“Can i have some toro?”
“No toro left”
“None?”
“Do you want salmon toro?”
“….”
“Do you want salmon toro?”
“Tuna”
“Salmon?”

And with that, my friend realized we should not have gone to a sushi restaurant to eat. Two days after a meal at my favorite Sawa, I found myself in Ozumo staring at it all in disbelief – the carefully calculated atmosphere, the the yuppie set posing for attention, and tattoe-d hipster girls selling it all. I knew better than to drag someone else to a sushi place (they don’t want to hear me complain), but it was nearby and time was running out for a meal.

Salmon “Toro” sashimi
Acceptable, but it lacked the quality of a normal piece of salmon you’d find at the top-tier of sushi dining.

Yellow Tail sushi
Good, not great, but it lacked flavor – certainly farmed. It was fresh, no fishiness, but alas, minimal flavor.

Maguro sushi
Ruby red, but washed out flavor. Rice was warm (which I like) but it had no hint of sweetness (which I also like.)

Futago
Thinly sliced beef tenderloin, garlic sauteed spinach, japanese eggplant, all drizzled w/ miso-sesame sauce. Presented as 5 small towers, the sauce & garlic overpowered any flavor the delicate beef might have had. Still satisfying but there was far more potential.

Hotate
Sake-herb marinated scallops with a raspberry vinaigrette and ponzu-veal jus reduction. Again, loads of potential but the jus completely overpowered the scallops. Scallops were a bit overdone

Ikakoromo
Miso marinated calamari tempura w/ spicy tartar sauce… Not bad. The tempura was surprisingly delicate (considering the heavy hands the chefs exhibited w/ previous dishes) and the calamari had the right bite.

Uni sushi
To continue the Ozumo theme, there just wasn’t much there. No slight seawater taste, no sweetness, nothing…

Green Tea Ice Cream Drenched in Chocolate Sauce
Not sure what they were going for, but nothing can be bad with that much chocolate sauce.

Is this for serious fish eaters? Nope… It’s a place of extremes where the sushi chefs deal in watered-down fish and the cooks aren’t content unless the flavors are bold & overpowering. If you’re being dragged to Chaya next door, Ozumo might be a slightly better bet.

- chuck