Best Sushi

Ino

Miyako Mall, No. 510, 1620 Webster (at Post), 922-3121

Nigiri sushi stars at this immaculate, tiny establishment, a narrow room in the Miyako Mall with a blond-wood sushi bar and matching walls. Nine or 10 people can sit at the bar, and a similar number at the five tables that line the wall. The specialty of this small, spare place is the classic: the freshest fish, laid on carefully cooked rice, with a spare smear of wasabi between the two. No Thunder Mountain Screaming Dragon Rolls here -- just exquisite slabs of tuna, mackerel, and flounder, thick cuts of the creamy monkfish liver called ankimo, and pale slices of steamed abalone. An eel/avocado roll is about as exotic a bite as you'll find. If the view out the window weren't of Geary Boulevard, you'd think you were in Japan.