Shiro's

A much more homey atmosphere than expected considering the cost of the food. If you can swing the expense, you're in for an expertly crafted experience. In our case, this was a mild course into a varied course preluding an excellent 4-way tuna course, leading to a weirder crustacean course before a dessert course. Stand outs were the sweet unagi, the unusual sea urchin, anything marinated with yuzu, and the marinated mid-fat bluefin. This was also the only sushi place I've ever been to that served *raw* shrimp, very impressive.

Excellent meal! We dined at a table and did the set meal there, with the supplemental plates (I forgot to take a photo of the second plate). We wanted a sushi-focused meal and opted for the set with more nigiri. You're greeted in the same fashion as many Japanese restaurants, "irassaimase" いらっしゃいませ, and it shows how attentive everyone is! They all worked together and created such a seamless service. The fish was fresh and well prepared. The sushi rice was nice and warm and accompanied the fish really well. My favorite course was either the tuna or the botan-ebi course, and while we wanted to do extra a la carte pieces, we were stuffed! Would definitely recommend to anyone wanting a fantastic sushi experience. The sushi bar had a large group and the chefs made great entertainment!

We had the omakasa experience, it was delicious and accommodating since I dislike uni, they substituted for Alaskan salmon. The green tea and ginger was free and generously filled all service. The first few courses were great, the later courses had more flavor, very creative and well thought out menu.

Came in for Table dining, and was pleasantly surprised :) really good quality experience. The hojicha panna cotta is extremely good, which I think you can only try if you're at the Table dining and not the Omakase at the sushi bar. I wish that Shiro would've used a bit more local ingredients. While it was still really good to have a variety of fish from around the world, fresh local ingredients near the sea are also just as appealing for me but maybe there's more to it that I don't understand. If you're looking for quality food at a quality restaurant, definitely give Shiro a try!

This is typically a 150$ per person dinner, probably more like 200$ at the bar, so 4 stars seems to appropriately reflect my impressions given the context. I have not tried any of the even more expensive famous other sushi places in Seattle, but this one provides fantastic quality of good in a pleasant (but not perfect) atmosphere, serves by a great waiting staff. The courses in the set dinner (the only option the table) were well composed, the waiters found a good balance between competently informing about each nigiri, while also not going overboard with explanations. The drinks menu is pretty much limited to sake, wine and beer, and there are some additional dishes that can be ordered to complement the dinner (I had the clam miso and an ikura nigiri). The experience at the bar seems the more interesting option (no places were left on the day I wanted to eat there), which brings me to the biggest drawback of the place. As much as I enjoy minimalism, and I do, the restaurant has a type of barebones furnishing of a mid-low quality that is not uncommon in the US, but to me as a European seems to not go together with the quality of the rest of the experience. This is only a minor downside for me, but it’s hard to understand why no more effort is made to make the tables and floor look a little less like canteen in the 1970s. Again, this will not be visible if you are sitting at the bar. Long story short: I would go again but would make sure I get the bar experience.