Kusakabe

2024-02-18

Today we went to Kusakabe for dinner, so here are the pics! It’s a Michelin starred sushi restaurant in San Francisco, with a focus on Kyoto-style kaiseki.

But before that let me repost the picture of the otoro piece just because it looks nice.

Otoro.

1 Appetizers

Chawanmushi with trout roe. Trout roe is slightly smaller and much firmer than the typical ikura.

1.1 Otsumami

Otsumami is nine kinds of seasonal Japanese appetizers.

Clockwise from right: Tamagoyaki with ikura on top and cod roe inside, spring roll with unagi and avocado, and a roll with shrimp on top.

Aji sashimi over some sour vinegar stuff.

Spinach and shimeji mushrooms in dashi.

Soft-shelled shrimp.

Hon maguro, or lean bluefin tuna sashimi.

2 Sushi course one

Zuke chu-toro, or medium fatty tuna that has been marinated in soy sauce. One end of it is seared. Very flavourful and delicious.

Hirame, or flounder, with kombu on top. Great jellylike texture.

Katsuo, or skipjack tuna. Very smoky flavor.

Shima aji, or horse mackerel. Wonderful complex taste.

3 Soup course

Savoury dashi broth with a deep fried kinmedai, a shiratama, and wakame.

4 Sushi course two

Hotate, or scallop, topped with uni. Both are slightly sweet so it's like jelly topped with ice cream. — Hotate, or scallop, topped with uni. Both are slightly sweet so it’s like jelly topped with ice cream.

Some kind of baby tai with egg yolk powder. Sorry I forgot the name of the fish exactly, but it was very tender.

Sakuramasu, or cherry blossom trout, topped with a slice of cherry leaf that imparts a floral scent. It's a seasonal fish only available in spring. The texture is quite different from salmon and other types of trout; it feels more velvety while not completely fatty like some kinds of salmon. — Sakuramasu, or cherry blossom trout, topped with a slice of cherry leaf that imparts a floral scent. It’s a seasonal fish only available in spring. The texture is quite different from salmon and other types of trout; it feels more velvety while not completely fatty like some kinds of salmon.

Kyoto-style saba oshi sushi. The chef made sure to point out that the seaweed (nori) is extremely fancy.

5 A5 wagyu sukiyaki

With a soft boiled jidori egg and stuff. Excellent but a bit too sweet I think.

6 Sushi course three

Otoro. Well otoro is always delicious but this is also on the upper end of the otoros I have eaten.

Two kinds of uni. The bottom one is the same as the one from the scallop one but the top one is apparently fancier. Both from Hokkaido. Makes you wonder why Hokkaido uni is so much more delicious.

Negitoro temaki. I really enjoy negitoro temakis and this one also stands out with how delicious it is. However it's very hard to take a photo of it. — Negitoro temaki. I really enjoy negitoro temakis and this one also stands out with how delicious it is. However it’s very hard to take a photo of it.

Unagi from Japan, never frozen, and grilled over binchotan. Very amazing and the spicy stuff they put on top is quite unique.

7 Dessert

Uji matcha ice cream with rice crackers.