My mom’s birthday came around again, which meant it was time to go eat sushi! We stuck with the burbs, but since neither of us had ever been, we went to Bluefin in Plymouth Meeting. And even on a tuesday night, and after making reservations in advance, we still could only get a seat at the sushi bar. It’s kind of crazy how busy this place is. It’s so unassuming on the outside, being in a random sad little strip mall. But it’s quite nice on the inside. We indeed sat at the sushi bar and all the sushi dudes were busy, busy, busy the entire time we were there.
I always like to get a salad to check out what the dressing is like. It was good! I also thought the miso soup was quite good, but my mom thought it was a little bit too salty. I think she’s slowly going senile, it was perfectly good soup.
The server guy, or owner guy, or manager guy, recommended the Usuzukuri as an appetizer. It is extremely thinly sliced fluke served in a yuzu dressing with jalapeño paste. This was delicious but totally unecessary. The fish is super fresh (brought in daily except sundays) and it absolutely melts in your mouth. The jalapeno paste is also pretty darn spicy, but goes really well with the fish. I say it was unecessary because once we were done eating this thing, I was already getting fairly full, and we hadn’t even gotten our sushi yet. So it nearly rendered our entrees practically useless. This is typically why I’m not all that into appetizers, because I’m a fan of the main event.
I really love agedashi tofu, so I wanted to try it here. Boy, was that ever a mistake. I am hoping this was just a major snafu. It was like they had some sauce concentrate, an they forgot to dilute it. It was mad, crazy salty and not in a good way. The tofu itself was great and so were all the fixins, but the sauce was terrible. Major fail!
So my mom got the Sushi Dinner with 8 pieces of assorted sushi and a crunchy spicy tuna roll. Holy big pieces of fish, batman! Here’s something that blew our minds – how large these pieces of fish were. They do not skimp here! The ratio of fish to rice is about 4:1, no joke. Like the fish in our appetizer, it’s all super fresh and they also do not skimp with the wasabi either.
This is the Noname Roll I, with avocado topped on a shrimp tempura roll with unagi sauce, tempura chips, and roe. Oh man, this was good! The avocado was super ripe and buttery and melty and it’s also quite huge and filling.
I don’t know if they even have proper dessert here, but you just get free dessert there. You get some fruit and some fried bananas. Not too shabby! Overall, the food was good and the sushi was fresh. But it’s hard to overlook the major agedashi tofu fiasco. The service was good. Considering just how busy it was, the food came out at a decent pace. I’m not quite convinced that it’s worth all the hype, but it was a nice night out.

I love going over to M’s house for dinner because she feeds me so incredibly well. And it’s always gourmet! She also usually prepares a special cocktail to go along with the meal. This drink was called the amazonia, and is made with champagne, cachaca, mint, and others. It was delicious and super strong.
We started off with some black bean and banana empanadas. Yes, it sounds like a strange combination but it was really great. She just made these with store bought phyllo dough so they were also super easy to make.
The main entree was a brazilian seafood stew. This also seemed fairly simple to make. To speed up the process, she had actually prepared some of the ingredients in advance. She used shrimp along with fish and had them marinating in one bowl.
The tomatoes, cilantro, and green onions were also prepped in one bowl.The green peppers, onions, garlic, and crushed red pepper were in another. Then everything was cooked together and coconut milk was also added and fresh cilantro was sprinkled on top. This was so good! It was flavorful and fresh and there was no ingredient that didn’t work in the dish. I typically don’t even like coconut milk in my food either, but I still really loved this. This is definitely something any seafood lover would enjoy, and since I witnessed it all, it is super easy and quick to make.
She also made these ridiculous salted caramel truffles and I ate three of them. And because of how rich and luxurious they were, it was about two too many… but beyond amazing!

Did you know there was a riverboat that cruises the Delaware and you can eat and drink on it? Yeah, me either! I got invited to take a ride on the Philadelphia Belle and sample its cuisine! Who’s going to refuse a ride on a boat, with food? There’s multiple floors, and each has tables and a dance floor. It’s a big boat, and a smooth ride, so don’t worry about getting seasick. I felt great!
It was a beautiful and romantic table setting. Much less romantic is the live band. Ok, basically, it’s a party boat. But not a booze cruise or anything. It’s more like a wedding reception on the water.
And there’s tons to drink! And folks, these drinks are no joke. Despite being on water, nothing is watered down at all. In fact, their drinks are extra strong! Knock back a few of these and you might think there’s waves undulating in that river.
The starter plate was a sampler of sorts. The italian market sampler was a little skewer of roasted tomatoes, mozzarella with basil, olives, and dry sausage. The best part was definitely the mozzarella. The red pepper hummus was good, but the pita it came with was hard and crunchy, and not in a good way. The cute and adorable philly cheesesteak spring roll was good! It was served with a spicy ketchup.Here is the crisp oysters rockefeller with a touch of cream spinach and topped with chipotle cream. These were big and tasty.
The lobster bisque! It was served with a light swirl of tarragon creme fraiche. This was a very respectable bisque.
Let’s move on to the entrees! Here’s the atlantic salmon with roasted vegetable orzo and a tomato-coriander vinaigrette. The salmon was cooked nicely and was a nice and fresh piece of fish, but the sauce was a bit too sweet. And I’m someone that loves sweet!
This is the center-cut filet of beef with asparagus, potato gratin, and a red wine demi-glace. Ooh y’all, this was really good. I mean, I rarely ever just eat a big hunt of steak, but this was so good! The meat was super tender and the sauce went with it perfectly. I could have eaten another one!
Dessert was a little piece of cheesecake and a brownie. So the cheesecake was pretty soft and so-so, but the brownie was great! And you know, I’m not the biggest fan of chocolate or brownies. There’s a live band that plays throughout the evening and you are free to go out and take a look at the view from the boat. On a clear night, the views are quite tremendous. And you’re on a boat! The night I was there, there were a couple of sweet sixteen birthday parties as well as an older birthday. Towards the end, people started dancing, and that’s when it got a little surreal for me. I felt like I was crashing some sweet sixteen parties! But it was a great time and I feel very lucky to have been invited for the ride. Special thanks to H/A for being my event photographer.