J Sushi

Neighborhood: International District
Address: 674 S Weller St Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-287-9000
Web: N/A
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 8.2 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Located just a few blocks east from Uwajimaya/Kinokuniya, J Sushi, is a fairly new sushi joint that opened 2007 in Chinatown/International District. Compared to the rest of the neighboring sushi places in International District that has been in business for 20+ years, the interior is clean and has modern feel to it. The wall has cool koi and octopuss mural on it. This is also the kind of place where you can easily become a regular as the place is not too big, and you can get to know the friendly head sushi master, Dave Nakamura (third generation Japanese). Dave is young compared to most of the sushi masters, and he likes to chat, so if you are in mood to dine, but don't have anyone to go with, sit at the counter, and Dave will talk to you and make jokes. I give one extra point for Dave's friendly casual personality, but I also have to dock off one point for their stainless steel chopsticks (the metal and raw fish doesn't mix well in my mouth).

SUSHI:
Sushi is quite good here. It's not the best or highest quality of fish, but they are fresh and tasty. The presentation of the fish is done nicely as well, and on top of that, for this level of fresh sushi, it's a pretty good price. And you can just order 1 piece, unlike most sushi places where you have to get 2 pieces per order. Their rolls are also made well and taste good. Since it's not a high level sushi place, the selection isn't that great but they still carry aji, uni and geoduck on their menu.

OTHER DISHES:
For lunch I highly recommend their katsu curry rice, which is only $7 and will fill you up. There aren't very many places where you can get such a crisp and yet juicy katsu that matches decent tasting curry like here. Their dinner menu has most of the basic traditional Japanese food, but not as extensive as izakaya food. If you are on a budget or just want to try a bite of lots of different things, the bento set is always a welcoming choice. They only have a few sake selection, but have the decent level ones such as Otokoyama and Hatsumago.

SERVICE:
Since the place doesn't stand out from the outside and they are not advertised too well, you hardly find this place packed with people. With that said, the service is usually pretty good. If you sit at the counter, the master chef, Dave really tries to make your dining experience a pleasant one. Overall, it's a decent sushi place where you can quickly get to know the chef after just a couple trips, and I hope that they will stay in business for a while.

Ricenroll

Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 214 Madison St. Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-262-0382
Web: www.ricenroll.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 2.9 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
A small take out place located in the downtown business area on Madison St, just down the hill from 3rd Ave. Lines will start forming around noon, which indicates that it's a popular spot. There are a couple of chairs inside that you can sit and dine in, but most people use those chairs to sit and wait for their take out order to come out.

SUSHI:
As this place is a take out place for quick and cheap healthy sushi, the quality is exactly what you would expect. Most of the fish lack any flavor and you can even tell from the color that they are not in the upper class. What you get here is basically the same kind of sushi you would get at a supermarket deli section, except it's made fresh in front of you. The Korean owner has stated that she wanted to create a fast food place for sushi (instead of fancy sushi restaurant) since there were hardly any before. This concept was actually quite popular and now Rice-n-Roll have multiple stores in Seattle region, including one in Bellevue Square and even a couple of stands inside Safeco Field. It's nice that Ricenroll has given non greasy lunch meal fan a chance to choose something else other than burgers or tacos, but if I were craving cheap rolls, I'd rather go one block east and pay a couple dollars more for rolls at Rolls n Sushi. But I should point out their three unique factors. One, if you ask and pay a little extra change, they will make your rolls using brown rice. Two, you can choose what you want in your roll by selecting your choice of fish/meat and something else. And three, their fish may not be that great, but their bulgogi beef roll is worth trying.

OTHER DISHES:
They have a few rice bowls you can choose from such as teriyaki chicken, tonkatsu and bulgogi. If you order lunch combo, that will usually come with a side of edamame (which is a bit too crunchy for me). Sushi here isn't fancy, but bulgogi bowl and salad is worth giving a shot.

SERVICE:
Since this place only caters to business people, they are only open on weekdays from 10 to 4pm. Try avoiding the peak noon to 12:30pm time as the line could get a little long and you may have to wait a bit for your order.

Ohana

Neighborhood: Belltown
Address: 2207 1st Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-956-9329‎
Web: www.ohanabelltown.com
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 6.2 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Ohana is located on 1st Avenue and Blanchard part of Belltown, next to Frontier steakhouse. As soon as you step in, you realize that their theme is Hawaiian with bamboo booths and tables with all the tropical decorations. There is a small sushi counter with Hawaiian looking guys behind the counter. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, they have a DJ spinning, and on Sunday night they have a karaoke night. On Wednesday nights, they have live Hawaiian (they call it Island) music.

SUSHI:
Looking at their sushi menu, you realize right away that their price is much lower compared to the other sushi restaurants in Belltown. Their Chef's Choice Sushi Combo goes for $18 and comes with 8 pieces of the usual stuff and California Roll, which is served on a big plastic boat shaped plate (though some parts are chipped off as seen on the photo). As for the taste, everything is just sub par. There is a fast food sushi restaurant in Japan called Kozozushi. That would be the closest comparison. Tuna tasted very watery like it had been frozen and defrosted a couple of times, and the seaweed they use to wrap the sushi also tastes cheap. Fortunately their salmon wasn't too bad, but in Seattle, even at a low end sushi place, it's hard to get a bad tasting salmon. I should however mention that their rolls aren't too bad.

OTHER DISHES:
Their sushi may not be the best in Belltown, but let's remember that this is a tropical Hawaiian themed restaurant, so they are probably not that serious about sushi. They do however make up for it by having good Haiiwan food. Their Kalua Pork is a tasty blend of very moist and tender pork and veggies. And let's not forget their tropical umbrella drinks, which are quite superb.

SERVICE:
With the exception of Friday night happy hour (5-7pm), when the place is quite busy, they have a pretty good service. The waiting staff will explain to you their unique Hawaiian dishes or the different sushi on the menu. Overall, go here for good tropical time with solid Hawaiian food and drinks, but avoid sushi if you are looking for the freshest fish in town.

Shun

Neighborhood: U-District
Address: 2510 NE Blakely St Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-522-2200
Web: N/A
Parking: Free parking space

Overall Rating: 8.7 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
Compared to Village Sushi on the Ave, the interior feels a lot more welcoming as the tables aren't super close to one another and you are seated on a nice large tables instead of being crammed. I am worried about their location as it doesn't stand out at all. I had heard that it was next to McDonalds near U-Village, but I drove past it, not knowing that it's located behind the gas station. There is a little sushi counter on the corner that seats about 8 to 10 people where there are usually two sushi chefs that take your order.

SUSHI:
They have special of the day, which is always a sure sign that the chef has tasted today's market of fish and have hand selected the best he can offer. Like any decent places, the best way to fully enjoy their sushi is to do omakase (chef's choice), but if you just want a few sushi and try warm traditional food from the menu, ordering from today's special will be just fine. The fish has great texture and the freshness is almost comparable to the high end sushi places in Belltown, but at a bit lower cost. They may not go into my top 5 but, it's definitely a consistent place that I wouldn't mind going back on a regular basis. The fact that their large sushi combo doesn't have any Americanized rolls is a big plus (on the photo). Someone told me that the main chef here has trained under Shiro-san for a few years.

OTHER DISHES:
They have wide selection of traditional Japanese food including cod kasuzuke and egg plant dengaku. Though not the best in town, both tempura and agedashi tofu were quite good and I would definitely eat them again. I was also attracted to their asari misoshiru (miso soup with clam in it) and soba salad. They have a few sake to choose from including Otokoyama, which you can get for a decent price.

SERVICE:
The wait staff was attentive and both the food and drink order came to the table much quicker than I expected despite the restaurant being 90% full. Overall, it's a nice mid sized sushi place where you can get to know your sushi chef if you go a couple of times and sit at the counter.

Red Bowls

Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 812 3rd Ave Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-344-2695
Web: N/A
Parking: Street

Overall Rating: 3.0 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
It's mostly a lunch take out place for workers in downtown, but they have several tables if you wish to dine here.

SUSHI:
To be fair, this is not a sushi place or claims to be. It's a Korean take out place that also services some Japanese food including the sashimi bowl for $10 which is loaded with lots of sashimi. With that said, their sashimi bowl is terrible. The fish tastes like it's been defrosted and frozen several times, and the worst part was that in between the sashimi slices and the rice, there are mayo marinated half raw vegetables. What is that!? I can forgive the bad sashimi as it's a cheap take out place, but having half cooked carrots on my way of the rice just ruins everything.

OTHER DISHES:
Since this is the Korean take out place (even though it's presented like a Japanese place), they do their Korean stuff well. Bulgogi and bibimbap are actually quite good and they give you really big portion. Their chicken katsu is also pretty good. But all of their bowls come with the mayo marinated half cooked veggies.

SERVICE:
During lunch time, people line up, so try going a bit later to avoid the crowd. As this is a take out place, even if you are dining inside, they will still serve your food in styrofoam bowl, but they pack it heavy with food. The bowls are decently priced from $6. I recommend their Korean stuff, but stay away from the sashimi bowl.

Todai

Neighborhood: Downtown
Address: 600 Pine St Seattle (map)
Phone: 206-749-5100
Web: www.todai.com/
Parking: Paid Mall Parking

Overall Rating: 2.5 / 10pts

ATMOSPHERE:
It should be noted that Todai is a huge global food chain (US, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia), and a lot of the times it can be found in the malls. This particular one is located on the top floor of Pacific Place mall in downtown. In front of the restaurant, you see the Todai mascot, which looks more like a condom than anything else. Since this is an all you can eat place, you will see wide variety of food stations inside.

SUSHI:
This is probably one of the worst sushi I've had in Seattle. The fish was dry and had no flavor. I should note that sushi should always be eaten within a few minutes after the chef makes it. The temperature of the rice and the room changes the flavor of the fish, and the longer the sushi sits, the less flavor you will taste. If you are in a mood to eat tons of sushi for cheap, there are other places to do it (like Bellevue's Sushi Ten that actually makes the sushi for you as you order).

OTHER DISHES:
It's a buffet, so the food is what it is, but you get to try variety of food. They even have ramen and udon. During dinner time, they have a lot more seafood selection like crabs and oysters, which you can get your moneys worth.

SERVICE:
It's a buffet (have I stressed that enough?) so you pick what you want. The price is different between weeknight and weekend. For lunch this place will cost you $15 (weeknight) or $17 (on weekend), and for dinner, $26 (weeknight) and $28 (dinner). The only good thing about this place is that they will give you a free dinner if you can prove that it is your actual birth date.