The Best Sushi I Ever Ate

Murphys, CA Main Street

I am fanatical about some foods like sashimi and prosciutto. "Enjoy" means that the food can fill you and taste good, but "fanatical" means that I have to set limits since scarcity is a part of economics, and I don't want to suffer from mercury poisoning or a heart attack from salt and cholesterol.

I have eaten sushi in a variety of times and places, ranging from the crappy/okay supermarket and school variety to bad buffets, okay buffets, surprisingly good buffets, conveyor belts, and other restaurants. However, the best-tasting objectively by quality sushi I ever ate was in a super-obscure California town called Murphys.

Don't ask how I ended up there since I normally only travel by TV. Making the most of it, I explored this small and quaint midway tourist town in the California gold country that has a population of around 2,200. Surprisingly, there were retail stores and a strong feel of community at facilities like a riverside park.



Eventually, I became hungry and went to a sushi restaurant called Doke on the main street, which was probably the only street running through the town. I just ordered the salmon nigiri since I was in a bit of a rush.

Savoring the 8 pieces outside, I was surprised by the taste explosion (lol) as I was just expecting run-of-the-mill sushi. The salmon was extremely fresh, sinewy, and fatty, placed on top of a slightly sweet mound of rice that was an appropriate size and sourness. It was the freshest raw fish I ever ate since they were apparently from nearby farms, and the portions were generous.

Also, the pizza from Firewood the previous day was pretty good. Will I ever end up at Murphys again? Probably not, at least without a lot of effort. I thought this finding was interesting though. As Hipster Ariel would say, "Yosemite Park is too mainstream!" (Although I camped there too)