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Issue date: July 14, 2000
The outdoor patio at Homma's Brown Rice Sushi provides a welcome respite from the bustle of Birch Street and California Avenue.
@vcredit:David Neville
A twist on old favorites at Homma's Brown Rice Sushi
A twist on old favorites at Homma's Brown Rice Sushi
(July 14, 2000)
By Jim Harrington
Tucked away in a little alley, a few feet and worlds away from busy Birch Street and California Avenue, Homma's Brown Rice Sushi has the feel of a hidden secret that only savvy locals know about. Once you discover the restaurant, it will feel like your place and you'll be glad that the rest of the world doesn't know it exists.
Of course, this review could change all of that.
The small storefront is tucked behind Primo Cleaners, with a full tree shading its patio from view. It's the type of place that you have to either accidentally stumble upon or else really be looking for. Homma's is worth the effort.
Befitting its name, Homma's serves only brown-rice sushi, to which there are drawbacks and rewards. Brown-rice sushi simply isn't as visually attractive as the regular white rice editions, for which bright white rice serves as a perfect frame for the colorful fish and other toppings. Along the same lines, the inherent blandness of white rice allows for the other ingredients to shine fully.
In its defense, however, brown rice is healthier and has more texture and taste. The bottom line is that brown rice sushi is quite different from the regular variety and should be thought of as basically its own cuisine. I wouldn't eat it nearly as often as regular sushi, but it is a nice alternative, and if you are in the mood for brown-rice sushi, Homma's is definitely the right place to go.
Order from the counter and then take a seat outside in the attractive patio. There are a few seats inside but the interior smells too strongly of fish (not necessarily a bad sign). The patio is pretty basic, with just three plastic picnic tables shaded by umbrellas. A small rock fountain provides a steady trickle of water that helps mask the noise coming from Birch Street. The whole setting makes for quite a relaxing noontime lunch.
The easiest course to chart is toward the chef's specials list, where you can get a variety of items for a very reasonable price. Combo No. 1 offers four pieces of nigiri, three pieces of tuna roll and three pieces of cucumber roll for just $5.80. The futomaki option delivers eight large pieces with sweet egg, burdock, cucumber, avocado, flying fish eggs, salmon and shitake mushroom for $7.50. Many of the chef's combos present nice opportunities to both play it safe and try a few more adventuresome items.
The combos come with miso soup, which is served in regular Styrofoam coffee cups. This is an unfortunate way to serve what is otherwise decent miso soup. The cups are too tall and narrow to provide a proper mix and what you get is all the light broth rising to the top and the heavy flavors at the bottom.
Homma's strength is its nigiri. Whether you order maguro (tuna), ebi (shrimp), hamachi (yellowtail), saba (mackerel) or one of the other intriguing options, what you'll get is a generous piece of fresh sushi placed on a bite-sized portion of rice. The sake ($2.80) is a flavorful piece of fatty salmon. The hirame ($2.80) is a tough, chewy slice of halibut. The hamachi ($2.80) is a bit oily, which contrasts nicely with the diced scallions. The maguro ($2.80) is the best of the raw fish that I tried.
The rolls--both the hosomaki (rice inside the seaweed) and the uramaki (rice outside the seaweed)--were also well worth ordering. The California hosomaki ($3.50) is your basic roll of crab, avocado and cucumber. The una-avo uramaki ($3.75) places flavorful barbecued eel next to soft avocado. I'd come back for the una-avo.
Also, try the donburi ($7.50-$8.60), where several pieces of sushi are placed on top of a bed of rice in a bowl. The brown rice salad ($5.80 vegetables only; $8.60 with assorted sushi and veggies) is also tempting.
Finally, it is worth noting that Homma's serves a nice array of yasaimaki (vegetarian sushi) such as umekyu (plum and cucumber) and yamaimo (mountain yam) for very reasonable prices ($1.95-$2.40).
It may sound a little too New Age to some, but brown-rice sushi is really worth trying. And, for that reason, Homma's is worth finding. My apologies to the regulars who might have a more difficult time getting a table thanks to this review.
Homma's Brown Rice Sushi, 2363 B Birch St., Palo Alto; (650) 327-6118. Hours: 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. for lunch Mon.-Fri.; 5-9 p.m. for dinner Mon.-Fri.; 12:30-2:30 p.m. for Sat. lunch; 5-9:30 p.m. for Sat. dinner; closed Sun. Credit cards not accepted.
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