Shiro's Sushi

When I popped the first piece of albacore in my mouth, my life changed. In a flash of rash decision making, I exclaimed that Shiro's has ruined me. Subsequent outbursts of  "we're never leaving Seattle," or slightly inappropriate happy sounds aside, this place will have you questioning whether you can ever eat at a normal sushi place again.

Shiro is a local famous sushi chef who trained under Jiro— who's Michelin 3-star restaurant even has a wikipedia page. When you walk by Shiro's Sushi, or even when you step inside, you would have no idea how amazing the dinner to come will be. It looks like any other sushi bar with a small cramped bar and a dozen tables or so. The service is fantastic, though, and we were lucky enough to have the staff get us a seat at the sushi bar after a short wait at one of the tables.

While we waited for a spot, we ordered Sake and a Dynamite, a geoduck appetizer with spicy mayo, mushrooms, and heaven. But the true tastes to bewilder came from Shiro himself when we got seated directly in front of his station at the bar.

This is the kind of place where you don't order. You just tell Shiro when you're done eating. And until that point, he'll just whip up delicious nigiri and hand rolls and place them freshly made right in front of you. It's hard to describe the level of flavor we're talking about here, but it literally makes you wonder why all the sushi you've had in the past doesn't taste anywhere near this good.

What he places in front of you is simple— albacore, yellow tail, tuna, herring. But each piece is so fresh, and so melt-in-your-mouth you'd swear it was a complex work of art. One of my favorite parts of the meal was when Shiro handed us two salmon nigiri. And although they were the exact same fish and rice, the two had completely and utterly different tastes. It's incredible.

If you're lucky enough to sit at the sushi bar, you can get hand rolls. Shiro doesn't serve hand rolls to the tables because they need to be crunchy, according to him, and if they aren't placed directly into the eater's hand, they get too soggy and are ruined. Lucky us, because they were delicious as well.

Another perk of the sushi bar? You get to interact with Shiro throughout the whole meal. He even taught us a little sushi etiquette. "This isn't a french restaurant. You put the whole thing in your mouth in one bite."

All I can say is get your ass to Shiro's.