[San Francisisco, CA] - Ozumo

I had heard about Ozumo before; from a coworker and from online blogs. When I had a chance to go while in the city for work, I jumped at the opportunity. Upon entry, the bar area is dimly lit with pretty sake bottles floating just above it. The area looked like a nice place to just hang out on a random night after work. Past the bar was the dining area. The dining area was well lit and spacious. Even though it was a Monday night around 6:30pm, the dining area was not completely empty. 

Honestly, we didn't look at the menu. We just went with the omakase. Before I closed the menu though, I did notice that the omakase is only available before 8:30pm, so if you want to order omakase, don't forget to keep track of the time!

While we waited for the rest of our party to arrive, we decided to start with a sake sampler. We figured all of the samplers would all taste fine and went with the suggestion of the server. The Kokuryu sampler came with sample of junmai ginjo, kuzuryu, and ryu. It was super dragon themed. And light, crisp, and tasty.

Our last dinner party member arrived and we ordered. First up - hamachi kama with shichimi. This was very different for me. I hear hamachi kama, I picture a grilled collar with a side of lemon or yuzu. This hamachi kama was served with a light sauce that I couldn't identify, but one bite (and that's all it was, one bite) and I knew, this was some fresh hamachi. The server tells us then that the fish is served having never been frozen. 

It was a great start. The amuse bouche did its job. I was already looking forward to the meal, but after that bite, my anticipation built up further. I was not disappointed when the next plate to arrive was buri toro and beni toro. Fatty fish belly? Hell. Yes. Sign me up! The hamachi belly was fatty and incredibly light in flavor. I can't remember for sure right now, but I think there's a very good possibility that it was my first time having hamachi that wasn't frozen first because the texture was just so different than the other times I've had hamachi. As for the salmon belly, it wasn't served completely raw. I was a little worried the semi cooked-ness of it would be distracting from the flavor, but once it hit the tongue, it was eyes closed, Pacific Ocean, starry skies, the smell of Puget Sound, and I was home. Salmon will always be one of my favorite fish.

Ah yes, before I forget, please take note of the cucumber chain! It was sliced and hooked together. I thought it was pretty cool.

Our next course was Dayboat scallops on togirashi aioli, topped with some torched yuzu and microgreens. The aioli had a mashed cauliflower texture, and truth be told, the togirashi just tasted like bell peppers anyone could pick up from Safeway. The scallops though, were tasty. Fat and tender, with just a hint of yuzu. I tried one bit with the yuzu slice and it was too much and overpowered the scallops. I would recommend just wasting the yuzu and setting it aside.

Next up was kampachi crudo with an in-house ponzu. This kampachi was also never frozen and tasted pretty amazing. While I'm not a huge fan of gold decorations on my food, or jalapeños on my sushi, this dish worked. I would have been perfectly happy with the kampachi, house made ponzu, and picked radishes.    

At this point, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm not hungry, but I'm not full. Enter the next dish -- wagyu bone marrow and kushiyaki with ponzu and shishito peppers. On the skewer next to the wagyu were some tomatoes from Japan (the server mentioned their specific name but it was all explained pretty quickly so I am sorry to say, friend, that I don't remember what they're called. This is sad because I really liked those tomatoes and would like to have tried to find some on my own to grill), and underneath the marrow were some brussel sprouts. This was actually the perfect amount of each item. Not everyone at the table knew what we were eating, but they still enjoyed it. The marrow was creamy and the portion that leaked out on top of the brussel sprouts made those sprouts pretty delicious. The shishito peppers had just the right amount of char. The only thing I left behind on this plate when they took it away, was the bone.   

At this point, we have all managed to finish our sake samplers and decided unanimously to go for another sampler. This time, we go for the fancier flight of daiginjo. Ginjo, for those uninitiated in the sake world, is premium and is better than 90% of the other sakes out there. If you are curious and want more information, I found this website pretty useful: https://boutiquejapan.com/sake101/. 

We enjoy our sake and conversation comfortably until our next course arrives. Poached king salmon with ponzu yoghurt plates are placed in front of us. I am apprehensive about the the poached salmon because it seems like a waste to poach king salmon. Everything had been pretty fantastic up until this point. The king salmon was lukewarm and the almost mushy texture didn't work for me. Underneath were two thin slices of zucchini. I bit into it expecting a crunch, but like the salmon, was soft and not to my liking. 

After the salmon, I was a little worried about the next course. Would Ozumo bring it back up to where it had been before? The server brings out what he says is medium duck (the texture was more medium well for mine) on top of an Okinawa potato puree. The duck had a good flavor, but fell a little flat with the dryness of it. Had it been medium or medium rare, I am pretty sure I would have enjoyed it more. The Okinawa potato was the star of this dish. Okinawa is on my list of destinations, and having a taste of what's to come was great. 

After the duck and the potato, I knew I wouldn't be able to eat too much more. Luckily, the next course was a few of my favorite things: Otoro, buritoro, shirotoro, and salmon toro. ALL the bellies! This is more my speed. All four of the fish were fantastic, and this salmon erased any bad feelings I had about the king salmon. 

With that last plate of all the bellies, I was happy. I could have left the restaurant a happy camper. But, dessert is included with our omakase so of course, we have to get some, right? My two dining companions ordered ice cream, but I figured if I'm doing this, I'm going to really do this so I ordered some rice pudding with a Hibiki 12yr whiskey sauce. I had planned on just eating a few bites and calling it a night. But plans... plans are made to be changed, right? Yes, I ate the whole thing. The fresh fruit was great after feeling so full. I thought the rice pudding would be more painful to eat (I'm full!) but it was light in flavor and actually needed that whiskey sauce (which was so good). 

Ozumo Address:
161 Steuart St.
San Francisco, CA 94105

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