Kusakabe
Sushi in kaiseki style is the theme of the omakase at Kusakabe. And that drew us here. Along with the fact that it was finally a bit easier getting a reservation. That is of course, if you don’t mind four weeks advanced booking for a table at opening time. We certainly didn’t.
Inside there was seated and given a tasting of dashi as the waitress explained the meal. There were two types of omakase. The normal included 19 items with a price of $95USD a person while the Grand included 25 items with a hefty price tag of $150USD a person. It was a Friday night so why not? We went for broke and got the Grand Omakase. Also we didn’t want to sit there after the meal wondering what six items we had missed. That’s the real eater’s remorse. After we ordered the server explained that we should eat the nigiri with our hands and clean our fingers with the oshibori cloth she provided. I always heard that sushi was meant to be eaten with your hands but never tried it. Now I could say I have and now understand why. You can read about that below in the pictures.
Throughout the meal I realized many of the dishes we had we weren’t going to find around the city. There’s not many serving kaiseki for one, then with sushi, that brings the number to about two in my head. What we were having was a meal to remember. And as I’m writing this I’m already thinking about when I’ll be able to try it again. Way to bring this level of food to the city Kusakabe!
Kusakabe
584 Washington St
San Francisco, CA 94111
+1 (415) 757-0155
kusakabe-sf.com
Verdict: Yes, it’s worth the wait, the hype, and the price.
Resetting our trip back to from heaven, out came a puree of snap pea with crispy Arare Alaskan Kinki and white bean paste. Delicious soup paired with this crispy fish dumpling.
To close our meal were the Shirayaki fresh water eel with sansho pepper and A5 grade Miyazaki Wagyu beef. The beef was served medium rare and topped with Okinawa sea salt. Tasty but a bit ordinary when compared to the rest of the meal. Maybe we were spoiled and these were meant to bring us back home.
What else is there to say about this, Hokkaido short spined sea urchin. I could have simply stopped here.
Refreshing cut of Japanese sweet fish topped with grated Japanese cucumbers. It had a nice little sear to it.
Here’s something unexpected, Japanese cherry salmon with a cherry leaf under the cut. This was delightfully sweet.
Stripe jack topped with daikon radish and yuzu kosho. This was a nice start to this round of sushi.
It was now the main run of sushi, four distinct flavors brought to us on this wooden block. Presentation was no doubt a primary concern here. Makes me hungry just looking at this picture.
I wish I had taken a picture of every single item on this plate for you to see, but that would have tested my patience in waiting to dive in. And man was this fun to eat, fully of flavors and textures. So let’s get into what we have here:
Japanese oyster with French Daurenki caviar
Hako-zushi, pressed sushi, tamago and maguro
Baby sardines
Blue shrimp in a gelatinous encasing (this was frikkin awesome)
Surf clam with cherry tomatoes
Wagyu karage meat ball
It was a playground for my taste buds,
I wish I know the names of these fish in Japanese so I could remember to order it next time I’m in Japan.
Bluefin tuna, the best way to enjoy any of the sauces. Of course, I loved this with the truffle infused sauce.
I really wanted to love this piece given truffle shaving but it must have been too delicate for my taste.
Similar to artic char and salmon, I like this dipped in the soy sauce.
Starting from the top, this colorful little bit I had with the sea salt. That kinda took the saltiness over the edge for me. So glad I had another piece to try.
Next part of the meal was this colorful sashimi dish highlight with Italian summer truffle along with five different dipping sauces. The one not picture off to the left was a garlic blend, but the one right next to it stole the show with it’s truffle infused taste. Let’s take a closer look at what’s on this plate.
The second half of the sushi prelude came right after we polished the first plate. What we got here was hokkaido scallop topped with Santa Barbara sea urchin and bamboo leaf cured young red snapper topped with crystallized egg yolk. The winner was the scallop and uni combo. So delicious.
Then came the sushi and oh wow was it beautiful. A few were topped so I was a bit skeptical eating with my hands. But you know what, they’re right. You have a better appreciation for each piece. Its craftsmanship. How it’s at room temperature. How it holds together. I went from light to dark so from right to left with this course. I started with the ji kinmendai, lightly cherry smoked golden red snapper, to the hirame topped with fish liver packed with a bit of shiso leaf, and then to amazing soy sauce cured chutoro, medium fatty tuna. I have to have to say, I did it right with the order.
You may be interested in the wine pairing but if not, you can always go for the sake which is presented in this beautiful bottle.
$22USD (8oz)
Our first course came right when we sat down, broth made from dried konbu and katsuo-bushi. It’s included in whichever meal we were to chose. It was light and meant to clear our palate for the sushi.
