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Blowfish Sushi
9229 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA
Cross Street - Doheny
7.25.06 - Tuesday, 6:30 PM
Moi + Val

I’ve said it before - I like a good helping of raw fish. I’ve hit a bazillion sushi joints in this town (barely a dent in those available), and this has been on the list for a while - the place that dares to call themselves “to die for.” I was willing to take my chances.

Val met me in this WeHo hottie spottie recently for dindin. I got there first, and had the supreme (ahem) pleasure of dealing with the too-young, too-arrogant Can I help you? hostess that gave me tons of ‘tude for no apparent reason and sat me in Siberia, even though the place was near-empty. Great start. Then she sat a table of four RIGHT next to us just moments later - with the place still full of chirping crickets. Oh, poo on that.

The space itself is lovely - dark, incredibly comfortable benches line the long back wall and are scattered with bright, cushy pillows. The sushi bar sat empty all night, even though the dining room filled-up substantially - I found that sad. I wanted to go over and say hi and keep them company. Oh, and I did spy a very young femme sushi chef, which gets the place high marks. I like a little variety. You know, equal opportunity roll-making.

Our server, by the way, more than made up for the angsty hostess by a mile, but she had way too many tables hit all at once, and didn’t take very good care of us. She tried, she really did, but blondie triple downed her, so I had mercy.

OK, now on to what really matters:

Drinks:

They have exclusively Japanese beer, so Val had a Kirin and I had *gasp* Diet Coke. They have a full bar, however, but I wasn’t in the mood.

Appetizers:

Pyramid of Tartar
* A trio of big-eye tuna, Atlantic king salmon and avocado with sweet ginger soy
This was purrrty; a literal pyramid starting with the tuna, then the salmon, followed by the avocado. All the ingredients were mushy-fied, however, and they suggested we pour the accompanying sauce (too sweet) over the artwork and mix merrily. We did - this was tasty. Oh, and lest I forget, it was served with house made criss-cross potato chips. Well played on that one.

Salad (pictured above):

Pacific Albacore Salad
* Albacore tataki with marinated Japanese cucumber and sauteed red onions and a ponzu dressing
I apparently can’t read well and was expecting more greens with this, but it was lovely - almost primarily a sashimi dish, the ginger and ponzu weren’t at all unusual, but the whole combo was very fresh and tasty.

Sashimi:

Chef’s Choice
* This was a gorgeous display - served in a basket with layers of crushed ice, there were something like 14 pieces of fish in this puppy, and all were top quality.

Maki:

Animal Style Roll
* Spicy tuna, snow crab, red onion and shrimp tempura wrapped in soy paper
This tasted good, but was too finally chopped and full of mayo - I wanted the fish to shine through more, and it didn’t have a prayer.

Dessert:

Chocolate Quartet
* Dark chocolate truffle cake, white chocolate and dark chocolate mousse and white chocolate ice cream with an almond biscotti cookie
All right, let me break this down: Biscotti=boring. Truffle cake= oh hell yes but way rich. Dark chocolate mousse = surprisingly velvety and good. White chocolate ice cream = white chocolate? Really? All I taste is vanilla and sugar.
So, all in all - so-so. Wouldn’t order again.

The damage for one beer, one soda, one appetizer, one sashimi omakase, one roll, and one salad was about $90 before tip.

RESTAURANT REPORT CARD

Ambiance - B-
Service - C
Food (Taste) - B-
Food (Presentation) - A-
Wine/Drinks - B-
Value - C+
Vibe/Energy/Scene - B+
Overall Experience - B-

Final word - Oh, it’s not so bad. Just bypass the hostess and head straight for the (sushi) bar!

Read more foodie adventures at OMG! Food or just be crazy and Read More Kitty.

By PoetKitty (see more of her posts). You can find more of PoetKitty's writing at her own website OMG Food!