Sushi Sei

Mega Bank was having a 50% promo so the Snob Family decides to go and check it out. It's been over a year that we've been back there and the Snob Family has tasted Kenzan, our outlook on sushi has never been the same ever since...

I walked to see the sushi counter and was surprised at how full the sushi display was considering its already Sunday, and fish imported from Japan usually comes in on Tuesdays and Fridays (and i think Sushi restaurants are usually closed on Mondays?), which means Sunday is the last day (well thats what i deduce anyway). But then again, it could be a bad thing as well, maybe no one ate it and thus the 50% discount.

After waiting close to 30mins we were seated at the counter. When i saw the fish up close, i was disappointed in what i saw. First the fish colour was not as bright as what fresh fish should look like. The tuna was not as bright as what i usually see and it was getting very pale in colour. What more, some of the fish were pre cut into slices. Although the sushi restaurant was packed, having to cut the fish before hand is seriously just plain lazy and unslightly. Although i've seen some good japanese restaurants with pre sliced fish, but i'd almost never see it in display.

After i saw the general skill level of the chef, ive decided to order the Chirashi rather than Nigiri sushi set. The wait was awfully long, and the worst part is not the fact that it took a long time to prepare. Chirashi sushi set which was being prepared infront of me was not difficult and personally very hard to go wrong. The worst part was that it was left on the top of the counter for a good 5-10mins before the waitress took it, go to another counter and put the appetizer, miso soup, and cutleries.

Sushi or sashimi is something you need to eat very fresh, and one way to make it taste fresh is to serve it almost immediately. If you let it out of the sushi display into room temperature, the fish would quickly lose its coolness making it worst. What more if you have to mould it in more than 7 steps with the fish on the palm of your hand.

Another problem with the restaurant was how it served the whole set as a set. Because of the very long process of having to get the sushi from the counter, bringing it to another counter to place the appetizers and then serving it to us. I believe they should serve the appetizers almost immediately after we've ordered our sets. So that we can tuck in to the sushi immediately rather than go through the appetizers and miso soup first before paying attention to the fish. Seconds are soooooo important here to retain its coolness!!!!



So how was the Chirashi sushi set? To be honest, im not a big fan of the Chirashi sushi set unlike my brother whose mission is to try all the chirashi sushi sets in the world. Because of that i dont know how to judge it? There is no need to mould the rice, and the fish does not need to be on the palm of the hand to be moulded as well. Freshness, decoration and aesthetics i believe would rule the merits of the Chirashi sushi set.

The fish as i said previously, was disappointing for the colour at least. The taste was okay at best, i didnt have much complain and the uni was one of the best ive tasted in Indonesia. But that doesnt mean its anywhere near "like-an-ocean-in-your-mouth" kinda good and it wasnt as bad as the urine tasting uni we had at Blok m.

I believe if i ordered the Nigiri sushi set i would have be highly disappointed considering how they moulded it. I would have been utterly dissatisfied, so thank god i didnt order it.

I would say, the service was awful, and being in the business for years, doesnt give you the excuse that it was packed that day. The appetizers should have been served immediately or at least before the mains came out. And oh, sushi chef, why are you slicing the fish into so many slices when no one has even ordered it? Doesnt keeping the fish as a whole piece keep the fish from dehydrating?