Tag Archives: tuna

My worst dining experience in Palm Springs!

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Happy Sushi Ro Ba Ta, Palm Springs

FAIL!!!  This has possibly been my worst dining experience to date, no joke! We arrived a little after 5 on a Saturday and there were 3 tables taken outside and a few people at the sushi bar. Regardless, after getting our drinks and the extremely sad Dynamite Bites, it still took 45 minutes to finally get our sushi! Way too long!

Some food highlights:

Dynamite bites

The Dynamite Bites ($5) are billed as crabmeat baked with dynamite sauce. Sounds delicious, right? Wrong! In actuality, this abomination is a pile of imitation crabmeat on a scrap of aluminum foil with an indistinguishable sauce on top. They do provide some lemon wedges with it, no doubt to kill any lingering bacteria on this laughable heap!

Spicy tuna roll

The spicy tuna roll ($6 happy hour) is huge! Awesome, right? Wrong! No one wants to eat more of a crappy roll. There was enough rice on this thing to feed a small Japanese prefecture! And the tuna wasn’t spicy at all, but it was mutilated to the consistency of Whiskas cat food.

And how about some avian bird flu with your sushi?!!! The outside tables are conveniently situated under an eave where a menagerie of feathery locals hang out to take their dumps. Once we heard the rain of bird poop showering the hibiscus plant beside our table, and saw well-aimed poo bombs land on our table and splatter onto our food and my arm, we called it quits!

And no, our food was NOT comped! I wanna barf just recalling that catastrophic experience.

Note: Although they overtly display a happy hour checklist menu at the front, they sneakily hand you a normal checklist when you’re seated. So be sure to request a happy hour list.

Or save yourself some time and bird flu vaccination costs and don’t go there at all!

Other forgettable dishes:

Samurai Rock

Samurai Rock sake cocktail. $5

Albacore nigiri

Albacore nigiri.  Surprise, it comes seared!  No doubt to kill anything on the outside of this not-so-fresh cut of fishy fish.  $3.95 happy hour

Mackerel nigiri

Mackerel nigiri.  I’ll admit that this wasn’t bad.  $3.75 happy hour

Eel and avocado roll

Eel and avocado roll.  Tasted ok until it was splattered with bird poo!  $8 happy hour

Edamame

Edamame. $3

Asahi beer

Asahi beer. $4.50

Super spicy roll – Katana-Ya

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Super spicy roll Katana-Ya

Spicy tuna and cucumber roll topped with more chili sauce, sesame and green onions.  $6.50
Katana-Ya, San Francisco

Why are “spicy” rolls never really that spicy at Japanese restaurants?  This roll was more sweet than spicy to me.  I think it had some good flavors but lacked the spice.  C’mon guys, gimme some heat!

Kamikaze roll – Tokyo Go-Go

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Kamikaze roll Tokyo Go-Go

Spicy tuna, albacore, asparagus, scallion, and garlic ponzu.  $12.95
Tokyo Go-Go, San Francisco

I wasn’t blown away by this roll.  The spicy tuna wasn’t spicy enough for my taste.  Compared to the Azteca roll, this barely had any heat.  Everything just blended together so the flavors got muddled.  I couldn’t taste the garlic ponzu at all.  I’m not saying that this roll tasted bad, but the ingredients list was so appetizing that I expected more.

Suzuki & Maguro nigiri – Crazy Sushi

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Suzuki nigiri Crazy Sushi

Slice of sea bass on a mound of rice with a dab of wasabi and garnished with sliced scallions. $3.99 for two pieces

Maguro nigiri Crazy Sushi

Slice of tuna. $3.99 for two pieces
Crazy Sushi, San Francisco

Both these nigiri have such a beautiful pink color.  I loved the maguro, and I recommend maguro nigiri to all the novice sushi eaters out there since I think it’s one of the least fishy tasting.  Maguro is readily available at sushi places and is more forgiving on a squeamish palette.  I’m definitely no sushi expert, but I try to eat out of my comfort zone.  That’s why I tried the suzuki, and I’ll say that I’m not a fan.  Perhaps Crazy Sushi’s cut wasn’t fresh, but it had an odd flavor that did not agree with me.  I had to dunk that piece mulitple times into the soy sauce to get it down.

Salad Crazy Sushi

I love the free side salad at Japanese restaurants with the familiar sesame, ginger dressing. Yum!

Sapporo Crazy Sushi

And what’s a sushi dinner without some Japanese beer? Sapporo is my prefered choice, hehe!

San Francisco roll – Crazy Sushi

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San Francisco roll Crazy Sushi

8 piece roll with spicy tuna, avocado, and topped with a seaweed salad.
Crazy Sushi, San Francisco

When a sushi joint names a roll after San Francisco, I expect it to be amazing.  This one didn’t blow my mind, but I did enjoy it.  What can I say, I’m a sucker for spicy tuna, and the seaweed salad on top freshened it up and had a nice texture.  I’ve been to Crazy Sushi before and I wasn’t impressed, but this time around they surprised me.  All the sushi we had was fresh and distinct.  And you can’t beat the price!  Will definitely return if the quality remains high.

Assorted Crazy Sushi

Here’s the assorted sushi we ordered. It not only tasted good, but I think that it looks good too.