After a long day at Central Park, we were quite hungry. My mom suggested we try the sushi spot we passed by earlier in the day. Located between Broadway and 8th Ave, East Japanese Restaurant is a small (
We passed by twice, until we finally found it) but cozy sushi spot, tucked in between two Italian Restaurants.
We squished our way through to the back of the restaurant which was surprising quite spacious. We started off we the
Deep Fried Squid (3/5), which really were just squid tentacles. The squid was flavourful, but the texture was too soft for my liking. These were quite soggy as well.
We ordered the
Sashimi Platter (3.5/5), which included Salmon, Tuna, Toro, Scallops, Octopus and Yellowtail sashimi. I loved how each piece was nice and thick. They were all fresh tasting and didn't exhibit a fishy taste. The toro was fatty, but no the 'melt in your mouth' type, although it was still good.
Our waiter suggested we try their Gyoza special (Chicken, Beef or shrimp). We went with their
Shrimp Gyoza (2/5), which was a huge disappointment
as the filling was literally like a mush, rather than
shrimps. But for $2.99 I can't really complain.
I would've liked the Gyozas to be crispier as they
were quite soggy. The sauce was nothing special as it was just watered down ponzu. Not a great start.
To make things even worse, the
Chicken Karaage (2/5) fooled us, as it looked hot and crispy, but turned out to be
soggy like the other fried items. What a disappointment. The batter was way too thick and the chicken was dry and tasteless.
Onto something that didn't disappoint us..The
Dragon Roll (3.5/5), looked very pleasing as it arrived to our table. Topped with Avocado and Salmon Roe,
the Eel on the inside was nice and flavourful and the sushi rice was
beautifully seasoned. I liked how they didn't stuff the roll with too
much rice, which many restaurants tend to do.
We ordered the
White River Roll (2.5/5), which didn't look like a roll at all when it arrived. This was definitely a challenge to eat, let alone pick up as everything was falling apart. With the help of a spoon, which made things a tad bit easier, I was able to make out what
we actually ordered in the first place.
Essentially it was an eel and salmon roll, topped with tempura bits, pickled carrots, eel sauce and spicy mayo. This was quite tasty with all the components together, while the pickled carrots and tempura bits added a nice crunch.
East Japanese Restaurant has friendly staff, but their food is quite standard. The fried items that we had were very disappointing.
The Good:
The Bad:
- Fried items were a disappointment
- Somewhat hard to find
