Along the long chain of newly opened restaurants in New Haven City Market in West Covina, Bluefin Handroll Bar offers a unique option. This small bar allows patrons to watch their fish get sliced right in front of them. I got two dishes, the premium chirashi bowl ($35), and the five set hand roll ($24), each consisting of fresh sashimi.
A chirashi bowl is similar to a poke bowl but has slices of sashimi rather than clumps of fish. The sashimi alone had a wide selection of fish all consisting of large cuts. Along with the sushi the bowl consisted of many toppings such as ginger, seaweed, seaweed salad, imitation crab, salmon and toro tartar, freshly-grated wasabi and eggs. All the fish and toppings were laid out on a bed of rice with sesame seeds.
This dish, in my eyes, would be the Magnum Opus of this restaurant. I loved every single bite I took, with the wasabi filled soy sauce elevating the flavor with the spiced flavoring. Being able to eat each topping on its own elevated the dish with more sweet, savory and spicy additions.
Consisting of albacore, salmon, toro and bluefin, the Chirashi bowl had a plethora of different sashimi. The slices made were all soft and easy to chew. My favorite part about this dish was the small piece of sea urchin. Sea urchin (or uni) is my personal favorite seafood and the one from this restaurant was amazing. Extremely rich, creamy and has flavors that leave you wanting more. Even at the steep price of $35, I would definitely order this again.
The five set handroll ($25) was a set of 5 handrolls consisting of tuna, salmon, crab, albacore and yellowtail. The seaweed it was wrapped around was a tad bit soggy but the overall roll was packed with 7-8 cubes of the respective fish so I enjoyed the chirashi bowl much more. I waited 15 minutes for my food, with great service and nice decorations giving the bar an authentic sushi bar feel, masking the fact the restaurant is in a food court. Overall this restaurant gets a 5 out of 5 stars.
