Sushi restaurants are not hard to come by in the Bay Area, so in order to get my business, they need to distinguish themselves in some way. Sushi Tomo managed to do that the minute we sat down. Extra pickled ginger made an immediate impression, because my experience has always been that there was never enough served when I ordered sushi. This was the only time I have not had to ask for more.
My niece, who was visiting from UC Santa Cruz, and I made 4 selections, each of us selecting one sushi from the more usual offerings, ($5.95 - $6.95) and another from their specials ($9.95). Looking at the photo above, it is difficult to imagine any of them being less than special. If we look at the far left and work our way clockwise, the selection starts with the Hawaiian, then the Waking Tiger, the Viper and finally the Crispy Salmon. Each one was well thought out and very good.
On the top photo, the Hawaiian roll is distinguished by a wrapping of white and red tuna with a thin sprinkling of Tobiko. On the lower left you can easily see the spicy tuna of the interior wrapped around a small amount of cream cheese. This made for a nice rich tasting sushi that was further enhanced with soy sauce mixed with a little wasabi paste and the pickled ginger. Waking Tiger Roll, seen more closely in the photo to the right, was a good adaptation of a sushi made with tempura shrimp. The crab salad on top would have been much better had it been made with real crab instead of imitation crab. Personally, I'd gladly pay the higher price for the real thing. Even the better quality imitation versions always have a sweet taste that just annoys the "crab" out of me. It doesn't belong in sushi, but that didn't stop me from eating it.
The Viper Roll may have seemed the most unusual to me because of its topping of small bay scallops mixed with mayonnaise and tobiko. The chives were a good compliment to the mild scallop taste. Again, had the filling been made with real crab, this would have been a superior item on the menu. I'd certainly order it again.
The Crispy Salmon proved to be the most photogenic of all the sushi we ordered, but it also proved to be our least favorite in taste. Something about cooking the salmon, even for a short time to crisp up the tempura batter, just did not work. The salmon became overly "fishy" in aroma as well as taste. The idea of it was far better than the execution, so we ended up leaving a few pieces on the plate. I still say that the combination of sauce, tobiko and chive makes this one of the most appealing looking sushi rolls I have ever seen.
| 201 University Ave Palo Alto CA 94301 (650) 324-3300 |
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