PacificSD - Pacific San Diego Magazine

taste
D I N I N G O U T
what’s cooking
cocktail
Shangri-La
Jewels from La Jolla’s family of sushi spots
Bluefin Fusion Japanese Restaurant
Fusion is key at this eatery, but when it comes to sushi, they keep it real. Playfullynamed
rolls like the Ex-Boyfriend and Ex-Girlfriend, French Kiss and Hotlip are
winners, as is the Blue Fin Specialty Roll, which incorporates lush ingredients
including minced toro, scallions, bluefin tuna, fresh wasabi and shaved gobo (a sweetly
earthen root from Japan).
4305 La Jolla Village Dr., Ste. L-2, UTC Area, 858.677.0558, bluefinfusion.com
Cafe Japengo
Get your feet wet with the Fifty-Fifty Roll, a mixture of crab, salmon and yellowtail
with lemon and ponzu sauce. Or go all-out with the Tootsie Roll, featuring soft-shell
crab, grilled shiitake mushrooms and avocado with a sake marinade. Either way, with
an alluringly posh dining room and sushi that sings with a savory pop, this is one of
the best spots in San Diego for a date night in the raw.
8960 University Center Ln., UTC Area, 858.450.3355, cafejapengo.com
ABOVE: Roppongi’s big eye tuna
BELOW: Roppongi’s steak and fries roll
Roppongi
This Village eatery has long been known for sushi and Asian fusion cuisine. The
former recently got an upgrade with the addition of a new chef—adding fresh flare to
the bill of fare with rolls that offer comfortingly familiar flavor combos like the surfand-turf
Kobe Roll with seared beef, lobster, crab, asparagus, hoisin honey BBQ sauce
and truffle oil. Talk about a promising debut.
875 Prospect St., La Jolla, 858.551.5252, roppongiusa.com (Continued on Page 58)
The Cutting Edge: It takes an extra sharp blade to produce top-tier sashimi. Sushi knives feature a layer of soft steel molded
around a hard steel core. Despite the dual layers, the blades are extremely thin and crafted to be ultra-light so chefs need
only exert the bare minimum of physical force when making ultra-precise cuts.
56 pacificsandiego.com { March 2011}