Stopped in for a late lunch, and pulled into a giant empty parking lot. Cynical me. I then go into a restaurant with a name like "Tea House," but can't find tea on the menu - not even a photo of tea. I'll try the sushi instead.
After sitting at the sushi bar, I was presented with a western spoon, fork and a simple one-page laminated menu, with lunch specials only. The sushi listed was chef's choice nigiri or limited maki selections. I was not given a pair of hashi until I requested an à la carte sushi menu (apparently, the to-go menu). Who are the normal customers that accept this? But the server was pleasant enough.
The lighting for the sushi bar itself is pretty good, and it has a much more open style (photo) than most of the local restaurants, and good news, no glaring television. The TV is in the alcohol bar, in another room. Of course, this really open style means that everyone has a clear view of the charred / damaged toaster oven and microwave along the back wall, which should probably have been cleaned and/or replaced some time ago.
Prior to the main, an extremely watered down soup and unappetizing salad were brought out. For each, the taste lived down to my initial expectations.
The chef seem personable enough, but was far more casually dressed (photo) than any other sushi chef I've seen here in the Capital District. I wonder why every other chef, without exception, wears a uniform coat and some form of hair covering. Hmm.
The sushi itself was pretty good. The maki preparations were done simply enough, although the spicy salmon wasn't spicy. The two-plate plating (photo) had an addition of an amuse bouche ("It's extra gift, for you!") consisting of a very small sashimi salad in a classic soup spoon. Instead of thanks, now I wondered why I was not offered a soup spoon with my soup earlier. I would have enjoyed a soup spoon more than the chef's clever drawings of birds and fish added to each plate.
The uncooked fish took significantly longer to prepare than the maki / cooked items, due to the mackerel. The mackerel was not bad, but that may be because I watched the chef thaw the frozen 250g single filet vacuum package, and peel off the skin before slicing off a couple of pieces for me. No de-boning skills needed here. At least I know it wasn't sitting in the display case overnight.
Also, I noticed that none of the nigiri had wasabi added under the fish, a step added by only a few of the local chefs.
Reading the other reviews, I thought they would have presented a much better product, seeing as the city center, and that competition across the river, is visible from the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. Maybe the high ratings are from diners who cannot travel, or only order on-line.
I'll probably be back, but not too soon.
2019 01 07. S21. read more