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First; I really really wanted to like this place. I was excited to see the sign last winter saying Sushi Rock was opening in the Spring. I've been to sushi places in a few cities that had a real electric vibe to them and eating sushi was a fun experience that you wanted to take your friends to.
So I've been calling every other week for months now. Last night I found they were open so I hurried my wife out for something I was hoping would be new and exciting.
The place looked nice from the outside. When we went in four black clad girls popped up to great us. The place was about 10% full. From the beginning there seemed to be a little confusion on how to select a seat with the computer. They seated us in the bar area in a booth, rather than the dinner area. (OK, so they wanted to spread out the customers.)
We were greeted fairly quickly by the waitress who offered to take our drink orders. Being cold we both asked for hot tea. The waitress apologetically told us they didn't have any hot tea. So my wife asked for iced tea. Nope, none of that either. The only hot beverage they had was coffee. (Coffee and sushi? ewww.) So we settled for water.
Looking at the menu, I was surprised how limited it was. No sushi sets, chefs choice or sashimi. Just rolls and individual pieces. Looking at the rolls it became apparent that the chef really liked lobster and shrimp tempura. Even the dragon roll had shrimp tempura. Finding a roll with just fish was difficult. Finding three rolls that did not include cooked ingredients was daunting.
We ended up ordering an unagi roll (listed on the menu as ell roll), volcano roll and crunchy tuna, plus a few pieces of sushi. We also ordered a house salad with ginger dressing.
Not to long later the salad arrived. A standard mix of greens with a balsamic vinegar dressing. We checked to make sure she didn't get the order wrong. It wasn't listed on the menu.
After the salad our sushi arrived. Presented on a room temperature floor tile. (We knew it was a floor tile because, well, it matched the floor tiles.) The presentation was pretty messy, including copious amounts of hot mayo slathered on the rolls. None of the artistic presentation that I had become accustomed to in sushi places. It bore no resemblance to the enticing pictures on their web site.
I asked for soy sauce, since the table only had the low sodium soy sauce substitute. She informed us that she was not sure if they had any, but she would check. Coming back a couple of minutes later we were told, nope, didn't have any in the kitchen.
Resigning myself to the circumstances I bit into the rolls. Where to start? The rice was soggy and left out to long; the seaweed paper had absorbed the rice’s excess moisture so it was chewy, not crisp; the fish was mushy and had obviously been frozen. The one 'baked' roll we ordered was warm on the outside but cold on the inside, indicating that it had been made ahead of time, refrigerated then thrown in an oven. (Which would also explain the soggy nori.) The rolls fell apart in some areas and were hard in others (poor rolling skill).
I found myself apologizing to my wife for taking her to Sushi Rock throughout the night. The tuna nigiri had a cold mushy feeling that indicated that it had not only been frozen, but allowed to freeze, thaw, refreeze and then thaw again, perhaps many times.
It was undoubtedly the worst sushi I have ever had. We ended up leaving most of it behind. When the waitress asked if we wonted it wrapped up both of us chorused "NO" and held up our hands for emphasis.
A lot of things can be attributed to being the first week. The lack of familiarity with the seating system, poor sushi making skills, the lack of tea, the lack of soy sauce. I pray that these were just problems. Because no hot drinks (on a cold day) and no soy sauce is pretty bad. I mean no soy sauce in a Sushi Resturant, for gawds sake! Couldn't they just go to Krogers and buy some? WTF!? (opps, sorry, got wound up)
Service: Good
Ambiance: Fair (the thumpa thumpa of the sound system was somewhat at odds with what was going on)
Price: Good (although the small bill was due to the lack of drinks and items to order)
Food: Poor, yuck, the worst. The only positive thing I can say is that I did not get sick. We went home and ate stale pretzels and that was better.
Overall: It would take a lot to get me to go back. Most likely I’d have to be carried in unconscious or unable to resist.
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