Food: So good, so naked

Naked Fish Japanese Bistro in Downtown at 67 West 100 South is Salt Lake Magazine's Japanese Restaurant of 2010. And there is little question why.

Naked Fish is undoubtedly my new favorite place for sushi in the City of Salt. It started when Manfriend, Ava, Erin and I walked through the doors into the beautifully decorated space. The website says the concept of Naked Fish is to serve contemporary Japanese cuisine in a swanky Downtown location. They definitely hit the mark.

The place feels very modern, comfortable and clean. The bathrooms are AWESOME! I want to take the sink, floors and walls and move them to my apartment. Seriously if there was a shower I would move in.

We didn't make a reservation so we missed out on the private omakase rooms, but our table was still comfortable.

We started off with some drinks. Ava and I ordered some cocktails. My Cosmo with champagne was a touch too sugary for it to be my favorite drink, but it was well made and yummy. Erin had a glass of wine that paired well with the sushi. And Manfriend tried a Japanese beer for the first time. Not surprisingly, the beer went best with the sushi, but that's not keeping me from more cocktails at Naked Fish in the future.

The sushi rolls are between $7 and $12. One roll was plenty for me--so Naked Fish can be done cheaply. But it was Ava's birthday so we splurged.

These were hands down the best sushi rolls I have eaten. Ava ordered the caterpillar roll and loved it. I don't remember what roll Erin ordered, but I believe it was the tekka maki roll. It was also outstanding. I ordered a stand-by favorite of mine, the Wasatch roll. I was very impressed with the freshness of the ingredients, the solid construction and the great mix of flavors. Manfriend ordered the Mexi roll, while the flavor was great it was too hot for me, and I barely made it through one piece with a glass of water.

At this point, I had deiced Naked Fish is the BEST. JAPANESE. BISTRO. EVER. Manfriend disagreed. He insisted the mark of a good Japanese restaurant is in the vegetable tempura. He disagreed with Ava and said Tsunami was better. So of course, I had to take him up on the challenge. And I promptly ordered the vegetable tempura.

Oh.My.God. It was amazing! The asparagus, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms and Japanese squash were all cooked perfectly. The tempura batter itself was crisp, light and delicious. The sauce on the side was also wonderful and went fantastic with each vegetable. Although I can't even begin to guess what was in it.

After the vegetable tempura, Manfriend acquiesced and agreed Naked Fish is the best Japanese restaurant in Salt Lake City. And that was before the ice cream.

The waitress suggested mochi ice cream for dessert. We had the plum and green tea ice cream rolled in mochi. (I'm not sure what mochi is, but I think it's a red bean paste.) I love, love green tea ice cream. It was the perfect dessert to end such a wonderful meal.

I can't wait to return to Naked Fish. And this time I'm making a reservation.

Food Review: Turning the tide on my favorite sushi

Ava and I made a visit to Tsunami in Sugar House this past week. She was craving sushi and I just like to eat.

Since our favorite sushi spot, Sapporo shut down we decided to return to another old favorite and made our way to the little place by the dollar theater. I should mention Tsuanmi is open until 10 p.m. on weeknights. Yes, Salters there is a place you can get a great dinner after 9 p.m. on a week night in the Salty City.

Ava chose to sit at a table, not the sushi bar. This made me happy because I find the sushi chefs rude and condescending-for some reason they don't seem to like it when I ask questions about fish. It turns out the table was a good choice as the sushi chefs spent much of the night arguing back and forth and writing the schedule with the manager.

I ordered the Tokyo Cowboy roll and Ava had the Malibu, then I ordered a veggie roll called Catalina.

The Tokyo wasn't as good as I remembered, it seemed a little bit spicier without the lovely balance of sweet and spicy my taste buds remember.

Ava liked the Malibu, but said she'll probably order something else next time. The Malibu had eel and was pretty tasty, but I wasn't a fan of the overall texture of the roll--it was just a little too smooth and slimy for me.

The Catalina had lots of delicious vegetables wrapped in soy paper. The weird part was that it tasted like peanuts only without peanuts. It wasn't bad, just unexpected. Even Ava who hates nuts ate some of the roll.

Our waitress was adorable and very helpful. So I'm taking back the sitting at the bar rule for sushi and amending it to say, "At Tsunami sit at a table and let the waitress deal with the sushi chef."

Food News: Brookside is now Yellowfin

A quick update in the Salty City food world.

Brookside Broiler and Grill near Hidden Hollow in the Sugar House Commons has closed. The beef kabobs will surely be missed.

Yellowfin will open in the same location soon. The sign still says broiler and grill, but I believe it's a sushi place. When I spoke with the owners today, they said they are hoping to open next week. The restaurant is waiting on a liquor license that has been delayed for two weeks.

Yay! Utah, always making it easier on your local business.

Thinking thinkiness

It was a balmy, dark night when Erin, Harry, Chris and I enjoyed some sushi from Ichiban on 200 East 350 South-ish.

Our waiter was adorable and amazing. He poured our wine an overpriced bottle of Lindeman's Shiraz perfectly. Plus, he did the whole taste testing thing, which I always think is cool. Oh yeah, and he let Harry make fun of everything in sight and laughed along.

We sat on the patio looking out onto 200 East-a small street that had more traffic than I thought it would for a Sunday night. The only downside to the patio was the ridiculously loud air conditioner from the apartments next door.

We had the Jazz, Dragon, Utah, Caterpillar and another Utah-named roll. Everyone agreed the rolls were much spicier than we anticipated. I suppose this could be the fault of the order and not Ichiban, but really four out of five rolls had some kind of spice included. That sounds way more Korean than Japanese to me. I also felt like these rolls were a lot richer than other sushi I'm wondering about the amount of Japanese mayo used or other sauces in the rolls.

However, the rolls were still flavorful and yummy. I really liked the caterpillar roll (non-spicy) it had a lot of avocado. All the fish in all the rolls seemed really fresh. We also tried a tempura fried roll, the tempura fried sushi was new for me. I really liked the crunch of the tempura, but it seemed to drown out the flavor of the rest of the fish and veggies in the roll itself so it was a little disappointing.

The shiraz was fairly good. Next time, though I'll be picking up a much cheaper bottle from the wine store. I was surprised by how much I liked this wine since I usually don't love wine. But it had a nice spiciness to it that I don't usually get out of my wine.

For our appetizer we had the miso soup. It was very good. The tofu pieces were bigger than the traditional soup usually has, but I liked the added chunkiness. The flavor was so good, I'm not usually a big fan of miso because it seems bland, but this soup had nice flavor with fresh herbs like cilantro really standing out.

I'm not sure about our total bill, but the average roll seemed to cost about $14. Definitely, not cheap eats for me. Luckily, Harry was kind enough to pick up the tab so this time it was cheap for me.

The experience of Ichiban leaves me wanting to go back, the food not so much. Maybe, next time I'll ask the adorable waiter for some suggestions on the sushi.

Just because there aren't people doesn't mean it isn't good

We were seated in the small back room with traditional Japanese furnishings. The other birthday guests were nervous about being in the seemingly empty restaurant they had never heard of, but once we settled in and made our order John took care of the rest.

I tried the mermaid sushi roll, which was new. It had yellow tail, salmon and mussel with green tabiko. It was a little slimier in texture than I would've liked and for that I'll blame the mussel. The flavor was great and it had just the right amount of tabiko to give it some pop. Plus, the way it looks on the plate you can totally see why it's called the mermaid roll, the green tabiko is rolled on in a circular pattern than the rolls are laid out to look like a fish tail it's pretty nifty plating.

The terriyaki chicken and beef dishes looked and smelled delicious and were great for the non-seafood people in the party. They were served huge portions with tons of veggies so all the men and women were happy with the dish. The birthday girl said the steak her husband ordered was very good.

I also tried the dragon roll it was pretty good, but not my favorite--no particular reason it just lacked pizazz. I had a California roll and realized once again how I don't really like crab all that much. Then I had the sunshine roll and remembered it was one of my favorites at Sapporo. Janelle loved the sunshine roll including the plating with the lemon slices on top. She also said that with sushi it makes sense to eat the lemon rind or else you miss some of the flavor. I would have to agree, the sunshine roll is so delicious because of the lemon.

Some of the fish seemed a little off. It may have been because we were there on a Thursday, but the birthday girl's husband was overheard mentioning the fishiness of his shashimi. I believe it was salmon and yellow tail.

When we stopped to say hi to John, he totally remembered us and apologized for not realizing we were in the "special" room. We will definitely be seeing him again on a Friday when the fish is fresh. Oh and next time we'll be at the bar.

Questionable sushi

I'm sure we've all seen the sushi at Smith's. It's in the deli/bakery area and it always looks kind of questionable. Well, a friend said it wasn't too bad and worth trying. So I did. This was a mistake.

My first sign should've been the walk home. As I was coming home, I was followed by two LDS missionaries, which I thought was weird because I was carrying a case of Blue Moon. I had picked up the California Roll sushi because I figured with artificial crab how bad could it be?

The sushi was $6.19 and by far the cheapest sushi roll I've ever bought. I immediately went to the kitchen and broke into my sushi. After just a few pieces I was interrupted by the missionaries. They had been temporarily distracted by my neighbors and now it was my turn.

We talked for a few minutes. The blond was very persistent. I finally sent them on their way and went back to my sushi.

With a little wasabi and soy sauce, the sushi wasn't too bad. The roll had a fairly nice balance between rice, tobiko, crab, carrot and cucumber. Not great by any means, but palatable and for $6 it seemed worth the money.

Only now it's been more than 12 hours and I'm sitting on my couch feeling like I might puke. Smith's sushi is the most questionable food I ate yesterday. I blame the sushi. I so blame the sushi--and the missionaries.

Gallery Stroll and Sushi

OMG! Look, there's pictures!

It's the third Friday of the month, again. The roomies and I have a fabulous tradition of wandering around Gallery Stroll. If you've never made it to downtown around 7 p.m. on the third Friday of the month, you are missing out on one of Salt Lake's best little big city moments. This time before we wandered the local galleries at Broadway and 300 West, we stopped by Sapporo for some sushi.It was an excellent fix to my sushi cravings. Jon was the sushi chef again. He couldn't remember our names, but he did remember Erin had been to Italy. As always he was pleasant and friendly. Jon is an excellent reason to sit at the bar.


My Metropolitan role smiled at me. The Metropolitan is probably my favorite roll from Sapporo. It's a combination of samon, yellotail and tuna with asparagus and eel. Unfortunately, on Friday night the fish wasn't as fresh as I've come to expect from Sapporo.

Ava loved the Manitoc. Ava's Manitoc roll looked beautiful. Although, like me she too had to scrape some of the tabiko off the top. That much wasabi is just too hot for anyone not raised in Korea.


Erin again ordered the Sushi Treat and Jon set her up with a nice array of different sashimi. Erin also mentioned she really enjoyed her chef's choice entree. It looked delicious. Some of the treats included caviar and deep frying, so you know it can't be that bad.


Our service was probably the fastest it has ever been at Sapporo. The waitresses were excellent. They both did a great job of bringing us everything we needed. They were both firendly and chatted with the crowd at the bar as well.

I piad about $15 for my roll and a coke. A fairly reasonable price for sushi in the middle of a landlocked state. Sapporo is open Monday through Saturday for dinner from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Sadly, at the end of this visit I would go back to Sapporo as a good faith visit. But if the fish is unfresh again I may have to go back to the unfriendly staff of Tsunami.

Props to Er-Bear for the camera/photo help. Kudos for Jon and holding still so I could take a picture. And Ava for agreeing that asking Erin if she wanted to add anything was hysterical.

Thanks for reading, how was your food Friday?

Sushi, sushi, sushi

Recently, I've been craving sushi. I love the melody of flavors in sushi, the dedication to the freshest ingredients and the beautiful presentation. Our craving for fresh, beautiful sushi led Mrs. Michael Scofield and I have to test out Salt Lake's sushi scene.

Sapporo
The first place we went to was Sapporo. They have no Internet presence that I can find, but they have great sushi. The restaurant is on Broadway (300 South) right next to the Broadway Theater. The restaurant has never appeared very busy to me and it certainly wasn't the night we stopped by. There was a couple at the sushi bar with us and another couple joined the four of us later.

The sushi chef was pretty young. (My guess is 17-ish.) But he was friendly and talked to us as he prepared our rolls. So while the chef didn't know what Kobe beef was, I have to give him props for making some excellent sushi. I really enjoyed the bar, the other guests were friendly and the chef did a great job of involving everyone in the conversation. Our waitress was very good. She saw immediately when drinks needed refilled and carefully made sure everyone was happy.

The sushi itself was incredible! I was stuffed after four pieces, but it was so good I had to keep eating. The ingredients were all fresh and everything went together so nicely. Plus, it was the most beautiful sushi I have seen.

I really enjoyed Sapporo and am looking forward to a return visit. For two sodas and two sushi rolls it was about $25. All the fish was incredibly fresh and even the pickled ginger looked amazing! It's definitely worth a visit.

Tsunami
I've posted about Tsunami before, so I'll be brief. They serve some of the best, freshest sushi in the valley. The Tokyo Cowboy is an excellent sushi roll and the prices are great for what you get. But I can't get over the atmosphere. The Sugar House location just isn't as friendly and warm as I would expect from any restaurant. The servers also seem a little stand-offish. I will go back to this place...if someone else is paying!

I Love Sushi
The last place we visited in our sushi sovereign was this little shop in Downtown. The place is known for excellent prices and great sushi. Mrs. Scofield and I have been meaning to go here forever and we finally made it with Jess.

Jess, Ava and I each ordered a sushi roll. They were a little thinner than the rolls served a Tsunami and Sabbarro, but with more pieces. The smaller pieces were easier to eat because they fit in my mouth easily.

I ordered something with yellow tail. The yellow tail was very fresh and flavorful. Unfortunately, the vegetables were not as fresh as I expected. The chef added some sauce and sesame seeds to the top. It made for an interesting texture and a fun presentation, but all the flavor didn't quite go together. I think a little too much was happening for a single roll

The atmosphere here was great. I felt like we were in the home of a good friend and was perfectly at ease to ignore my non-chop stick skills and eat with my fingers. It's a little bit of a sushi diner, restaurant implies no whiteboards with the daily special listed.

Our server was friendly and made great dessert recommendations for the green tea and plum ice cream. The deep-fried banana was great. Tempura does very well on fruit. I loved the green tea ice cream and will definitely eat more in the future.

Three sushi rolls, two desserts and three sodas later the bill came to about $35. Not bad, for all that food. Next time, I will try their bento boxes and branch out into other Japanese foods like ramen.

While there's a lot to love about each of these locations. The first sushi stop is my first love. It has great sushi, a great chef, fun decor and comfortable prices.

What are your favorite Salt Lake sushi places?