***September 3, 2006: Sushi Ran***

With the bridge closed this weekend I decided to try out one of the non-downtown restaurants that I've been meaning to go to forever- Sushi Ran.

Right off the back I was pleasantly surprised by the casual warmth and friendly service. My table decided to order and assortment of sushi and a few cooked dishes. The sushi was all very high quality (Japanese Mackerel, Toro, and sweet fish were the stand outs) and the rolls (Dragon and citrus salmon) were both interesting and delicious.

However, I ended up wishing that we had ordered more of the special menu items because they were FANTASTIC. Maybe my taste buds just aren’t refined enough but at a certain point high quality sushi is indistinguishable from restaurant to restaurant. The creative, fresh specials on the other hand set Sushi Ran apart. The beef carpaccio with some sort of spicy dressing and greens was amazing, as was the black peppered seared hamachi, and the vegetable tasting. The vegetable tasting actually might have been my favorite of the night and it came with shaved green beans in an amazing curry sauce, asparagus and radishes in a light vinaigrette, spicy stir fried eggplant, and a seaweed salad.

After such a great meal, dessert was slightly disappointing. However, I have never had a great dessert at a Japanese restaurant. I had the mascarpone ice cream with fruit and found the mascarpone flavor to be far too subtle; it might as well have been vanilla. The best dessert with the bananas foster with ginger ice cream and toasted coconut - a classic made better!

All in all I'm definitely returning to Sushi Ran. It's such a comfortable, friendly place that I could almost see myself returning weekly (if it wasn't quite so far away . . .). Next time I probably won't save room for dessert and I'll just order more the specials!