Dine Date: May 13, 2011 @ 8:45PM
Address: 776 Arguello Blvd San Francisco, CA 94118
SushiYo! Quicksheet:

Look and Feel:	A small hidden place. No sign outside. You could walk pass the place and not notice. A standard, basic, traditional, and simplistic look on the inside. Quiet customers inside, very little ambiance.
Service/Staff:	Excellent! There was just one lady doing service and one sushi chef. The waitress was very hospitable. The sushi chef spontaneously thanked customers at every table!
Sushi:	OK quality overall. I'm not sure what kind of herb leaf they used (seemed like mint), but it was interesting and strange to find it in a few nigiri pieces. A couple of the selections were not very pleasing and should be avoided.
Price:	Very affordable.
Sushi Highlights:	Maguro, Tekka Roll, Uni, Quail Egg
Sushi Downfalls:	Saba, Smoked Shake
Recommendation:	Yes, this place is not bad and very affordable.

Review of Okina Sushi :
Okina plays the role as a mom and pop, hidden gem of a sushi establishment. If you didn’t look up this place’s address, you would likely never have found it. Even with the address in hand, you may drive or walk by without knowing it was a restaurant. There are no fancy signs or displays outside. In fact, even their hours of operation is simply hand written and tacked upon the door!

This is an interesting looking place on the inside. The sushi bar area is setup with walls, windows, and roof overhangs to resemble a structure within a structure. The sushi bar area has several seats and a few tables are positioned at the front of the restaurant. There was just a waitress serving and a sushi chef working behind the bar.

Accommodations and decorations are simple, right down to the menu and chopsticks. The menu is a single page of nigiri fish selections, a sashimi option of the same fish, and drinks.

Get on with the sushi yo!

Daikon radish, ginger, and pickled radish was provided promptly with tea. This was nice to provide these garnishes for customers to nit-pick at before the food comes. Pickled radish is a plus!

Beyond the decor, non-matching dishware and basic disposable chopsticks are just some of the indications that this place doesn’t worry about flash.

Here is the spread, served on a large designed platter! This certainly isn’t usual for sushi, but sure, why not? The formation of the nigiri and rolls was interesting as well. Instead of placing them in pairs next to each other, as most sushi places do, it’s lined up symmetrically.

Sashimi salad with ikura. Nice touch!

More views of the nigiri line.

A large slice of lemon garnishing the nigiri. A bit unusual, but again, sure, why not!

California roll, Amaebi, Uni with quail egg. The california roll was pretty skinny and standard tasting, prepared home-style (rice on the inside).

Amaebi, Uni with quail egg. Amaebi wasn’t very sweet. The uni was decent and the quail egg is nice to have with uni.

Amaebi, ok.

Saba, it’s not on my list of favorite fish. This tasted pretty fishy to me and partially cooked it seems. Not recommended.

Hirame, on the chewy side. It was served with a leaf of herb (mint I think). It was interesting and definitely drowns out any fishiness.

Maguro, pretty good. Served with green onions and some sauce.

Maguro, with lots of green onion.

Hamachi, OK, could be more tender.

Smoked Shake, I think this was my first time having smoked shake. I didn’t really like it. Too salty for my taste.

Kanpachi, not much taste, but ok texture.

Look at the nice handwriting on the bill! Not many places take care in writing down an order like this. Usually, they just scribble it down and/or have it punched into a computer for a printout. So the nicely written check was impressive to me. Again, this place isn’t fancy and is a mom and pop kind of place. So, no credit card machines here, they only accept cash.

Okina is a small secret sushi place. The quality isn’t great, but it is not bad either, so considering the affordable prices and homey appeal, it is worth it. If I lived near by this place, I would come here often!

Here’s the additional info about this dining experience for those of you who have read this far:

Category	Rating	Analysis
Parking Availability:		Street parking only. This is not a highly commercial area, so that's good, but residential parking meant parking a couple blocks away.
Wait Time To Be Seated:		Just a quick wait while the waitress cleaned up and setup our table. There were even a couple seats by the window for people wait to be seated.
Accommodations:		Good. There weren't a lot of people, so we got a table that normally seats 4.
Cleanliness:		Looked clean to me.
Hotness of Wait Staff:		There was just one waitress that was peppy and happy. Gotta give points for service with a smile.
Other Patrons:		It was a quiet young crowd mostly. A few people at the sushi bar. A couple at another table. And one guy eating while reading at another table.
Wait Time To Order:		Waitress was ready to take our order right away.
Wait Time To Be Served Upon Ordering:		The sushi was made promptly and we were surprised that our whole order came out at once on a big plate.
Chopsticks:		Generic, non fully enclosed, square shaped cheap disposable chopsticks.
Dishware:		The sushi came in one large round decorated plate. It was strange, like something you'd see more at a Chinese restaurant than a sushi place. There was a separate plate provided to eat the sushi as well as a larger than usual soy sauce dishware.
Rice Quality:		Not bad, average.
Soy Sauce Quality:		Standard soy sauce.
Wasabi Quality:		Standard wasabi.
Water Quality:		Did not get water.
Tea Quality:		Hot green tea provided, and it came often.
Restrooms:		Did not use.
Wait Staff Check In:		Excellent, the waitress came and checked in on us a few times as well as kept our tea cups filled.
Paying Process:		Cash only here. But I was impressed by nice handwriting on the bill that was clearly written up.

Dine Date: May 6, 2011 @ 8:30PM
Address: 3369 Mission St San Francisco, CA 94110
SushiYo! Quicksheet:

Look and Feel:	Dimly lit, trendy, non-traditional atmosphere, filled with a talkative crowd. The sushi bar takes up the main area of the moderately small sized restaurant, where two noticeably large sushi chefs command the ship.
Service/Staff:	Ok. Only saw two waitresses attending to the customers, so seems like they were short handed.
Sushi:	The food here leaves you feeling something to be desired. The quality was good for some dishes, but others were a new, and a bit uninviting, experience.
Price:	Moderate and typical for these trendy-ish sushi spots.
Sushi Highlights:	Hirame
Sushi Downfalls:	Sake Kawa Roll, Kasu Hamachi Kama, California Roll
Recommendation:	Maybe worth a try, but be careful what you order. Stick to the nigiri or sashimi, I would say.

Review of ICHI Sushi :
This is a sushi place that feels like a trendy bar, minus the music. It is quaint enough for couples to come and have a date, but casual enough for people to come chit-chat and get their sushi fix. You know this is a non-traditional place when you see a wall shelf of wine behind the sushi bar.

The place on the whole is small sized with small tables. It was mostly tables of two that were placed close to each other, so it felt a bit cramped.

Their menu had some interesting items on it as well as specials that the waitress told us about. The dishes are small portioned and some oddly tasting.

This is one of the few sushi places that you’ll find that don’t use disposable chopsticks, so that’s a good thing. They even had little cat figurines used to elevate the chopsticks off the table.

Let’s order the sushi yo!

Shiro maguro, Hiramasa, and Hirame. These all sort of tasted the same for the most part. The Hirame was a special, in which they had marinated, I think. The fish quality was good, but the rice for the nigiri was on the cold side.

California roll and sake kawa roll. I always expect California rolls, or most rolls in general, to be rice-on-the-outside style. Putting the rice on the inside means you will have to get through the seaweed, which can be chewy at times. I also didn’t like that they put cucumbers in the California roll.

I think this was my first time having the sake kawa roll, and boy was it tough to eat! First of all, I don’t like any rolls that have carrots in them. I feel that people will put carrots and cucumbers in rolls just to fill them. I don’t like that! Secondly, the sake kawa was so crispy that it was like eating shells! Yikes! Maybe it’s suppose to be like this, but I would NOT recommend ordering the sake kawa roll.

Kasu hamachi kama. This was my first time trying this as well. In my opinion, this was way too burnt! This is basically a huge fish bone with some burnt meat attached to it. Although it looks burnt, the meat inside was surprisingly tender. Even though, I wouldn’t recommend this. They really burnt the heck out of it.

Uni. Not bad, but not as smooth as I’d like. Taste was ok.

So if you want to try this place out, I would stick with the sushi items only, as the fish quality is pretty good.

Here’s the additional info about this dining experience for those of you who have read this far:

Category	Rating	Analysis
Parking Availability:		Bad. Took forever to find parking in this area on a Friday night. Had to drive around several times before I finally just parked way up on the hill in the residential area and walked down 3 blocks to Mission St.
Wait Time To Be Seated:		Slow. Had to wait 20 minutes for a table. There's not really an area to wait, so went across the street to Safeway and then came back.
Accommodations:		Small. Tables are small and close together. Felt a bit cramped.
Cleanliness:		Ok. It was dimly lit, so couldn't really tell, but seemed fairly clean.
Hotness of Wait Staff:		Ok. The waitresses were not bad looking. They were white.
Other Patrons:		Trendy, talkative, loud young crowd. Fair amount of couples, as this seems like a trendy date place.
Wait Time To Order:		Fast. They were ready to take our order right away, so we had to hold them off until the menu was reviewed.
Wait Time To Be Served Upon Ordering:		Slow. Food comes out very staggered. You could finish the first plate of sushi and wait for 5 minutes before the next one came. The uni took a long time to come, and finally came last after about 10 minutes after the other sushi arrived.
Chopsticks:		Excellent. Non-disposable hard wooden chopsticks were provided.
Dishware:		Good. There was even a cute little cat figurine to elevate the chopsticks off the table.
Rice Quality:		On the cold side. Perhaps because we were seated near the door, but the rice on all the sushi was colder than room temperature.
Soy Sauce Quality:		Typical.
Wasabi Quality:		Normal.
Water Quality:		Ok. No ice provided, but a tall flask is left at your table so you can refill yourself.
Tea Quality:		Did not get tea.
Restrooms:		Single restroom. Fairly clean, doesn't smell.
Wait Staff Check In:		Nice. The hostess came to check in on us a couple times.
Paying Process:		Good. Our waitress asked how the meal was as she brought us the check. They also accept American Express.

Dine Date: Saturday, April 30, 2011 @ 7:00PM
Address: 22 Peace Plz Ste 510 San Francisco, CA 94115
SushiYo! Quicksheet:

Look and Feel:	Small, clean, legit looking mom n’ pop place. Well lit from the large window during daylight hours. Ambiance was pretty dead. Felt like we had to whisper to avoid disturbing the next table, which is within a short arm’s reach.
Service/Staff:	Decent. One old lady handling the service, but there were hardly any other customers to wait on at the time.
Sushi:	Strange and disappointing. Some cuts did not taste very fresh. Other cuts were on the chewy side. Wasabi is in everything, even in things that you wouldn’t expect, like California rolls. The wasabi they use is stronger than usual, and having it be put in everything was the deal breaker.
Price:	High to overpriced.
Sushi Highlights:	Ankimo, Toro, Anago
Sushi Downfalls:	California Roll, Spicy Hotate Roll, Hamachi, Kampachi, Uni
Recommendation:	No, unless you like hot wasabi in EVERYTHING.

Review of Ino Sushi :
Is it just me or is this place is hard to find.  I walked pass it twice and was literally standing within 10 steps of the place looking at the mall map and didn’t realize it.  This is because there’s no windows to this place where you can see people eating.  The entrance is also depressed in from the main wall and the sign with the name of the place is pretty small.  It’s located next to the mall restrooms on the 2nd floor.

Upon entering, an old grandma looking woman comes out of the kitchen.  Ah, this place is like a mom n’ pop place already.  She goes to set up our table in the small dining area, which consists of basically four tables and the sushi bar area.  Behind the bar, the sushi chef was a man with a shaved head.  Large bottles of sake lined the back wall along with a prominent calligraphy scroll in the middle.  Ok, this place looks legit!

The old grandma seated us and promptly told us that there was a $20 minimum for credit card charges. Huh? $20 minimum? Heck, a mere few pieces of fish and you’ve already broken that minimum. Do people really come in here and order two pieces of fish and that’s it?

So let’s order the sushi yo!

A look at the order spread.

Ankimo and toro. This is my first time trying monk fish liver. It was interesting and pretty good. I imagine this is the same consistency as foie gras. The toro was melty good, as is most toro.

Maguro and hirame. Both were average.

Uni. On the fishy side and not very creamy. Certainly uni has a subtle pungent flavor, but this was a bit more than I’d like.

Spicy hotate and California roll. I usually expect rice on the outside rolls, so it’s always surprising when they make it the standard way (rice inside). I suppose it’s more home-style. There is wasabi in everything ordered at this place, even the rolls. Wasabi in my California roll? Seriously?! Wasabi in the already spicy hotate roll? Give me a break! There’s wasabi on the side for a reason, don’t force it upon the customers!

Hamachi, Kampachi, Anago. The hamachi was chewy and poorly cut (uneven, skin hanging off it). This was the first time I tried kampachi, and it wasn’t anything special. It was a the tougher side, but at least not as chewy as the hamachi was. This was also my first time trying anago, and it was pretty good. It is a lot softer than regular unagi.

As mentioned earlier, the wasabi they use is stronger than usual restaurant wasabi. It is like how the wasabi from the tube has a sharper spiciness. It was in every piece of sushi, which distracts from being able to taste the fish as it is. This was a big turn off and the biggest downfall for Ino.

Here’s the additional info about this dining experience for those of you who have read this far:

Category	Rating	Analysis
Parking Availability:		Ok. Japantown garage, affordable.
Wait Time To Be Seated:		Fast. The old lady just had to setup the table and she seems to want customers to wait in the foyer until it is setup (napkin, chopstick, etc.). As mentioned, this place is small but was not packed on a Saturday night, so I doubt it's ever packed.
Accommodations:		Ok. Tables are pretty close to each other, so be prepared to bump elbows if you have someone sitting next to you.
Cleanliness:		Good.
Hotness of Wait Staff:		None, just an old lady.
Other Patrons:		Non-touristy, mostly 30s-40s middle age couples. Soft spoken mature upper middle class looking people. There weren't many people but just the time we were there, it was a mixed crowd (Caucasian, Asian, Black). There was a Korean father and daughter sitting next to us that were the most noticeable.
Wait Time To Order:		Fast. There were no other customers.
Wait Time To Be Served Upon Ordering:		Average to fast. Maybe because there were very few customers.
Chopsticks:		Fully covered in branded paper. Typical, wooden, disposable.
Dishware:		Poor, just the small soy sauce platelets provided. The sushi was served in decent plates.
Rice Quality:		Ok, no complaints here.
Soy Sauce Quality:		Typical.
Wasabi Quality:		Spicier than normal restaurants, like the kind you get out of a tube.
Water Quality:		Did not get water.
Tea Quality:		Ok, comes too hot to drink right away though.
Restrooms:		Mall restrooms only. Did not use.
Wait Staff Check In:		Poor. Waitress did not check in on us. Had to call her to refill our tea.
Paying Process:		They don't accept American Express. Our bill also came with a single total, not itemized, so I have no idea what some of the market prices were (or if it was calculated correctly).