shima sushi

opera plaza, 601 van ness @ golden gate ave., in a complex with a small movie theater

motivation: trying a new place with pinky and jellybean, who had just finished a restorative yoga class with the inimitable chionesu and was in the neighborhood. none of us had been to shima sushi before and thought to give it a shot.

the servers were friendly and gigglyembarrassed when we arrived, fulfilling the japanese schoolgirl stereotype unnecessarily. they handed us full sake menus more appropriate to connoisseurs with money, of which i saw none in the restaurant. the classical music soundtrack added to the pretensions of a rich clientele that didn't exist, and reduced the flirtability factor. not that i have anything against classical music. in fact, i love mozart and can sing along to le nozze di figaro. but we were in a friggin mall-like complex on van ness avenue. not exactly swanky, you know? plus the formica tables and giant space made it feel like a hojo.

we soldiered on regardless and ordered some old standbys, which arrived in a ocean liner plate that appeared to have broken free from one of the isobune moats. pinky described the shiromaguro as nougaty: you could chew it and it melted in your mouth. the hotate was nicely presented and very good, the katsuo decent. the other rolls (new york roll, alaska, ichiban) had too much rice and sauce and not enough personal identity, according to jellybean. overall the quality matched the average prices and we left with half-filled bellies and slightly bored.

check it out if you're looking for a quick sushi fix in between movies, but otherwise do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.

itadakimasu!