HI-YO (shi) – SUSHI

Jim and Nancy do not disclose the fact that they will review a restaurant before they attend, ensuring their reviews are unbiased and uninfluenced by their position with the Sun Day.

Back in our archives is a restaurant we frequently visited for Japanese cuisine named Rice Fusion Sushi in the Algonquin Commons. Sometimes, restaurants let their guard down and before long they are out of business. Such was the case with Rice Fusion Sushi. Being ever vigilant and borderline-stalker restaurant critics, we often drove past this location with excited anticipation as to what new restaurant would take its place. During one of our periodic drive-bys, our hearts were all a flutter when we spotted the signage for Yoshi Sushi and Hibachi over the door.

When we walked in, we noticed a little change in the appearance of the restaurant. There are now six Hibachi tables on the right. The Sushi bar, the cocktail bar, and the tables and booths survived the renovation while a lot of the beautiful oriental décor did not.

We started our late afternoon lunch by ordering the Yaki Gyoza (6) for $6.50. This is one of our favorite appetizers. If you are unfamiliar as to what a Gyoza is, these are pan-fried meat and vegetable dumplings, aka potstickers.

After carefully studying their menu, Nancy decided on the Shrimp and Vegetable Tempura Dinner ($16.50). This consisted of four shrimp and four vegetable pieces. Of course, Nancy had to change the vegetable choice to suit her fancy, so she asked for broccoli and onion only. This came with a small side salad.

Jim was in his usual “crabby” mood today, so he went with a selection from the “Special Sushi Roll” spot on the menu. He chose the King Crab Wasabi Maki ($19.95). This was King Crab tempura wrapped in seaweed and rice, then topped with chopped scallops, mixed with a wasabi sauce and wasabi caviar. He asked them to keep the caviar off due to the fact that his throat would constrict and he would die if he eats fish. For a second, I toyed with the thought of taking the waitress aside and asking her, “extra caviar please”. In my defense, he was crabby that day!

We were waiting for our appetizer when the waitress served Nancy her salad with a ginger dressing. We had different opinions on the dressing; I loved it, and she didn’t. No sign of the Gyoza appetizer.

The waitress now appeared with Nancy’s dinner, the four shrimp and the four vegetable pieces. Jim’s dinner was nowhere to be found, and no sign of the Gyoza appetizer yet.

Jim’s dinner suddenly appears after I am half way through my dinner. I would normally have waited to start eating until his dinner arrived, but cold tempura is not good. His Maki Roll was about an eight-inch long crab leg wrapped in rice. Still no sign of our poor Gyoza appetizer. No worries, we’ll have them for dessert!

When Jim was half way through his dinner, lo and behold, our Gyoza appetizer finally made it to our table. Awww, that means we can’t have them for dessert. Considering how long it took for the Gyoza’s to arrive, they could have been pan fried a little more for our taste.

FYI: Handicap accessible.

To sum it up, it is our job to report the facts as they happened. It is up to YOU to draw your own conclusion.

The price for our late afternoon meal was $51.79!!!

On our way home, we made a dessert stop at our beloved Dairy Mart. Jim had a medium dipped cone and I had may lime slushie float. All that for a mere $5.

Jim’s take: Maybe it’s just me, but for the money, I expected more from this roll considering it was one of their specialties.

Nancy’s take: Maybe I’m expecting too much, but considering the price of my meal, I shouldn’t have walked out of the restaurant hungry.

Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com.

---