Doing it Animal Style - Blowfish Sushi

Blowfish Sushi
9229 Sunset Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310.887.fugu (3848)
www.blowfishsushi.com

Going out to dinner is somewhat of a production for my little posse of playpals. We have many diets, personal preferences, food allergies and well, psychosomatic “allergies,” as well as fairly strict student (and creative-professional) budgets. Nothing wrong with any of that, but it provides quite a challenge when we get together to go out to eat. My W lifestyle-change means Mexican was off limits for a while, and when it comes right down to it, that kind of makes Italian tricky, too. Heavily spiced ethnic foods are out of the question, which rules out almost the entire continent of Asia (including the subcontinent of India). Seafood is great, since we have both a no-chicken and a no-red-meat, but sushi is part of the Asian rule, and well, seafood is generally pretty expensive in comparison to other foods. I always *chuckle* and think all of us should just hit up a mall food court, which has something for everyone.

that's sarah after two cocktails

But somehow, Blowfish Sushi seems to work for us. I’ve already written long and loving about the last time we went there. It works for us when we think of Blowfish Sushi less as a sushi bar with somewhat hyperactive sensory stimuli, and more of a great lounge to hang out in with the added benefit of food and drinks. I mean, if I think too much of the Animal Style roll, or the Godzilla roll that has cashews in it, or the specialty cocktails with names that make me want to giggle like Hello Kitty, I just want to, well, *gag* But the tiny tv screens glowing anime, the trendster techno-lite music pulsing in the background, the sake, and the bar that makes a mojito or a Citron/soda strong enough to scream She-ra style, “I have the power!” all make it perfect.

mint salad, aka mojito

oh, for goodness sake!

We make several orders of edamame as starters for everyone at the table, but the simple soybeans end up being the bulk of my solid meal for the evening.

pure protein for dinner

I rely mostly on a liquid diet, which explains why the few pieces of nigiri sushi somewhere in there are a bit hazy. Maguro? Saba? Something like that. :)

There’s a giant platter of rolls, but it’s difficult to distinguish between them all – it’s sort of a mess of loosely rolled rice, flashes of fish and a few garnishes. Tobiko. Negi. Goma. Fancy. Maki sushi never really appeals to me, and “creative” ones even less, so it’s another round of “Kanpai!” Well, that certainly made the non-sushi dishes at either end of the table much more interesting for a flashbulb fantasy photoshoot. I was a little disappointed that no one actually ordered an Animal Style roll this time.

veggie roll and others

more mock-y sushi

On my left, the Yuuan Chicken is glazed with what looks like a teriyaki sauce and wrapped in some sort of banana leaf. The whole enormous thing looks like it almost shouldn’t be taken apart to be eaten. Down on my right, there’s a Chilean sea bass with vegetables in broth. I didn’t venture of a taste of either, but both dishes sort of reminded me of Cinch – slighty haphazard. But by the end of dinner, I’ll take that both plates being clean as a sign of how it tasted.

Yuuan chicken, all wrapped up

Chilean seabass-master

What can I say? The food did not disappoint, but then again, my expectations were set differently. In fact, I don't think I have any expectations at all for the food at Blowfish. Our server became flustered a few times, was slow to bring things, mixed up a couple of food orders, and even forgot a few drinks. But none of us minded, with our energies focused on the giant bottle of sake on the table. Besides, he was probably trying to remember his lines for his next audition or something like that, and we were on to bigger, better, and louder things, anyway. ;)

tags :: food : and drink : japanese : sushi : restaurants : reviews : los angeles