Kru Review

I tried Kru last night. The front room was really hot because they were having some sort of air conditioning issue, but the hostess sat us in the back where it was cool. The menu is intriguing but scattershot. There are small plates, salads, and big plates on one side. I'm not sure who would go to a sushi place to get a steak entree, but I guess if they make it really well it makes sense. I will probably never find out because I would go to a steak house if I wanted a steak. The server was very knowledgeable, which was a notable difference from Tamaya, the other new place, where the waitress didn't even know what a robata grill is, even though her restaurant purportedly has one. She recommended some things, and we took her recommendation and started with a small plate called the poke trio. It was three kinds of seafood in poke sauce with three special salts. The presentation of this and everything else we got was beautiful, especially the nigiri. The nigiri was obviously carefully prepared. I appreciate that. The poke trio had white tuna, octopus and red tuna. The octopus was fun to gnaw on but I thought the white tuna tasted the best. The salts actually all had different flavors (one was spicy, one was mixed with seaweed) and that was fun too. Oh yeah, I forgot, the give you free edamame which is a big plus in my eyes. I got some sort of special salmon nigiri, I guess it was sockeye salmon, I didn't really catch what she said, but it was a dark red and looked very different from regular sake. It was cut well and tasty, but not as tender as regular salmon. Grace got a special roll (can't remember which one) and she raved about it. My spicy tuna roll (I tried that to see how they would do on the standard rolls) was pretty good. D.P. didn't really like his roll but he liked Grace's. One thing that disturbed me and that I (nicely, I hope) informed the server of was the fact that none of the fish was at all cold. I assume this was because of the air conditioner problems, but it made the food less tasty. Kru has more sakes by the glass than some other local places, which I also like. Altogether, I still preferred the food (and the low price) at Tamaya, but I'll try Kru again.

Trying another new sushi joint just brought it home that I wish a super fancy, super high quality sushi place would open. Someplace you could go for a special night out. A couple of years ago I ate at a place in Hawaii that is what I have in mind. Someplace that is run by people from Japan, that would maybe have some rare delicacies that I've never tried. I'm reading this Jeffrey Steingarten book (I would recommend either of his books to anyone who likes to read about food, in a really funny format with just enough of the science of food thrown in), and he has a chapter about bluefish tuna that piqued my interest. You may be familiar with toro, the special cut from the belly of this fish, but there is an even rarer, more prized cut from up near the head (I can't remember what it's called) and I want to try it! Where can I get it in Sac?