| Tiny sushi boat restaurant with decent selection of sushi and other items |
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 8/18/2005
Rating: 6.5
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Well Sushi Kai was a family choice for going out to dinner. I had nothing to do with the destination nor did a wishlist request. Just a random find I guess. This is 100% fine with me - a new Jatbar destination is always welcome.
I get there and the place is pretty cramped. This is not a bad thing, especially when there are a lot of people inside (which there were). The sushi boat in the center was a good thing as well.
We all sat down and ordered. I went with the California Roll, the Soft Shell Crab roll, and a shrimp tempura roll. I started with my benchmark California Roll. It was extremely boring and uninspired. Just tasted rather dry and boring in my opinion. Didn't have a fresh taste either. And the other 2 were just more of the same. I was a little disappointed and I don't think I even finished my other rolls.
While the location is nice, it was small and cramped and felt nice as a sushi boat destination, I found the food to be just blah, and combined with the high prices (standard for sushi) it was just a disappointing meal. The wasabi was nice and spicy tho - probably the highlight of the meal for me.
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Reviewer: Grace
Total Reviews: 42
Reviewed: 11/3/2005
Rating: 7
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I used to eat at Sushi Kai very often when I graduated high school and started college. My love for sushi was only starting to bloom, and this place helped cultivate it. Over the years, I've acquired a more upscale taste towards sushi and I kind of forgot about Sushi Kai as I sought out to eat at restaurants considered 'upscale'.
Anyways, I went to eat here yesterday out of nostgalia. I really enjoy the orange sauce that they make here, it's a standard Californian influence on Sushi, consisting of QP mayo and Siriacha hot sauce. This mix is popularly used at many sushi restaurants catering to Americanized tastes, usually adding either more mayonnaise for sweetness, or more hot sauce, sometimes some powdered spice or switching the brands of the base ingredients. Either way, I think they have a good medium here as I don't find it too spicy, and it is still sweet.
They start you off with a nice little salad, with said orange sauce, cucumber, imitation crab, and tempura crumbs. It's a yummy little appetizer to eat while you're looking at the menu or checking out the sushi at the bar. Their california rolls are average, it could be more tender somehow. I mainly ate off the boat yesterday, however I've sampled many of their rolls from their menu. They have a really short sushi menu, not many creative rolls at all. They have 3-5 rolls with a unique name, basically a cute name for an ordinary roll. I ordered a california hand roll with the orange sauce, and I thought it was excellent, with the nori crisp, and the right balance of ingredients.
I had a rainbow roll, an order of uni, and my beloved philly rolls. Their philly rolls are just passable, I didn't enjoy them, too much rice, the ingredients in the roll were sparse. The rainbow roll was decent, nothing special, and it didn't have that melt in your mouth feeling, more of a chew really hard and swallow. The uni was very fresh. I was impressed as most sushi boats don't carry it, or they are really expensive and the quality is bad. The uni at sushi kai was very fresh, and they gave a lot on the nigiri. The nori they used on my sushi was very crisp, and instead of being soggy and tangling on my teeth like most nori, I could bite cleanly through it. I was impressed with that, and they put little dabs of wasabi under the uni, which gave it an authentic feel.
Their sushi at Sushi Kai is decently fresh, they lack a selection of sushi, giving in to popularized western tastes. They also have bento boxes, and a few popular entrees. Some of the rolls have too much rice, but it might depend on the roll.
Overall I had a good experience. I really enjoyed the salad that was brought to me when I was first seated. The staff is very friendly and the sushi chefs will often engage you in conversation while they are making your food. The prices are a bit expensive, and the menu doesn't have a good selection. I would go back again if I was in the area, but I wouldn't seek it out on my own. |
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Reviewer: wchane
Total Reviews: 147
Reviewed: 6/28/2007
Rating: 7
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Sushi Kai caters for my company every now and again. We also swing by for lunch every blue moon. I'll get straight to the point and tell you that it's very basic. There's nothing special about the place, in fact it's a very cookie cutter application of a sushi restaurant. Sushi boat in the middle flanked with smaller tables off to the side. powdered wasabi, soy sauce, and bamboo chopsticks. Nothing is incredible, but nothing is unpaletable either (although I'd stay away from the uni and more 'exotic' sushi here).
They do california rolls, sake nigeri, chicken/salmon/beef terriyaki, and rainbow rolls well here. It's that kind of restaurant. Forget wild halibut, exotic yellofin, or even broiled hamichi kama.
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