Lucy M.
Yelp
My husband and I were super excited that a new handroll place was opening up 15 minutes away from our house; I've already been twice, once with him on his birthday and once with a friend last night. The sushi bar seating is very cool because you get to see the chefs hard at work preparing your food; I'm not the biggest fan of the lack of lumbar support for the bar stools, but that's just a minor concern. Also note that if you get seated on one of the side tables (not at the bar), all handrolls will be cut into maki for you.
When my husband and I came last week, we sat at the bar and ordered completely a la carte. In order, we tried: the chicken karaage, the takoyaki, the kushiage set, two types of sashimi (kanpachi and hotate), four types of nigiri (kasugodai, mahata, ishidai, and kamasu), and the red crab handroll as well as the ikura handroll. They didn't have the geso karaage or the yuzu ice cream, but I ended up trying the geso karaage the second time around, along with their signature nigiri omakase ($50) and the unagi and kaisen creamy hand rolls.
First thing's first: the fish was super fresh and delicious, and the sushi rice here is excellent. Love the level of tanginess from the vinegar as well as the flavor profile overall; no need to dunk anything into soy sauce as everything is seasoned well. We loved the torched items we got (I think the first night that was the ishidai and the kamasu, and the second night a couple of items on the nigiri omakase were also torched), and the flavors all melded super well. The appetizers were a tad pricey for the portion sizes - $5 for three pieces of takoyaki is a bit much even when the takoyaki is excellent, and likewise $6 for three pieces of karaage - but the quality of the meat and seafood was great. Geso karaage was also well-battered and the dipping sauce was much preferable to the one that came with the karaage in our opinion.
The sashimi fell a bit short for us, mostly because the dry slices of black truffle felt like they interfered with the textures of the rest of the dish without adding much flavor. The hotate sashimi was also pretty small in portion. I skipped those offerings the second time I came, because what I really enjoyed was:
The nigiri and the handrolls! As mentioned, the sushi rice here is great, and all the fish here is super fresh. The second time I visited, the chutoro nigiri was so creamy and delicious. I also really really loved the ikura handroll that we got the first time we came; highly recommend that whenever ikura is on the menu, which isn't every day. The unagi hand roll I got the second time I came was also great, with a perfect char flavor and not too much sauce to overwhelm everything else. I ended up not getting the sashimi omakase that they also offer for $60 (11 pieces), but that's an option if you're looking to try more types of fish.
The kushiage set is very simple but also very tasty! The batter isn't too thick which allows the ingredients to shine; there's not too much seasoning in the batter itself, but the skewers do come with a radish/soy dipping sauce mixture that helps to flavor the items. My favorites were the sweet potato and the mushroom.
Looking forward to seeing how this place grows, and wishing them continued success so we can visit again soon :)