Sushi in Bellevue, WA?

[Geoff]

Will be there for several days (at Hilton, formerly Doubletree) and
wondered if any good sushi nearby.

[Blair P. Houghton]

Post by Geoff
Will be there for several days (at Hilton, formerly Doubletree) and
wondered if any good sushi nearby.

If you have a vehicle, I can't help recommending Toyoda Sushi
in Lake City.

--Blair

[tmo]

Post by Geoff
Will be there for several days (at Hilton, formerly Doubletree) and
wondered if any good sushi nearby.

Sushiman is on the Eastside and was very good the last time I went
there. The owner, Bobby, is a former sumo wrestler and quite an
interesting story.

I don't frequent the Eastside (meaning East of Lake Washington, vs.
Seattle which is on the West side of said lake*) much, but if you have
a car, there are several in Seattle.

Nishino (in Madison Park) is always highly recommended. I have not
eaten there in years, but it continues to be a popular pick.

As Blair mentioned, Toyoda Sushi (on Lake City Way) is very good.
Seating is limited and there is usually a wait, but well worth it.

Mashiko in West Seattle has some innovative creations.

* - not sure how familiar you are with the Seattle/Bellevue area.

[Geoff]

Post by tmo

Post by Geoff
Will be there for several days (at Hilton, formerly Doubletree) and
wondered if any good sushi nearby.

Sushiman is on the Eastside and was very good the last time I went
there. The owner, Bobby, is a former sumo wrestler and quite an
interesting story.
I don't frequent the Eastside (meaning East of Lake Washington, vs.
Seattle which is on the West side of said lake*) much, but if you have
a car, there are several in Seattle.
Nishino (in Madison Park) is always highly recommended. I have not
eaten there in years, but it continues to be a popular pick.
As Blair mentioned, Toyoda Sushi (on Lake City Way) is very good.
Seating is limited and there is usually a wait, but well worth it.
Mashiko in West Seattle has some innovative creations.
* - not sure how familiar you are with the Seattle/Bellevue area.

I did a walking recon of the area near my hotel yesterday (until I was
too wet and cold to stay out any longer) and all I found nearby was one
called Shota. I may give it a try one of these evenings.

[Blair P. Houghton]

Post by Geoff
I did a walking recon of the area near my hotel yesterday (until I was
too wet and cold to stay out any longer) and all I found nearby was one
called Shota. I may give it a try one of these evenings.

Every hole in the wall deserves a chance.

I've only once been sorry I did.

Not that I've gone back to many of them, but they've always proved
adequate sushi, which means they've always been above-average
meals.

Except that one. Supermarket quality from a live sushiya. Yikes.

And every few times, you find a gem. Sushisake in Richardson, Texas.
Toyoda Sushi in Lake City, Washington. Kitsho in Cupertino,
California.
Sushi Eye in Tempe, Arizona (though Shimogamo in Chandler is still
the best sushi in the state; Shin Bay went out of business...funny,
you'd
think serving only 6 people at a time would be a good business
move...).

--Blair

[Geoff]

Post by Blair P. Houghton

Post by Geoff
I did a walking recon of the area near my hotel yesterday (until I was
too wet and cold to stay out any longer) and all I found nearby was one
called Shota. I may give it a try one of these evenings.

Every hole in the wall deserves a chance.
I've only once been sorry I did.
Not that I've gone back to many of them, but they've always proved
adequate sushi, which means they've always been above-average
meals.
Except that one. Supermarket quality from a live sushiya. Yikes.
And every few times, you find a gem. Sushisake in Richardson, Texas.
Toyoda Sushi in Lake City, Washington. Kitsho in Cupertino,
California.
Sushi Eye in Tempe, Arizona (though Shimogamo in Chandler is still
the best sushi in the state; Shin Bay went out of business...funny,
you'd
think serving only 6 people at a time would be a good business
move...).
--Blair

Shota was a write-off. Wait-staff all Chinese (Mandarin speakers - I
know Japanese and Chinese and can tell the difference). I asked for
premium sake menu and was shown a tent card on the table with three
levels of Shochiukubai, despite many bottles of premium sake displayed
above the bar: Shichiken, Onigoroshi, Okunomatsu, Karatamba, Otokoyama,
etc). I said, "What are those, decorations?" "Yes." The Chirashi came
within 3 minutes of ordering it and I am almost certain it was from the
fridge. Can someone make a Chirashi that fast? Anyway, within walking
distance of the Bellevue Hilton, I struck out.

My convention is in Richardson next year - I'll have to try Sushisake
then.

[Blair P. Houghton]

Post by Geoff
Shota was a write-off. Wait-staff all Chinese (Mandarin speakers - I
know Japanese and Chinese and can tell the difference). I asked for
premium sake menu and was shown a tent card on the table with three
levels of Shochiukubai, despite many bottles of premium sake displayed
above the bar: Shichiken, Onigoroshi, Okunomatsu, Karatamba, Otokoyama,
etc). I said, "What are those, decorations?" "Yes." The Chirashi came
within 3 minutes of ordering it and I am almost certain it was from the
fridge. Can someone make a Chirashi that fast? Anyway, within walking
distance of the Bellevue Hilton, I struck out.

Ow.

Post by Geoff
My convention is in Richardson next year - I'll have to try Sushisake
then.

The chirashi there was a phenomenon, complete with a little
pile of pink stuff that could have been either sugar or shrimplets.

And if you're lucky, they'll have shira uo on the specials board.

I mean, start salivating now. And hope they're as good as
they were in 2000.

--Blair

[m***@hotmail.com]

Post by Blair P. Houghton
Every hole in the wall deserves a chance.
And every few times, you find a gem. Sushisake in Richardson, Texas.
Toyoda Sushi in Lake City, Washington. Kitsho in Cupertino,
California.
Sushi Eye in Tempe, Arizona (though Shimogamo in Chandler is still
the best sushi in the state; Shin Bay went out of business...funny,
you'd
think serving only 6 people at a time would be a good business
move...).

I remember you recommended Kitsho years ago, and I really disliked it
on my first visit. Had I not given them a 2nd chance, it would not be
within my top 3 or 4 now.

So now that my tastes have evolved, how would you compare Kitsho to
Toyoda? What kind of variety does Toyoda have? Kitsho is hard to beat,
over 30 types of fish on a good day (sometimes more) plus you gotta
love the owner.

I'm heading up to Redmond next month, already will do Kisaku and
thinking of Shiki (in Queen Anne area of Seattle), but if you can
persuade me I might give up the Shiki slot for Toyoda if they are
really that good. Shiki will apparently serve fugu dinners in
November/December timeframe, the real stuff imported from Japan.

[Blair P. Houghton]

Post by m***@hotmail.com
I remember you recommended Kitsho years ago, and I really disliked it
on my first visit. Had I not given them a 2nd chance, it would not be
within my top 3 or 4 now.
So now that my tastes have evolved, how would you compare Kitsho to
Toyoda? What kind of variety does Toyoda have? Kitsho is hard to beat,
over 30 types of fish on a good day (sometimes more) plus you gotta
love the owner.

Toyoda sushi will have somewhat less variety. At Kitsho, Howard-san
(I forget his real name, which makes me feel bad) specializes in having
that broad range. But get a seat at the bar and hope that Toyoda-san
is cutting in front of you. He's got a fire to him, and it makes the
entire
house lively. He clearly loves his work. Howard-san is much more
subdued.
I doubt either is any more or less precise or correct in his decisions
than
the other.

Post by m***@hotmail.com
I'm heading up to Redmond next month, already will do Kisaku and
thinking of Shiki (in Queen Anne area of Seattle), but if you can
persuade me I might give up the Shiki slot for Toyoda if they are
really that good. Shiki will apparently serve fugu dinners in
November/December timeframe, the real stuff imported from Japan.

Ah. I think I'd go for the chance at fugu, in that case. Toyoda is
a find, but it will probably be there next time and the fugu may not.

And if you're looking for sleek decor, Toyoda won't be that, unless
they've remodeled. Replace the sushi cooler with a deli cooler, and
it could be serving matzoh-ball soup instead of masago.

--Blair

[m***@hotmail.com]

Post by Blair P. Houghton
Toyoda sushi will have somewhat less variety. At Kitsho, Howard-san
(I forget his real name, which makes me feel bad) specializes in having
that broad range. But get a seat at the bar and hope that Toyoda-san
is cutting in front of you. He's got a fire to him, and it makes the
entire
house lively. He clearly loves his work. Howard-san is much more
subdued.
I doubt either is any more or less precise or correct in his decisions
than
the other.

Cheers Blair! Howard's last name is Arita. In the past year or two his
restaurant has been promoting his favorite in house made receipes for
tofu, miso, and natto. His cold tofu appetizer is superb, made with the
regular soy beans, one version with green beans, and another with black
beans. He uses miso for a special soup that surpasses any miso broth
ramen-ya, huge bowl that has garnishes including generous bits of tokyo
negi (huge green onion), or a miso marinated grilled appetizer size
fish like black cod (gindara). His natto doesn't have that pungent
flavor and is superb in a maki, or with other ingredients (he once made
a natto toro maki for me during omakase, so out of the box, and
expensive of course). Recently he's gone as far as getting really
interesting fish from Japan, including fresh hokkaido uni still in the
shell, aoyori ika, some snapper family of fish whose name I can't
pronounce, kinmedai (alfonsino). There's also copper river salmon from
the summer (not as good as the ones in Seattle), blue fin from Canada
and even one time had Canadian uni in a box that tasted rather muscular
for a set of northern nads... Howard still makes the best tamago-yaki
hands down, though some might consider it overly sweet, but the dashi
broth flavor is amazing.

Post by Blair P. Houghton
Ah. I think I'd go for the chance at fugu, in that case. Toyoda is
a find, but it will probably be there next time and the fugu may not.

In 2001 a fugu sashimi plate there was $80, and a fugu stew pot
(nabemono) was $90. Given that they claim this year's typhoons ruined
harvest, I'm expecting low 3 digit prices this year....
A pair of fugu nigiri according to a flickr picture was $16 (that might
be the cheaper way to go) and it included a dash of the fugu skin too.