Blowfish Sushi

San Francisco is famous for many things including their collection of restaurants.
As strangers to this town we felt we'd have better luck finding a good sushi bar by
asking the locals. The Blowfish was said to be the most popular.

Convenience was secondary to the guarantee of a good meal, and without a
question we hailed a taxi and made our way across town. The location was a bit
undesirable in an unpopulated part of town. I was even more surprised to see it
so packed on a Tuesday night. It was high energy with throbbing music and
Anime videos playing on large screens. Red walls turned up the heat even more,
while an abundance of orchids were quite exotic. A young crowd has laid claim to
this place and as time went on it became more apparent that the Blowfish is not
at all appropriate for children. Risque Anime art decorating the walls was further
indication of that, with bare breasted cartoon women luring minds into their
evocative fantasy world.

The menu was innovative, with sushi rolls cleverly stuffed with unusual
ingredients. With only one trip here, it's hard making a definitive opinion, since
sushi rolls vary from chef to chef. Unfortunately we were not impressed with the
rolls we ordered, with most so meager on filling. I wasn't compelled to bother
eating more than one bite of the Rock n Roll with eel, yellowtail and avocado and
the Super Dynamite Roll filled with Hamachi, Bincyo, saki, scallions, chili sauce,
lightly fried and garnished with Sriracha was fishy. Though the pairing of tuna,
mango and macadamia nuts sounded amazing in the Maui Maki roll, the nuts
were undetectable. Better choices were the Buddha Roll with shrimp tempura,
eel, cilantro, and mango and the Fried Ebi Roll with fried ebi, avocado, tartar
sauce and masago. We found ourselves unexpectedly impressed instead with
the appetizers. The Punch piled tender slices of filet mignon inside a potato ring
serving it over steamed garlic spinach. The Flying Shrimp covered battered
scallops in a sweet chile sauce and topped them with sauteed shrimp. The drinks
were rather weak, but artfully presented with an orchid in the Saki Lemon Drop.

I'd like another try at this place, still plenty curious about their daring menu. A
crazy combination of tuna, avocado, cilantro and salsa fills the Fiesta Roll,
Kammonasu Fire Oysters are topped with pesto, Japanese mayonnaise, Tabasco,
wasabi tobiko and melted jack cheese and the Pyramid of Tartare with Big Eye
Tuna, Atlantic King Salmon, avocado, honey tartar sauce and sweet ginger soy
are territories undiscovered, and I'm always ready for adventure.

Open weekdays for lunch 11:30 to 2:30 P.M. and dinner 7 nights a week.

Prices: Fried Ebi Roll $10.50, Buddah Roll $12.50, Mau Maki Roll $7.75, The Punch
$10, Flying Shrimp $12, Saki Lemon Drop $7

Located at 2170 Bryant Street in San Francisco.

Telephone (415) 285-3848

Other locations in Los Angeles and San Jose

Website: www.blowfishsushi.com