YO! Sushi- Paramus, NJ

YO! Sushi is the largest sushi chain in the U.K. and they are making their way across the pond to the former colonies. The first location in the Northeast is in the Westfield Garden State Plaza, and they opened April 30th. We were invited to the soft opening and I thought it might be interesting to check out their unique concept. 

What makes them unique, at least here in the States, is that they have a long conveyor belt running called a kaiten around the restaurant on which dishes ride looking like flying saucers from an old sci-fi flik. You take what you want off of the belt and dig in. The plates are color coded and each color has a price. They tally up the plates when you finish, and you pay. The plates are covered, so they are protected, and they have a code on them which I assume tells them when to pull the item from the belt should it not have been selected. 

Don't see what you want? Don't worry as they have a menu of hot foods and more available. All you do is push a button at your seat and the white light next to you turns blue. Blink and a server instantly  appears (well it seemed so anyway). What you order is quickly delivered. In a real hurry? They have a cooler in front with items ready to go. 

We tried quite a few dishes and they were all very good. My favorite was the calamari with a ginger taste. It was lightly fried and the calamari was just the right texture. 

I also loved the spicy dragon roll. Not too spicy though, just the right amount of heat.

The salmon was fresh, tasty, and a generous portion.

I tried a seaweed dish that was good also. The dishes are not labeled, but there is a large full-color menu with pictures of each allowing the diner to easily identify the plate like using an Audubon book for bird watching. It actually is quite a fun activity.

Now I can see an upside to this system, and a downside. The upside is that you can start eating immediately upon being seated and see what the food looks like, perhaps leading to trying something different. The downside is that with everything passing by, those plates can rack up rather quickly on your table, as can the bill. I recommend exercising caution and eating slowly. 

Overall, the food is fresh and good. Not what I would call amazing, but quite good. The selection on the conveyor is simple, but the menu is more extensive. The ambiance is cool, the staff is friendly, enthusiastic, and helpful. I would go back again and you should stop by for a unique sushi experience. They have a website for more information.

Sushi Village- Poughkeepsie, NY

Sushi with a fish-eye lens

My brother-in-law has been raving about Sushi Village for some time now so we decided to stop by and try them.  It's a small, unassuming restaurant that serves all-you-can-eat sushi for twenty-one bucks. I wasn't all that hungry so I ordered the sushi and sashimi lunch at thirteen dollars. It came with four sushi, four sashimi and a spicy tuna roll with a small salad and miso soup. It was very good indeed, some of the best I've had anywhere. 

Teresa doesn't like sushi so she went with noodles and chicken. It was okay, but nothing special and she said she should have had the hibachi. Next time.

Overall, excellent sushi at good prices. The service is a bit odd, the sushi came out to me a good ten minutes before the cooked food arrived, but they were friendly enough. We'll be headed back sometime soon, but this time I'm going with a few people who like sushi and getting the all-you-can-eat special. 

Blue Asia Bistro, Wilmington, NC

Blue Asia is a fusion place featuring sushi (they have all you can eat sushi for twenty bucks, twelve for lunch), hibachi, Chinese and Japanese at reasonable prices. The decor is upscale and clean and the people are very welcoming and friendly.

The food is good too. Not phenomenal, but good. I ordered the fried dumplings at $4.95 and the wrappers were light, the filling flavorful. Teresa got the Thai basil chicken at $12.95 and it was quite good. My entree was the Chen Du duck (shown above) at $16.95. It was okay, but I thought the duck was a bit overcooked and dry, something that happens when it is prepared too far ahead of time. The sauce was good though. 

Overall, not bad but nothing great. 

Wegman's Sushi, Downingtown, Pa

I like Sushi. Now what I know about sushi could fill a matchbook cover and I'm not an aficionado like my friend Pasquale is, but I like it. What I really like is tuna and salmon which taste great raw. Heck, raw fish is nothing proprietary to the Japanese, the French call it en crue and the Italians call it cerviche.

It's interesting that certain foods have developed a mystique surrounding them, like French food seeming to be so expensive and exotic and sushi was the exotic food of the '90's. It became Yuppie status food, especially when washed down with a martini. Since then sushi has become almost mainstream and, with the exception of a few rare things that can kill you, sushi is not all that complicated and can be found almost anywhere.

One of my favorite places for Sushi is, believe it or not, Wegman's supermarket in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. Yes, it is supermarket sushi. Yes, it is a tad bit overpriced for take away. However, it is always fresh and tasty since they make it right there and they turn it over fast. The people who make it are friendly and helpful, just ask any question and they will happily answer. They are also Japanese. Okay that sounds odd and I've had good sushi made for me by a Mexican in a Chinese restaurant, but sushi should be made by the Japanese.

Yobo, Newburgh

Calamari

We haven't been to Yobo in Newburgh since Clinton was President but I remembered it as being very good. One of my wife's co-workers was telling her that she went there recently and that she liked it. So off we went to see if it was still as good as we remembered. 

Inside Yobo is an eclectic mix of a Japanese Steakhouse and Chinese decor. There is a small pond in the main dining area with a fountain and there some small 'piracy rooms' with sliding doors. You can watch the sushi guy work and the hibachi guy is behind a glass where you can see him too. This all fits as the cuisine is Chinese, Japanese and Korean.

Egg Roll

We were greeted and seated quickly and then the dilemma occurred. What to order? There were too many interesting choices and I bounced between two types of duck, sushi and tempura.  I decided on the shrimp tempura for the entree and the calamari as an appetizer. Teresa went with and egg roll and the sesame chicken.

Sesame Chicken

The calamari was done in somewhat of a tempura fashion and was quite delicious. Regular readers know how I feel about calamari and that I expect it cooked right. This was cooked to perfection and came with a duck sauce with wasabi. The egg roll was huge, tasty and hot.

My tempura was a large portion with five shrimp (pairs) and vegetables. It was good, but having eaten the calamari done in a similar fashion I would have ordered the duck. The sesame chicken was excellent with large pieces of chicken that were moist with a crispy outside in a tasty sesame sauce. 

Shrimp Tempura

The service was excellent, attentive yet giving space. The food was excellent as well and came out at the right intervals with just the right amount of time between appetizer and entree. The ambiance very nice and welcoming. In short it was every bit as good as I remember and I will return soon.