I had SO much excitement for Sushi Blissba leading up to their grand opening, but whew... opening weekend definitely felt like opening weekend. There are quite a few kinks to work out.
First, the menu desperately needs descriptions under each item--especially something indicating what's raw vs. cooked. I asked our server for clarification, but she seemed a little confused herself about what qualifies as cooked, which did not exactly inspire confidence.
Food overall was just okay. The standout was definitely the hamachi collar--easily the best thing we ordered. The raw nigiri was decent, the lobster roll was okay, the inari nigiri was a pass, and the salad was mediocre at best.
One thing that caught us off guard: nigiri comes as ONE piece instead of the usual two, and the rolls come with four pieces instead of the traditional eight. At these prices, it kind of felt like everything accidentally got put through the dryer and shrunk by 50%.
We ordered the green salad with seaweed, and I was expecting wakame but got red seaweed instead. Again... menu descriptions would solve so much! The dressing was also just lightly drizzled over the top rather than tossed in, so I asked for extra. A server brought over the dressing, and literally TWO SECONDS later another server swooped in and tried to take it away before we even touched it. Like ma'am, she just got here!!
The service in general was almost too attentive. We asked for share plates, which apparently look exactly like their nigiri plates, because someone came by approximately every five minutes trying to clear them. At some point it became a game of defending our plates from the staff.
They also bring each piece of nigiri out on its own separate plate instead of putting the order together on a platter, so our table quickly started looking like we were hosting a ceramic plate convention.
The funniest part was the server-to-customer ratio. There were maybe five occupied tables and what felt like 10 servers standing around. Somehow we were simultaneously over-served and confused by the service.
And finally...the real kicker: they advertise a "no tipping" policy, but then automatically add an 18% gratuity to the bill. That's... tipping. It's just a mandatory tip wearing a fake mustache.
I completely understand that this was opening weekend and new restaurants need time to find their rhythm, so I'm willing to give them some grace. The space has potential, and the hamachi collar was great, but between the confusing menu, tiny portions, plate musical chairs, and "no tipping but actually 18% tipping" policy, there are definitely some growing pains to work through.
Hopefully once the opening-weekend chaos settles down, Sushi Blissba finds its bliss. read more