Blue C Sushi in Fremont offers kaiten (conveyor-belt) sushi. A barcode scanner alerts the staff to stale plates. The quality is hit-and-miss; best to stick to the more elaborate rolls. Service is prompt.

Chiso just keeps getting better; though anyone who's been will tell you it was great from the get-go. What moves me most is the seafood stylings of owner/sushi chef Taichi Kitamura. He trained with master chef Shiro Kashiba and it shows.

A social and fun place, Hana has reasonable prices, an excellent wait staff, bountiful bentos and a prime Capitol Hill location.

A fab, immaculately clean and upscale sushi joint.

Former I Love Sushi chef Ryu Nakano has finely honed skills, a capable crew and the honesty to steer you away from less-than-perfect fish.

This Capitol Hill joint excels at no less than three things: mixing up excellent cocktails, making great sushi and making you forget that some of the city's best ethnic dining and most accomplished bartenders are just steps away.

The service is a little flaky occasionally, but that's because it gets deservedly crowded — the prices are exceptionally reasonable, and the food is always superb.

Make new friends around the teppan table. Bring your own friends, hide away in private tatami room or yuck it up around one of the city's friendliest, lesser-known sushi bars. Expect to be treated like family. The steak is great, too, per the restaurant's name.

Why is there a line out the door at this tiny Wallingford sushi place on a Wednesday night when the neighborhood is packed with sushi places? Maybe it's the big, yummy maki pieces at low prices.

Nijo Sushi Bar & Grill downtown prepares bentos and combos as well as creative dishes like sea bass "ceviche" and filet mignon tartare. The appetizer list is long and exciting, and two dozen sushi rolls sweeten the deal.

No cheap date, but quality has its price. The Omakase dinner, a 10 course seafood extravaganza, highlights their best: green-lipped mussel, albacore tuna, surf clam, tempura shrimp, asparagus-squid-morel saute, halibut ocean salad, pristine sashimi, Spider Roll.

Red Crane Steak & Sushi Cafe in Shoreline's Club Hollywood casino serves pan-Asian food in an entertaining atmosphere. Try the sushi, a meaty "megaburger," a classic rib eye, a bowl of Malaysian curry laksa or a lunchtime bento box.

We think sushi is supremely sexy. Fresh-fish fans take note: Saito's might be your lucky spot.

At Ken Yamamoto's unassuming Lower Queen Anne cafe, talk inevitably turns to the potentially lethal and drop-dead expensive Japanese blowfish: fugu. Farm-raised in Japan, it's a specialty at Shiki, offered raw as sushi or sashimi, or cooked in a hot pot meant for sharing.

Many locals swear this is the best sushi restaurant in Seattle — and that's saying a lot! Head chef Shiro Kashiba has swarms of followers, as he's been turning raw fish into things of beauty for decades by now.

Sushi Land is just the ticket for sushi addicts looking for a quick, cheap fix. Seated around a rotating conveyor belt, you pick and choose among color-coded plates.

How's the sushi? Fine, thanks, but who cares about the fishy foodstuffs when you're smack in the middle of a neighborhood love fest: the closest thing Issaquah's got to a "Cheers"-style hangout.

Located on Lake City Way, this succulent restaurant features some of the most fascinating sushi chefs to watch, so seat yourself near the bar.

Owner/chef Hiro Shiroyama, with the aid of his sushiman, Manabu Shimoji, offers guests a wonderful world of tuna (and other fishy fun) at Bellevue's Kelsey Creek Shopping Center. You'll find tuna — maguro, shiro maguro, chutoro and o-toro — gleaming in a well-stocked sushi case.