Sushi Mori

(My 103rd review of a Seattle Japanese joint.)

This is a solid 3-star joint. Great bento for a low price. Good service. Standard menu and atmosphere.

The food is fine but the last time I went there they charged me extra for iced green tea and when I complained about it when I paid my bill they told me that's what they do. Paying almost $3 for weak green tea?

I guess walking the 1 mile to sushiland is a better bargain and at least their iced green tea is brewed with a fresh tea bag.

I thought I'd try Sushi Kyo since it's so close to where I work. I'd say it's a decent spot for lunch if you're in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't travel across the city for it.

Their lunch specials come with miso soup and a small salad of romaine, a few slivers of cabbage, carrot and a tangy vinaigrette. The miso is better than average and comes with some little chunks of tofu. I ordered one of their lunch combos which came with a tiny, plain tuna roll (which was a bit of a let-down, as I thought I was going to get something a little heartier) and an assortment of nigiri. It all tasted fresh and good, although one piece was octopus, which I am not a fan of (the texture is too rubbery for me).

Why only three stars? Frankly, I thought their menu was a little overwhelming. There were so many options I really had a hard time choosing and eventually just gave up and settled on the combo. Also, I wish there had been a little more detail in the descriptions (so I could have avoided the octopus). I also thought the service was a little slow, especially settling the check.

Overall it was good, just not my favorite. If you're nearby and crave sushi you should stop in.

After a rather scary few minutes at Sushi Land (http://www.yelp.com/biz/AUq2VlVY7P72KYO3XMM-Kw?hrid=0JSD6bUsqxEuwwOfYt4Z_w), amazingly we still wanted to eat sushi. We happened upon Sushi Kyo en route to downtown Seattle. Despite not knowing anything about the place, it was open and there was ample street parking, so we stopped in for a quick lunch. We figured nothing could be worse than the conveyor-belt atrocity we'd just witnessed.

I think we got lucky, because in a dining room of four or five seated tables, we seemed to be the only ones actually getting served sushi. Sitting at the bar must be the trick there, because the sushi chef was on his game with our order. When he felt he was lagging behind in between the first two of four rolls, he even offered us some free California rolls. Score!

As we ate the nicely presented rolls, including an exceptionally beautiful rainbow roll and a truly decadent deep-fried ichi roll, we watched table after table of angry sushi-coveters come up to the counter and demand to know where *their* sushi was. The sushi chef got madder and madder at his two servers, yelling at them in another language, making for an uncomfortable situation for all parties, especially us, as we were just about done eating *our* food.

Oops. Did we dominate all of the sushi chef's attention? Did he serve us someone else's California rolls? I swear, that wasn't our plan. It just worked out that way. But the overall ambiance of the restaurant went from good to completely chaotic as tables left and right got up to leave. I'm not sure what was going on with the other two servers, but they seemed really overwhelmed by the volume, which didn't seem too heavy. Perhaps the customers were being a tad impatient? After all, there was only one sushi chef.

In the end, it was an odd experience. One the one hand, we enjoyed the sushi. But on the other, there seemed to be a huge disconnect between the servers and the sushi chef. I did ask for a tea refill, which never came. And while waiting a really long time for our check, I went to the bathroom and discovered it to be pretty disgusting. Minus two stars for the spotty service and icky bathroom. I'd only come back for takeout.

It's late Monday morning, Martin Luther King Day. My girl and I are walking down that steep Queen Anne hill towards a shopping destination downtown. The air is brisk. We're wrapped up in our late winter jackets, our breath puffing out in front of us. Our stomachs grumble to each other. Aw how cute. Interpersonal Gastro Communications.

I turn to her, about to suggest a breakfast place--Mecca and Five Point are both within walking distance--and before I can utter a sound (not counting the IGC rumbling up from beneath my jacket), she says:

"I want sushi."

Huh. Not your typical breakfast fare, but alright--fish rates higher on the healthy scale than B'eggs and 'Acon. However, I'm at a total loss for a sushi place that's on our way. "Wasabi is in Belltown. So is Umi. Not sure they'll be open this early though..."

She agrees and we try Mecca. Too busy. I suggest CJ's Eatery, also on our way, and we head into Belltown.

We're walking along, talking about some nonsense, in both human-speak AND stomach-speak, when all of a sudden, WHACK, she slaps my arm stopping me. We're standing outside of Sushi Mori. They're open. It's technically lunchtime.

In we go.

We have our choice of tables, as it's deserted in here. Top 40 dance tunes play in the background. She orders a lunch special. I get the sashimi lunch.

Salad, miso soup, both show up rather quickly. Her rolls follow, my sashimi wrapping up the food order. There's nothing that particularly stands out. However, that's as much a good thing as bad--the fish tastes fresh, the portions are generous. The memory of not-so-fresh fish that plagued my sushi experiences while working in Palo Alto, CA last year is still "fresh" in my mind.

"I gotta say, I'm grateful for the quality of Seattle's food," I say to my girl, also a California native. "I would never have started eating seafood otherwise."

We finish up. Prices are fair. Our server has politely been waiting for a signal to bring the already prepared check. The bill isn't too steep, not too cheap either. About average.

We continue on our Monday holiday shopping trek, a little more talkative now.

Our Interpersonal Gastro Communications, however, have been silenced.

My boyfriend and I came here on my lunch break for a quick bite. It was pretty much full when we arrived, the main waitress was busy helping other customers, so another lady informed us that we could sit at the bar. Then she didn't even tell the waitress that we were sitting there! While we waited we looked over the specials list right in front of us and decided we'd order from that.

Ten minutes later, I start acting antsy in my chair and the waitress finally notices us. She apologized profusely and got us green tea and menus. Then disappeared again. The sushi chef finally took our sushi order. We got a Spider roll and a Spicy Tuna roll. We still had to order the noodle dish. I got my sushi by the time David got his miso soup that came with the noodles. I was finished with my roll by the time he got his noodles, and he was done with those before his Spider roll came!

Something I noticed that bothered me: The Specials menu says "salad and miso soup included" on the top. I assumed this meant for everything on the Specials menu... except that I ordered my roll from that menu and did not get soup or salad. And the pot stickers that came with the noodles I had to remind them about.

Aside from the crappy service, the food was really good. I might suggest coming here when they aren't busy because they can't handle a crowd when only three people work there!

Microsoft Prime 2010-2011

Ambience: 3
Food: 2
Value: 2

Sub-par. Perhaps, if this restaurant were in Pittsburgh, it would be touted as a very authentic Japanese place with a wide variety of choices... but we're Seattle. With so many good alternatives (e.g. Umi) within walking distance, this very mediocre and somewhat expensive place is just not going to cut it.

The sushi was not amazingly fresh or super-sized. The regular dishes were very average (no subtleties of flavors that are trademarks of great restaurants). The bill was pretty expensive for what we got.

I would not goto this place again.

Sushi Mori is the new name of Sushi Kyo which has been around Belltown for awhile. The owners let us know that they used to be part of a franchise and they were able to buy themselves out of the franchise and now own the place 100%.

I have ordered take out from here numerous time and the food is prepared and ready for pick up in about 10 minutes. Service is usually speedy when eating in the restaurant however if you have a large group or the place is full, service does tend to slow down a bit.

I've mostly stayed with the sushi here (the spicy crazy roll is fantastic) and I think that's really the way to go at Sushi Mori. I haven't tried many of the Japanese dishes - of the ones I have tried I really liked the vegetable tempura which is crispy, not soggy. I also enjoy their house salad dressing which is a light ginger vinaigrette.

The owners are there every time I've been in (serving tables, rolling the sushi, etc) and I like that I'm supporting a local small business when I eat there.

There's nothing I hate more than having a serious sushi craving and trying a new place only to be let down.

Sadly, that was the case here just a few hours ago. I stepped in and ordered a lunch special of chicken teriyaki and a california roll (I always just order a small amount of sushi the first time I try a new place to see if it is indeed delicious). The california roll was a bit dry and small. I didn't even notice if there was a cucumber inside. The teriyaki was okay, but my chicken was dry as well.

The wait staff was nice, all saying bye to me on my way out but unfortunately not even sprinkling rose petals on my way out can make me come back here again.

Note: Its been renamed to Sushi Mori.

This is up the street from me, so we come here often. Its family-owned and has really great service. Prices are good and the dishes I usually get - salmon teriyaki and chirashi - are always done well.

Its well worth the trip if you're in Seattle.