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Among the seafood dishes you typically find at a restaurant, ahi tuna is almost always served one way—rare, often with a light sear or sesame crunch around the edges. But what is ahi tuna, and where can you find the best of the best? After all, if you’re about to dive into a plate of raw or barely cooked fish, you want to ensure it’s top quality.
The Hawaiian term “ahi” refers to two types of tuna: bigeye and yellowfin. So, when you see your favorite seafood chain or steakhouse use “ahi” or “yellowfin,” just know that both mean the same thing. The word itself has nothing to do with style of preparation or cooking temperature.
Many of the signature seafood chains around the country have ahi tuna on the menu, but there are other places you can find it, too. Steakhouses and even some more casual restaurant chains serve ahi tuna. In short, expect premium-grade tuna at these establishments, prepared in many ways: in a poke bowl, as a tartare, on top of a salad, or as an entrée.
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood
Ahi Tuna Entrée (Per Serving): 440 calories, 4.5 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 1,880 mg sodium, 12 g carbs (2 g fiber, 5 g sugar), 54 g protein
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood offers three unique ahi tuna dishes. On the appetizer menu, you can try its ahi tuna tartare with avocado, mango, citrus with light curry, and sesame oil. Among its selection of sushi and sashimi, you can order a plate of yellowtail sashimi with cilantro, red chiles, and ponzu. And if you want a full entrée, there’s the ahi tuna seared rare with togarashi spice, pickled ginger, wasabi, and soy sauce. The ahi tuna tartare, in particular, was a standout to one customer, who noted on Tripadvisor that it was the “best Ahi Tuna Tartare ever” and was “out of this world.”
Bonefish Grill
Tempura Crunch Sashimi Tuna (Per Serving): 380 calories, 20 g fat (3.5 g saturated fat), 3290 mg sodium, 19 g carbs (3 g fiber, 5 g sugar), 34 g protein
The menu at Bonefish Grill features many of the popular ways of preparing and serving ahi tuna, including the tuna poke bowl. It comes served with red onions, peppers, cucumber slices, sesame seeds, and cilantro tossed in a Hawaiian poke sauce over a bed of jasmine rice. To simplify things, opt for an ahi tuna poke with red onions, peppers, cucumbers, and cilantro tossed in a Hawaiian poke sauce.
For more of a crunch, Bonefish Grill offers a tempura crunch sashimi tuna made with sushi-grade tuna seared rare and sliced with sashimi sauce and tempura crumbles. It is served with wasabi, soy sauce, and a sriracha drizzle. One customer went outside their comfort zone and “dared” to try the raw fish and shared on Tripadvisor, “It was amazing. I’m surprised by the perfection of the tuna on a very busy Saturday night.”
Yard House
Sesame Crusted Ahi Tuna (Per Order): 670 calories, 38 g fat (8 g saturated fat), 680 mg sodium, 28 g carbs (4 g fiber, 5 g sugar), 54 g protein
Restaurant chain Yard House has locations across America, serving a menu filled with small bites, salads, sandwiches, and plates. Ahi tuna fans will be pleased to see the fish appear several times on its menu, not only as an appetizer but as multiple entrée options. To start, its blackened ahi sashimi is seared rare and served with a soy vinaigrette, wasabi, and pickled ginger. Another popular appetizer choice is the poke nachos with marinated raw ahi, crispy wontons, avocado, serrano peppers, white truffle sauce, sweet soy ginger sauce, Sriracha aioli, cilantro, green onions, nori, and sesame seeds.
When it’s time to move on to the main course, you have choices. Its sesame-crusted ahi tuna is seared rare and served with crispy garlic, sesame seeds, jasmine rice, charred baby broccoli, baby tomatoes, and a creamy ponzu sauce. For an even lighter meal, its ahi tuna crunchy salad comes with ahi tuna that is seared rare and blackened along with field greens, broccoli slaw, crispy wontons, cilantro, and soy vinaigrette.
Chart House
Spiced Ahi: 1,080 calories
You can certainly order a great steak dinner at Chart House, but that’s not necessarily why customers love it. The restaurant’s menu is primarily built on a foundation of great seafood options, including its selection of ahi tuna. The seared pepper ahi tuna is served with avocado, cabbage slaw, and a wonton salad. There’s also the spiced ahi with furikake rice, wasabi cream, and ginger soy to heat things up. Chart House’s ahi tuna is also available on the Dock to Dine portion of the menu, where it can be prepared in a number of different ways.
Legal Sea Foods
Tuna Grilled Dinner (No Sides): 340 calories
Legal Sea Foods has several locations in the Boston area. Tuna aficionados will be pleased to see a few different options on the menu, starting with the nori-chili crusted yellowfin tuna. It comes with sesame and soy roasted broccoli and sesame and cilantro jasmine rice.
From there, you can order a yellowfin tuna steak as your entrée, which can be prepared blackened or grilled with your choice of two sides. The tuna can also be added to any salad as your protein of choice. The tuna steak was a standout to one Tripadvisor reviewer, who noted that it was the “best tuna steak ever,” adding, “Been looking for a good tuna steak in Boston for a while. I’ll definitely be back.”
McCormick & Schmick’s
Nutrition information unavailable.
McCormick & Schmick’s is known for serving high-quality seafood, which extends to its ahi tuna. Many locations feature the fish as both an appetizer and an entrée. At the San Francisco location in Ghiradelli Square, you can even order a tasty plate of ahi Boom Boom nachos to start your meal. With taro chips as the base, the dish is topped with ahi tuna, mango, jalapeño, avocado, and Boom Boom sauce. Ahi poke also appears in the seafood tower, along with lobster, prawns, oysters, and crabs.
Ocean Prime
Nutrition information unavailable.
For a signature seafood dining experience, head to Ocean Prime. The chain excels at fish- and steak-centric dishes, including ahi tuna. You’ll find ahi tuna in a few menu items, like the ahi tuna tartare with avocado, ginger ponzu, and sesame seeds. If you prefer a salad, opt for the ahi tuna salad with mango, avocado, cashews, and a spicy sesame soy glaze.
Ocean Prime is also where you can find a poke bowl made with ahi tuna, salmon, avocado, and Sriracha vinaigrette. One reviewer on Yelp noted that the ahi tuna at Ocean Prime was “spectacular,” while another Yelp reviewer added that it “had a perfect sear” and paired wonderfully with the salad.
Truluck’s
Nutrition information unavailable.
Seafood chain Truluck’s has locations in several states across the U.S., including Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Washington, D.C. You’ll find all the usual seafood suspects and yellowfin tuna on the menu. First up is the yellowfin tuna crudo with ponzu, avocado, and Dynamite sauce. Try Truluck’s hiramasa ponzu with thinly sliced raw Dutch yellowtail tuna, tamari, citrus, and jalapeño. One satisfied customer noted in a Yelp review that the tuna served at Truluck’s was delicious and “cooked perfectly.”
Seamore’s
Nutrition information unavailable.
Seafood chain Seamore’s offers two different ahi tuna options on the menu. It has a yellowfin tuna poke with ponzu, avocado, peanut, crispy shallots, and scallions, as well as seared sesame tuna with ginger scallion rice, bok choy, napa cabbage, and honey-kimchi glaze. Both are great lighter options when you are heading out for lunch or dinner and are in the mood for a refreshing bite of ahi.
Smith & Wollensky
Nutrition information unavailable.
Seafood restaurants are the most likely suspects when looking for ahi tuna, but a small selection of signature steakhouse chains also include the fish on their menus. One of those is Smith and Wollensky, which offers tuna tartare as an appetizer with cucumber salad, avocado mousse, gochujang, and crispy rice crackers. Customers can also order seared yellowfin tuna. It’s prepared with nori and gochugaru-crusted and served with cucumber kimchi and coconut fried rice.
Morton’s The Steakhouse
Nutrition information unavailable.
Another steakhouse chain that serves high-quality seafood is Morton’s The Steakhouse. If you happen to find yourself at one of its locations but aren’t really feeling in the mood for a heavy steak dinner, don’t fear. You can always order its ahi tuna poke off the menu. Or, to kick things off, if most everyone in your party is a seafood fan, split an Ocean Platter. It includes cold-water lobster tail, jumbo shrimp cocktail, crab cocktail, oysters on the half shell, and ahi tuna poke.
