Silicon Valley Sushi

Sushi

A business trip to San Jose left me with few dining options at our hotel out by the airport. A coworker from the local downtown office recommended Izakaya, which was right across the street from our hotel.

First item, my coworker had to try the coquettes since she fell in love with them in Spain. I was surprised to find them on a Japanese menu. A simple savory potato filling was lightly breaded with panko crumbs and then fried. It resulted in a piping hot, moist interior, with a thin crispy exterior. The panko crumb gave a nice light and crispy texture that very different from tempura or western batters.

Japanese Croquettes

Normally I hate seafood (long story that I’ll go into another time) but suffice it to say sushi is one of the forms I seafood that I’ll eat, primarily because it lacks that fishy flavor. I didn’t get too adventurous, ordering fairly items. I was surprised to see they allowed you to order off the dinner menu at the sushi bar.

Tamago, Spicy Yellowtail Roll, Caterpillar Roll

The tamago had the usual nice texture, was still warm which meant it was fresh, and had some other flavor I couldn’t place that worked well with the sweetness. I think that mystery flavor I what added the discoloration to the dish. It was a nice take on what can often be a generic dish.

The second dish is a spicy yellowtail roll. Wonderful texture with perfectly balanced amounts of rice and fish. I didn’t think it had enough kick to be considered spicy, but delicious nonetheless.

Last up is one of my favorites, the classic BBQ eel roll with avocado, frequently called a caterpillar roll. The sauce was flavorful but light, the avocados were perfectly ripe, soft, but not yet mushy, and again the rices due a perfect backbone for the roll.