Bernal Heights is already, and officially, the hottest neighborhood in the entire solar system. Now we are an order of magnitude more hot, because Eater National just anointed the tasty new Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar on Mission Street as one of the Hottest Sushi Restaurants in America.

Hotness.

Truth be told, this comes as no surprise. Your Bernalwood editor has eaten at the new Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar many times since we first announced its glamorous re-opening in the new space in February. We haven’t written about it since, however, because (shameful confession) we didn’t want to have to compete with you for a table. In true Samuel Brannan style, the hypertastiness of the new Ichi+Ni is just a little something we’ve been keeping to ourselves.

Well, now the word is getting out.

Anna Roth at SFWeekly said:

The new [izakaya] space is still coming into its own, but once it establishes its own identity, Ni Bar is bound to become not only a staging ground for the sushi bar’s omakase, but a destination in its own right.

Critic Jonathan Kaufman reported that the sushi remains amazing as always, while the new izakaya-style zone in the back of the new space takes things in a rather delicious new direction:

Your resolve to hold out for sushi may be whittled away by the sanbaizu sunomono ($7.50)–pink commas of shrimp with pickled cucumber and frilly, crunchy tremella (white fungus)–and crisp-skinned fried chicken wings ($9.50), first cooked sous-vide with yuzu juice until the flesh is as tender as a ripe peach.

If you want to preserve your omakase aspirations, don’t order the clams ($8.50), which come with ground pork in a ridiculously savory miso broth swirled with black garlic oil.

Because you may have to order seconds.

I’ll second that. The Miso Asari Clams & Pork are mind-blowing. In fact, yes, I actually do get two orders of it, because it’s just that insanely good.

We’re in good company, because the Michael Bauer says the miso clams are one of his favorite dishes as well.

More of this sort of gush is likely to follow, because this week Eater National added Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar to their list of The 19 Hottest Sushi Restaurants In the US Right Now:

ICHI SUSHI + NI BAR
Already a favorite on San Francisco’s sushi scene, ICHI Sushi only got better earlier this year when it reopened in a new, bigger space. Eater SF took a look inside the new 30-seat sushi bar with an omakase counter, table seating, and an izakaya named Ni Bar serving booze and other izakaya-style plates.

Big congratulations to Ichi owners (and Bernal neighbors) Tim and Erin Archuleta.

If you haven’t already eaten at Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar, get thyself there quickly, because it won’t be long before you’ll have to compete with every foodie in the United States to get a table. You have been warned.

PHOTOS: Top, Neighbor Chef Tim, by Telstar Logistics. Below, Miso Asari Clams & Pork at Ichi Sushi + Ni Bar; photo by Inside Scoop