Google
When the “King of Edomae Sushi” fails to live up to the crown
With our tight schedule in Seattle, we had time for just one formal sit-down dinner. So our party of four decided on an omakase at one of Seattle’s sushi institutions - Sushi Kashiba.
Chef-owner Shiro Kashiba, known locally as the “King of Edomae Sushi,” spent seven years apprenticed under legendary Tokyo sushi master Jiro Ono, of Jiro Dreams of Sushi fame. He was also one of the pioneers in bringing high-end, traditional Japanese sushi to the Pacific Northwest. With that pedigree, expectations were understandably high.
Sadly, the evening got off to a rather confusing start, with three different waiting lines at reception. Even more puzzling, walk-ins appeared to be admitted while those with reservations waited. Weird logic!
Inside, I was equally surprised. Instead of the intimate, serene sushi-ya I had imagined, the spacious restaurant has around 75 seats, with five sushi chefs working briskly behind a huge, elongated sushi bar. The atmosphere felt more like a busy mainstream restaurant than a traditional artisan sushi counter.
Our US$165 omakase was, at best, acceptable by North American standards. The fried wild BC shrimp head accompanying the Botan Ebi was a nice touch, and the seafood chawanmushi was well executed. Unfortunately, the three otsumami appetizers were rather mediocre, with ordinary ingredients and little creativity.
My biggest disappointment? Atlantic farmed salmon.
In the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by some of the world's finest wild Pacific salmon, why serve Atlantic farmed salmon as neta? Even more surprising, apart from a tiny sliver of mirugai (geoduck), there was virtually no showcase of local seafood - no Pacific salmon ikura, no local uni and little sense of place.
At US$165 pp, the omakase was roughly 40% more expensive than our consistently excellent and value-for-money GTA sushi-ya, such as Sushi Kaji and Ibushi. In my view, both offer more creative preparations, more exotic ingredients and a considerably more refined experience.
The irony?
The most memorable part of the meal wasn't the sushi.
It was an ice-cold bottle of Mexican Coca-Cola made with real cane sugar!
That pretty much says it all.
Sushi Kashiba undoubtedly has an impressive history and a legendary name. Unfortunately, on this visit, I couldn't help feeling that quality and creativity have taken a back seat to volume and profitability.
For us, the “King of Edomae Sushi” turned out to have a rather disappointing crown.