135 S. Main St.
Memphis, TN 38103
Check them out at: http://www.bluefinmemphis.com
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| House Salad |
A couple weekends ago a large group of us were planning to have dinner at Blue Fin. So, I bought a Restaurant.com certificate for $75 off of $150 (if you don’t know how these work, check them out at restaurant.com). Against my better judgement, a friend talked me out of making a reservation for us (who does that, by the way?). As karma usually works out for me, I was the unlucky first person to arrive and therefore be rejected by the oh-so-pleasant hostesses. So, we moved on and had sushi at another place (with much friendlier staff, might I add). So I was left with a very large certificate to Blue Fin. We settled on a Thursday night for blatantly gluttonous sushi extravaganza, and fortunately, we got to actually go in this time.
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| Lucky Clover |
We started with House Salads and the Creamy Crab Fondue. While the salads had great flavor, mine was a little shy on the dressing (but I was told that they’ve been known to bring extra dressing if you ask). The Crab Fondue looked fantastic, but had a very strong fish taste and was definitely not creamy (think dry tuna fish). I know, I know, it was crab, and it should taste like crab. But this was so strong that I took a moment to consider how foolish I would be if I kept eating it and ended up with food poisoning. Dramatic? Yes. Really, really, fishy tasting? Also, yes.
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| Creamy Crab Fondue w/ Crispy Wontons |
For the main event, we settled on about 8 different rolls. By far the biggest hits were the Lobster Salad Roll and the Lucky Clover Roll. The Lobster Salad Roll was wrapped in cucumber instead of seaweed, and did not have rice. I was extremely hesitant to try sushi with pear on it, but it really turned out to be a very nice mix. The Lucky Clover Roll also seemed to be low carb, and used rice paper instead of seaweed. The best part of this roll was the vinaigrette and the crispy wontons that were served as garnish.
Other stand outs were the Red Bird Roll (which I love at every restaurant in Memphis who makes it) and the Lobster Roll (which was a Latin twist on sushi and had a salsa and wasabi cream drizzle that were pretty nice, if you like cilantro). Weekend at Ernies stood out as well, but not in a good way. I’m an all in kind of eater with sushi, so I don’t nibble at a piece until it falls apart and I have a big mess. So, as usual, I threw the whole thing in my mouth before I realized what I had committed to. It was the longest bite of anything, ever… the more I chewed it, the more it grew. With each chew, the awful powder they sprinkled on top then coated everything in my mouth. I honestly wanted to spit it out, but I figured the parts I had already moved past my taste buds would just be tasted again. I can’t explain how bad it was. I’ve heard of some people who like it, and all I can imagine is that something went terribly wrong with our roll. Maybe the cap was on loose, and they sprinkled too much of that stuff. I don’t know, but buyer beware of the Weekend at Ernies Roll.
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| (back from L to R) Quintessential (x2), Japanista, Weekend at Ernies, Chef Salad, Red Bird, Lobster |
In the way of nigiri, we tried The Rabi, Tuna Tataki, & Snow Crab. I had a hard time getting The Rabi down, but Rachel loved it and said it was like a Lox and Cream Cheese Bagel, but on sushi. Go figure. Anyway, I had been excited to try the Tuna Tataki, but was disappointed in the texture. I have determined the soft stuff just isn’t for me (although I love tuna tartar…again, go figure). The Snow Crab was good, but hey, it’s a piece of Snow Crab on rice, so I really don’t think there was the potential for me to not like it in the first place.
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| Lobster Salad Roll (x2) |
The service was very good, although the hostesses (again) made the meanest faces when we asked for a table, and again later when someone asked to be placed at a different table when they tried to squeeze them between us and another party. I can only assume that certain sections of the restaurant were closed, because there were about 30 open tables, just that I could see. And I have never been a hostess. Maybe it is super complicated to get each waitress the right amount of tables, etc. Our waitress was fantastic though, and she was happy to take our Restaurant.com certificate (they get 18% gratuity no matter what, so I’ve always wondered why any waitress wouldn’t be). We had a long, unrushed meal and, most importantly, she brought fresh refills to the table. No awkward ”can you pass me your glass?” with a pitcher in hand, or worse, taking my glass away in the middle of the meal. Ten points for her.
So, it was a bit of a mixed experience for me, but now that I know what I like from their menu, I’m sure I can end up with only things that I will love. Definitely, for sure, never, ever, under any circumstances shall I taste again Weekend at Ernies, and all should be fine.
