Chad B.
Yelp
As we tried to find a location for Marti Gras celebrations downtown South Bend, we realized eating would not be an option due to standing room only parties. We decided to give Woocchi a try and then go to a party.
The outside and inner ambiance looked like a restaurant that belongs downtown Chicago, but that's as far as the Chicago feel went. Although we were dressed nicely we were not asked if we wanted restaurant or bar and were placed in the bar. The bar had a great feel to it but the yellow lights distorted the color of everything (not great for a fusion place who uses plating and colors as a selling point for value).
Understand,we are sushi snobs so we were leery from the get go of what to expect. We started with the chefs choice nigiri. It came with Tuna (Maguro), Yellowtail (Hamachi), Snapper (kurodai), Mackerel (saba), and Salmon (sake). All but the Himcahi were fishy tasting, not in a good way. Usually Himachi is where I find the problem but comparably speaking, it was the highlight (I think it's interesting that the Himachi was the one fish that is pretty much guaranteed to be a frozen product right now). The rice (sushi) was bland and was hardly existent. Another minor thing is having it served on a chipped plate. When I see things like this at a finer dining establishment, it makes me wonder where else they are trying to save money.
For dinner, we ordered Beauty and the Beast and A Roll From The Heaven, both looked beautiful. On my first bite of the Beauty and the Beast the Jalapeno and strawberry were an amazing contrast but the depth ended there. The inside was liken to a buffet roll, it had so much panko filler that it did not even taste or have the texture of tuna (see picture). As we pulled another piece apart their was a white cream covering the whole piece. When we asked what it was, the chef came out and said it was avocado, I tasted it and it was not avacado, at least it didn't taste like avocado. Lets give the benefit of the doubt and say it was, it was a white cream that was not on any other piece and it was in the middle. There was also no masogo to be found anywhere. After lifting up one piece of the Heaven roll and it falling apart. We thanked the chef and asked for our bill.
To be fair their were things that put us on guard to pay attention to everything, the chipped plate to start, but our food, and others, was brought out on a bus tub cart and the same cart left the dining room filled with dirty dishes. When they set my plate down (skinny plates) they were grabbed like a football with hand over the food. At that point I was already uncomfortable so the sushi roll just put me over the top.
Based on the reviews I have read I am going to hope that it was a one time thing and this is not their typical service. The manager/chef was very polite and tried to make us happy but it was just too late.
Will I go back? No.
Why? Like I said I am going to assume that service was a fluke so not for that reason. Any higher end sushi place that uses panko as a filler instead of giving pure product is out in my book. When I pay for quality I expect quality, fusion or not it was a move to save money at my expense.
For those that want a good ambiance and decent food you will like this, every place can not please everyone.
