Bluefin Sushi & Ramen — Restaurant in San Antonio

Bluefin is located in the Rim Shopping Center. The restaurant specializes in Japanese items. The menu offers an assortment of ramen and sushi rolls as main entrees, and many other Japanese items as appetizers such as takoyaki, karaage, kushi, gyozas, and more.

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Also on the menu was (Texas) Waygu, offered on both a sushi roll, and served raw with a hot plate.

First up was the avocado bomb. This was $9 and was basically 1 avocado, skinned, battered and deep fried, quartered and topped with crab. It had decent flavor, but for the price was a bit of a small appetizer.

Then the takoyaki came out, again 4 pieces, which seemed a bit small as a $8 appetizer. Most places charge about $5 for 4 pieces. The takoyaki itself was decent, but again a little underwhelming. What surprised me was the bonito flakes. I usually tell them not to put them, but forgot. The bonito flakes here were amazing. They had a very smoky flavor, no fishy smell or overpowering flavor like most places, but they also weren't moving around from the steam like they normally do at other places.

Next up was the calamari, I didnt get to try this until it was already cold, but it didnt have much flavor from what I could tell. The portion size was pretty good, but I felt like there were many items on the menu that would have been better flavor wise.

Then the tempura shishito came out. I wasnt sure how hot these were going to be, as shishito peppers are generally not hot. In a serving of 10 you generally get 1 or 2 peppers that are medium spiciness. My very first pepper was a solid 5/10 heat wise. The peppers were still somewhat crunchy, not like the baked shishitos most places serve. Flavor wise they were a bit plain, the peppers acidic flavor was the main flavor, the tempura added some texture and flavor, but again this appetizer was a bit underwhelming.

Then our entrees started to arrive. Those who had the ramen said it was excellent, some of the better ramen they had eaten. I tried some of the black tonkotsu broth, and it was pretty good. It was definitely up there in some of the best I've had, but I didnt get to try any noodles or pork.

I ordered the flaming VIP roll as my entree. A sushi roll made with spicy tuna, sirracha, shrimp, mayo, asparagus, and a tempura coating. The roll was brought out in a foil wrapper that looked like a paper boat, on a plate with flamable liquid and was then lit on fire. The roll had good flavor, the furikaki added a lot of flavor and had what looked like baked onions sprinkled on top. The tempura gave a crunch, the shrimp and asparagus gave done denseness, the avocado and sauces soft mushy texture, and the spicy tuna and sriracha a bit of heat. The combination of flavors and textures was pretty good.

The 620 roll was also brought out on a plate and lit on fire, it was served on top of orange slices. I tried 1 piece of this roll, and it had decent flavor. It was a thick sushi roll, with a couple layers, its plating and visual appearance was very nice, but I slightly enjoyed my VIP roll a bit more.

Overall the meal was good, and while I didnt have anything I felt was the best I've ever had, I did have a few items that would easy make top 10 lists. I actually take that back, the bonito flakes (were the best I've ever had) but thats not quite an entree. The ramen here was promising from the small bit I tried, and I'll probably go back to try it. But as far as the sushi rolls and appetizers went, they either fell short flavor wise, or portion wise for the price.

Service was good, we were checked on multiple times, by more people than just our waitress, and drinks were refilled, and plates cleared quickly throughout the meal.

As far as selection goes this place had one of the better Japanese offerings in San Antonio. It wasn't a cheap meal, and for the quality and price, I felt like some items (entrees) were a good deal, while others (appetizers) were overpriced.

Flavor: 8/10 Entree Portions: 9/10 Appetizer Portions: 7/10 Value: 7.5/10 Service:...

I was craving sushi and stumbled into Bluefin, their sushi did not disappoint! Here’s the rundown:

Food: They have a massive list of choices, but I wanted to have a light meal, so I went with the basics: a classic spicy roll with tuna and a Dragon roll. They provided me a basic side salad with cut up shrimp as a special. It was tasty, but the shrimp was a bit chewy. The spicy roll was good, but it was missing the spice. The highlight was The Dragon Roll; it might be one of the best I have ever had! It had the right portions, fresh taste and overall enjoyable. The downfall of my meal was the Tempura Cheesecake the first bite was delectable, but the inside was still frozen and had a pasty taste. It was another special on the house; I hadn’t originally asked for a dessert, but they said it was for grand opening. I’m not much of a sweets guy, so I’m not really an authority on the topic, but I would’ve been content without.

The Service: Two words (or is it one?): World -Class. I might be biased because I was the sole patron at the time, but It felt like every employee was there to serve me. But seriously, my main server was so kind and helpful. She explained the best sushi, and how they differed (I’m sorry I wasn’t that hungry)! I would have taken any of her suggestions, if I had a larger apatite. Everyone was on their a-game and was super kind. They made me feel very welcomed.

The Atmosphere: Again, I might not be the best person to ask, but it was very comfortable; I sat at the sushi bar. It was fun to watch them make the rolls, but it did feel like they were watching me while waiting for me to order..I digress. I feel like this place has a lot of potential to be a real good time! However, they had this guitar player who was singing to.. well me, and the staff. This musician had his moments, but when he started singing Charlie Puth, it was time to go.. he was EXCELLENT with his country and rock covers.

Misc. As of yesterday, they didn’t have their liquor license, so that was a miss.

Overall, I really enjoyed my experience and would recommend EVERYONE...

Wow... just disappointing in every aspect.

Ordered for take-out. I ordered the chicken fried rice, so dang good roll, and the bluefin special roll. Which one of the rolls is hot and fried, one is a cold fresh roll. $53 before tip

I walk in to pick up my order and all of my items are handed to me in the same bag. I opened it immediately and look inside and see my cold fresh sushi roll sitting right on top of my fried rice and hot roll. YUMMMM who doesn't want their sushi to become lukewarm sitting on top of hot items! I asked for another bag to put my fresh roll in and commented that nobody wants their sushi to get hot sitting on top of other hot items.

Fried rice-

0/10 literally took one bite. This is actual rice pilaf with peas and carrots straight from the frozen walmart bag I swear on my life. NOT FRIED AT ALL. Like seriously I've never seen more pale white "fried rice" zero fry, zero seasoning not even a touch of black pepper, disgusting slimy mushrooms, and the chicken was shocking, lmao like the most geriatric boiled unseasoned plain white chicken I've ever seen. $14 down the drain.

So dang good roll-

Should be called "so dang tiny and expensive roll" literally a 5 inch roll cut into 6 pieces. If it wasn't cut I could finish it in 2 bites. Absolutely overpriced. It was decently tasty but I would never spend that much on it if I'd known the size. $15 like man this is the size of an egg roll guys you should be disgusted charging that much for this

Bluefin special roll-

Again shockingly tiny. Mediocre flavor, I guess it was fine but not any better than gas station sushi, I'd rather have HEB sushi. $21. I cannot express my dissatisfaction through words here.

Overall if there was 1 single experience at a restaurant that I could take back on the last decade of my life I think it would be this one. This place will fail like the last sushi place that was here, despite the insane volume of people in the area. Their prices and quality are just...