above; check out the BEANS in the door!). We were greeted right away and seated, with no obnoxiousness about not having a reservation (I’m still smarting a bit over that whole Sushi Ota experience). When we arrived, it was happy hour (!), so we decided to order an array of the offerings. I ordered their special Grapefruit Passion cocktail, as I’m loving all things grapefruit right now, and for food, we ordered the pork gyoza, seaweed salad, and spicy tuna tataki.
The verdict: all were excellent! The seaweed salad was a generous helping, and had perfect flavor. The gyoza were deep fried (often, they are steamed) with a spicy ponzo, which was surprisingly good! The tuna tataki were just exquisite. This dish is one of my favorites, and ordering it served to remind me that I should really get it more often!
For our “real meal,” we ordered miso soups, tuna nigiri, toro nigiri (!), and a California roll. The miso soups were like silk in texture, and so flavorful and warm! The toro, was, well, stupendous! Best toro that I’ve had in the US! The fish was so fat and oily. I know that doesn’t sound like an appetizing description, but if you’ve ever tasted great toro, you will know that it is an excellent piece of toro to earn that description!
We were still hungry, so we ordered two more pieces of tuna and a spicy tuna roll. More yumminess ensued.
Best sushi that I’ve had in the United States, with excellent, friendly service.
No comments:
Post a Comment