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Sat. March 18, 2006
Review ~ Sushi virgins at Ototo in Seattle
The wife and I needed some serious rest acknowledged by the fact that we both slept most of our morning away. From that we didn't do much before heading to have sushi for the first time at Ototo in Seattle with some friends. Always leary of making the trip to the "big city" I was hooked since Andy and his wife Sarah were doing the driving as well as the sushi-related educating. We arrived just after they opened and got a half bench, half chair table near the front window. My defenses dropped significantly since we weren't actually in Seattle proper and instead found ourselves in the familiar environment of small streets, restaurants and shops that is the Queen Anne area of the city. I say familiar because it reminds me of our nearby Proctor district and the 6th Ave. area of Tacoma.
On to the food. We started with some warm house sake (loved it!) and sampling some seaweed salad and, although we didn't order it, the vegetable tempura. Both were very fresh with subtle tastes that were gentle and hardly offensive. From there it was time to dive into some sushi. Sarah, for her part, ordered a safety net entree of grilled chicken but we both went for sushi in the form of their rolls. We did some salmon in the Seattle roll combined with cream cheese, asparagus and cucumber. These were a great balance of fresh flavors that surrounded the fine salmon nicely. I also tried some spicy tuna rolls that weren't so much spicy and definitely nowhere near resembling the normally stereotyped tuna in a can. Everything was very fresh and not fishy at all. To be quite honest, there weren't any flavors that stuck out at all but instead a nice blend of flavor tones that were all somewhat alluring. As I type this I can't pick out the fish flavors to describe to you because they just didn't stick out at all from the other sensations. I suppose next time I'll need to try the sushi on its own outside the roll form to better nail what was going on with my taste buds.
Everything was delicious and it was great, although bitter sweet, to spend time with a pair of friends who'll soon be moving back to Atlanta. We ended the night with a fried banana and ice creme dessert and some green tea tiramisu to share. These light treats were very simple in their flavors but made for a fine way to leave our experience. Thanks to Andy and Sarah for being our guides (we'll miss you!) and to the Queen Anne area for skewing my view of the Emerald City slightly more towards the positive. To Ototo and sushi in general I give a "Once a month or so" rating.
Comments (4) | To Top
3/22/2006 @ 12:02pm
Having once been a sushi virgin myself, I offer you these three cents:
First, if you are down in the Portland area, try Todai in Pioneer Place. It is buffet style, so you can see what you are getting before getting it, which is nice, and the sushi is pretty good too. (Don't go to the Todai in Redmond, it was confusing and their quality was not as high).
Second, to better get the flavor of the different fishies, sashimi is the way to go. Jettisoning the rice, etc. can be a little weird at first, but you get used to it, and there are some things (like salmon) that I only get this way (the flavor is better without the rice and seaweed mucking it all up). There are some things with strange mouth feel that are better on rice though, if only to not get freaked out.
Third, if you are up in Vancouver BC again, they have a bunch of really good sushi places up there. The border guards think it odd that people would go to another country just to eat raw fish though, so maybe do some shopping too.
by Marshall
3/23/2006 @ 7:12am
Thanks for the tips, Marshall. Sarah's already craving the stuff again so I'm sure we'll keep an eye out here and where ever we go for an excuse to expand our palette.
by KevinFreitas
9/30/2006 @ 3:51pm
Hi Kevin, I stumbled over your website looking for a nice Sushi restaurant. I'm looking for a place to take my girlfriend to on her birthday and I'm not too familiar with sushi restaurants. I was just wondering if Ototo is a place where I have to make a reservation, and is it a place where I should wear more than just jeans and a t-shirt. Thanks Kevin, I appreciate it. BJ
by BJ
10/1/2006 @ 1:00pm
BJ: Ototo is a pretty nice place but in a relatively casual, neighborhood setting. I'd say a little more than jeans and a t-shirt would be best (jeans and nice button down or slacks and a nice shirt). For not knowing the area very well I'd say you're best off, for a special occasion, making a reservation.
Enjoy!
by KevinFreitas