Kappo Yuji
Excellent meal at the one man show at Kappo Yuji. u/noodlethings doing god’s work reviewing every sushi restaurant in the Bay Area. Your review really informed the decision to come here.
Out of the assorted appetizers the needlefish with egg yolk vinegar sauce was the group’s favorite. Personally, I enjoyed the egg custard with fresh wasabi and caviar. The balance of hot, cool, soft, salty was mind blowing. Firefly squid was solid but nothing to write home about. Sparkling nigori to pair was quite excellent. Scallop cake with clear dashi and yuzu was dare I say healing. I am a massive fan of clear broths and this had the right balance of savory playing with the sweetness of scallop and the brightness of yuzu.
Chu-toro was buttery, king snapper was excellent and the spot prawn ridiculously sweet with an excellent texture. Black miso cod was grilled to perfection but I much preferred the garnish (the pickled ginger stem was lovely palate cleanser). The stewed fried taro with jellied miso and tiny shrimp was the least favorite of the night. Not that it was bad, it just missed the mark slightly in the balance. A5 wagyu was perfect, buttery without overly fatty, still meaty and beefy. Fried sweet fish was fun and inventive as it was done in rice cracker crumb. Playful, light and quite nice. Chawanmushi was utter perfection the salt from the ikura, umami from mushrooms and just holding it all together in the gorgeous creamy custard was just excellent. The other let down was the red miso soup and the rice to end the meal, again while not bad I believe the soup missed the mark on balance. The quality of the fish was superb. The sake pairing was well done, leaned towards the fruitier (grape, melon flavors) with two of them being on the richer dry side.
The vibes were great, Yuji seemed to love interacting with customers. Soft classical music played in the background and the vibes were quite nice. The complete opposite of Robin where rap was being played non-stop.