As others have pointed out, despite being in the middle of Japantown the food at Bushi-Tei is more Japanese-inspired Californian than Japanese. So don’t come expecting sushi and you’ll walk away with an amazing meal.

When we arrived our table wasn’t ready because the party before us was taking their time paying the bill. So we got some drinks at a nearby bar and waited for the hostess to call us. This was slightly annoying but when we finally did get seated we were given complimentary sparkling rose wine and an amuse bouche to make up for the wait.

Our waiter, Mark, described all of the dishes in exquisite detail and gave great recommendations on the food and on wine pairings. Our salad appetizer was quite good. The grilled bigeye tuna was simply amazing (and this is coming from someone who doesn’t like seared tuna usually). For dessert I had the black sesame blancmange. The menu description doesn’t do it justice (especially since almost no one knows what a blancmange is). It’s a light custard-like dessert but made with black sesame cream. Very good and unique.

after reading reviews by mandeelish and opilicious, we decided to treat one of our friends to bushi-tei. although it’s got a japanese name, the cuisine is actually french-california. the decor though has a mild japanese touch w/a very romantic, modern, chic atmosphere. a definite fine dining experience (which didn’t meld to well w/my tang top and shorts…surprise, surprise).

but yes, the bathroom was an unforgettable experience in itself. i tried the ‘back’ option, which amazingly had excellent aim. if there’s a next time, i’ll have to give ‘oscillating’ a try. ;)

The portions were super small and the taste was okay…not THAT impressive. Over-rated.

This place is impressive on all levels and has quickly become one of my favorites.

mandeelish has already mentioned the free champagne we received while waiting for our table. They even told us we could go across the street to the bar and they’ll come and get us when the table was ready. wow! that’s service.

The decor is modern and stylish, where the wood panels are actually taken from some ancient Japanese estate…. so they say.

Service is superb and our server was extremely friendly and knowledgeable. He gave excellent wine pairing recommendations for our meal and explained what every dish was and how it was prepared.

The food is excellent. If you’re up for it, I’d recommend getting the chef’s omakase so you get the best of what the kitchen has to offer. You won’t be disappointed. And since this was our first time dining there, they offered us a free taste of their sparkling sake. Very good sake. Oh, and there’s this blurb on the menu about how their water is some electrolysis water with a ph of 8.5~9.5. Didn’t quite know what that was about and it tasted like regular water to me.

But if you’re not already impressed up to this point, just make a trip to the bathroom. Holy crap is what I said when I saw the toilet. This was a fully decked out and fully automatic toilet with pulsating and oscillating buttons I didn’t dare push. You just need to go see this toilet.

We came here a little early and our table wasn’t ready. We opted to just stand nearby since we had been sitting all day at work. A little into our wait, the host gave us a couple glasses of champagne and told us our table would be ready soon. Nice touch! And good champagne!

We came here for the dine about town offering, but ended up ordering one omakase and an entree with appetizer. All of it was delicious. Very unique dishes, and the waiter always explained again what was in the dish upon presentation. The waiter also let us try a couple wines to pair with our meal.

It was a great experience, and even though we had a late dinner, we weren’t rushed at all. And if you come here, check out the bathroom!

This place is great for dates or a small group of friends. The omakase is on the pricey side, but you will get full from it. Otherwise, the other menu items are between $20-$30.