Blowfish Sushi

2170 Bryant Street

Tel: 415-285-3848

This is not your quiet neighborhood sushi joint. The moment you enter Blowfish Sushi, your modern, urban self will be engaged by the pulsing techno music, Japanese animation on a large screen behind the sushi chefs, a chic, modern ambiance and the trendy wait staff carrying gorgeous plates. If you want "a scene" with your sushi, then this is the place for you.

The room is a blend of natural materials and high tech. Dramatic low-beamed wooden ceilings and designer furniture. Two high-perched monitors on both sides of the room show endless loops of cool Japanese sci fi animation. Ambient low-hanging miniature lamps dangle over tables, and there are colorful framed animation cels on the red walls. A punky-looking red pufferfish is the restaurant logo. This is a great place to bring your jaded New York city friends when they come to visit, so that they don’t think you live in a backwater burg.

We were a group of 3 chic cyber-chicks and 2 fashion buyers, including Megan from New York who had just returned from a Prada buying spree in Milan. We were hungry and no novices to Japanese food. A mix of appetizers and sushi roll was decided upon quickly. It is imperative to order Chef Ritsuo Tsuchida’s signature appetizer: the "Ritsu Roll". Slices of a seaweed-wrapped roll of tuna, avocado and tobiko are lightly seared and served with Ponzu sauce and a dipping sauce presented in a martini glass. It seems to be everyone’s favorite. Seeing me scribble in my Hello Kitty notebook, the waitperson came out with some delicious, special, hot appetizers from the chef. The standout for us was the "Mamahasu" - mouthwateringly tender eggplant and zucchini cooked in a yellow miso sauce and shaped inside a five-pointed star made of zucchini that was garnished with edible, purple pansy petals. We also enjoyed a sea bass served with both a red and a white wine sauce, with fruit, nuts and lotus roots.

Presentation is everything. The food is beautiful to look at and the flatware and glasses are very stylish. We enjoyed the hip look of the wait staff including one raven-haired beauty with tattooed arms and silver glitter tights. The action has been hopping every time I’ve been in, so reservations are a must.

Now on to our sushi rolls. A big winner was the "Super Dynamite" roll: hamachi, sake and green onion, wrapped in sushi rice, lightly fried, and topped with a spicy, Unagi chili sauce. Heat was also in effect with the delicious "Blowfish Eye" roll: tuna, flying fish eggs, and cucumber with warm, curried tempura, and a "Spider Roll" which contained warm soft-shell crab. Salmon lovers will enjoy the "Menage a Trois": salmon, salmon skin, ikura, and tobiko. Vegetarians can enjoy the "Popeye Roll" featuring spinach with peanut sauce.

Blowfish also features a very extensive sake list, with the selection ranging from $4 to $28 per bottle. There are also special sake cocktails including a Sake Cosmopolitan, Sake Lemon Drop and a Sake Bloody. "Peach Nympho" and "Plum Pixie" are other sake cocktails with tantalizing names, and there are also drinks made with Japanese rice vodka. Blowfish Sushi is also one of the few Japanese restaurants I know with lattes and cappuccino on the menu.

After all of the beautiful and delicious food, could our eyes and tongues still be dazzled by dessert? It was a bit of a wait, but we realized why when we saw the artistry with which the dessert plates were prepared. We enjoyed the "Angkor Wat": a banana treat with rum, cream, and cashews, served with a beautiful pale orange scoop of Thai tea ice cream, surrounded by sauce drizzled like an abstract painting. The other gorgeous treat was expresso ice cream wrapped in a chocolate cookie and spun gold sugar.

Because we were light on drinking, and shared our dishes, our bill was a little under $30 per person, but be prepared to spend quite a bit more when eating at Blowfish. Our fellow diners included high tech workers, LA visitors, bemused yuppies, preppies with deep pockets, hipsters on expense account, and a few fashion forward she-males. However, it is a unique San Francisco restaurant experience that I recommend to sushi lovers ready for something a little less traditional. Go blow your paycheck at Blowfish Sushi.

Kiki Hernandez

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