'Love this place, despite the fact that it's small and frequently crowded.
Quiz:
The fact that it's always crowded is a likely indicator of ___?___
You got it - their food is not just good, it's consistently phenomenal.
I've read a lot of complaints about the wait staff, and hmmm... I've been here a number of times and I've never experienced anything either better or worse than service at any other restaurant.
My absolute rip-out-your-hair peeves about restaurant service number just two, above and beyond all others. They're the Scare Pair, the Evil Twins, the Gruesome Twosome:
1. Servers that let my water run out. Ever.
2. Servers that make me wait to pay, first for the check to arrive, then for the return of my CC and receipt. Places that really want to p*ss me off make me wait in the middle too, for someone to pick up the card in the first place.
What's struck me about BlueFish is that *I've never experienced either of these here*. So I give this place a thumbs-up on service, no matter what oddities others may have experienced.
The most important element, in any case, is the food. And the BlueFish food....ohhhboy.
There are a couple of dishes I've had in my life that I've compared favorably with great sex - the Tequila Chicken Fettucine at CPK is one, also virtually anything at Pepper's Thai in Palm Springs, and...the BSC Roll at BlueFish is definitely another, followed closely by their teriyaki salmon entree. Both of them are utterly sublime.
I'm a big fan of the Japanese punk/alt/opera/metal/a capella/rock trio eX-Girl, so when I saw an "Aji Fry" special on the greaseboard I nearly went for it. Their tune of the same name is a little, umm, frightening however, so I chickened out at the last minute. 'Next time.
The last time I was there the BSC Roll was no longer on the menu for some reason but you can just order it anyhow. It's a large sushi roll with cooked miniture scallops on top in a sweet/tangy sauce. The taste and texture are out of this world - the kind of thing likely to make Andrew Zimmern roll his head & eyes to the left (you know the move,) and say "Auh! Incredible."
In that sense the place is a bit dangerous, 'cause it typically puts me in "goldfish mode" - where I compulsively scarf down food until a.) it runs out or b.) I explode, whichever comes first.
They have an impressive selection of sake (though at the moment I can't remember if they've got Kaori from Yamagata Honten Co., which is my new fave,) also great appetizers that are always fresh and hot, like their excellent edamame, miso and gyoza.
I've eaten at Yuki Yama - a few blocks up Ocean View, then right on Foothill - and although the original BlueFish chef runs it & the menus are virtually identical, the food at Yuki Yama is nowhere near as good as BlueFish, 'don't know why. The difference is especially noticeable in their respective gyoza appetizers and miso soups, and in that Holy Grail of sushi, the BlueFish BSC Roll.
If you're trying to decide between the two, most definitely head for BlueFish. It's smaller and noisier, but for whatever reason the food there is far superior. The prices at both are moderate to semi-high, but not inconsistent with any comparable sushi place. Figure somewhere around $10 +/- $2 for sushi picks (any of which is an ample meal,) and in the low to mid-teens for entree dishes.
There's ample free parking in the huge public lot behind it - bounded by Florencita Avenue and Montrose Lane - and lots of nifty shops along Honolulu if you're looking to punch up the metabolic rate after eating and the sake hasn't messed up your equilibrium too much for vertical activity.
A place worth going out of your way for; easily the best sushi I've had to date. read more