Daniel B.
Yelp
Doshi Sushi Japanese Restaurant exceeded my expectations. What I've usually experienced at sushi restaurants in Duluth is OK-to-good sushi. What I got at Doshi Sushi was great sushi. And great service. This place gets a solid four stars out of me, maybe even five. When it comes to casual, non-upscale sushi, Doshi Sushi delivers.
At the time of writing this review, I'd rank Doshi Sushi in my top three sushi restaurants in Gwinnett County along with Yuki Izakaya and old-school, tried-and-true, Haru Ichiban. My friend and I really enjoyed our experience here.
Doshi Sushi opened in July 2018 in McDaniel Square, the same shopping center as Orange Coffee, Kung Fu Tea, MJ Korean Tacos & Wings, and Honey Pig. If facing the storefronts, Doshi Sushi is all the way on the right. Longtime Atlantans familiar with this strip may remember a number of restaurants in Doshi Sushi's space, suite 308. Most recently, this space was occupied by Skoy Sushi Japanese Restaurant (opened July 2017: https://bit.ly/3AwvAvO) and Naru Sushi Japanese Restaurant (opened September 2009: https://bit.ly/3hD4yKv). Before Naru, I believe it was Chung Hae (https://bit.ly/2VftxfD). What do Doshi, Skoy, Naru, and Chung Hae have in common? They were/are Korean-owned-and-operated Japanese sushi restaurants.
If you're not familiar, these Korean-Japanese sushi restaurants are a little different from straight-up Japanese sushi restaurants. A big difference is they serve banchan (Korean side dishes) like kimchi and spicy stew. During our visit here, all of the servers were older Korean ladies who pushed carts around, typical of traditional Korean restaurants. Other Korean restaurant characteristics that Doshi Sushi has are private dining rooms, tall booths (for privacy), server call buttons at every table, and gochujang (Korean red chili paste) as a standard condiment. They put the latter in a red squeeze bottle like ketchup and label it "hot sauce."
We visited on a Monday just before noon (the restaurant opens at 11:30am daily) and by the time we left, the restaurant had filled to capacity and there was a wait. I didn't realize how popular this place was. The male manager and all-female wait staff appeared well-trained and hyper-attentive. There was an energy about them and I think that they themselves were preparing for what they knew was going to be a busy lunch service (and it was). They all spoke Korean and English. Everyone greeted us in Korean before realizing we couldn't speak it. I'd also called this restaurant a couple times to confirm hours and was greeted in Korean both times.
We got our orders in before the rush and our orders came out fast.
The lunch menu is offered 11:30am to 2:30pm, seven days a week. It features mostly set meals and combos, ranging in price from about $15 to $40 per person. Many options are dine-in-only. Along with the lunch menu, we could also order from what one of our servers called the "sushi bar menu." It consisted of the typical slip of paper / paper form where you mark what you want. In addition, we received a large laminated one-page menu with pictures of Americanized sushi rolls.
Here's what we got:
* Sushi Lunch Combo ($15) - 6 pieces of nigiri, shrimp tempura roll, salad, small udon noodles
* Bagel Roll ($7) - cut into 8 pieces; smoked salmon, avocado, cream cheese
* Chef's Special Lunch for One Person, Dine-In Only ($40) - 11 pieces of sashimi, 5 pieces of nigiri, fish roe over rice, spicy fish soup
* Otoro ($17) - 2 pieces of nigiri, very fatty tuna
In general, the quality of the sushi was great. I appreciated that Doshi Sushi offered both otoro (the fattiest part of the bluefin tuna belly) and chutoro (medium fatty tuna belly) on their sushi menu. Not only that, but my Chef's Special Lunch came with otoro sashimi, chutoro nigiri, and sake toro (fatty salmon belly). Toros all around. I had ordered otoro nigiri on the side because often with chef's specials, especially at non-upscale sushi restaurants, the chef's selections are cheap cuts of fish. This was not the case at Doshi Sushi and I really appreciated that.
The otoro, chutoro, and sake toro were smooth like butter. They melted in my mouth as good toro should. I've eaten a lot of sushi in my day and, in terms of texture, this was one of the richest sushi meals I've had. It was perhaps too fatty -- I didn't think that was possible. Other fish included kampachi (amberjack), flounder body, and flounder fin. Each piece of nigiri had a bit of real wasabi on top. It was quality stuff. Everything was fresh, flavorful, and "authentic."
I really liked the "spicy fish soup." It was a spicy red Korean stew with a fish head (jaw and teeth included) and vegetables, like enoki mushrooms, in it. The broth was wonderful. It was hot, savory, and packed with addictive flavor. The fish roe over rice contained marinated seaweed and three different colors of roe over sushi rice. It was a nice side dish in case the rest of the meal wasn't filling enough.