madame7 is spot on about sagano. i had lunch sushi there one, and one of the nigiri pieces was actually "off". I could smell if on the plate. Maguro, I think. when the guy asked how it was, I just decided to compliment one of the other selectoins, which was actually quite good. The chef lit up and said "yeah, we just got that in today!" which worried me. Sure, everything can't be that day, but most of it should be.

Yamasan is great. simple, high quality fish. I don't think it's too pricey. In fact, it's a deal for what you get. nigiri is about standard size, and the same price as a place like Toyoda, but fish quality is greater. selection isn't huge, but they do take pains to assure toro and one or two odd things. Recently, they've had a run of exquisite kampachi. Chef Yama also puts some odd crap on his menu like Natto-Uni, which sound horrible, and I like both uni and natto,. Natto-Uni is pretty good. the flavors compliment each other better than expected, and they do a quail egg on top. Yamasan also offers a fish, Mutsu, that I've never seen anywhere else. he used to call it "super white tuna" and it's weird in the vein of albacore, but incredible. it goes up and down in quality. but the low of it's quality is "damn good". sometimes it's a little fattier and moves into sublime.

Sushi Zen changed owners recently. like in the last couple of months. The guy who was head chef at Nikko downtown Seattle took it over. he's a taciturn guy, so you don't get much talk at the bar. There are no Mexican dudes making sushi. the roll guy is japanese, but young. And the Nikko chef does the fish.

I've been going to Sushi Zen at the north end of mill creek since just before Xmas. I think they match up pretty well with Yamasan, but are different. the nigiri is more expensive for a 2 piece order, but you get more fish. The fish to rice ratio is huge. the rice doesn't clump well in the hands of the chef. it's crumbly, so abandon the chopsticks.

At sushi Zen, the albacore is outstanding. the sea bass has been great. Last time, they had bluefin and bluefin toro, which were great. They also do a great natto roll. it seems to be a lightly fermented brand of natto, and they chop it up before putting it in the roll to make the texture better. good natto roll.

Sushi Zen dropped the ball on mollusks. The octopus was chewy. The surf clam was both chewy and a little fishy. I have had much better raw scallop. Yamasan isn't much better. Their octopus is chewy, they do surf clam a little better, and I've only seen them serve the cooked, spiced scallop (which had that sweet teriaki unagi saice on it). the squid at yamasan is also chewy. but I haven't had it at Zen.

Anyhow, I'm spoiled by Mashiko and Kisaku with their great fish and great mollusks. But yamasan is #3 in the area for me, and Zen #4.

Madame:

I just started a thread on Sushi Zen before I read this thread. I basically agreed with you, though the mexicans didn't ogle me. dammit. But I've never been there without the tall japanese guy who I think is Nick cutting the fish. I will say that I have been prejudiced at the bar before. Hajime's right hand "man" is a woman, who's name is now completely escaping me. And while Hajime is better (there is no one better), his assistant does excellent omakase that is the second best in town next to hajime's. I was very disappointed the first time I was seated on her side of the bar, and full of chagrin for doubting Mashiko about two courses into the meal.

I second your call on Sagano. Soon after I started working on Bothell, I followed advice and tried to go to Yamasan. Yama closed the restaurant for a week, and I recalled having seen Sagano across the street. I was a little leery that I was the only person in there at 1PM. Shouldn't the lunch crowd be finishing up? I sat at the bar, thinking that I might be finding some undiscovered gem. I didn't order a bento or anything, just a couple of orders of nigiri. To start, I thought. Instead of cutting it fresh and handing it to me across the bar, he cut up everything I ordered at once, then went over to a table and read the newspaper. The first thing I ate was fine I think it was snapper. The second was albacore. I smelled it about halfway to my mouth. it was off. Did he pull it out of Yamasan's dumpster? quite possibly. Even though Yamasan was about a week into his vacation. I ate the other piece of snapper, but the ginger didn't clear my mouth of the slime and taste of that nasty albacore. I paid up, and he asked me how it was. I was polite and said the snapper was good. "Oh yes, we just got that in today!" When the hell did you get the rest of the fish?

Yamasan is great. If you get there at 11:30 or 1:15, it's not crowded. It's a very precise rush. I don't really think it's expensive. The price per order of nigiri is a little less than Zen, but you get a little more fish at Zen. I get full at both places for around the same money. And he's got lunch deals for under $15. Yama's sake prices are considerably lower (for the same brands) than Zen.

I think they have about the same (high) quality of fish, but different styles and different selections.

Yamasan has his secret weapon-- Mutsu. I haven't seen this anywhere else in town. it's a very white fish that he used to call "super white tuna" and it is like an exaggerated albacore. Lovely, and a regular part of the menu. Though it is almost as expensive as toro.

Yama has a pretty traditional selection of other menu fish. Though anago (sea eel) is a regular menu item, and it's only a special now and then at Zen. He's got a specials board and brings in oysters and that sort of thing, and three or four special fish a week. recently he had the moi, which is rather rare. He serves uni natto, which I'd never even heard of. I like both items, but didn't think I would together. I was wrong. And on his appetizer menu you've got some things that are hard to find like the grated mountain potato on tuna.

I was at Yamasan for lunch today. His specials were Aji, Kampachi, and Suzuki (sea bass). He noted that the halibut is early season and excellent. I just had the kampachi and suzuki, some ebi and this appetizer that was tempura fried anago. The suzuki was excellent. But the amber jack was out of this world. I like anago much better than unagi, and usually get it without the teriaki sauce. Tempura frying it is the way to go. It was freaking awesome.

I've been to izumi in kirkland once. It was pretty good, but a little more expensive than Yamasan, and I didn't think it was quite as good. I've been told to give it another chance.