Daniel B.
Yelp
Yuzu Sushi is solid. Currently, I think it's the best sushi restaurant in Chamblee. Among sushi restaurants, Yuzu falls below high-end, but is above typical strip mall sushi and many of those "Thai and sushi" joints. It's elevated casual. I think a good comparable restaurant in the Atlanta area is Wagaya (Westside, Decatur) and Doraku (Buckhead, RIP), and perhaps even Shoya (Doraville) and Ginya (Westside) Izakaya.
If you like your sushi "authentic," which is what I prefer, meaning nigiri and not named rolls packed with a multitude of ingredients, then Yuzu should suffice. Of course, in this gentrified part of Chamblee, Yuzu offers quite the spread of "special" rolls as well. So, this place should satisfy both lovers of traditional sushi and those who enjoy Americanized sushi rolls too.
Yuzu opened in June 2018 at the apartment community then known as Olmsted Chamblee and now known as The Oliver. There's plenty of free parking on-site. I believe this business is Korean owned and operated.
The restaurant looks great. Very "modern Japanese," filled with medium to light toned wood, big windows (lots of natural light), and cool traditional Japanese artwork. The aesthetic is definitely more classic Japanese than hip and trendy sushi bar. Inside, the dining room looks fairly spacious. Outside, they have a fenced-in, string-lit, uncovered patio. I don't know of many sushi restaurants in Atlanta with a patio so that's definitely a plus here. Also, I say the patio is uncovered, but I did see one retractable umbrella during our visit.
My wife and I loaded up on nigiri. Yuzu offers over two-dozen kinds of nigiri. While not among the most extensive nigiri menus in Atlanta, I'd consider Yuzu's nigiri offerings to be above average. For example, they offer fatty tuna belly (toro) and sea urchin (uni). And I know this isn't nigiri, but they have monk fish liver (ankimo, two pieces for $7.50) on the menu too.
I noticed they have both "escolar" and "whitefish" listed, both priced at $5.50 for two pieces. The names are often synonymous with the same type of fish so we asked what the difference was. We were told the whitefish was "white tuna." White tuna is also synonymous with escolar and whitefish, so that didn't clear things up. We asked what the difference in taste was and were told the escolar was softer and, if I recall correctly, sweeter.
The sashimi here is a different story compared to the nigiri. Yuzu's sashimi selection is limited to only the most basic fish: tuna, yellowtail, salmon, and albacore.
Here's what we got:
* Tuna roll - tekkamaki (eight pieces for $6.80)
- Nigiri (two pieces per order) -
* Tuna - maguro ($6.80)
* Salmon - sake ($5.80)
* Halibut - hirame ($5.80)
* Octopus - tako ($5.00)
* Mackerel - aji ($5.50)
* Egg - tamago ($3.90)
* Smelt egg - masago ($5.00)
* Salmon egg - ikura ($6.90)
* Surf clam - hokkigai ($5.00)
* Japanese sea scallop - hotate ($6.80)
* Freshwater eel - unagi ($6.50)
* Fatty tuna belly - toro (seasonal price, $10.80)
* Salmon with creamy onion tobiko ($7.80)
I originally wanted to order monk fish liver and sea urchin, but unfortunately, they were out of both.
In general, the sushi was fantastic. Yuzu's head sushi chef Kenny prepared our order. The quality of both the ingredients and the preparation were excellent. It was evident in both the look and taste of each piece of sushi. This wasn't run-of-the-mill sushi. This was high quality stuff, prepared the right way, and it was exactly what we were looking for -- tasty, satisfying, and authentic nigiri.
One thing we noticed off the bat was how generous the portions were, especially for items like the toro, surf clam, and octopus. There was so much toro, it just swallowed up the sushi rice. There was so much clam and octopus, the chef gave us the ends (extra meat) like they were a garnish. Awesome. The serving of hokkigai was by far the biggest serving of hokkigai I've had to date (that I can remember). And it wasn't just quantity - the quality was there too. Everything was fresh and flavorful, with wonderful texture, from the soft, delicate layers of carefully-cooked tamago (sweet egg) to the melt-in-your-mouth scallop.
While everything was good, if I had to pick favorites or recommendations, I'd go with the mackerel, egg, smelt egg, Japanese scallop, freshwater eel, toro, and salmon with creamy onion tobiko. The latter is unique and I want to say a chef Kenny specialty. There's not another nigiri on the menu like it. The mackerel comes with a sliver of something on top, I'm not sure what; sweetened kelp, perhaps? Whatever it is, it's good. The scallop came with green tobiko on top which I thought was a nice touch.
We got our order to-go and the pieces were thoughtfully and beautifully presented. The masago and ikura were individually wrapped for transport. Miso soup was complimentary.
Service was outstanding. Anna was our server. She was friendly, attentive, and accommodating. Thank you, Anna and Kenny.