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I apologize for what I’m about to say: I don’t really care for seafood … or sushi.
I know, it’s a travesty (trust me, it plagues me too.) Every time I eat seafood, regardless of how it’s prepared, my taste buds just never enjoy it. And sometimes, my taste buds actively hate it. And this especially irks me because 1) it’s so pretty and 2) so many people say sushi is their favorite food so it must be delicious.
To determine if the problem is me or all the seafood dishes I’ve ever eaten, I decided to make a reservation for an omakase-style restaurant in Mountain View with 4.5-star Google and Yelp reviews. Omakase translates to “I’ll leave it up to you,” and is a formal dining experience where the chef decides what you eat. Besides Sushi Jin’s high ratings, I picked this restaurant for its affordability. At $145 per person before tax, tip or added drinks (which ended up being over $200 per person), it’s still on average $100 to $200 less expensive than other Peninsula omakase restaurants.
Located within Monta Loma Plaza, you could easily walk right by Sushi Jin without realizing it’s there. There’s no large sign announcing its presence among the Safeway, Valero service station and laundromat (which is typical of omakase restaurants). A heat lamp is chained to a handicapped parking sign outside the restaurant, which I thought was odd, but I would soon realize it was because even if you have a reservation, you should expect to wait. And because the restaurant is so small, you can’t wait inside.
After seven minutes past our reservation time, I received a text saying our “table is ready.” To clarify, “table” isn’t the right word for it because I had made a reservation for bar seating. Sushi Jin also offers an a la carte menu and you can opt to do table dining.
The first appetizer was sakizuke (a small appetizer) with tsubugai (sea snail), takenoko (bamboo shoot) and dashi jelly. Visually, it was stunning. I was so excited to try it with the small wooden spoon they provided. The first bite I quite enjoyed, but as I would learn later, it was because I didn’t get the tsubugai in it. When I took a second bite, I immediately realized what had happened, as a pungent fishy flavor filled my mouth (a flavor I wish I enjoyed, but alas I do not). Luckily, some of it was masked by the umami punch of the dashi jelly.
The second appetizer was hotate (scallop) with yuzu foam and koji butter (koji is the culture that makes sake, soy sauce, miso and other products.) The scallop was cooked beautifully and the koji butter was rich and decadent; however the yuzu foam was somewhat imperceptible. I enjoyed the second appetizer much more than the first.
The third appetizer was gindara (black cod) with kabu dashi (turnip broth) and mustard green. This was my favorite bite of the night, and the only dish I have no critiques to give. This was the most tender, succulent fatty fish I’ve ever tried and it was seasoned perfectly. It made me realize I don’t dislike all seafood: Gindara is an exception.
Before the 10-piece chef’s choice of seasonal nigiri, the waiter came by with expandable hot towels to wipe our hands with between each course, as each piece of nigiri is to be eaten by hand. And while I don’t have the exact details of each of the 10 pieces, I will say there was only one piece that I wanted to spit out. I thought each piece of sushi was extremely beautiful and every piece was well seasoned; however, none of it made me all that excited. My boyfriend, on the other hand, was practically sliding into a coma from overstimulation of happiness (and it made me sad that I couldn’t share that joy with him.)
The final course was the soup course, suimono (clear soup) with miyagi oyster, wakame (seaweed) and mitsuba (parsley). While the soup itself was quite nice, the miyagi oyster was an unpleasant experience. And before you think I’m an oyster hater, I had oysters at a Michelin-starred restaurant in San Francisco last year that I absolutely loved and would have devoured a second helping of.
Overall, I was disappointed to find out that even fine dining couldn’t fix my dislike of seafood. I conclusively (and expensively) determined the problem is me. Let me be clear: if you love seafood, you’ll likely love Sushi Jin (my boyfriend – a sushi lover – said it was awesome). This is not me trying to trash a restaurant; this is me learning that even the best seafood does not agree with my taste buds.
And if you are a seafood lover (I’m jealous), I’ve requested my boyfriend write his own review so it’s less biased. Read below for Grant Beske’s thoughts.
“Sushi Jin was incredible and a perfect introduction to omakase for somebody who has never tried it before. Everything, from the appetizers to the plates and silverware to the music, was perfectly chosen to deliver a unique, unforgettable experience. With no immediately visible outside signage, Sushi Jin blends right into the shopping center that its building is a part of – making it all the more striking when one stumbles inside only to find a cozy, cute omakase-style restaurant, filled with bamboo furniture and wallpapers and decorated throughout with Japanese trinkets such as chef’s knives and bonsai trees.
“At the end of the day though, Sushi Jin is about delicious food, and it delivers here in spades. The omakase experience, while expensive, is perfectly curated and worth every penny.
“Beginning with delicious, unique appetizers including sea snail and scallops in yuzu butter, the omakase package then moves on to the main course – 10 pieces of nigiri, specially prepared by the chef in front of you, delivered one at a time. These massive sushi pieces are each made with the finest ingredients and are an absolute treat for the taste buds, and I thoroughly enjoyed talking to the chefs after eating each piece to discuss my reaction. The chefs were very kind and friendly and were very sensitive to how I responded to each piece of nigiri, continually narrowing down to deliver to me better and better pieces each time. This culminated in the last three pieces, which were a gauntlet of absolutely delicious fatty salmon and fatty tuna nigiri. To finish up the meal, one final oyster soup was served after the 10 nigiri pieces, a perfect palate cleanser.
“Leaving Sushi Jin, I was struck by a sadness that the experience was over – it was an incredible restaurant and a ride that I would highly recommend (especially for sushi lovers who have never tried omakase).
“My only gripe with the restaurant? I just wish they had served even more nigiri, because it was truly delicious.”
Sushi Jin, 580 N Rengstorff Ave., Suite J, Mountain View; 650-386-5885, Instagram: @_sushi_jin. Open Tuesday through Sunday 5:30-9:30 p.m.
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