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Bluefin Fine Japanese Cuisine

Blue Fin Fine Japanese Cuisine

7952 East Pacific Coast Highway

Crystal Cove Promenade

Newport Beach, CA 92657

OPEN: 7 days a week

HOURS … LUNCH: 11:30AM – 2PM  / DINNER: 5:30PM – 10:PM

Japanese food is something that is abundant in Southern California. It seems that almost everywhere you go, you see a Japanese Sushi Bar or restaurant. But finding one with fresh fish, excellent service, and an interesting and excellent menu is hard to come by. That’s why I love Blue Fin, they do Sushi and Japanese Cuisine with skill and style. One appetizer that you need to try if you are ever in the area is their Miso Cod. This Miso Cod is cooked and it is slightly sweet and a little buttery. The piece of fish isn’t huge because it’s only an appetizer. Each bite is tender and the fish flakes in your mouth and melts a bit before you chew it. The Miso Cod is so good it’s like having a perfectly cooked piece of fish that tastes exactly how your taste buds desired.

Another great item for lunch at Blue Fin would be their Assorted Sushi Lunch Special. It costs about $20 and you get Nigiri Sushi. (Nigiri Sushi is hand formed sushi with rice and topped with usually fish or eel or shrimp) The Lunch Special also comes with 1 roll of Maki Sushi which is your choice of Spicy Tuna Roll or else California Roll. Their Assorted Lunch Special is usually very fresh and it tastes good. I have never had a bad Lunch Special there. It comes with a small House Salad which is delicious. The salad is mostly mixed greens that are not the usual run of the mill salad greens that you get at restaurants. They taste great and fresh. But the best part of the salad is the superb salad dressing. It is made of onions and soy sauce and some other ingredients and it tastes very distinct and fresh and clean. The dressing is so good I always ask for extra dressing. The Assorted Sushi Lunch Special also comes  with their smooth flavored Miso Soup. The Miso Soup comes the perfect temperature and it also is served in a fun bowl with lid. It’s always fun to open the Miso Soup bowl and getting the warm soup. There is the traditional small tofu pieces in the soup as well as tender pieces of seaweed. The consistency of the soup is textured with small pieces of miso and the broth is slightly watery so the flavor is not overwhelming. The order in which you get the 3 items are: First the Miso Soup, then the Small House Salad, and finally the Assorted Sushi.

I always top off my meal at Blue Fin with some green tea ice cream. They give a scoop of ice cream with a strawberry slice and they top the scoop and strawberry with sprinkles of powdered sugar.

The overall price of lunch at Blue Fin get get pretty expensive, especially if you get the Miso Cod and a large house salad and an iced tea and ice cream for desert. Expect to spend at least $25-$35 per person for lunch. But if you have the money and you want some tasty Japanese Food then I truly recommend Blue Fin!

-Tyler

Visit Golden China's Website

Golden China  (Culver City) Mandarin & Szechuan Cuisine

9018 Venice Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232

(310)559-0116

HOURS: Open Daily 11AM – 10PM

I was in LA with my friend and we went on an adventure. We checked out Venice Beach and that was fun. But then we got hungry, so I drove around and then we saw Golden China. At first glance at the exterior I noticed that it wasn’t a very impressive facade of a restaurant nestled inside a Culver City Strip Mall. But we were hungry and we both liked the idea of Chinese Food so we entered. Man am I glad I went inside because Golden China had a fun Chinese interior and excellent food. We were there on a Friday for dinner around 6PM and it wasn’t very busy and we were seated immediately. The decor was what you might expect from a nice sit down Chinese Restaurant and the seats were comfortable. The waiter came around quickly and took my drink order of water and brought it quickly. The water didn’t taste that great. It was kind of “hard” tasting. But I drank it anyway because it was free.

I then took a look at the menu. It was expansive and there were specials as well as entrees. I was impressed by their selection. Check out their big menu by clicking here and selecting menu from the side interface. They also have a separate vegetarian menu.

So I ordered their Beef with Broccoli a la carte. While my order was cooking I looked at their animal Chinese Zodiac information. I guess I’m the year of the Monkey so I’m supposed to be intelligent but easily confused. I don’t really like being insulted by my place mat but whatever. I took it in stride as something I should watch out for. Maybe I try and compensate for my easy confusion by how I ask for directions all the time instead of trying to figure out where to go on my own. Regardless, it feels good to be connected to at least an animal that is kind of human-ish.

When my Beef with Broccoli arrived I was IMPRESSED! It was a huge amount of Beef with Broccoli for $9.95! It was like a mountain of Beef with Broccoli! I was super hungry so I jumped in with a smile. The sauce was super good. It tasted medium-thick and it had a pleasant aftertaste that didn’t linger. The sauce tasted great on my white rice and I mixed the two with pleasure. The beef was SUPERB, it was tender and tasted great with the sauce and it had an interesting texture that tore easily. The broccoli was almost as good as the meat and it was the perfect tenderness and each piece was medium sized and so I didn’t have to cut them I just munched ’em!I ate the whole giant entree by myself and had no regrets.

Good news! I didn’t just try the Beef with Broccoli! My friend ordered the Egg Foo Young special and it was GOOD! The Egg Foo Young was fried and had a really yummy sauce. It tasted like a gravy actually. The Egg Foo Young was heavier than my Beef with Broccoli so be prepared to take some home or share it with the family if you buy it…or take some home.

Eating at Golden China in Culver City was a smart idea and an excellent experience. The waiter was friendly and he brought our orders with proper timing. And the food was great! What else can you ask for? I recommend Golden China to anyone who likes Chinese food and if you are a fan of Beef with Broccoli you NEED to visit this restaurant! Delicious!

-Tyler