If there are such things as edible gems, they can be found at Ozumo in San Francisco.With every new plate arriving at out table I felt that those fanciful morsels were not just food, but some representation of Japanese genius.
Take Dohyo – tuna tartar spiced with sriracha, and balanced out by avocado, fresh cucumbers, and minty shiso – all neatly stacked in a miniature tart topped with black tobiko, and standing in a pool of chili ponzu sauce and wasabi oil. Along with gyoza chips, used to scoop the mixture, the combination of tastes and textures is just heavenly.
Sake Kobyjime is a house-cured salmon, served over pickled red onion, cucumber slices, and chili oil. To retain its bright color and subtle flavor, salmon is covered with salt, wrapped in konbu (kelp) and cured for an hour. Then it’s unwrapped, the salt is scraped off, and the fish is wrapped again, now for a day. The resulting tender flesh is nicely contrasted by shaved daikon radish and micro greens.
A salad like no other, Yaki Tako consists of grilled baby octopus prepared on robata grill over hollow charcoals that come all the way from Japan. Grilled radicchio, sliced endives, and shungiku (chrysanthemum leaf) pesto bring out the best of the lightly salted meaty pieces with a smoky taste.
And then came Ozumo sushi roll with grilled unagi and diced cucumber on the inside, and snow crab meat on the outside. The entire lavish roll is wrapped in red tuna and green avocado, and drizzled with golden-orange spicy sauce.
Tontoro might easily be one of the most enticing dishes on the highly diversified Ozumo menu. Thick, wonderfully fatty slices of melt-in-your-mouth barbequed kurobuta pork are served on a bed of fried Brussels sprouts, and additionally moistened with fragrant mustard vinaigrette.
One of the most complicated dishes is Gindara – black cod marinated in sweet saikyo miso and sake for 48 hours, and then grilled on skewers. The problem comes with the amazing flakiness of the fish that might fall off the skewer if grilled just a minute longer than necessary.
Finally, Ozumo dessert is an elaborate construction of chocolate cake, green tea ice cream, plane rice mochi – chewy like gummy bears, and a pile of chocolate shavings on top with a fresh mint leaf for added freshness.
Great food comes as no surprise when the sushi bar, one of the largest in the country, is staffed with a tireless team of great sushi chefs – highly efficient and full of energy even at the end of a very busy day. The place is packed to capacity on most weeknights thanks to the enormous popularity of its smartly decorated and dimly lit cocktail bar, where half of San Francisco suits like to congregate during happy hour.Out of five daily sake flights (three tastes each) offered to accompany the food, we tried one with the refined, hard to make high-end sakes, originally used only in competitions. Yamahai Daiginjo with herb and honey notes, light and fragrant Junmai Ginjo, and smoothly sweet Okuden Kantsukuri, which translates as Mirror of Truth provided perfect pairing with sophisticated little plates.a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCysYLb1O1tTkGpedjDA27twqgn0fDU6JtEMC5o8gl9h2_boKBI3zox41atXUVzCjoRxffy682eTrOpXk3KpI4dZfewlf5wZSHsPIb-fnFkocfnEdmYue60lajHMPxiRsTCRWAlb4vyOP6/s1600/10.+emma+and+chef.jpg">
Corporate Chef Mike Yakura was at the helm on the night we dined, and Director of Hospitality Mel Collins personally attended every table in the dining room making sure the guests were well taken care of. With a lucky waterfront location, tall floor-to-ceiling windows that open on warm nights, and the best view of the Bay Bridge (and fireworks on holidays), Ozumo is surely a place to be – on a special date or just because. Ozumo Restaurant is located at 161 Steuart Street, San Francisco. Call for reservations (415) 882.1333 or visit http://www.ozumo.com/.
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