I grew up in Japan and went & ate over thousands of Sushi and Japanese food, so I know what I am talking about. In Japan some of good sushi restaurants have Sushi chefs proudly tell customers what special kinds of fish are available on the day and serve them if customers want to try. This place was superb 10 years ago - American Sushi Chefs behind the counter were trained in Japan, they even understood all orders I made in Japanese. At a good sushi restaurant, I just ask for chef's recommendations instead of looking at Sushi menu. 10 years ago they served several fish which were not on the sushi list. I never forget they even served Nigiri with Sayori which I never tasted even in Japan. Ever since, I had thought this was one and only real Sushi restaurant in Colorado. Not anymore.
We drove 55 miles to go back to this place in December, and the wait was 45 minutes. While we were standing at the door, we watched Sushi Chefs (most were Japanese this time) poured sauces (mayo, chili sauce, etc. etc.) plate after plate from ketchup-bottle shaped plastic containers on top of maki, nigiri, etc. in horror. (as you can see some photos posted in this site, lots of sauce and non-fish ingredients accompanying in a place). Why horror? Fresh fish has a distinctive taste and it is a real delicacy. Pouring sauce on top of fish just ruins all goodness of fish. You use sauce to disguise it when fish is not that fresh and not that tasty anymore, but when it is fresh, it's a deal breaker. (only the exception I compromise is for eel and anago.) In my opinion, a real good sushi should be made of simple ingredients of rice, fish, and nori if rolls. Most of Sushi they serve were Fusion Sushi in a good word, messed-up, confused Sushi in bad terms, meaning they are not authentic. For people who do not know Sushi well, party style Sushi may be o.k. and still look great, but for those who know authentic Sushi, many they serve are Americanized and frankly a disappointment. Their Sushi so much focuses on pleasing & entertaining customers and it lacks its soul.
We sat at a table and waited for another 20 minutes to have our server come over to take drink orders. We ordered some kitchen foods as well as some Sushi. I was excited to ask our waiter if they had a special Sushi of the day which was not on the menu. Waiter flat out said no. He didn't even ask Chefs who were standing over the counter only 8 feet away. He had this, "I have a say what we serve here and it's only what are on the menu." attitude. I politely asked if he could ask Sushi Chef if they had something special, which he declined. I asked if they had Shako, to which he said, "what is Shako?" - if you're a server at a good Sushi restaurant, it doesn't matter if you are a Sushi Chef or not, you should be knowledgeable about fish. I asked difference of 10 Maguroes which were on the list, and his best explanation was, "it tastes sweetest from the top on the list." -not much convincing for the 2 pieces/$10-$16 investment! I ordered Yellow Tail and they served Shime-Saba instead. don't know why. Sour "yellow tail"? I don't think so..! Tuna Roll was o.k., just mediocre. All Nigiri had fish which looked "tired", and they looked as if they just came out of a refrigerator. (maybe it came in on the previous day? Remember, fresh fish and 2nd day fish taste very different! ). This time their Sushi didn't impress me at all.
Kitchen food was likewise. First off, their dinner menu didn't offer broad selection. My partner wanted to order Hallibut but it was sold out at 7:00 pm on weekday. Most other food had sauces, which he didn't care for, so it was difficult for him to order something. He settled for Assorted Tempra, which turned out to be a joke. Obviously kitchen chef didn't know the real Tempra. In Japan, nobody serves Chicken, broccoli or Green Pepper Tempras. (please..green peppers are not Shishi-toh, a little Japanese spicy pepper!) Ika and Chicken were cut into 1x1x4 square bars to my surprise! There is a well-known standard of how to cut Ika for Tempra, but this Kitchen chef obviously didn't know about it, which I have to say a bit embarrassing for a well-known place. I don't care if management is Japanese or not, but it didn't look authentic. Koromo(coating) was too thick and not crispy, and Tare sauce needed more Dashi fish broth and a little more Mirin sweetness. Only thing I appreciated was Tempra was served on Tempra paper.
I ordered Ramen and the soup was too salty. I asked our server a cup of hot water to dilute it, which came after he serving and taking orders at another tables for 15 minutes. By the time noodle was cold and absorbed salty soup.
The place was loud & crowded like zoo, and it is not cheap. If pricey, we deserve to ask for and get good foods. Or we are not worthy of chef's special attention unless we pay over $120 omakase menu? I don't think I can recommend this restaurant anymore. Overrated. read more