OVERALL: 9/10. (Yelp Converted Score: 4.5/5 - rounded up to 5)
Considering this place has only been open for less than 4 months, I'm already willing to bet this place is going to get popular, real fast. I've only been here once, but I'm already a fan!
I dined alone on a Sunday evening - arriving around 6:15pm; nobody was there except for the workers, so I had my full choice of seats. I sat at the sushi bar, but mostly because I had my heart set on eating good sushi. I definitely got what I came for, in a very awesome and intimate setting!
As I was leaving, more people started trickling in. At least 4 parties of 4 (or more) came through the door before I left around 7:30pm. The sushi chef told me that Sunday is the least busy day, and that Saturday and Friday are usually packed (makes sense). For central district, this place is top-tier - I'm very pleased with this place.
1) VARIETY/SELECTION: 8.5/10. I was impressed with the general selection of sushi that were available through the omakase option, but the "sushi combos" and the "sashimi combos" offered on the menu did not seem to have that much variety (in terms of piece selection) to them (3-5 "primary" varieties of fish, that I assume have different styles of preparation and "sub-categories" of fish variety).
The general selection / variety of the menu was decent though; the menu was a good 4 pages of actual "stuff you can order", and the structure and organization of the menu were helpful at separating the possible options and courses (desserts at the end, appetizers, sushi, sashimi options in the first couple of pages). Sometimes menus are terribly structured, have too much spacing, too large or small text - this one used a good sized, readable font with a good selection structure.
I jumped straight to the sushi section part though, since that's what I was craving.
2) FRESHNESS: 9/10. The chicken karaage appetizer tasted piping hot and fresh, and not overfried or overcooked - I especially liked the tart flavouring of the provided karaage sauce. The inside of the chicken karaage had a consistent temperature and flavour, and the sauce definitely added a dimension to the flavour that made the dish feel complete to me.
The way the fish was prepared definitely brought a lot of great flavours and a generally pleasant experience, especially the pieces that were seared. I thought most of the garnishes for some pieces of the omakase were awesome, but some of them left me feeling like there should have been "more".
The primary complaint I had was that I wasn't sure whether or not to use additional soy sauce / wasabi in addition to what the chef added (I did notice the chef using a bit of each). Maybe it was because of this feeling of lingering uncertainty that I didn't think it was the best sushi I'd ever eaten (which is a high bar to clear, to be fair).
3) VALUE FOR MONEY: 9/10. The omakase is an incredible value for money, if you can afford it! - $45 for 19 pieces of high quality sushi and a salmon skin roll - that's just over $2/piece, which is incredible given that the other sushi combos are $25-$30 for 9 pieces ($2.50 - $3.50 / piece). (I wasn't even counting the salmon skin roll, which I think was listed as $5-$9 on the menu?)
The chicken karaage appetizer, while being $7, was incredible value, mostly because of how much was provided (think a small dinner plate bowl, but a deeper version of that). I was quite pleased with this one.
4) SERVICE: 9.5/10. I had asked for *both* hot tea and water, because I like them both for different reasons! Neither cup was ever lower than 1/2 full, since the staff were extremely attentive to refilling, even as the restaurant started to fill up. When making the sushi pieces for the omakase option, the sushi chef was very friendly and answered all of my questions regarding the fish pieces, in terms of what was served.
The restaurant didn't use peanuts as far as I was told; but I wasn't interested in anything that would have likely had peanut or peanut oil in it anyway (karaage and sushi).
5) CONSISTENCY / FIRST IMPRESSION: 9/10. A sign of a good restaurant is how busy it can get during what are "expected" to be peak-ish hours. I went on a Sunday for dinner, so my experience may be inconsistent with those that went on a more busier day (such as Friday or Saturday). Given how "new" this establishment is, and how much I enjoyed my first impression of this place, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I am proven otherwise.
I'll be back again someday, since it's super conveniently (centrally? heh) located in Central District, and they have private parking next to the restaurant. I'll try something different next time, as well, and update this review if any of my future experiences are drastically different than my first time dining here. read more