Looking at the menu, I quickly surmised that Jin Sho is not a traditional Japanese restaurant, but it isn't quite just a sushi restaurant. With exotic fish on the menu such as Aojima and Live Eel, Jin Sho aims to be one of the higher-end sushi restaurants in the area. Jin Sho touts their two chefs from New York's famed Nobu, Noriomi Kaneko and Ichiro Takahashi as part of the staff, and indeed, both Kaneko and Takahashi worked the sushi bar in front of me during my meal there.
Jin Sho has a unassuming exterior, and the English menus are simply laminated, but upon passing through the worn glass doors, one is treated to a very sleek and modern setting, with dark wooden tables and matching chairs. A 10-person sushi-bar with an open kitchen shows off the skills of the staff as they prepare the food for the patrons of the restaurant. The display case shows the fresh fish of the day, with everything from Aji to Unagi, and everything in between.
Jin Sho is definitely in the higher echelon of Japanese dining on the Peninsula, and their prices are a little bit higher than what one might expect at first blush; but the prices for their lunch set meals and price fixe menu are quite reasonable, ranging from the $17 one item meal to the $45 omakase (chef's choice).
Feeling a bit indulgent, I decided on the $45 omakase, which at twice the price for a normal set meal, easily amounted to twice as much food, enough to feed two people. Omakase means 'trust', and in the context of Japanese dining means that one is putting their trust in the chef; at Jin Sho the server asked if there was anything that I did not eat, and noted it down. I like omakase, because what comes out is a surprise, and it may be things that I might not ordinarily order.
The omakase began with the Hamachi Toro Tartar with a Soy Wasabi sauce, which was served on ice, and topped with green onions and caviar. A mixture of the buttery toro and the spicy-salty flavors of the sauce, it was accompanied by a Yamamomo, a small red berry to cleanse the palate after eating the tartar.
Next to arrive was the Black Pepper Seared Tuna with Miso, which arrived on a bed of Romaine lettuce. With the coarsely ground pepper and the miso, the tuna was a blending of traditional western and eastern flavors.
Almost immediately after the Tuna was the White Shrimp Salad, which also came on a bed with lettuce; normally, the shrimp used is rock shrimp, but the chef made the substitution, as they were out of rock shrimp today. The shrimp is battered and deep fried, and then tossed with a spicy mayonnaise and yuzu sauce; there are some pieces of juicy shitake mushroom scattered about the shrimp and sauce.
The next surprise was the signature dish at Jin Sho: the Grilled Marinated Black Cod with Miso. Moist and tender, the flaky cod was flavored with the sweet miso, and juices from the marinade flowed with each bite.
I had thought the meal was done at this point, but more was on the way; a small set of sushi with tuna, salmon, and yellowtail appeared in front of me, along with a bowl of hot miso soup; when I finished these two items, I felt stuffed.
The server came by and asked me which type of ice cream I would prefer for my dessert: green tea or sesame. The sesame ice cream arrived a few minutes later, along with a small bamboo cup containing panna cotta, and topped with a whipped strawberry sauce; the strawberry sauce was not as strong or as flavorful as some of the other dishes here; and being in the midst of strawberry season, I felt disappointed that the strawberry sauce was not sweeter.
The food and service at Jin Sho was excellent and I look forward to the next time I can try their dishes; when the receipt came, I saw that they had written down my dislike of beef; the server explained that the Black Cod was a substitute for the Beef dish they would have served; as usual my dining selections attracted the attention of the patrons around me, with many asking the server what it was I was eating.
While some may complain about the price of the food at Jin Sho, I found the food quite pleasurable; lunch is probably a better bargain than dinner (which starts at $60 instead of $45 for an omakase), the service was top-notch, with the servers attentive and friendly. I suspect that as this restaurant gains more renown for their wonderful cuisine that walking in will become harder, which would be a shame, as part of the fun of Jin Sho definitely lies in their ability to surprise and delight with their creative dishes.
5/5
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