Monday, January 8, 2018

You better eat fast - A sushi restaurant that feels like a sauna (Sushi Garden High Gate)

Sushi Garden has got to be one of the most popular sushi restaurants around and they have opened up many locations. When I got here, it was around 7:30 at night and the place was about 90% full.  I usually come to Sushi Garden for take out because there is a deal (I believe 5% off if you pay with cash and order in advance). However, this time I decided to eat in. There wasn't a line up (like there usually is when I drive by), so I decided to come in with my +1. Our first impression was that the restaurant was warm and smoggy (the windows were all fogged up) and felt like a mini sauna. The restaurant was also pretty tightly packed, and there wasn't much free space to move around.
   Once we sat down, the waiter brought us the menu. I've seen many menus in the past, but this menu was super worn out and it looked like someone just spent 10 minutes on Microsoft Word to copy and paste things and then it was printed. The lamination were all frayed and the colours of the menu was all faded. I'm not an art critic, but this is just an observation. Who knows, the vintage and minimalism style could be a thing. The other thing I noticed from the last time I was here was that the price for sushi have gone up. As a benchmark, their Alaska Roll (one of my favourite rolls from them) used to be $3.95 but now it's $4.50. However, given the current economy and inflation, costs going up is understandable. It's interesting to note that the utensils that they were using like cups seemed worn out. The one that my +1 had was chipped.
    I decided to order an Alaska Roll, 2 spicy tuna rolls and a wild salmon roll. I tend to avoid salmon because of PCB (farmed salmon tend to have higher concentrations of PCBs). Once we finished ordering, the food came pretty fast. I have to say, I still love their Alaska Rolls, that thin slice of Salmon on top of a roll that has avocados and then some miso paste really does it for me. The spicy tuna rolls was average, there is really nothing much to say about that. Overall I liked the rolls, and felt they were pretty decent.
   The interesting part was that I felt the waiters/ waitresses were watching us like hawks. The moment we are finished with a plate, they came right away to take the plate away. They did that for all of our plates and then when we finally finished the last plate, they came with the bill. It was very swift and I'm not going to lie, it made me feel a bit anxious and pressured to hurry up and leave. Definitely this is not a place to take a family (I live with old people who eat slow), I can imagine how pressured one will feel to eat as it seems like they want you out the door fast.
   Overall, I like their sushi, but it is not a place I will go out of my way to go eat it as the eating environment is pretty uncomfortable.





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