Archived Smirk

Nothing satisfies us like a good sushi dinner. Actually, I don't know if you'd even call it dinner… it's more like a three-hour sushi experience.

Case in point, Saturday night. Since it's almost Janet's birthday, we decided that it was a perfect opportunity to haul our asses out to Kabuto Sushi in the Richmond District. Kabuto is located in the middle of nowhere… and it requires that we take two buses (which in itself is a trial&#41 and budget 45 minutes for the commute just one way. Plus, it's in an apparent no cabs 'round here zone, which means that getting home takes another 45 minutes.

Still, the sushi at Kabuto is certainly worth the hassle of getting out there. For almost three hours, Janet and I ate almost everything on the fresh-fish menu, including a handful of foods that I hadn't ever had before. Highlights of the meal:

• Mackerel nigiri (Tataki Style / slightly seared on the edges&#41… perfectly fresh, and absolutely delicious
• Katsuo nigiri – my favorite fish… and as amazing as usual
• Natto – fermented soybeans with a raw chicken egg yolk
• Ume (sour plum&#41 Shiso (burdock leaf&#41 maki roll with fresh mountain potato – crisp with a marvelous texture
• Ume (sour plum&#41 Shiso (burdock leaf&#41 maki roll with halibut – though the ingredients were almost the same as the previous roll, this roll had a very smoky taste… funny, because none of the ingredients have a smoky taste when eaten individually
• Shi-Sha-Mo (grilled smelt with a large roe sac&#41 Te-Maki (hand roll&#41 – I didn't know that they could even make this as a hand roll. Truly amazing.

Add to this a ton of Sapporo beer, a few bottles of Kiku-Masamune sake (hot&#41 and a glass each of cold nigori sake (and the brands completely escape me now&#41, and we left the meal completely sated, and almost two hundred dollars poorer. Still, you have to splurge every once in a while… right?