The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Will be there for 3 days, on business you might say. My co-traveler is a sushi nut. Where is the best place for sushi? Price really isn't a factor, just quality. $100+/plate isn't outrageous. I'm not a big sushi fan, so I'll be having tempura.

Same question for Vancouver, as we'll be going up for a day.

Anything else amazing and exciting that cannot be missed in either city in the next couple days?

7-11. We sell the best soggy sushi around.

If you're not a big fish fan, but are going to a fine sushi place, you should try it. When given the opportunity, try the best. Then if you don't like it, you don't like it.

But I don't know where the best is in Seattle.

Have you checked out http://www.yelp.com? Pretty good source of info for restaurants. The only sushi place I've tried in Seattle is Blue C Sushi in the Fremont neighborhood:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/oc2CM7Md_fFRnbVcpN4KoQ

It didn't get the best rating on Yelp. I thought it was good, but it didn't blow my mind. This is the top rated sushi place:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/M5gjalaqrlkVm55RHqiaaA

It's in the "International" district, which is a bit south of downtown, near the stadium, I think. Blue C wasn't too crowded. Maneki sounds like it's quite busy and you'll have to wait a long time, but I think that's pretty standard for really good sushi places.

EDIT: Also, heed Roymond's words. Top notch sushi is really different from mediocre sushi. I didn't like sushi at all until I moved to CA and tried the sushi out here, and now I love it. The fresher the fish, the better the sushi, and it's guaranteed to be fresh on the West coast. You should at least try the easy stuff like tuna and salmon sashimi, which are soooo good at a nice place. Then there are other easy things like rolls. Try getting a tempura shrimp roll, you'd probably like that. Lots of people like the eel, but personally I think you should hold off on that stuff until you've decided you like sushi, as texture wise it's kinda gross.

Lunkhead wrote:Lots of people like the eel, but personally I think you should hold off on that stuff until you've decided you like sushi, as texture wise it's kinda gross.

...but it is cooked, if you have a dislike of raw fish. We've often had good luck searching via Chowhound.com.
(I love eel sushi)
-bill

The Sober Irishman wrote:Where is the best place for sushi?

See, it all depends upon whether you are looking for the best place or the best sushi. The problem is that both are subjective, and one can influence the other. And besides, if you don't even like sushi, you're just in it for the experience, right?

Some might find the crowded atmosphere and difficulty getting a table at Maneki enhances the sushi experience, some might find it detracts. Different strokes for different folks:

Blue C is not a great sushi restaurant. Still, I go there often. I like the sushi coming around on the track, and it's fun to have all those guys making sushi right out in the open, and the two big screens of video, many shot by the owners of street scenes in Tokyo are a hoot. Hell, the Japanese hand dryer is worth the trip.

The Wasabi Bisto in Belltown is a bit of a meat-market, but the sushi is pretty good. Again, you might like that kind of thing. I'm not complaining.

Ototo on Queen Anne has excellent sushi, and the overly modern japanese stylings add, in my opinion.

Yoshinobo has the feeling of an authentic upper-crust place in Tokyo, which can make the sushi taste better, especially if you are really well dressed.

Too bad you missed the "naked sushi" scene...

Sushi is raw fuckin' fish, man. Yuck.

YUCK.

I couldn't tell you if it's the BEST in Vancouver, but Shiro on Cambie is a great place, and I've consistently had delicious Sushi there. (If the raw thing puts you off -- the eel is particularly yummy!) Don't be put off by the fact that it is rather... unprepossessing from the outside. (It's more or less in a strip mall)

3096 Cambie Street, Vancouver
Tel: (604) 874-0027

Can't help you with Seattle, unfortunately.

--Em

"Lush" in Portland used to/still has the naked sushi going on. If I see the owner (at my regular bar, yet another damned strip club here in Portland ) tonight, I'll ask him. Though it's a good 3+ hour out of your way, Sober.

Oh, and it's worth the money to get your companion to take the bet of eating Sea Urchin, just for his/her expression once the taste sinks in, heh.

What Spud said. (At least regarding Blue C and Wasabi Bistro. I haven't been to the other places, but definitely Blue C for experience, Wasabi Bistro for food.)

Blue C is definitely not somewhere to go for tempura, though. If you want a more varied menu, there's always Hiroshi's (on Eastlake I think) though they're still a pretty low-key experience.

Also, what Spud didn't say: When you're in town, let us know!

Spud wrote:Ototo on Queen Anne has excellent sushi, and the overly modern japanese stylings add, in my opinion.

Holy shit. We basically got lost driving all around north Seattle for almost 2 hours and ended up in the Queen Anne area. I spotted Ototo without remembering your suggestion and figured it would be good enough.

Good lord was that some fantastic fucking sushi. And I'm not a sushi fan at all. I could live on their toro.

Rock on Spud. Good call.

Yay! A happy ending. We'll have to try that place when we're up there at the end of March.

Well, the rest of the trip was shitty. Made a trip to Tulalip Casino up north. The action was ridiculous, and both of us were making a good $45/hour for several hours. Then I had a set of queens busted by an idiot calling for her whole stack with a 3-flush. Game over.

Oh well. Made up for it online.

ANother place I meant to mention was Ohana, which is on 1st near Belltown and is a Japanese-Polynesian fusion (so not quite traditional, particularly with the entrees, but a nice change from the ordinary if you're burnt out on standard sushi like I am). But I see you already came and went. And you didn't call. You bastard.

I asked my buddy if he wanted to hang out with a gay jewish furry, and for some reason he declined

Really though, we didn't have much spare time at all. Maybe next time.

The Sober Irishman wrote: Really though, we didn't have much spare time at all. Maybe next time.

You spent several hours in a casino losing money, but couldn't drop in for a few minutes and say hi to a songfighter?