cocoro with the mom

had yet another wonderful, fulfilling meal at cocoro. this is the japanese-sushi restaurant i've been raving about for the past few months. so after a full day of sightseeing around SF, my mom and i arrive at cocoro (on geary and 22nd) to a half empty restaurant. the staff is always so cheery when you arrive and greet you with the traditional japanese hello (is it hello?). we get seated at a table (my mom decided not to the bar) and quickly get down to ordering.

my mom is a sushi novice. years ago, she refused to eat any raw fish of any sort. when our family went to the japanese buffets for sunday lunches in the san gabriel valley, she would devour rounds and rounds of steamed mussels, stir-fried crab, and crispy tempura. when it came to the sushi bar, she'd pick up a plate up tuna and salmon nigiri and bring it back to the table with a bowl of hot miso soup, proceeding to rip the fish off the rice and plunk it into the steaming soup bowl until it nuked itself to medium well. haha...

she's afraid of raw fish being "tai seang" or "too fishy." i myself never understood what the idiom meant until some putrid salmon a few years ago. bleh. anyway, apparently in the last year or so, my mom has been happily eating raw fish, but only the salmon and tuna varieties. i was in shock when she last mentioned we could get sushi for dinner. so, i determined to introduce her to quality sushi and variety.

cocoro is neither top-notch nor trendy, but a solid richmond neighborhood sushi bar that serves excellent food (quality and quantity) for the money. it's no nagano, but definitely stronger than kitaro, which it sits next door to. fish slices are unusually long (twice as long as the rice ball, which is probably against tradition) and presentation is paid attention to. service is very attentive (we never had an empty tea mug) and very friendly.

upon seating, our waitress brought dishes, a small bowl of soybeans, and hot towels. she then reappeared with green tea, salad, miso soup, AND a small dish of bright green marinated seaweed and crunchy translucent bean threads. the seasoning was good, although a little mushy/wet in texture. then again, seaweed is usually as such. anyway, all was unexpected and just one of the ways cocoro makes you a loyal customer.

with the order, i decided to keep it tame and slowly build her up in flavor and texture. we started with the maguro (your basic tuna) and this was fresh and clean in flavor, with little aftertaste. next was a sweet and moist sake (salmon) which she loved. the third was my favorite, hamachi (yellowtail) which actually put her at her limit. "seang," she said and gave me the uneaten portion. she was a little put off at this point but i encouraged her to try the next one. "you can't give up now!" for the 4th and final raw selection, i picked up a large slice of toro (fatty tuna) and let its buttery creaminess melt on my mouth, its strong assertive flavor relish on my tongue. across the table my mom's mouth quickly puckered and a fluttering of napkin accepted a nibble of toro. "omg, tai seang!!" ah well. another piece for me.

the waitress saw this and asked if anything was wrong. i explained i was introducing her to sushi. "ah, beginner... you should stick with less fatty fish, like maguro, sake, and albacore. the toro is much too fatty for her at this time." interesting. i made a mental note.

our other selections included a hamachi bomb and a soft shell crab appetizer. the bomb my mom loved. It's a large 3 piece roll containing a slice of thick hamachi and mayo, then panko fried with some masago sprinkled on top. the fish is fully cooked and very fragrant and oily (in a good fish oil way). this wasn't as good as my previous visit which had a much larger chunk of fish wrapped inside, but definitely good. the soft shell crab was pretty meaty, with a similar panko crust and sweet/tangy dipping sauce. unfortunately by the time we got to the crab, it had lost its warmth. we noted we should order this during our meal to make sure timing is correct.

during this portion, our sushi chef surprised us with a free dish, fried hamachi wrapped with jalapeno! he mentioned it was spicy so be careful. one bite definitely reveals the "bite" but it wasn't too hot. this was again panko crusted and consisted of a jalapeno sliced lengthwise and stuffed with chopped hamachi. seasoning was good, but this would've been a standout if he'd used an actual slice of hamachi. but i guess it's a good way of using up leftover fish that can't be served as nigiri.

the finishing note, and the thing that impressed me most, was dessert on the house. our waitress brought over 2 small square shotglasses that were filled with mango sorbet! the shotglasses had frost on the outside and a mini spoon sticking out of the sorbet. very mango-y and what a great way to pick up the palate again after fatty fish and a few fried, crunchy items. i was most impressed by the presentation. simple, yet ingenious. a perfect portion too after a full meal. just enough sweetness. i could go on and on.

as my mom and i were sipping our endless green tea, she notes that toasted rice has been added to the brew. i argue no, it's more the green tea. after some back and forth, we ask the waitress who ends up siding with my mom (!), noting that brown rice is used in the brew, as well as some herbal flower. apparently most japanese restaurants in LA use a basic green tea while SF establishments prefer the rice enhanced layer. will have to check this out.

the meal came out to $52 with tax/tip. considering all the extra goodies and the great service (both the sushi chef and owner came by to see how we were doing), i believe this is pretty good bang for your buck (4 nigiri, 1 large roll, 1 crab). my big thing is why they aren't more popular. perhaps it's because they're relatively new to the neighborhood? sadly, kitaro and sakuna blue (the mediocre quality sushi boat restaurant) on the same block are packed to the gills. but that's ok... i like my cocoro the way it is.