Hurricane Roll - Tempura shrimp, crab, smoked salmon, avocado, scallions and cream cheese, topped with masago and eel sauce



Spicy California Roll



Sushi Garden Roll - crab stick, cream cheese, avocado, shrimp, crab salad, spicy sauce, eel sauce, mayo



West Virginia Roll - crab, avocado, cucumber, cream cheese, topped with salmon, tuna, tempura batter, special sauce and tobiko

We're wrapping up my Seattle trip. I know you're all really sad. But, I thought I'd end on my most extravagant meal there - maybe ever.

We went to Sushi Kashiba. Sushi Kashiba is the most recent restaurant from Shiro Kashiba - a legend in Seattle.

To Chef Shiro Kashiba, it feels like it was just yesterday. But in 1970, Chef Shiro introduced the city of Seattle to sushi when he convinced his bosses at Maneki restaurant to build Seattle’s first sushi bar. Chef Shiro had just completed years of grueling apprenticeships at Yoshino Sushi in the Ginza district of Tokyo, training hard alongside his senior supervisor, the world renowned (and now cinematically famous) sushi maestro, Jiro Ono. But unlike his contemporaries, Chef Shiro had his eyes on America. Chef Shiro was convinced that he could import the Edo-mae style and “shun” philosophy of Tokyo to the extraordinary variety and delectable seafood offerings of the Pacific Northwest. He was right. After working at Maneki, Chef Shiro opened his first restaurant, Nikko, in the International District. In 1992, he sold Nikko to the Westin hotel chain and opened the new Nikko at the downtown hotel location. For Westin, Chef Shiro served as Executive Chef and helped open several properties throughout the Americas. After his first “retirement," Chef Shiro opened Shiro’s in Belltown in 1994. Shiro’s became a smash success and was one of the pioneering restaurants to usher in Belltown’s revival as a hot dining spot in downtown Seattle. In 2014, Chef Shiro sold his remaining stake of Shiro’s to the I Love Sushi group which operates it to this day. Nominated twice for the James Beard Award, Chef Shiro has cooked for Japanese Prime Ministers, masters of the arts, star athletes, industry tycoons, and has shared his knowledge and experience with local colleges and universities. Chef Shiro’s dishes have also been served in the First Class cabins of Japan Airlines and United Airlines. But what Chef Shiro enjoys most is preparing and explaining the intricacies and detail of the delicious item he has just served to the customer seated in front of him at the sushi bar.

For the first time in my life, I splurged on the Omakase, which consists of many courses at the chef's choosing. It's expensive - into triple figures - but a memory in the making.

Omakase menus change daily based on what's in season, what's available, or maybe even who happens to be sitting next to you at dinner. As in life, every day is different, and no meal is exactly the same. An omakase dinner is expensive, but here, as it progresses, its value becomes incalculable. Several courses featured different varieties of the same fish, some from different parts of the world, all served next to each other on the same wooden board. Eating them in progression allows you to experience the range of flavors and possibilities that reside within a single family of fish (The Stranger).

The hard part is, I cannot tell you everything we ate. I know we had white tuna, blue fin, fatty tuna, scallops, prawns and a host of other things. Here's someone far better at sushi than I am. We started with that triple-item dish that had oyster and fish and a jelly thing.

Then, we moved to that hand roll, which I had never had before.

Then, a beautiful spectrum of nigiri. This was delicious and fresh.



Then, this bowl of egg custard.

Then, even more sushi and look at that prawn!

And, oh my god more.

Plus this little cake thing that was vaguely sweet to end on.



This was so fun, so cool to experience and sooo much food.

Not sure I'll ever be able to afford this again, but it was cool to try all the different items, eat fish as fresh as it can be and learn what I liked and what I don't.

For the most part, I liked everything. Some of the roe or sea urchin or things I haven't experienced quite as much took some time to get used to the texture.

But, overall, a very cool experience well worth it to expand your boundaries.




Grade: A

We've crossed BBQ, ramen, and burgers off the list so far in Austin. Another key cuisine in a new city for me has to be sushi.

And, Uchi is one of the best. According to Eater, Conde Nast Traveler picked out 207 of the world's very best restaurants. The lone Austin representative is Uchi, which writer Peter Jon Lindberg called "one of the great Japanese restaurants in the country."

Combining local seasonal ingredients with an infinite spectrum of seafood from around the globe is the basis for Uchi's culinary philosophy. We invite our diners to explore their gastronomic boundaries by pairing traditional Japanese offerings with new and refreshing flavors and textures. 

At Uchi, we serve the freshest product we can procure every day. We maintain close relationships with local farmers and we fly in seafood every day from both Fukuoka and Tsukiji markets in Japan. The essence of Japanese cuisine is the ingredients; at Uchi we prepare our dishes using innovative food combinations for the most unique dining experience in Austin. 

Uchi maintains the following policy about the fish that we procure: That we will use seafood products that are sustainable and responsibly fished when possible. That we will work with our suppliers on sourcing fish products that are traceable and to obtain that information whenever possible. Our goal at Uchi is to maintain the quality, creativity and freshness of the food we serve while striving to maintain a responsible policy towards sustainability, not just with our fish, but with the entire menu.

We happened to be there during a happy hour, so I tried a little bit of a few things.

The "machi cure" is smoked yellowtail, marcona almond, yucca crisp. Quite the presentation - but also quite tasty.

For sushi, I got some salmon sashimi and tuna maki. Both were delicious - fresh, paired with interesting ingredients. Just good.

What's unique about this place is that they put a little bit of a spin on some of the traditional rolls. That makes for a different experience. I enjoy seeing the chef's creativity merged with the traditional cuisine.

Everything here was fresh and light, which I wasn't sure what to expect in Texas. Of course, it's a big city and they have access to great fish - it's just not directly on the ocean. Not that that's necessarily a problem these days, but it was nice to see such a nice representation of this cuisine here.

Definitely try to hit this place up during happy hour because we got so many of the dishes for far cheaper than regular dinner prices.

Do you have any favorites here?



Grade: A

Does the name Morimoto sound familiar? As in, Masaharu Morimoto? The Japanese chef is best known as the original Iron Chef.

After training in Hiroshima, he traveled to New York City, where he worked at incredible restaurants, like Nobu. He then got his start on Iron Chef and then eventually opened a restaurant in his namesake, Morimoto, in Philadelphia.

The restaurant is pretty cool. It stands out on the block because of the white exterior, yellowish green see-through doors and just a small window that notes "Morimoto." The interior has these sort of wavy light features and seats that alternate colors. Interesting.

The menu has lots of tempting options. One day I'll be able to afford the Omakase - “chef’s choice” a multi-course tasting menu designed to allow you to experience the essence of Morimoto’s cuisine. But, for now, we ordered the "chef's combination - sushi, sushi rolls and sashimi" (the $90 option) and split it.

But, first, something hot: wagyu dumplings with a kanzuri-miso broth. So tasty. Tender, flavorful with a crisp fresh topping. Quite good.

The sampling of sushi was very good. We had two rolls, some nigiri and some sashimi - including hamachi yellowtail, tuna, mackerel, and ebi. The server rattled off the different kinds so quickly, I lost most of them. But, I'll say this: I loved almost all of them. The rolls were delicious, and I even liked all of the sashimi. The skin-on nigiri was new for me and the mushier pieces took an extra bite. But the thing is that it's all so fresh. It doesn't taste fishy or off. It is actually a very light, fresh flavor. There's nothing especially remarkable since it's not a new take on it; it's classic but a very quality piece. And, very tasty.

Grade: A