Sushitomi — restaurant review — California
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
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