Tiny Plum Blossom is not a restaurant for sushi purists. The wine bar and cafe features an array of Asian flavors in its sushi and small plates. The menu combines sweet, sour and salty, using chutneys, fruit salads, dressings and marinades to juxtapose flavors. You'll also see more traditional Asian ingredients like wasabi, sake and miso infused into butters, potatoes, marinades and dressings.

The menu is broken into small plates, large plates and sushi. One highlight of the small plates is Japanese BBQ Beef, which features warm salted slices of tender beef alongside a shredded apple salad in ginger dressing. Tangy hoisin sauce offsets the flavor of duck in the Peking Roll.

The small sushi bar offers the usual assortment of sushi and sashimi options (think salmon, tuna, crab stick, eel, sweet shrimp, clam), but the focus is “designer rolls.” Avoid the heaviest dressed options in favor of the Spicy Kitty, with tuna, spicy aioli, papaya and roe, or the Chillo Fritto, with tempura-battered snapper, red onion, peppers, eel sauce and fried garlic.

-- Erin Hartigan (April 24, 2012)