My husband had visited Cowfish once and helpfully warned me that the menu was bordering on bible-length, so I did us all a favor and studied up before coming. We came at 5:30 on a Sunday night and while it was not yet slammed, I could tell that it was about to get crazy. What tipped me off? Wait for it...
Our server gave us outstanding recommendations- I ordered the ahi nachos (slathered with their insanely good crab rangoon dip) and the Firecracker Roll (tempura shrimp and kani with raw fish on top and ponzu sauce), my husband had the bento box with Mark's roll (deep-fried tuna roll with jalapenos and cream sauce). I love sushi, I've spent many years and countless dollars in pursuit of sushi deliciousness. So many places try very hard to be inventive with their sushi menus- Cowfish was successful. Everything we had was excellent quality, generous in portion, and fun. I do think they could make everyone's life easier and cut 25% of their menu off (at least!)- I seriously wonder if this contributes to the long wait times. But overall, food is killer.
Our server, though great with suggestions, beverage refills, etc gave me the worst feeling from the second we sat down that we wanted us to hurry up, eat, and leave. Or possibly he was just tragically over-caffinated. The impression that he wanted us to leave was heightened by the bizarre move of taking the empty beverage glass and replacing it with TWO full glasses of lemonade. That is just weird, dude. I should note that we sat down and ordered almost immediately and didn't linger in the slightest- mostly because I felt that he might freak if we did. Kidding. We had to leave for a movie.
So in parting, LOVE Cowfish food. Can't wait to eat it again. Servers might want to mellow out slightly.