Oakland | coach sushi

Coach Sushi in Oakland, CA was where Mr Sweetie and I had our last Saturday date night before shelter in place was put into effect. Little did we know that it will be a while before we get to go out to eat again.

Coach Sushi is a good place to celebrate the end of an era — dining out pre-pandemic era, that is. Sounds discouraging but I am posting this meal as a reminder that pretty soon, we will find ourselves sharing a lovely meal with our loved ones once again, and toasting to everyone’s health and happiness.

Coach Sushi is known for its masu-sake ritual which involved endless sake on a masu (wooden) cup. Mr Sweetie and I went here years ago. The line was out the door back then and the restaurant was packed with loud college kids getting drunk on unlimited cheap sake.

When we walked in this time, there were no loud, fun-loving college kids, but just regular patrons. The restaurant was half-way full. I kind of missed the rowdiness because that was what I expected to find.

For old time’s sake, I ordered a masu-sake. I forgot that it involved a ritual of the host pouring the sake for me, then I had drink from the tip of the masu cup with my hands behind my back. Mr Sweetie had a fun time recording me on video. Oh, well, good times!

We had a wonderful spread of sushi rolls, sashimi and appetizers. I ordered a sashimi dinner which came with salmon, yellow tail, shrimp, tuna as well California rolls. Mr Sweetie ordered an assortment of sushi. We also had potstickers as our appetizers. Agedashi tofu with tempura sauce was mistakenly put on our table. I asked the server to just leave it there and include on our tab. It was delicious!

Coach Sushi is a comfort neighbhorhood sushi joint that is consistently reliable. It has been around for at least 10 years when Mr Sweetie and I started dating. I am glad that it is still around. I hope that Coach Sushi survives this crisis and be able to once again provide a venue for fun-loving sushi and sake lovers.

As we were leaving I saw masu-sake adorning the wall of Coach Sushi. Those are the sake cups of regular patrons which they artfully designed and left at the restaurant for safekeeping and future visits.

And it was a lovely evening by the lake.

And here is one more sashimi for the road.

Here is a nice article on How to Drink Sake From a Masu Cup.

02.29.2020