kukla_tko | FOOOOOD....

dkoleary posted a lovely bit about going to a sushi restaurant called Wasabi on Washington Avenue. She praised it, along with Sansui and Seki. She was somewhat bothered by the reputation of I Love Mr. Sushi which has been an RFT favorite for some time now. She felt that the reputation was undeserved.

Ok, first of all... I have never eaten at Wasabi or Miso.

Seki... is on Delmar? I had their sushimi lunch and wasn't impressed.

Sansui... is that the one that's a tea-house and sushi bar? If it is the one I am thinking of, they put Wasabi in everything I ordered. I much prefer to have my pickled ginger and wasabi on the side so that I can control the spicing of the dish. I don't like food that burns my nose off.

Wasabi, I have not yet experienced. I have been to several other resturants which serve sushi. To be honest, only two stick out in my mind, and yes, they are both in the county. (I have no fear of going into the city for good food, good companionship or good entertainment. I have lived in the city off and on throughout my life, so I am not one of the Scared White Rich People who hid out in the county.)

One is called... Oshi? It's on Ballas just south of Olive. Wonderful. Probably the best sushi I have ever had. And it is right next door to a little deli-type restaurant which serves "European food". Russian, Italian, greek and whatnot. Ohhh. It is wonderful, good hearty food, reasonable prices, and a european chocolate to finish the meal. (Sigh.) They make their own breads and have a european meat section. I am getting hungry just typing this.

Mr. Sushi.
Oh yes. I *do* love Mr. Sushi. My first GOOD sushi experience occurred there, and I have always found the servers and sushi "chefs" to be friendly and fun. I have been there when one of the girls sang random pop songs, when the girls encouraged people to get up and dance to a favorite song, and when the whole "work" crew was joyfully singing and joking. The girls there know us on sight and when Kurt comes in with Tanya and I, they giggle and call him "man with two girl." The Sushi chefs are pleasant and will chat with you if you sit at the bar. And they love it when you order a "crazy roll."

Their signature roll is good, and their caterpiller roll is delightful. Sometimes, they are trying out a new idea, and you get a free sample of a new salad or soup or other dish.

It isn't high end cuisine. Sure. But it isn't BAD sushi, and it is reasonably priced for what you are getting. And for someone who was going to give up on sushi all together due to several bad experiences, it was just the thing to turn me on to this stuff.

There's Shogun in St. Charles, which is one of those places where the chef comes out and cooks your food at the table, they do sushi as a sideline... and it shows, because their sushi is terrible. Dry, with rice that borders on being crunchy. The fish isn't feeling quite fresh, and the service is slow and sullen. Oh, and their "performance" chefs are competent, but the one with the single eye kind of freaked me out. I mean, you're slinging my food around with no depth perception?

There's the place on Olive that is west of 270. Is that Miso? I went there and was so turned off by the sushi that I ordered a swordfish steak instead.

There's a place in the CWE which is a chinese resturant which also serves sushi. I got some of that but once again felt that I was paying too much for the quality that I received.

Went to the "boat" (The Ameristar casino) not for the gambling but for the FOOD! (BTW, Buffet=WHOO HOO!) Since the buffett line was too long, we went to the oyster bar. (BTW, three thumbs up!) I got a wonderful array of dishes, but the sushi roll was as bad as shogun's.
And on the rare occasions when the Buffet has sushi over at the mongolian barbeque section, it is not kept chilled well enough, and is frequently almost body tempature, and either too squishy or too dry. (But the rest of the food is so GOOD that I don't care. Mmm. Buffet. Did I mention the Island of Chocolate?)

It must be lunch time. And now I want Sushi.