restaurant review: ozumo

You have not had sushi until you’ve had ozumo’s

A colleague was in town from Chicago so we took her to dinner. She visits the office about every 2 or three months and since she mentioned the last time she was in town that she likes sushi, we took her to what people say is the best Japanese restaurant in san Francisco .

I drove to the restaurant after doing a bit of christmas shopping at the Westfield. I valet parked my car so I don’t have to look around for parking. It wasn’t terribly expensive anyway so it was worth every penny especially on a cold san Francisco night. When I arrived, the rest of my party was already at the bar having drinks. It was myself, my boss, and our guest.

When I first walked in, I was not too thrilled about their lounge/bar. It was too dark and too loud for my taste. But I knew we were not going to hang out here for long since it was already 5:20 pm (we had a 530 reservation). We were just waiting for the main restaurant to open up. I caught my first glimpse of the main dining area when I went to the restroom- the dining area was very clean, sleek, bright and modern (without trying too hard). I also saw the staff being briefed by the manager on the night’s menu.

I had a glass of wine at the bar…a chardonnay from Monterey , ca. it was ok…just something to sip while we waited. We were promptly seated at 530 and we ordered edamame and miso soup to begin. These are two Japanese staples, so any restaurant that does not have decent edamame or miso soup should be promptly shut down. The miso soup was the same miso soup we get from my [demoted] old favorite Japanese restaurant – spiral ( san bruno ). I don’t think ozumo’s miso is worth the $4 that it is but I’m not to complain.

I always like to check out a restaurant’s menu before I go. I was thinking of getting something from the small plates menu so I could try a different kind of Japanese food. But when we got there, my mind changed and I was up for anything. We decided to stick with sushi and sashimi for the rest of the night.

For our sashimi plate, we ordered 5 pieces of each: yellow tail (13), sweet prawn (14), and wild salmon (13)

after my first bite into a slice of yellow tail sashimi, I found sashimi heaven. I am not a big fan of sashimi like my husband, dad, and best friend are. I eat sashimi but I just have 1 or 2 slices of fish and that’s it for me. But the sashimi at ozumo was so fresh, it literally melts in your mouth. I have not tasted fish so fresh here in san Francisco . Back in the Philippines , the seafood is always fresh and usually still breathing when you go to the market early enough in the morning. I had several of the yellow tail and i tried one of the sweet prawns too but it was too slimy for my taste. It was also extremely fresh but the texture is what turned me off. I didn’t touch the salmon because I’m not a fan of salmon…raw or cooked they are not at the top of my list.

Then we had 5 different kinds sushi – ozumo roll (hamachi, tuna, shiso over California roll), spicy scallop roll (scallop, kaiware, and cucumber), spider roll (soft shell crab, tobiko, kaiware, and cucumber), a sushi with mango, jalopeno, lobster and tuna and another one with tuna that I can quite remember (obviously not my number one favorite). They were all amazing! The flavors just explode in your mouth. A perfect example is the sushi with lobster (a whopping $22 for 1 order of 4 pieces). This is not your everyday sushi. The outside of the roll has toasted black sesame seeds that taste nutty. when you take your 1 big bite, you taste the nuttyness, then the sweetness from the mango, the saltiness of the lobster and the warmth of the jalopeno. it’s crazy good!

They also have one of the best cocktails I have ever tasted. It’s called Akatsuki and it has La Pinta pomegranate tequila, triple sec, lime juice, and sour mix. It was sooo good and so smooth, I was tempted to order another one…but I had to drive back home and I don’t want to drink and drive. After my first sip of akatsuki, the wine I was nursing from the bar was ignored. I don’t get a good night’s sleep when I have alcohol in my system and also this being a business dinner-it’s best to stick to one or two drinks and stay sober!

For dessert…of course! I have to indulge! I had the warm choco-azuki mochi. If you’ve never had mochi, it’s a Japanese ice cream ball wrapped in a thin layer of something like our own palutang (or palitaw however you want to call it). Ozumo’s version of mochi is flat rounds of mochi at the botton of your ice cream bowl with warm chocolate and sweet red beans (yes, matamis na munggo) and a scoop of green tea ice cream. I used to not like green tea ice cream but ozumo’s was great. The serving size was perfect for 1 person…just one good-sized scoop of ice cream with all of ozumo’s fixins. =)

It was food heaven last night. This is truly one of the best japanese restaurants—not that I have been to many because we’ve been going to spiral for at least 5 years. Spiral is still a favorite---decent Japanese food that won’t burn a hole in your pocket. Ozumo, though, takes Japanese food on a different level. This lengthy post does not do the food justice. I plan on bringing my family here at the end of January. The price will be a turn off for my parents but it’s an indulgence that I think every Japanese food lover should take.

Back to reality: parang ang sosyal masyado no? kasi sa trabaho ko, I get to visit places like this ng hindi ako nagbabayad! (ay jologs pala yung sumulat!) lahat yan company ang magbabayad. We paid $241 for 3 people plus tip. Pati yung valet parking ko, company magbabayad non! Hehe pero even if this wasn’t a business dinner and I had to pay with my own money, pupunta parin ako dito. Gusto ko nga sana sa sabado magpunta na ulit para matikman ni paul e. =) sana makapunta kami. Sana mabasa to ng asawa ko at mag aya sya heheh =)