While maguro is the standard tuna at the bar, if you're a sushi shark, then you know to ask for toro - the premium cut of tuna belly that doesn't even get a price on the sushi menu. Toro is A.Q. every day. In LA, I've seen two pieces of toro for $24.
Because it's from the belly, toro is fatty. Unlike maguro which, like a ruby, is shiny, deep, dark red, and almost semi-translucent, toro is more like a pink opal, lighter in color, sometimes almost white, and creamy opaque looking. When you dip it in your shoyu sara (Upside down, right?!? You have learned, Grasshoppa.), toro leaves behind a shimmering swirl of oil on the surface, and when it hits your tongue, it melts. Like butter. Like fatty, tuna butter.
There are two grades of toro. Chu-toro is slightly to the rear of the tuna and is less fatty, therefore less expensive (on the diagram, bottom half of the fish, orange section, second from right). Just anterior to chu-toro is o-toro, ultra premium, uber fatty tuna belly (bottom half of the fish, lightpeach section, third from the right). If it's o-toro is specified on the menu, order it. It'll be worth it. I promise.
Then again, you might not be able to eat regular old maguro ever again.
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