Koo

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Tempura Wakasagi (smelt-fish) Curry-Salt.  Tiny fish you can chomp whole without being afraid of small bones.  I'm not sure where the curry salt came into play.  I'm thinking it was lightly dusted after the fish was fried, but I didn't taste anything different than the fried fish.  Perfectly crisp, without the greasiness, these fish were a nice snack.

The one thing Koo is most known for is their Spoonful of Happiness appetizer.  Something to note is that one order is for one person.  The advised method to eat this is a small sip of sake, then one spoon, then another sip of sake, then the other spoon, then finish the sake.  I'm not sure what sake it is and I forgot to ask, but it is very light and sweet tasting, possibly Masumi Okuden.

First spoonful for me was the ankimo wrapped in whitefish in white truffle-oil ponzu.  Slightly salty and delicate.  I'm not a huge fan of ankimo, but the portion seemed just right.

Second spoonful was uni, quail egg, tobiko in ponzu.  This just seemed like a deconstructed uni tama nigiri to me without the rice.  Also, the ponzu at Koo is more soy sauce based than the citrus.  The uni here is very fresh, like custard.

This is the first time I've eaten at Koo and I was pleasantly surprised to see a daily special clipped to the menu.  Scallop on the half shell was one of the fresh daily specials that day.  I love the preparation of this.  You rarely get to eat the outside muscle of the scallop in the Bay Area, especially prepared like this.  I had a piece with the lemon slices and I think the lemon slices take away from the natural sweetness of the scallop.  The outside muscle (engawa) provided a crunchy contrast to the soft scallop slices.  

Razor clam sashimi (daily special list).  This is the first time I've ever had razor clam as a sashimi.  I was quite excited.  The meat is very sweet and tender.  The muscle also has a different texture than the actual meat of this clam. 

Fresh scallop nigiri.  Hotate nigiri is a regular in my sushi orders.  This scallop was sweet and very fresh.

Wild tombo (wild albacore tuna) - milder flavor than most tuna. 

Kamasu (barracuda).  First time having this fish as sushi.   Very mild flavor.

Beef Tataki with apple ginger soy.  I liked the mix of onions and mixed greens with the slices of beef, but the soy sauce made this dish much too salty.

Tamago.  This tamago (egg) was springy with a custard texture.  Its really hard to find a place that makes it this way.  Most tend to be too dense or lacking in flavor.  Koo's tamago is definitely one of the better ones I've had in the bay area.

Salmon (sake) nigiri from the regular menu.  The slices were very buttery and sweet tasting.

Address:                         Koo
                                               408 Irving St.
                                               San Francisco, CA
 

Type:                                 Japanese/sushi/casual

Popular chomps:    Spoonful of Hapiness
                                               Miso Marinated Black Cod

Chomp worthy:       Tamago
                                              Bamboo clam (daily sushi special list)
                                              Fresh scalloop (daily sushi special list)