Musashi's

Neighborhood: Wallingford
Address: 1400 N 45th St Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-633-0212
Web: N/A
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 7.8 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
A lot of my American friends have told me that Musashi on 45th St in Wallingford is one of the best sushi places in Seattle. I've been wanting to check it out, but there is always lines of people wanting in front, even on a weeknight. Compared to other small Wallingford sushi joint like, Kozue, Musashi is much smaller and feels more crammed. It is definitely not a place to sit around and enjoy the dining experience.

SUSHI:
Be warned. The sushi here is huge. It is almost twice as big as the normal sushi anywhere else (with the exception of Sam's Sushi in Ballard). I can normally eat 8 to 10 pieces of sushi, but here 4 sushi filled me up. Both the fish and rice are big. The fish itself is decent tasting, but I have to dock off points for their humongous sushi. Sushi is meant to be eaten in one mouthful, so it defeats the purpose when I have to take a bite, and put down the half eaten sushi. To compensate for this, rice is packed way too tightly. However, the good thing is that for their huge size sushi, the price is very reasonable, so if you are a student on budget, I guess it's worth the wait and taking multiple bites. Also, since this is a small neighborhood joint, their sushi selection is just basic.

OTHER DISHES:
They have some non-sushi stuff, including the bento box which has the basic stuff like Japanese teriyaki. Like their sushi, the portion is big and it's cheap. Nothing stands out as being bad or delicious. If you can eat a lot and are on budget, you'll enjoy the bento box.

SERVICE:
Since there are only a few tables in the restaurant, the service is usually fairly fast, unless the kitchen is busy with take out orders (which seems to happen quite frequently). As I said earlier, there's always a wait. On a cold rainy weeknight, you may only have to wait 5 minutes, but most likely you'll have to wait. Make sure to bring cash with you since that's all they accept here.

Kozue

Neighborhood: Wallingford
Address: 1608 N 45th St Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-547-2008
Web: www.kozue-on-45th.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Kozue is a small, casual restaurant in Wallingford (on NE 45th St). It’s not as expensive as many other sushi restaurants in Seattle, and you notice this as soon as you step in the door because the atmosphere is more or less like a cheap Thai restaurant with a mom-and-pop feel. But don’t let this discourage you because the food is good, and it’s cheap. If you are a student with a tight budget but still want to enjoy decent sushi, you will fit right in with the rest of the crowd.

SUSHI:
Although nothing stands out as superb or memorable, overall they serve fairly fresh and decent tasting sushi. They stick to their menu, and don’t go out of their way to get seasonal fresh fish. If you ask them, “what’s fresh today?” they simply respond, “everything is fresh” and offer no recommendations.

OTHER DISHES:
They offer a lot more traditional Japanese dishes than most places, and you may have a hard time choosing what you want to eat. Their tempura is pretty good, but sometimes, it is coated in a little too much batter. Hamachi Kama (grilled yellowtail cheeks) is offered at a decent price, and sukiyaki is always fun to try. But if you are new to this place and want to try various things on the menu, try a combo meal.

SERVICE:
Service is usually pretty good, but some of the waitresses are more knowledgeable about the menu than others. Kozue is usually not too crowded, so the food comes out fairly quickly.