I'm happy to report that all of my posting about Sakuran seems to be having a positive effect! We went for lunch today and the place was PACKED! It's about time. It mades me to see Sakuran half full while Mikuni has a line out the door.
Not present was Agent G"O"ldfish, our newest participant. Unfortunately, her actual job kept her from attending lunch festivities. Luckily, we keep a virtual version of her around for when this happens.
We tried to sneak Ebby into the restaurant (cats like fish, right) but she wouldn't get in the stupid bag.
I started out by ordering a round of Japanese Nachos. These were created by one of the chefs many moons ago when we were there for lunch. Ketel Boyfriend (that visit was his one and only Chomple appearance) was halfway out the door when the chef called him back in to try one. Being what he terms a "Mexi-CAN" he declared that the dish was a "Japanese Nacho". The name stuck and they are now on the menu. Tempura fried shiso leaf, tuna tartare, avocado, and tobikko. One of the most amazing appetizers I've ever had, anywhere.
The infamous Sakuran crunch roll. The roll is topped by fried panko crumbs. That way, your roll gets the crunch of a deep fried roll without the double calorie count of a fully deep fried roll. This roll has more sauce than most Sakuran creations, but the sauce is very light and works perfectly with the panko topping.
The Paradise Roll. Contains a huge amount of deep fried soft shell crab and is topped by the chef's impossibly thin avocado slices. Seriously, this guy freehands thinner slices than I could make with a mandoline or a scalpel.
I believe this is a caterpillar roll. Check out the chef playing games by alternating wasabi and standard tobikko.
I got their $20 fish lovers roll. This roll would cost twice as much anywhere else. They basically load it inside and out with the freshest and tastiest fish they have in house. I can't even begin to describe what was in it or just how incredible this thing tasted. In the foreground is a mound of chopped otoro topped with some extremely fresh uni, just in case the roll wasn't enough to blow my mind. Best $20 I've spent on sushi since... well, last time I was here.
Actual, being an engineer, felt that we needed to provide a nice cross section shot of the roll.
As we were reeling from the fish lover's roll, the kitchen sent out a plate of their new appetizer for us to try. Good f***ing lord. I swear they must spend their off time coming up with crazy bats*** ideas for tasty appetizers. These are mushrooms stuffed with fresh crabmeat and scallops, then deep fried and sauced. These things were like little bombs of oceany goodness. I could eat an entire meal of these.
The uni from my plate was so out of control good that we ordered more. The flavor of their current stock of uni is so intense that Actual could only eat half of her piece. I don't know who their uni supplier is but this stuff tasted like it had just been plucked from the sea.
Work Girlfriend figured the caterpillar roll wouldn't be enough food (woman, hello, this isn't Mikuni's, one roll is enough) and got a chef's special roll. Like all chef's specials it has no name as it is just a one-off creation. This roll was the perfect ratio of fresh fish and crabmeat.
I was done at this point but they decided to send one more dish my way. This is yellowtail that has been minced by hand with wasabi tobikko and green onions and then topped with fresh grated ginger. This was the best thing they served me today. As full as I was I could have easily had 10 more orders of this.
