Blue Ribbon Sushi

My brother’s friend had flown in from Rochester for the weekend and after two days straight of making fun of my brother, I started to get hungry. Luckily, I was cool enough to be invited to dinner with them.

A quick ride out to Park Slope and we had arrived. To my surprise, we found parking within minutes. Anyone familiar with Park Slope knows that you have a better chance of winning the lotto than finding a parking spot.
Blue Ribbon Sushi is located right next door to Blue Ribbon Brasserie, and I almost walked into the wrong place until I heard someone shout loudly, “that’s not it, dummy; next door!” Oops. Okay, Blue Ribbon Sushi, We have arrived!
The exterior of the restaurant resembled an old Japanese Temple; walking through the heavy, thick curtain past the door made me feel as though I was about to go on stage and perform with a Twisted Sister cover band. It’s a dimly lit space, with a long sushi bar, dark wooden tables, benches and exposed ceilings with wood-glazed rafters.

The hostess quickly sat us at a roomy and comfortable booth, and handed us menus. I took a peek and decided I would let my brother and his girlfriend order for us, since they’ve been here before. Besides, my brother’s friend and I were busy skimming through the sake menu, as I was in the mood to get ripped.

An extremely soft-spoken waiter came over with a few glasses of water and asked if we were ready to order. I asked what kind of sake he would recommend and he said it would depend on whether we were looking for dry sake, or one with a bold or light body. My brother’s friend decided we should try something fruity and robust, so we ended up going with Arabashiri sake. As the waiter poured us a taste, he went on and on about the sake. Okay hipster, shut the fuck up and pour my glass before I set your ironic t-shirt collection on fire. In all seriousness though, I was glad to see a waiter well-versed in sake.

The food order was placed. We got toro taki (tuna belly tartare with quail egg), for $13.50; san dakio (a three radish salad), for $6.50; and another dish (which consisted of rice and oxtail), for…? I don’t remember the name, either because I was too busy drinking my sake. For sushi, we ordered the Blue Ribbon special (a variety of sashimi, sushi pieces and rolls), for $135.

First to arrive was the radish salad. It was quickly pushed away from me because, honestly, I’d rather eat dog shit than a radish.

The toro tartare was up next; a small bowl filled with toro belly and a raw quail egg and a special soy sauce. All of this mixed together was a knockout. A few hints of wasabi came through in the quail egg and the rich texture of the toro was something I’d probably kill for.

Out comes the rice dish with oxtail; a yellowish and sticky short grain rice, and scrambled egg with pieces of oxtail, somewhere. The buttery texture of the rice was great, and the soft pieces of oxtail went nicely with the firmness of the egg.I added a little hot sauce that came with the dish and it gave it a extra little kick.


Finally, a sushi boat sailed into my harbor: a long wooden plank filled with extreme sushi goodness. The usual suspects were on the line-up: tuna, toro, yellow tail, salmon, mackerel, a dragon roll and a blue ribbon roll. Each piece of sashimi melted in my mouth. The dragon roll was decent, but the show stopper was the blue ribbon roll: tender lobster with shiso leaf wrapped up like a birthday present.



After we devoured the sushi, the Mackerel carcass was deep fried and brought back to be enjoyed with some soy sauce. I’m happy I finally made it out to Blue Ribbon Sushi. The final bill came to $250, including tax & gratuity, which is pretty decent when divided between four people, and especially when considering how fresh and high grade the sushi was. Blue Ribbon has definitely made my list of heavy hitters for sushi. Nobu who?

Blue ribbon sushi website
278 5th Avenue Brooklyn (718) 840-0408