After having a great dinner with Taichi-san of Chiso Kappo, a friend and I decided to have dinner with the guy that trained Taichi in the first place. This little spot in Belltown is still filling up fast after all these years. No seats at the bar were available until 9:30pm, half an hour before the place closed. We were happy to have a table.
We started with a few of the cooked items. The broiled black cod kasuzuke was almost ethereal in its tenderness, and contrasted well to the big flavor of the hamachi kama (yellowtail collar). An extra order of kimpira (sliced burdock root), laced ever so slightly with sesame oil, gave us an extra dose of crunch. And the chawanmushi (egg custard) rounded out the apps.
black cod kasuzuke
hamachi kama
chawanmushi
From there, it was time for some nigiri. The only other place I'd had toro that looked and tasted as pornographic as this was at Sushi Ike in Los Angeles. I like my toro so fatty that there's no actual meat to hold it all together as you cut it. I'm not talking about marbling, I'm talking about straight fatty tuna goodness. So yeah, the toro at Shiro's was absolutely wonderful.
The other highlights were the hamachi (yellowtail) and hotate (scallop). The tamago (egg) was solid, as were the saba (mackerel), maguro (tuna), uni (sea urchin) and unagi (eel).
toro
hotate
hamachi
(For other nigiri pictures, see the message board post.)
I like to end my sushi meal with kani temaki (crab handroll). My friend had an oshinko temaki (pickle handroll), and they were both quite good.
I'm glad I visited Shiro's, and I wouldn't hesitate to go again. I still prefer Chiso Kappo, though. It comes down to the much more intimate setting.
The cooked dishes, nigiri pairs, the pair of temaki, and two tokkuris of Tsukinowa Tokubetsu "Blue Hue" came out to a total of $144 before tip.
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