The Best Sushi in Park Slope is at Taro Sushi

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The Best Sushi in Park Slope is at Taro Sushi

The title of this post is a strong statement, one that requires research. And so, after titling this post "The Best Sushi in Park Slope," I decided to do the required research: I Googled "best sushi park slope" and guess what came up first? A post I wrote last January (click here) that basically said that the best sushi in Park Slope is at Taro Sushi. What does that mean? I've officially jumped the shark--I'm repeating myself. I've reached the end of food blogging, there's nothing left to say.

Well, no, Adam, settle down. Your last post didn't definitively declare Taro sushi to be the best sushi in Park Slope, you simply said that it was some of the best sushi you'd ever had. But what your readers don't know is that you had a falling out with Taro. A few months later, I had lunch there and I had some bad sushi. There's no other way to describe it: I know it sounds strange to say that the fish was too fishy, but that's how it tasted. Too fishy. It left a bad taste in my mouth, one powerful enough to keep me away for a few months.

Where did I go during my exile from Taro? Why I went to Kiku, another Park Slope sushi joint, and a place that certainly does not have the best sushi in Park Slope. The place is wildly inconsistent: sometimes the sushi is cut so expertly you want to photograph it and hang it on your wall. Other times it's such a mess that if you traced that sushi on a piece of paper and gave it to a geometry student as a final exam, he'd fail out of school. Yet, despite the inconsistency, Kiku is a very pleasant place to eat. There's a little flat bowl on a glass table with fish in it; the place feels like a spa. And it was the soothing atmosphere that kept me coming back, not the sushi. In fact, I went to Kiku today for the soothing atmosphere. Not the sushi.

My sad story might end there, but last month I returned to Taro to give it another shot--Craig was with me--and we were blown away. It was lunchtime and the place was packed (always a good sign). We saw the men behind the counter filleting whole fish, also a good sign. And the sushi, like the sushi you see in the above photograph (taken last week), was gorgeous--fresh-tasting and prepared with love. We've gone back many times since then, and I'm happy to report that once again Taro sushi is the best sushi in Park Slope. In the category of best spa-like atmosphere to eat sushi, Kiku gets it.

And thus concludes my deeply researched post on the best sushi in Park Slope.

Tags: Park Slope, sushi

Posted by Adam Roberts on March 5, 2008 9:17 PM | Permalink

Comments (46)

Actually, I do remember both your last Taro Sushi post and your previous Babbo braised short ribs post (all drool-worthy, by the way), but I wouldn't worry about you jumping the shark unless Ted McGinley starts guest-blogging...

Posted by Kristi | March 6, 2008 12:49 AM

Have you tried Sakura Cafe on 5th Avenue?

Posted by Sam Greenfield | March 6, 2008 10:04 AM

Have you tried Sakura Cafe on 5th Avenue?

Posted by Sam Greenfield | March 6, 2008 10:07 AM

A lot of folks in the slope would whole-heartedly agree with you on this one.

Posted by Danny | March 6, 2008 10:44 AM

If you ever come to DC, Murasaki is the best sushi place in town. Japanese ambassadors and their families frequent the place and are given a separate menu (because American palates aren't as refined, so we're not given the subtle flavor profile menus -- we'd see them as bland). It is hands down the best sushi place I've ever been.

Posted by kathleen | March 6, 2008 10:53 AM

Hell yes. Taro is great. You really need to get the omakase sometime when the head chef is there. As for Kiku, the really long cuts of fish with parts of it dangling off the edges of the rice really freak me out. The only other place in the slope that I've been to which even begins to compare is Blue Ribbon sushi but in terms of value Taro beats BR by a mile.

Posted by Ben | March 6, 2008 1:37 PM

Minus the shrimp nigiri piece that you have there, I'm pretty sure that is the most ideal sushi order I have ever seen. Gorgeous too!

Posted by Hillary | March 6, 2008 5:22 PM

Its hard for me to believe that anywhere could be better than Blue Ribbon Sushi...

Yamato on 7th is excellent, and the value of the lunch menu cant be beat.

Posted by Kitty | March 8, 2008 3:23 PM

5IK0cc hi good site thx http://peace.com

Posted by bob | March 26, 2008 12:52 PM