Sushi Ran
This little restaurant located in the quaint and expensive Sausalito is supposed to be the best sushi on the West Coast. I expected it be an expensive and trendy place and it was, but not necessarily upscale. Kris and I got all dressed up and I wore my birthday dress. We probably looked out of place, him in a suit and me in a cocktail dress, but it was a celebration and we didn’t let appearances stop us. Weather or not it is the best in the west, Sushi Ran is extremely popular so I recommend making a reservation no matter what time you expect dinner.
Sushi Ran has an interesting custom of over pouring their sake to over-flow the sake glass until it runs down the sides into a bamboo cup. I really don’t think this is a traditional custom, but rather something that sushi ran started so that their customers feel like they are getting their moneys worth. In either case the taste of the sake from the bamboo cup is supposed to contaminate clean taste of the sake. It is much better to drink sake from a ceramic or glass container.
The Toro was spectacular and best I have ever tasted. Sushi Ran flies fish in daily from Japan; this makes the biggest difference when eating sashimi. On this occasion Kris and I shared an order of Toto, a platter of nigiri and vegetable tempura. My only complaint would be how much wasabi was used. The sushi was often way too hot for Kris and I and we had to keep asking for water. After dinner we had banana foster for dessert. I was a little disappointed that they didn’t have a green tea ice cream but the foster was really pretty good. And I don’t usually like bananas.
The service was nothing to get excited about. I needed to ask for service on a couple of occasions and the woman got our order wrong once and then billed us incorrectly later but it figure it was really busy and perhaps she was new or something.
For Price Sushi Ran rates $$$$$$$ for two people who share an appetizer, order toro, share a 7 piece nigiri platter and drink a glass of sake. It is expensive, the toro was worth it though.
I would give the quality of their fish a 10 out of 10. The fish was fresh, caught healthy, and the best cut. The wasabi though strong was authentic, and mixed correctly to have that really clean burn and flowery after taste. The sake was smooth, I just cant remember what it was.
The atmosphere was trendy, and popular but local feeling. I got the impression that most people eating there eat there on a relatively regular basis. Due to the crowd though, it would not be a very intimate kind of restaurant and so not good for a first date. You have to yell a lot to be heard in Sushi Ran.
