However, having lived in San Diego for almost five years, I feel as thought San Francisco is sometimes lacking in the sushi department. Don’t get me wrong, there are fantastic sushi restaurants in the city. But in San Diego, they are everywhere. In San Francisco, you have to look a little harder. A field trip to Koo in the inner sunset is one of those hidden gems.
This is what we had: the U2 roll, Azteca roll, Skip Jack tuna nigiri and Hawaiian Albacore tuna nigiri. Everything was fantastic.
The U2 is filled with tempura shrimp and avocado and topped with spicy tuna & tobiko. It was delicious. The Azteca is crab, avocado, gobo and cucumber wrapped in white fish, topped with a thin slice of jalapeño, spicy mayo, tobiko & ponzu; then lightly baked. I love anything spicy, so I thought the jalapeño was a perfect compliment. Since it was just lightly baked…it still had that sushi texture, but with a surprising taste that I enjoyed.
One thing we did not get, which came highly recommended on Yelp was the “Spoonful of Happiness.” According to the menu, it’s a spoonful of uni, quail egg, tobiko ponzu & along with another a spoonful of ankimo wrapped with whitefish, white truffle-oil ponzu & a shot of chilled sake. (So technically, it’s TWO spoonfuls). It looked delicious, but at $12 per person….if it wasn’t complete bliss, it would’ve left us less than happy, so we skipped it this time around.
We did, however, get dessert. I would venture to say that most sushi places aren’t known for their desserts, but this place is different. The Mt. Fuji is a chocolate cake with a white chocolate mousse surprise hidden inside. At just four bucks, it’s a steal, and I highly recommend saving room for dessert. I will definitely be back to Koo!
Melanie
December 14, 2011 at 7:59 pmSushi is one of my all-time favorite splurges as far as food is concerned! I'm stuck here on the east coast, and I have my favorite place — we actually have a good number of options in my town and none of them are terrible — but I'm dying to try west coast sushi. If I ever make it out to San Francisco again, I'll be sure to make this place a stop on my list.
Miranda
December 14, 2011 at 10:17 pmoh my gosh that sushi looks delicious! living in a small town in WI we don't have the greatest sushi. we have one good expensive restaurant and there is a great little place in the Mall of America in Minnesota.
brian prusnek
December 15, 2011 at 1:18 amYou may not get many peoplel telling you about their favorite sushi places in SF. Having lived here for a while (pre-Yelp), i remember when sushi restaurant hunting was a finely-tuned skill. But since I love your blog and your work with the Giants, i'll tell you one. very hard to get into, but it's worth the wait. Sushi Zone. block out your whole night and come early. get the baked mango seabass appetizer and the hawaiian #2 roll. bring cash. no cc accepted
jaymeesire
December 15, 2011 at 3:24 amBrian…I've had Sushi Zone on my list for A WHILE. I need to go. And thanks Miranda and Melanie!
@ChasL
December 16, 2011 at 6:15 pmThe Bay Area has exponentially more/better Sushi than SoCal….
And with that the NorCal/SoCal battle/debate continues.