Umi Sake House

Neighborhood: Belltown
Address: 2230 1st Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-374-8717
Web: www.umisakehouse.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 8.6 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Located on the 1st Avenue of Belltown district, this fairly new sushi place is decorated nice and has a stylish interior. Atmosphere wise, it's a good place to take your date. This place has an excellent happy hour (even on weekends), so it gets quite packed during those hours. I like the bathroom doors since it doesn't even look like a door, and reminds me of a ninja house.

SUSHI:
They have excellent daily menu where they offer the freshest fish that is not on the regular menu. One time when I went, they had kinmedai and warasa, which were flown directly from Japan. They were excellent along with aji, which was also on the daily menu. You can order sushi individually as opposed to in pairs, but be wanred that they are a bit pricey ($4 to $6 for one piece). These specially flown fish tastes excellent, however, they need to invest more money on the sushi chef (and possibly a rice cooker). The rice is a bit too moist and packed a little too tight. As I watched the sushi chef, who didn't look Japanese or any other Asian ethnicity, I got the impression that they weren't that into sushi. But at the same time, most of the customers didn't seem to care much for the sushi. I will have to add that they have an excellent happy hour sushi set. For $5, you can get tuna, salmon, yellowtail and albacore nigiri. I haven't seen any better deal than that.

OTHER DISHES:
Everything here is decent, but they are just overpriced. On the menu, they sound fancy and when they come out on the table, they look fancy. Their happy hour deal is excellent and has decent selections including tempura. The scallop dish was excellent, but agedashi tofu didn't have as much dashi flavor as I would have liked. But they have excellent selection of sake menu. Maybe that's what they are focused on more than sushi since the restaurant name is Umi Sake House, insead of sushi house. The only problem with their wide selections is that most of the sake needs to purchased by a bottle, so unless you are there with groups of friends that enjoy sake, you are stuck with about a dozen selection (which is still not bad). One time I tried their red rice sake, which had a tint of red (that looked like rosa wine), and tasted a bit like red wine.

SERVICE:
The wait staffs seemed to be more knowledgeable about the sake selection than the sushi selection, but compared to most American owned sushi restaurants, I have to give the staff credit for knowing more than not knowing. Overall, the service is good. Your water is filled all the time. Since there are usually only one or two bar tenders, your drink order can take a bit of time.

Ohana

Neighborhood: Belltown
Address: 2207 1st Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-956-9329‎
Web: www.ohanabelltown.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 6.2 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Ohana is located on 1st Avenue and Blanchard part of Belltown, next to Frontier steakhouse. As soon as you step in, you realize that their theme is Hawaiian with bamboo booths and tables with all the tropical decorations. There is a small sushi counter with Hawaiian looking guys behind the counter. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, they have a DJ spinning, and on Sunday night they have a karaoke night. On Wednesday nights, they have live Hawaiian (they call it Island) music.

SUSHI:
Looking at their sushi menu, you realize right away that their price is much lower compared to the other sushi restaurants in Belltown. Their Chef's Choice Sushi Combo goes for $18 and comes with 8 pieces of the usual stuff and California Roll, which is served on a big plastic boat shaped plate (though some parts are chipped off as seen on the photo). As for the taste, everything is just sub par. There is a fast food sushi restaurant in Japan called Kozozushi. That would be the closest comparison. Tuna tasted very watery like it had been frozen and defrosted a couple of times, and the seaweed they use to wrap the sushi also tastes cheap. Fortunately their salmon wasn't too bad, but in Seattle, even at a low end sushi place, it's hard to get a bad tasting salmon. I should however mention that their rolls aren't too bad.

OTHER DISHES:
Their sushi may not be the best in Belltown, but let's remember that this is a tropical Hawaiian themed restaurant, so they are probably not that serious about sushi. They do however make up for it by having good Haiiwan food. Their Kalua Pork is a tasty blend of very moist and tender pork and veggies. And let's not forget their tropical umbrella drinks, which are quite superb.

SERVICE:
With the exception of Friday night happy hour (5-7pm), when the place is quite busy, they have a pretty good service. The waiting staff will explain to you their unique Hawaiian dishes or the different sushi on the menu. Overall, go here for good tropical time with solid Hawaiian food and drinks, but avoid sushi if you are looking for the freshest fish in town.

Wasabi Bistro

Neighborhood: Belltown
Address: 2311 2nd Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-441-6044
Web: www.wasabibistro.biz/
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 8.8 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Located on the 2nd Ave part of fancy Belltown district, this place has a fairly large bar area that serves light appetizer dish as well as big dining area. The interior feels very modern and American, instead of traditional Japanese style. They do have sushi counters and a few customers do sit there, but most of the crowds are hipsters that come to enjoy the cool atmosphere and be hip about eating sushi. Someone told me that they sometimes have live music there.

SUSHI:
I was surprised to find that 2/3 of their menu was all sushi. Of course, half of that was all fancy named rolls with avocados, cream cheese, tempura and mayo in it. I went with a Japanese friend of mine who was on a budget, so she tried to order rolls instead of nigiri, but she had a hard time finding a roll without those non-traditional items in it. We were shocked to find that one of the rolls had mangos in it (I just couldn't get myself to try that). On the other than, I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had "daily special" area where they listed a few selection of fresh fish of the day. They also had chef's choice which went from $25, but here at Wasabi Bistro, you could order one piece of nigiri sushi at a time instead of having to get two sushi per order. The price ranged from $2.50 to $4 per one nigiri, which was reasonable. I ordered all from the daily special, including kampachi, which was one of the best I've had all season. The cut is nice and thick, without it being too big and had nice rich flavor. The only non-daily special I ordered was uni, which wasn't as good as the one I had at Village Sushi last week. But everything else tasted more crips and fresh (at least on the daily special).

OTHER DISHES:
Since 2/3 of their menu consists of sushi rolls or nigiri, they only have about a dozen selection of non-sushi item (even less if you don't include seafood). The Albacore Tataki was fresh and tasty, and I also enjoyed the large serving of "Chop Chop Chicken Salad with Wasabi Aioli Dressing" even though it didn't taste like anything you would find at a traditional Japanese restaurant.

SERVICE:
Your service depends on how crowded the place is, but the waiting staff were quite knowledgeable about the fish in general, except they would tell me the names of the fish in English, which I had a hard time looking up the Japanese translation for on the menu, but I'm probably the minority on that one as people would rather hear "striped bass" instead of "suzuki." Overall, this is a safe place to go to impress your non-Japanese date, since it's fashionable and the selection, especially from the daily menu is fresh and tasty.

Shiro's Sushi Restaurant

Neighborhood: Belltown
Address: 2401 2nd Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-985-6870
Web: www.shiros.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 9.4 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Located on the 2nd Ave and corner of Battery St., Shiro's Sushi Restaurant, doesn't necessarily look that fancy from the outside. Actually it's not super fancy looking once you step inside either (compared to fine seafood restaurants near the waterfront). But what makes this place the most talked about sushi place in Seattle is the owner/chef, Shiro Kashiba, who trained in Tokyo, Japan, and has been in Seattle since 1966. But because of it's popularity, recently it had turned into more of a touristy spot. Does the food taste good? Absolutely, but is it worth the wait and dining in the packed house with slower service? Probably not, as there are other great options nearby such as Saito's who provide just as high quality of fish without all the hassle of touristy people.

SUSHI:
The master sushi chef, Shiro is probably the most famous sushi chef in Seattle. His name had appeared on almost every cuisine magazines and newspapers, and continues to do so. His sushi does indeed taste excellent and fresh, as he claims to personally select the fish every morning at various markets. The price is a little higher than your average sushi joints, but in Belltown recently, it maybe considered to be average.

OTHER DISHES:
They have decent selection of sake, which is nice. And their house specials are tasty as well. With so many people wanting to try Shiro's sushi, your sushi may take a while to show up (unless you are one of the luckily few that got the counter seat), so it's wise to order some appetizers as you wait. Gyoza in particular cooked to perfection. It was crispy on the outside and juicy in the inside (hard to find good fried gyoza in Seattle).

SERVICE:
Like I said before, since the place is always packed with people wanting to check out the so called "best sushi place in Seattle" the service is a little slower than your average sushi place as Shiro's sushi order is always backed up. The staff is usually pretty good about telling you that "your sushi should be coming soon" except it feels like long time. At least it's nice to know that they are "coming soon."

[CLOSED] Saito's Japanese Cafe & Bar

Neighborhood: Belltown
Address: 2120 2nd Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-728-1333
Web: www.saitos-cafe.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 9.7 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
From the outside, you would never think it’s a fancy Japanese sushi restaurant. In fact it’s quite hard to spot with no bright signs and you may walk past it without even knowing it’s there. But be sure to make the effort to seek it out because the interior is quite upscale with candlelight and Japanese décor. The sushi counter is especially fancy and draws your attention.

SUSHI:
Saito’s offers some of the freshest fish in Seattle. The sushi is expertly prepared by Mr. Saito. If you get a chance to sit at the counter you should do so because the sushi chefs are exciting to watch with their speedy and precise sushi-making techniques. Also they can offer suggestions for fresh fish of the day or unusual types of fish that aren’t on the menu and you won’t find anywhere else in Seattle. If you are not too sure which fish to order they offer two types of sushi combos (one is around $20 and the other “omakase” is around $30). Their fresh sushi and sashimi particularly go well with their wide selection of chilled sake. Both the sushi and sake are offered at a premium price, but they are worth it for special occasions or when you want to splurge.

OTHER DISHES:
Although most of the food they offer here is pretty good, I recommend sticking to the sushi, since this is probably the best sushi place in Seattle (so far).

SREVICE:
If you manage to sit at the counter, the service is really quick because the sushi chefs work quickly and serve the people at the counter first. The table service is also good, and most of the wait staff speaks Japanese and can answer most questions about the menu.