Cuisine: 6
Service: 7…read moreDecor: 7
Value: 6
Overall: 6
I have to preface that, if I had reviewed Hibino in the past, they likely would have received 4 stars. Unfortunately, my latest experience was such a letdown that I have to average that into this review.
My usual order here over 10+ years has always been their Kaisen Don, which had some of the better quality sushi rice available in Queens. If you don't think sushi rice is important, then skip my review. If you do, then know that my preference is slight warm rice that does not clump together, with a nice touch of vinegar. Hibino seems to get this part right regularly, but not this past Sunday. It was cold, clumpy, and super light on seasoning.
Furthermore, as soon as the bowl arrived, I was a bit skeptical since it's not the usual square box filled with premium goodies. Instead, it was a smaller round bowl with relatively common pieces of sashimi. In the past, there were toro, ikura, uni and scallop, but none were present on Sunday. The only premium pieces I received was the spotted prawn. The rest were salmon, yellowtail, bluefin tuna, sea bass, and arctic char. More importantly, some of the sashimi pieces were somewhat mushy and slightly fishy, not the best quality.
On the other hand, we also ordered their Chirashi, which had seared toro, yellowfin tuna, salmon belly, yellowtail belly, shrimp, and flying fish roe. Between the proteins and rice is a layer of shredder egg. Sadly, rice was still cold and lacked flavor, but the egg did help a bit. Though I prefer the thin slices of sashimi in the Kaisen Don over the chunky pieces of fish in the Chirashi, I did prefer the latter on that day.
Bottom line, I will give them another chance, but the downgrade on the quality of rice and premium seafood in the Kaisen Don was a major disappointment. Praying my next visit restores my faith in the restaurant.