Rumblefish Bistro

Sam Cooke crooning in the background. The Godfather framed on the wall. Welcome to Rumblefish Bistro: a sushi restaurant. Located on 23rd Avenue, between California Street and Clement, Rumblefish offers a unique dining sensation. Where else will you find empty Coppola wine bottles lining the wall with Nigiri on the menu?

Yesterday was date night, and we wanted the babysitter to enjoy the experience of feeding our toddlers dinner, so we got out early. We arrived at the restaurant around 5PM. They open at 5:30PM. This gave us time to walk around the block; a couple of times. We passed by Pizzetta 211, which is kitty-corner to Rumblefish. They were already open with diners seated at their tables. A mutual friend recommended Pizzetta 211 to us, so we stopped to peruse the menu. It looked like fancy-pants pizza to me. A quick glance at the menu, and a peep at an outdoor diner’s plate, revealed that the pizza looked more like baked bread with toppings on it. I wouldn’t consider it pizza in the traditional sense, but it did look very good. We also noticed on the menu, in all caps, that they recommend children remain seated at all times for their safety. My wife and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, “We won’t be coming here with the kids!”

After our relaxing stroll around the block, we headed back to Rumblefish. We were the only diners through our entire visit. That was a little surprising, because the food and service were both excellent. My wife reminded me that it was 6PM and most people don’t go out for dinner until after 7PM. Like I’ve said before, having kids changes your perspective on the world.

We are not sushi snobs, and therefore, we are very happy ordering the chef’s selection of sashimi, the spicy tuna roll, deep fried soft shell crab, and a dragon roll. I was tempted to order the Philadelphia roll, but I was vetoed based on the idea my wife was not eating sushi with cream cheese (maybe we are sushi snobs?).

The sashimi was fresh and served at room temperature. We’ve had sashimi at other restaurants where the sashimi tasted like it came out of a refrigerator. You really lose a lot of flavor that way. This sashimi was near perfect.

The spicy tuna roll lived up to our expectations of being spicy. A classic stand-by, it’s hard to mess up a spicy tuna roll. I don’t think we’ve had a bad spicy tuna roll anywhere, and Rumblefish did not let us down.

My wife’s favorite was the deep fried soft shell crab. For whatever reason, I thought we were getting hand rolls, but again my wife corrected me and said, “Oh, no. We ordered just the crab.” Even though it was deep fried, it was not greasy, and it was fried to a golden brown. The crab was accompanied with greens with ponzu sauce; overall, simply delicious.

What can I say about the dragon roll? Barbecue eel is one of our favorites and the avocado was creamy and melted in our mouths. We snarfed it down and looked around for more.

The waitress came back and asked if we wanted dessert. She only offered a grean tea cheesecake, which my wife promptly turned down. I would have tried it, but my wife whispered to me that we’d explore other options…

Our other option turned out to be a fresh market about a block down on Clement. We got a couple of sweet breads. I wish I could remember the name of the market… It was close to the movie theater. If you’re in the area, and walking around, you won’t miss it.

Overall, Rumblefish Bistro is a recommended sushi restaurant. If you go early, you'll have the place to yourself!

Rumblefish Bistro
200 23rd Ave
(between California St & Clement St)
San Francisco, CA 94121

Pizzetta 211
211 23rd Ave
(between California St & Clement St)
San Francisco, CA 94121