Looks great! What brand nori do you recommend? And do you toast it right before?
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How did the 2 year pickled aged ginger taste?
Thanks for the pics and report @PorkyBelly. 
How did it compare to your pre-COVID visit for the Saba? Worth it?
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Going tomorrow. Do I need to hit Cassell’s after?
Had it tonight. The pickled ginger was good, but the piece I had was super fibrous. Inedible.
Saba was amazing. The snap and texture was so good. The rice was tasty…a little too vinegary alone, but perfect with the fish. Loved the eel! The tomago was so fascinating…eggy and cakey, but also creamy and savory and sweet. The jiggle was great fun. The sake that came with it reminded me of the Vietnamese che com ruou dessert…I couldn’t taste any nuances without thinking of the che.
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good question, would love to hear some good brand recommendations. i got mine from yasu-san, which he got from japan, on my last trip to sushi i-naba. i wasn’t able to toast it, but it was still very crisp.
i didn’t have any fibrous ginger, mine was tender with a nice rounded, mellow flavor.
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It’s wasn’t as good as the saba I had dining in, but that was a special seki saba that was soft, fatty, and topped with kombu. This saba was fine but firmer and less fatty.
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- Pulling a semi GavinEats here. Names of each item shameless copied straight from PorkyBelly because I’m too lazy
shime-saba bousushi - lightly cured fatty mackerel sushi - this was just okay with several glaring problems. first of all, i understand that saba’s out of season so it’s not fatty, but this particular saba might be anorexic! it needs a hamburger or two. ergo, the rice to fish ratio’s off. secondly, the rice wasn’t cooked very well. they were a bit overcooked and quite soft which led to the third problem…i had a difficult time separating each piece so the rice was falling apart before i could even pick them up! you can tell that from @PorkyBelly’s picture that his was much better than mine.
for comparison, this is what i had in mind when i was ordering on tock…
two year aged pickled ginger - spiciness of fresh ginger is very mellow with good balance of sweet and tanginess. the flavor reminds me quite a bit of this ginger candy. i quite like it!
grilled fresh water eel sushi - rice had the same issues as the saba bozushi.
kyoto style egg omelet - best item of the day by far. savory notes from dashi with a bit of sweetness that complemented the egginess, super juicy, and incredibly spongy.
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Tried the saba sushi today too. Unfortunately I have to agree the rice cooking was inconsistent and even the slicing of the fish was uneven, some pieces were wider than others by almost twice as much. Kinda seemed like someone just threw it together which is a shame for the price I was expecting it to at least give me some sense of nostalgia to eating amazing saba sushi in Japan but was quite letdown.
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Yup. What a shame. Was the rice overcooked to you?
This is the word to describe an inordinate number of bites I’ve had here. Yes, certain dishes do shine, but the food here is too 'hit-or-miss" for a restaurant of its caliber (exhibit A: Good saba, but subpar rice). Drinking here is fun, though. Maybe after the pandemic…
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The hint of citrus in the eel is probably sansho powder, which I don’t see a lot of on yours.
I love me some Shibumi when she loves me, but she’s a very inconsistent lover. I had a few of those kind of affairs when I was a single man, and it was a very painful way to play the game.
a classic Sergio-in-the-house issue?
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It may be a Sergio actually not quite Sergio-level issue.
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Last night, I emailed Shibumi and gave them feedback in regards to only pure technical problems @JLee and I encountered with their rice consistency, rice falling apart, and uneven fish slices. This morning, David Schlosser personally responded and was very apologetic. Here’s a copy of his response:
Hi moonboy403,
I am completely responsible for not monitoring enough the quality of each dish leaving the building. After training with Masa Takayama I am very embarrassed you had this experience. I would like to fully comp you and your friends food. On Monday, I will look further into the matter.
Being closed for three months is no excuse. I deeply apologize and hope to remedy this as quickly as possible.
Thank you very much for your feedback,
David
I’m on the fence about the refund since they must be struggling financially as is. What are your thoughts FTC’ers? Also, @JLee can PM me and let me know if you wanna go ahead or give me thoughts on your refund.
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What a gracious note. You can really respect a chef with that response.
I forgot to mention that one of my saba slices had bones in it. I was mildly displeased and forgot all about it when I wrote my notes.
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The beef here is very good!
A sincere and timely reply - that was nice of Chef Schlosser.
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Im not interested in a refund, I’d rather know that he will make it better and give us an amazing product. I’ll wait and see.
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