Boston, MA

UNI ~ 370 Commonwealth Avenue ~ (617)267.1607

I have traveled many places in the world and I have eaten Sashimi that has been pulled from the waters of Hawaii and prepared right there on the boat, the Sashimi at Uni was hands down the BEST I have ever eaten! Not only is the presentation out of this world, but the fish was incredibly fresh and sliced to perfection. The atmosphere is sleak; but, sexy, and small and intimate. A very "grown-up" place to meet for a couple cocktails and some fantastic raw fish!

We started with the Rock Shrimp Tempura, which was served with this incredible aioli sauce. The batter on the shrimp was light and cooked to perfection - no oiliness what so ever. The aioli was spicy but not overly spicy, in fact it was more smooth and left you wanting just one more bite. Next we moved onto the Chef's Choice Sashimi Sampler, which included the following:

Live Diver Scallops with yuzu juice, black truffle vinaigrette and celery. The scallops were sliced paper-thin and just the smallest bit of yuzu juice to give it a bite of sourness which was soften by the black truffles which created a nice earthy balance. Very very good!

Hamachi, which was served with a ginger mignonette and a green apple wasbi, very refreshing flavors with the green apple undertones and the spiciness of the ginger, the hamachi was so fresh that is melted in your mouth with every bite.

Wild King Salmon, which was served with ginger and black bean vinaigrette. Normally I do not care for salmon served sashimi style as it usually is over cured. This was not the case here, it was like eating butter. Smooth and creamy texture to the fish and the flavor was enhanced with the spiciness of the ginger and the vinaigrette gave it a small amount of bite. This salmon was purely incredible - a must!

Unfortunately for me and for you, this review is short. Uni was the first stop of an evening of food. We only had the chance to sample these couple dishes, but they are dishes that have completely enticed us to eat there again and soon, we hope!

I give Uni a 5 fork rating!

San Francisco, CA

Moshi Moshi ~ 2092 3rd Street, (415) 861-8285

We do not hit the Dogpatch, except for the occasional drive by when trying to get home via a short cut. But, that is enough times, to drive by this little spot and make a mental note to go sometime. As well, I have heard very good things. So, when we got tickets to Kooza on Thursday night and needed somewhere to grab a bite we decided to hit Moshi Moshi.

Small and charming inside. Not your usual ultra modern techie sushi joint - just sweet, charming and cozy. We were seated immediately and asked upon sitting down what we wanted - cold night called for hot sake and an immediate order of Edamame. Loved that they brought a little candle heater and put our tea pot of sake on top of it to keep warm. Nice touch. As well almost immediately, the owner, came out and worked the room greeting each and every table and was making sure everything was perfect for his guest, this is definitely not standard in any sushi restaurant we eat at - you can not beat service like this.

We ordered a few rolls, the Centipede, Spider, Red Dragon, and Tiger. The presentation was beautiful. All the rolls looked very fresh and very appealing to the eye. The taste was outstanding ... fresh, full of flavor, not fishy, and not chewy at all. As well, the rolls were huge, nice big fat rolls, very filling. We are usually still pretty hungry after eating only 4 rolls but these were so filling that we were full half way thru. We needed a little sweetness after all that fish, so we each had some ice cream, Ciao Bella Red Bean and Blood Orange. I did not care for the red bean, but L. did and the Blood Orange was yummy as well!

I give Moshi Moshi a 5 fork rating for a very inviting atmosphere, great service from the moment you are seated until the moment you walk out the door and for very fresh fish that is tasty and priced very reasonably. We will definitely be back.

San Francisco, CA

Barracuda ~ 2251 Market Street, Tel: 415.558.8547

Dined with our friends A & J at this happening new sushi spot. It use to be the spot of Tin Pan. Still is a lively little spot which is dimly light and great house music playing in the background, not to mention the hunky waiters .... so, the Castro! We started the evening with a couple bottles of warm sake and a couple orders of the crazy crab roll - the sake was warm and went down nicely with this crazy crab which was pretty darn good as well. Very fresh crab tempura, which was not overly fried and the roll finished with a bit of a garlic bite to it - unexpected but nice touch. Then we ordered the gyoza, which I normally do not like, but thy were not too large, nice bite size, again not fried but still crispy on the outside and the dipping sauce was delicious! We then moved to a couple platters of the Pink Lady which was a lobster roll - out of this world! A little spicy and the lobster was succulent! Then we moved onto a couple orders of the super spicy tuna roll, which had a nice hamachi topping with sliced jalapenos - very yummy! We finished off the platters the sizzling steak tower, which was strips of steak, cooked medium rare and served over a bed of steamed spinach with a light teriyaki sauce. Everything was really fresh from the fish to the veggies and the service was equally as great from the bartenders all the way to the bus boys! We had a great time and will definitely go back!

I give this a 5 fork or 5 chopstick rating!