Mona N.'s Profile

The service is impeccable and prices aren't high (surprisingly). The bartender is absolutely adorable and they have free WiFi.

I've had:
-salmon chowder
-Caeser
-Salmon sandwich
-cocktails

...not in one sitting.
I swear.

You know - I really want to give this joint three+ stars but the Friday bartender is SUCH a hipster D-BAG that I just can't justify more than two stars. Oh, and it doesn't help the cocktail waitress is a b*tch, too. Seriously ya'll (meaning employees) - the music may be loud. And we may be obliterated (or so you think) - but every little word ya'll say? Carries into the the entire bar. Think before talking sh*t :)

Hate this place on any other day that's not a Wednesday, where the bartender and staff aren't such a-holes :)

Thirsty Bear smells like a mushroom patch.
Which makes everything taste and smell like mushrooms.
Then I feel like a truffle hog.
That makes me feel like a pig.
So I lose my appetite, even for beer.

Lame.

Only good at 2am, when the alcohol takes over your wallet, stomach, common sense, and you just want FOOD.

25 Degrees satisfies that craving. It's not a place to go for a date. Not a place for gourmet burger satisfaction, simply: annihilated goodness. The ginormous burgers are a blob of greasy, sloppy, greasy, ooey, greasy, meaty, greasy goodness. Oh, did I mention greasy?

Minus two stars because of the price. For 20 bucks I can get 19ish two for 99cent tacos at Jack in the Crack. One hot sauce packet per bite. Don't hate.

Dear Bacon, you have been replaced as king of mother flippin' cured meats.

Nevermind Armandino is Mario Batali's father. So what if Salumi's has received the Anthony Bourdain nod and countless accolades. Who cares if Salumi's always has a line wrapped around the block. Don't mind the sitting area is super duper ultra teeny tiny with picnic style tables. Who gives a crap if the employees yell at the patrons to "CLOSE THE FRONT DOOR!" And just ignore the annoying tourists who keep snapping photos and don't know the "drill".

Simply, this joint is ridiculous. RIDICULOUS.

My mission is to eat every thing on the menu before I die. So far my recommendation is the meat, cheese, and olive plate that literally blew me away. The gorgonzola is absolutely divine.

Salumi's is another piece of my heart, stolen away by Seattle. A peach of a gem, quite frankly. :)

7-11 equivalent to Newark Airport; not even kidding. Tonight was the last straw and I'm flippin' Yelping it.

So I'm craving some late night carbs and walk in, check out the bakery case and there is one sad panda muffin staring at me. Problem is, I have NO clue what kind of muffin. It looks pumpkinish but come ON if I'm going to spend 1.59 on a 7-Eleven muffin, it better be damn good. Instead of picking it up and smelling it, I made the mistake of *gasp* asking:

Me: "Pardon me, do you happen to know what kind of muffin this is?"
Man behind counter one: "It's a muffin."
Me turning to man behind counter two: "Do you happen to know what kind of muffin this is?"
Man behind counter two: "It's a MUFFIN."
Me: "Ok, thank you."
Me turning to third man behind the counter: "Would you know what kind of muffin this is?"
Man three behind counter: "I DON'T WORK HERE!!!!!!!!"
Me: "Ok, thank you."

If this were an isolated incident, I would've just assumed these men were having a bad day or malestrating (as in, man PMS). But for some bizarre reason every time I go in here, the employees are consistently rude. I'd rather walk an extra few blocks to the 7-11 on Denny and 15th, where the guy is always really nice.

EF YOU, BIGGEST P.O.S 7-ELEVEN EVER!!!!!

"sh*t" and "batsh*t" - quote unquote my dining companion. See photo.

Three stars for ambiance and the hot bartender who kindly brought our food over while our super slow server was out fishing or something.

And please don't even get me started on the food.

Not to encourage foul language [or stroke the man's ego just in case he reads this. ;) ha], but my date summed it up best as "sh*t" and "batsh*t". Ok, fine. There were one or two decent dishes, average at best. Sadly, nothing stood out.

If it weren't for the good times and the good company, I would've flipped the table over and asked for my money back. Just kidding. Or maybe not. ;)

Poutines. They have poutines, so five stars just on that merit alone ...plus the bartender and servers are pretty awesome. Also helps when you're there with good company, too. ;)

That is all.

Hello? Do ya'll have functioning brains?

Not sure what all you negative reviewers are expecting but iSushi is kaiten sushi. It is a sushi go round. Sushi. on. a. belt. Read: step your common sense games up, since iSushi is above average --it's way more edible than a lot of the crap sushi joints I've been to.

Heck, I'll even share some tips. Why not. It's Thursday.

1. Grab plates right as sushi chef places on belt. Read: fresh made sushi = good. Rice not dry.
2. Repeat step 1 until full.

The end.

Here we go:

- Poke
- Ko iri ika no nizuke (squid with squid babies, stewed Japanese style - don't knock it 'til you try it)
- Kumamoto Oysters (local PNW)
- Shiro maguro (white albacore nigiri)
- Zuke maguro (tuna marinated in sake, soy sauce, mirin, etc., Japanese style for three hours)
- Dobinn mushi (clear soup served in small steel teapot, with matsutake, ginnan, ebi, tai, with a squeeze of key lime)
- Hamachi
- PNW local uni (OMG best. uni. ever.)
- Mirugai (geoduck clam)
- Norway saba with shiro goma, shouga, shiso handroll
- Negi toro
- Ikura to kannpyo
- Ikashiso ume no temaki
- Geso no gunkann
- Kohada
- Unagi no tempura, tamago, to shiso no temaki

...ok, so I got lazy to translate everything, but I'm Japanese. I speak and read Japanese -- as long as I understand, who cares...is what I really want to say, but I know that's not what a "good" reviewer does, so here is the comprehensive version.

The itamae-san (sushi chef), Shiro-san is about 76ish and only stands behind the counter three times out of the week. Shiro-san trained under THE Jiro-san of the infamous Sukiyabashi Jiro in Ginza. Needless to say, Shiro-san's skills are notch. Phenomenal. Amazing, and his craft is put well on display if you do an omakase (tasting menu) at the counter.

One thing that stands out is Shiro-san utilizes local ingredients when he can, and resorts to "exotic" (i.e. fish from Japan, EU, etc.,), with fish that aren't available in the PNW. The reason why this is so amazing is because a lot of sushi restaurants (especially in SF / LA / NYC) sell themselves with "FISH FROM JAPAN. JAPANESE. FISH. SOLD. HERE!!!!!1111!!" and overcharge for fish that aren't even fresh. (one of my biggest pet peeves). What foodies...err I mean, diners, need to comprehend is that just because an establishment's byline is fish from Japan, it doesn't necessary equate to the freshest or best fish -- ESPECIALLY in the PNW where the seafood is absolutely divine.

Damnit. There I go digressing with another sushi rant. See? That's why I avoid detailed reviews, since I believe so many "foodies" have skewed fundamental views on dining and I don't feel as if it's in my place to lecture.

ONWARD!

Aside from his skills, the best part about Shiro-san is he treats patrons the same (no special treatment if you're Japanese -- ok, well, maybe just a little but not significantly like most establishments). I've never been to a sushi restaurant where everyone seated at the counter doing a tasting menu, receives the same orders. Especially since elite itame-sans born, bred, and trained in Japan like Shiro-san are snooty and biased toward Japanese patrons.

The upside to that is, well, if you're not Japanese, you can be rest assured of any bias.
The downside, is, well...as a full blown Japanese, I have to eat some...well...hmmm....Americanized dishes. To further elaborate: 1. there were way too many handrolls. 2. there were some items that were too rich --like his ponzu had more soy sauce than I am used to and 3. he put too much wasabi for my liking. Minor things, but things I noticed nevertheless.

Overall, I LOVE Shiro's and Shiro-san, but if you consider yourself a sushi snob, don't expect to get blown away by your first time. BUT! From the second visit on as Shiro-san gets to know YOUR palate, prepare yourselves for every experience to keep getting better. And THAT my friends, is why Shiro's is so dangerous and one of my favorite sushi restaurants in the US.

ps: special thank you to my friend Mark, who introduced me to Shiro-san and treated me to an amazing dinner. :)