Blue Fin
148 Middle Neck Rd.
Great Neck
516-487-9000

Who can blame Alex Yeh, chef/owner of Blue Fin in Great Neck, for not springing for a real sign? After all, the location just may be jinxed—Oyama and Saku, two other Japanese ventures, went down faster than a slice of yellowtail, in this same room. Blue Fin has been open about a year or so and Yeh, who was a sushi chef at Nobu, has a vinyl banner draped over the old sign out front. Great Neck is overrun with Japanese restaurants, some just straight sushi bars and some going the pan-Asian/fusion route. Former Nobu chefs have been involved with more than a few of them. It doesn’t help matters that the spot inhabits a quiet stretch of Middle Neck Road and the dark storefront makes the place look perennially closed.

Inside is a very pleasant space, dominated by a sushi bar. But on one of the nights we were there, a couple of loud families and many small children are jammed into a tatami room in the back. So why, with the restaurant two-thirds empty, are we shown to the table closest to this rowdy contingent of adults oblivious to the kids’ whoops and cries?

We move away from the din but within viewing range of the flat-screen in the dining room. With TVs able to fit seemingly everywhere these days, they’ve become ubiquitous in nicer restaurants. Does a TV broadcasting today’s miserable economic news do anything but cause one to lose their appetite?

The food, for the most part, is less exotic than expected. A gratis bowl of warm Edamame is a good start. Broiled Black Cod ($10) melts in my mouth with its sweet Sakyo miso sauce. But six Peanut Tiger Shrimp ($8) have been battered and frozen days before our arrival. Salmon Pizza ($9), one of a few ambitious fusion-style dishes, has raw strips of fish draped over a thin rice cake topped with seaweed and sliced into six pieces. Go for it. Salmon Skin Salad ($7) is full of strips of skin, but they don’t taste like they’ve had any recent contact with a salmon. We try Beef Kushiyaki ($6), which are skewers of grilled steak with a bit of teriyaki sauce. Better to go with traditional beef teriyaki. A few pieces of sashimi are unimpressive. Blue Fin Toro ($6) reveals two tiny chewy slices. An equally tiny piece of Tuna ($2.50) is thick and forgettable. A request for a sushi chef recommendation brings a flavorful piece of Uni (mashed sea urchin gonads, $2) wrapped in nori.

The Dinosaur Roll ($14), made with shrimp tempura pieces and cucumber inside with warm eel and avocado on top, was good but would have been better had the shrimp been warmer and more evident. Filet Mignon ($20) is a simple stir fry with peppers and onions, but my salad that comes with never arrives. Two harried waitresses, doing everything including answering the phone, never have a chance to notice. The guy who sat us next to the noisy families is nowhere to be found. On another night, Organic Chicken Katsu ($12) brings perfectly fried strips of juicy poultry with katsu sauce on the side, a nice departure—and I get my salad.