eiji - again

317 sanchez st at 16th, 1/2 castro 1/2 mission

pinky and i ate at eiji about a month ago and showed up at a friend's cocktail party so drunk and belly-blissed that said friend insisted on making a date with us to revisit the venue. plus he lives a block away. plus he's an unabashedly pretentious foodie with excellent taste. plus the pinkster and i are popular dinner companions. plus sushi was the perfect entree into a night of birthday celebration at the makeout room. do i need any more motivations?

right, so. we ordered a lot of different things, the better to regale my readers with a well-rounded review. also, i was starving. we started with the ankimo, the foie gras of sushi. of course, the monkfish is not force fed like geese are, so i'm not sure what makes this liver so rich and tasty. s-m described it as "iodine-mineral-infused". i didn't really know what he meant but he implied that much good fish has this quality and he's a really good bullshitter so i let it go. the white meat carpaccio had a heavier, distinctly not-japanese mouth feel that went down well. we also ordered the kelp salad and the piece de resistance for eiji, the oboro tofu. they're known for their authentic custom-made tofu dishes, so definitely give it a try when you eat there. it had a mild vegetal bitterness balanced well with the specialty soy and plate of garnishes: fresh shiso and ginger, sesame seeds, fish flakes, green onion. the oboro is served hot in a bowl, and we fought over the remnants. yum. each of the nigiri and maki rolls had perfect room-temperature rice (almost warm) and flavors that lingered beautifully. the quality of eiji's food is superb. in fact, pinky declared it his new favorite japanese restaurant in the mission/castro.

we ate a lot and generally filled our bellies, though the three large asahi beers had something to do with that. i had declared that i would not be drinking (much) this evening and that went out the window as soon as s-m started making me giggle with stories of his curmudgeonly office behavior. (with panache!)

and speaking of flamboyance, eiji does not have, nor need it. and neither its subtle, cozy decor, nor its serious, eyeglass-clad clientele inspired a whole lot of flirting. s-m did his best but he explained that he's focusing on monogamous behavior at the moment, and pinky was so sleep-deprived by house guests in his bed the past week that he refused to engage even the scrawny gay hipsters next to us. to kick it up a notch then, i recommend you bring some hotties with you and come make love to the food.

itadakimasu!