Its no secret that I eat sushi at least twice a week, sometimes more. What can I say I became a MAJOR sushi snob over the last few years. Once you’re spoiled with good sushi, theres no going back my friends.
Last week I took a little road trip to San Diego to stay at the beautiful resort, Paradise Point. Seeing I don’t go to San Diego too too often I wanted to research and find what looked to be the best sushi in the area. I found two that looked amazing and had great Yelp reviews so of course I had to go try them out for myself.
Azuki Sushi
Azuki Sushi is just a few blocks from the hustle and bustle of Gas Lamp District. Just far enough to be quiet and quiant. The menu was perfect for sushi lovers of all kinds. You didn’t need to be a sushi connoisseur to enjoy the food here. The reason I had picked Azuki was the photos I had seen online, they were vibrant and stood out from many of the others I had looked through. You won’t catch me going to a sushi place that Ive never been to without looking through ALL of the photos on Yelp. Promise you’ll thank me later when you start doing that. Nothing worse than a bad sushi spot..thankfully these two were great.
The spicy albacore tataki with shishito, cucumber, summer squash and Azuki ponzu was unique with flavors that paired well with one another. Id never think to put summer squash in a sushi dish, but it worked.
I opted to try most of their specialty sashimi dishes as they stood out to me with interesting flavors paired with one another. Their kurodai snapper crudo with ikura caviar, crushed sesame, cucumber, red onion and wakame seaweed was bursting with flavors and hands down my favorite of the night.
Not only was the sushi great, but the chef made it a point numerous times to come explain different dishes he was bringing out, he had such passion behind his eyes for what he was creating.
The meal came to an end with this beauty of a dessert that was decadent, sweet and perfect in every way.
Next stop….
Himitsu
What a hidden gem this place was. The second I walked in I felt like I was in Japan eating at an authentic sushi bar. If you’re looking for an authentic, fresh and amazing Omakase you better be getting your butts in the car and heading to La Jolla which is only a hop skip and a jump from SD. The chef wanted to prepare his specialties so I let him do his thang and glad I let him. I definitely went out of my comfort zone …Let me add that I’m pretty impressed with myself with some of these things that I tried. I always thought of myself as a real sushi eater..but this was a first for many of these dishes.
Typically Im not a huge tuna fan, crazy I know. But, look at the color of this tuna. There was no way I was turning this course down. Wow wow wow is all I have to say.
The next few courses were introduced by the chef himself …
As you can see he didn’t skimp on quality or presentation. Every detail was perfection.
Now you have to imagine what was going through my head when the chef dropped the in front of me..oh lord how am I supposed to eat this, and why? I thought of every excuse why I couldn’t eat it..but guess what..I ate it! and I liked it!! And if you’re wondering if I ate the crab…yep that too. One bite. Goes to show you that sometimes you need to step out of your comfort zone once in awhile.
Their philosophy is chef driven concepts focusing on tightly executed cuisine and highly personal service..which definetly shows from the second you walk in to the moment you have that first bite.
Now go grab your chopsticks and hit up your favorite sushi restaurant
