| Super small sushi restaurant stocking plentiful fancy creations |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1007
Reviewed: 3/20/2007
Rating: 9
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I had my birthday a couple of weeks ago in Peru and when I came back, Terry had offered to buy me lunch, my choice. I needed to think smart and maximize the wallet potential. The first thing that came to my mind was sushi and with promising reports coming from Sushi on the Run, it was the most logical choice. Located in Los Gatos on one of the main restaurant strips, Sushi on the Run is one of the smallest eating establishments we've ever eaten at.
There are 8 seats facing a bar, with a work area behind the counter enough for 2 people. I'm estimating 8 to 10 feet across and about 20 feet long. The seats along the wall barely have enough room to squeeze into the chairs. If you're sitting along the wall, when the person next to you leaves, you have to exit the restaurant to make room.
Sushi on the Run has an entire wall mirrored to give the illusion the restaurant is larger than it really is. One good thing is they utilize the mirror to display the giant sushi menu (picture 2).
Nobu, who I think is the owner/sushi chef had finished making the sushi rice with the aromatic smell of vinegar in the air. All the sushi today had warm shiny rice.
---- Lunch prices are on the menu ----
Nobo Benz (image 8) - Completely cooked roll and probably meant for sushi eaters who are just starting out. It's grilled halibut, avocado, and radish sprouts. Halibut was good but I think I'd rather get it raw.
Paul's Passion (image 9) - Yellowtail, avocado, scallions, tobiko, chili, and tons of ginger. Not sure if Nobo intentionally placed so much ginger in the roll. I had to remove the ginger when he wasn't looking. Fish was fresh and chili left a tingling sensation.
tamago (image 10) - Very fluffy, large portion, delicate scrambled egg with a hint of sweetness. Easy repeat order. Rated 9.
tako (image 12) - octopus over tiny bed of rice. OMG, this is absolutely the best piece of tako I've had. I can't believe I convinced Terry to try it. No fishy flavor, cut at the perfect thickness. I'd give it a 10.
hamachi (image 6) - One of the pieces had a weird cut to it and had a snag that caused extra chewing. The other piece was flawless and you'll see the beautiful fat striping on the fish. Perfect chilled temperature and just the right amount of wasabi. It's one of the few times where I really didn't need to dip my nigiri into my soy/wasabi mix. The fish gushed like a melon and melted like butter.
The sushi was excellent and one of the freshest fish I've had this year. I would even go on to say it's a top 3 sushi place for me in the South Bay. The prices are well deserved and like I said many times through the review, the fish is fresh. I've heard Chef Nobu gets some of his fish directly from Japan and locally. Sushi on the Run is an easy 9 for me and already planning a return visit.
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 3/20/2007
Rating: 9.5
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Yeah, you read that - 9.5.
I really don't hand those out very regularly these days. And I was debating it for the past 2 days. Then it struck me. If a place like SOTR doesn't deserve it, then I don't know what does.
I heard nothing about the place beforehand, just that they (obviously) had sushi. It was Jasons birthday it was his choice. He said we should arrive early, but he always says that, so I was like 'whatever, take your time'. We finally find the place (and its really pouring down rain today, like torrential badness) and we walk up to the door. I was like....omg...this place is tiny.
There are 8 chairs here. Seriously, its like silly small. To get at the back chairs, 1/2 the patrons in the restaurant have to exit the place. Lucky us, there were 3 chairs free, so the 2 of us had our run of the place. lol. We sit down next to a few Apple employees. Daamn guys, aren't you a little far from work? Some people.
Well we place our orders (our usually overfilling gouging-out orders that we feel embarrassed about speaking, but do so every time) and then sit back. There is only 1 dude making the sushi, and the other guy takes the orders and does the service related responsibilities. I felt kinda bad for ordering all that stuff, making the old dude work so hard in front of me while I just sit there and look on.
We were actually served relatively quickly, which was surprising and excellent. But I guess its not that big a surprise with only 7 people in the place at this time.
I started with a bowl of miso soup, and also ordered sushi rolls consisting of california rolls, volcano roll, and kani. I also sampled Jasons order of Pauls Passion, Nobo Benz, and even a little sliver of that octopus - hey its his birthday so might as well go all out.
The california rolls arrived first and my first impression was that they were small. Biting into them, the rice was solid, and the crab was real. This was legit stuff. The wasabi provided was omg spicy. The kind of spicy where you put your usual pat of wasabi on the roll and eat it, only to realize that you better power that bite down or you will be crying. I had to reduce my usual wasabi intake by half. Really good stuff. The roll was not greasy at all and just bursting with flavors.
The volcano roll was up second. Usually I'm not a fan of the raw fish, but I found this to be very good. Probably because the rolls were smaller than most other places. The fish was ultra fresh and went down easily. The volcano was spicy and full of that good avocado goodness as well. Mmmm.
Finally the Kani arrived and blew me away. Check out that pic. All of that fresh crab piled high, and oh so fresh tasting. I felt guilty eating that. It was so decadent.
In short I found the nobo benz to be pretty tasty because I think the fish was cooked. Not sure I would order it myself, but it was enjoyable. The Paul's passion was good. It looks a little slimy, but the major thing you taste is the ginger. Major ginger overload. Interesting roll.
I think if you are a sushi purist, you will not like this place as there are a lot of custom rolls and interesting flavors. But it really worked for me, since I am a roll kind of guy. The fact that it was small might also be seen as a dentriment (but only if you are on the wrong side of the entrance door). Even with todays horrible rains, and somewhat far drive, I found Sushi on the Run to be a winner in my book.
Portions weren't huge, but neither were the prices. I will be back. And next time - that old guy is gonna work a lot longer on my order.
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