When Bungalow Kitchen first opened in Tiburon in 2021 the menu centered on California cuisine using local and seasonal ingredients for a wide-ranging menu that spanned salt-baked sea breams and roasted lemon chicken. But because the restaurant launched amidst the challenging second year of the pandemic, the Bungalow team scrapped one part of the menu that many Marin residents were most looking forward to: sushi.
Now that is all set to change. Starting Thursday, August 1, Bungalow Kitchen will being serving a full sushi menu and a “secret sushi omakase” led by chef Yukinori Yama, formerly of fellow Mina restaurant Pabu Izakaya.
The omakase menu is not exactly secret-secret — readers are learning about it in an Eater article, after all — but regular diners might not exactly stumble upon it either. The omakase experience, a 14-course tasting menu, will be tucked away at the upstairs bar. There are three seatings each night with room for 12 diners each turn, highlighting fish flown in from Japan, much like Pabu’s menu. The $150 omakase menu will change with the availability of ingredients, but diners can expect items such as Japanese sea bream with dashi ponzu sauce and smoked fish roe; an assortment of nigiri, including Hokkaido uni and otoro; A5 Miyazaki wagyu; and what Mina describes as “unreal” seasonal chawanmushi with scallop, ikura, uni, shrimp, and shiitake mushrooms. “[Yama will] take the classics, use really great products, and mix it up throughout the year,” Mina says.
But even if diners don’t sign on for the full omakase experience, they will have an a la carte sushi menu to order from in the larger dining room. There will be options such as Michael Mina’s Negitoro, highlighting tuna, uni, ikura (it’s named after Mina, as it’s a personal favorite); the Yama Roll, featuring shrimp tempura with maguro, avocado, jalapeño, and ponzu; hand rolls with unagi, avocado, and kabayaki sauce; as well as vegetarian options, such as the yasai with avocado, cucumber, spicy miso, lettuce, and sesame seeds. “Yama is always really heavily product- and technique-driven,” Mina says, “so that works well because it gives people what they really want. He’s also not afraid to do a spicy tuna roll, whereas you will get a lot of sushi chefs that will say no, that’s too mainstream. Yama doesn’t mind doing it as long as he’s using great product.”
The addition of sushi is a dream come true for Yama. He pitched the idea for an omakase program run by him and his wife, also a Pabu alum, as well as the a la carte sushi menu, which fits with the initial plans the group had for Bungalow Kitchen. Already there are more plans in the works for the sushi component at Bungalow; Mina says they hope to host whiskey and tuna cutting ceremonies at the restaurant. The group also wants to bring Pabu’s tableside sushi bar experience to Bungalow, where a chef will dress three or four types of fish for each person at the table, Mina says. Also coming in two weeks are sushi options for large parties or buyouts, where diners can order nigiri or sashimi platters for their event. “I lived in Marin for many, many years and there wasn’t a lot of sushi at this level,” Mina says. “So I’m hoping this is something that Marin County can grasp onto really well.”
Bungalow Kitchen (5 Main Street, Tiburon) omakase menu begins on Thursday, August 1, with seatings at 5 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday. The a la carte sushi menu debuts on Wednesday, August 7. Bungalow Kitchen is open 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday
