An unassuming restaurant from the outside, I've recently , finally tried out Ichiban in Cranston, it's a Korean/Japanese restaurant. Upon sitting down at the sushi bar, I'm given traditional Korean side dishes, beans, fish cakes, kimchi, and another cabbage like thing. Tasty and spicy. I'm reviewing the sushi here though. Sooo, I've tried a few different rolls this time an Ebony and Ivory was one that catches my eye, a white tuna with scallion roll topped with black and red tobiko. So delicious. I picked up a few different nigiri consisting of tobiko, saba, hotate, and tai. Everything freshly sliced (scallops were not), but the sushi chef careful slices and prepares everything fresh and assembles it for you to enjoy. The staff here are incredibly friendly and attentive of your needs. I had a great conversation with Jim on how certain foods are prepped, how other things are made, and just general chat as well . I never feel rushed and I was treated to a "dessert" hand roll of a sweet tasting seafood salad , he calls a dynamite. Everything tasted great and I always find myself wanting to go back again. I can't say they have a huge selection of fish, but considering the location, it's hard to have the less frequently asked for stuff due to price and how quickly it must be used. I find that in a lot of places. Ichiban is a great place, friendly owners, convenient to get to if you are in the area, and not expensive. I hope you get the chance to try them out as well....
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, July 13, 2012
Haruki - 1210 Oaklawn Ave. Cranston, RI 02920
Tried out Haruki today since I've seen all the hype about it. The parking lot was jammed, had to park out back . Perhaps this is a good sign ? The interior is set up where you must walk past the bar to get to the seated area or the sushi bar, which had plenty of seats. The place was very busy, but I found a seat easily.
The menu has a large selection, and I was just looking at the sushi choices, a # of rolls and an impressive amount of fresh fish choices, or so I thought.
Oooh, they have chutoro listed, Nope. Oooh, they have toro, Nope. Ok what about Tai? Nope. I ask , "are you just out of them ? " , "No, they aren't in season", the waitress says. Not in season ? Since when is tuna out of season at a sushi restaurant ? They had regular old maguro, and hamachi. Ok so hopes dashed, i picked a few other things off the menu, as well as a house salad . I'm always looking forward to trying the ginger dressing at different sushi restaurants. This one , not so much, it was rather bitter, and not very solid, a very soupy bowl of dressing at the bottom of salad. I wasn't impressed.
There are 5 people working behind the bar like machines, that's not always a good thing, plus the basic fish were in the cooler, but pre-cut and looked very much like they were frozen and chopped. I like to see them cut my fish from the chunk of fish they have previously removed from a whole fish, not presliced. I've been to much smaller , less busy places and they accomplish this, why not here ? Because it caters to a larger crowd ?
So after ordering, and selecting regular tuna, I notice on the special board they have Hamachi Toro, well that's a little better, I picked that instead.
The fish tasted fine , but nothing special the rice should have been cooled down a little more to room temperature, but it was a little warm.
Overall it was just ok. And on a 6 star rating I'd give it : 3.5/6 or 58%
The menu has a large selection, and I was just looking at the sushi choices, a # of rolls and an impressive amount of fresh fish choices, or so I thought.
Oooh, they have chutoro listed, Nope. Oooh, they have toro, Nope. Ok what about Tai? Nope. I ask , "are you just out of them ? " , "No, they aren't in season", the waitress says. Not in season ? Since when is tuna out of season at a sushi restaurant ? They had regular old maguro, and hamachi. Ok so hopes dashed, i picked a few other things off the menu, as well as a house salad . I'm always looking forward to trying the ginger dressing at different sushi restaurants. This one , not so much, it was rather bitter, and not very solid, a very soupy bowl of dressing at the bottom of salad. I wasn't impressed.
There are 5 people working behind the bar like machines, that's not always a good thing, plus the basic fish were in the cooler, but pre-cut and looked very much like they were frozen and chopped. I like to see them cut my fish from the chunk of fish they have previously removed from a whole fish, not presliced. I've been to much smaller , less busy places and they accomplish this, why not here ? Because it caters to a larger crowd ?
So after ordering, and selecting regular tuna, I notice on the special board they have Hamachi Toro, well that's a little better, I picked that instead.
The fish tasted fine , but nothing special the rice should have been cooled down a little more to room temperature, but it was a little warm.
Overall it was just ok. And on a 6 star rating I'd give it : 3.5/6 or 58%
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