A Plug for Mori

[SparrowsFall]

It seems that several others on this list are like me--there's pretty much nothing I'd rather put in my mouth than sushi. So I'm plugging a favorite that I think deserves to be more succesful.

Mori restaurant is right next door to my office and a mile up the street from my house. I've eaten there dozens of times. I'm plugging it because they *never* get mentioned, and nobody knows about them. And it's a great place to eat. Sort of an undiscovered Toyoda.

On 85th N at First, two blocks west of Greenwood, across from Bartell's and Fred Meyer. Unpreposessing location. Family run, daughter Emily will be at a table doing her homework. Dad's often at the sushi bar, Mom and other family members waiting tables. Lots of cook staff--nights, they've got a full time tempura chef. Slow nights and lunches, it's not unusual for customers to be outnumbered.

This is a good thing, not bad, because their lack of customers is unjustified. Nishino's it ain't--specials will be things like a deep-fried (fresh) asparagus roll, not arugala-wrapped hamachi--but the food is consistently well prepared and delicious. A full-boat Japanese menu--sushi, tempura, teriyaki, and noodle dishes, all good. I take my girls there all the time. (Why, oh why did I ever turn them on to sushi? "Papa, can I have another tako and a hamachi nigiri?" Ka ching.)

My sister, quite a japan-o-phile, bansai fiend, and frequent visitor to Japan, thinks this place is wonderful. My officemate, also a japan-o-phile (though he wrote Judaism for Dummies....) thinks it's good but not great. Myself, I enjoy eating there far more than I enjoy I Love Sushi.

If you're looking for a good (sometimes excellent), friendly, reliable japanese meal, give it a tickle.

[tsquare]

I started eating here when they first opened. Thought it was great as a neighborhood place. But my last experience was underwhelming. I sat at the sushi bar. The chef had rice on his upper lip the whole time. There is no chatter with the customers. I felt very unwelcome. I'd be tempted to head to Wallingford or Fremont for a fresher, warmer experience at some of the new spots that are getting great reviews.

[col klink]

I've been there a couple of times. The first time was the best and it's been down since then. The last time I went most of the nigiri was underwhelming but there was no excuse for the unagi. Despite sitting at the bar and being almost the only person in there, the unagi came cold and it was the only piece of unagi that I've ever eaten that's had bones in it. It was less than inspiring. One thing that Mori does have going for it, is that they have better variety than a lot of sushi places in the area.

I'd be far more interested in going to Musashi's in Wallingford, Toyoda on Lake City Way, Shiki's in lower Queen Anne if Mashiko's isn't open.

Today I hit Sushi Kumho in Wallingford (a block or two west of the QFC on 45th) because Mashiko's is no longer open for lunch, Musashi's is closed for lunch on Wednesdays and Thursdays and even Ai is closed for lunch. However with the latter I dodged a bullet, from what I hear Ai is pretty bad.

Sushi Kumho wasn't great, I ordered a 4 piece nigiri (chef's choice) and a roll combo (I substituted a spicy tuna roll for the Californicator roll). The nigiri pieces were maguro, hamachi, salmon and shrimp. The roll was the pretty damn good. The shrimp was forgettable -- the only shrimp to order in a sushi bar is sweet shrimp -- and the salmon was a little off but the maguro and hamachi were decent enough. I also ordered two of the specials, conch (clam) and rainbow trout, both were pretty tasty with the added lemon juice. I wouldn't intentionally go to Kumho, but it works in a pinch.

That doesn't mean I'm not jealous of you sfroth, I only have a copule of restaurants within walking distance of where I live, none of whom serve sushi.

[Blue Heron]

Klink, I'm shocked to read that Mashiko's is closed for lunches now. I wonder what's going on? I guess it's been 2-3 months since I had lunch there, and it was maybe 1/3 full as I recall. At that time, I noticed a newer menu with higher prices which I thought was strange since many restaurants are hurting now and is not a good time to raise prices. I hope they don't go out of business. There are a couple other sushi places within 2 blocks, 1 of which (Azumi) I have not tried.

[col klink]

I've tried one of the other sushi joints, it's a block or three north on California there, and it was just miserable. To their credit, I'm unable to remember their name and I was upset because Mashiko's was closed for lunch but I wasn't in such a bad mood because I need sushi, they served sushi and I ate sushi. Still, I wouldn't go back.

At first i was excited because their prices looked cheap, but that was because their portion sizes were a third of what they should be. By no means were any of the pieces bad, they were just small and very uninteresting; compared to Mashiko's they were amateurish. I left spending as much (unintentially) as I would at Mashiko's and not nearly being as pleased if I had i gone there.

Oops, this thread was supposed to be about Mori's. But hey, we're still promoting sushi so it can't be that bad right?

[MsRamsey]

I've tried one of the other sushi joints, it's a block or three north on California there, and it was just miserable. To their credit, I'm unable to remember their name and I was upset because Mashiko's was closed for lunch but I wasn't in such a bad mood because I need sushi, they served sushi and I ate sushi. Still, I wouldn't go back.

At first i was excited because their prices looked cheap, but that was because their portion sizes were a third of what they should be. By no means were any of the pieces bad, they were just small and very uninteresting;

This is what you get from Hana (Capitol Hill, on Broadway) when you order sushi to go. Mini-nigiri (and sometimes inferior, chewy sections that should probably be scrapped). It prevents me from ordering takeout from them. I go out of my way to order takeout sushi from Saito in Belltown.

[Blue Heron]

Klink, was the sushi place you went to on the same side of the street as Mashiko, or the one across the street? (West Seattle, for those who haven't been to Mashiko's yet).

I've had sushi at the place across the street (Kamei) quite some time ago. They are next door to Lee's Asian, a great (non-sushi) place that we've already talked about on another thread. Kamei's sushi was smaller and cheaper, and I also thought the flavor was ok (however I didn't order anything fancy). I like the tempura shrimp there, and am more inclined to order that there, and the owner is also very nice. Azuma (or Azumi ?) is the place on the same side of the street as Mashiko's and I've never stopped in there.

edit: getting back to Lee's Asian (and sorry to be briefly off topic), but given the choice between Lee's (no sushi) and Kamei next door, I prefer to go to Lees for lunch. They have some great lunch deals ($5-7) and the food is really good.

[col klink]

Klink, was the sushi place you went to on the same side of the street as Mashiko, or the one across the street?

Same side, and Azuma's sounds pretty close to the name. Of course that was more than a year ago so they may have changed their tune.