Asian

MUNCHIES [CA] . Sushitomi

Sushi, sushi, sushi. Sometimes I think my life revolves around the stuff. I was often told to check out Mountain View’s Sushitomi, mostly by white people, so I was skeptical. Call me a food racist, but I find it a smart practice to scout out restaurants approved by those that would call it “home cookin’”. Besides, when I imagine its odd location next to the hair salon with the skewed adhesive letters advertising “lash tinting” in its window, I dunno, I kinda lose my appetite. One day, when my craving for sake nigiri overwhelmed my distrust, we popped over there for lunch. We were extremely lucky since there was a recently vacated table right when we walked in; I’ve been told there’s usually a long line at lunchtime and people did pile in afterwards. As with any great sushi restaurant, there will be a laminated menu seemingly unrevised from the 70s with awkward leading and typos aplenty, so when I saw “chikin” and “polk” (pork), I knew it had to be good.

When sampling a new restaurant, here are the favorites I always order: sake salmon, hamachi, spicy tuna, spider roll, sometimes unagi and ikura - the latter not so much anymore since I can get a big tub of it at Nijiya and dump it all over hot hot rice mwuahaha! (Oh who am I trying to kid.. I eat it straight out of the container.. it’s that good!) I was extremely pleased to plow past the obligatory chirashi don to discover a “mixed don” with sake, hamachi and ahi! Heaven in a bowl, man!

After we finished our complimentary miso soups and were waiting for our main course, the peppy waitress with the anime-style voice squeaked “here you go, on the house!”, gleefully setting down a plate of freshly fried fatty salmon and saba (mackerel). Ooh, we thought, free yummies! I wish I hadn’t eaten so much of it though (kinda really oily too), because I barely had room for all the sushi that came next. The mixed don piled three thick and fresher-than-fresh pieces each of sake, hamachi and ahi sashimi on light sweet sushi rice. So sweet and light, I tunneled through half of it before eating the fish! I’m frightened of the sushi rice in some places; way too vinegary. Here, I was beyond pleased. Helping my mom slave over sushi rice (waving the fan, fold in the vinegar, fan fan fan), I know it’s supposed to glisten and gleam. At Sushitomi I also tasted that intensive labor, reveling in the shiny rice. The sashimi was firm and fresh (did I mention FRESH??) and the ahi wasn’t the bloody tasting kind some places serve. I’m so used to seeing slightly slimy, stringy sake that’s a crazy dark orange, so I couldn’t believe I lamented at the sight of the paler but much better cut Sushitomi presented. Pleased again. I’d almost gotten used to a mandatory sloshing of wasabi-whirred shoyu over my “bargain” supermarket sashimi, so I reveled in devouring the fish au natural, which I haven’t been able to do at any other Bay Area sushi places.

The spider roll (deep fried soft shell crab) was wonderful; I was getting used to the whopping spider roll portion at Masa’s (our former Mountain View fave) that’s a little greasier and way meatier, but doesn’t quite have the range of flavors and textures that Sushitomi’s has. I was initially saddened by its size (pricier than Masa’s), but it was just as filling. Sushitomi is also more expensive overall: a shocking $5 for two common nigiri. Hoo boy. I had to check to see if my chair had turned into a time machine and I had vaulted twenty years or so. Just keep that in mind in case you plan to order something special like chutoro (fatty fatty tuna), but it’s so worth it - most of the fish is flown in from Japan and they give you a LOT (a side order of saba shioyaki was twice as much as a meal portion at every other joint we’ve been to). Dig deep into your pockets and eat well.

Sushitomi Restaurant [SUSHI, JAPANESE][$$]
(650) 968-3227 - 635 W. Dana St - Mountain View, CA

HOURS:
Lunch: M-F 11:30am-2pm
Dinner: M-F 5:30pm-9:30pm, Sat 5pm-9:30pm, Sun 5pm-9pm

About the Author:

Kris Kobayashi-Nelson is an avid food adventurist who has tried everything from jellyfish to sea cucumber to chicken gizzards. She loved liver and onions with ketchup and cayenne pepper ice cream as a kid. Obviously she looooves sushi!

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