Jackson Heights Life

I went the other day
I don't really have any standards for the area, so I don't know what they are up against.

for 1 dollar a piece, that is hard to beat.  the sushi itself was less than special though. Everything was fresh I guess, but maybe the initial quality isnt as good as what I am used to.

Can it matter that much to have non-japanese at the helm? The chefs were okay. They shiould really be more engaging though, it's supposed to be like a real bar, you know...

Prices can't be beaten though.

I told the chef to give me 8 pieces of whatever he wanted. he gave me salmon, tuna, white tuna, fluke, yellowtail. I was nonplussed. Only the white tuna was truly satisfying, and that's hard to mess up.  Next time I will have to hold his hand to see what they can do.

My husband and I tried Tomo two nights ago and really enjoyed it.  I couldn't try any of the seafood due to an allergy, so I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki.  The chicken was moist and flavorful and served on a bed of sauteed onions and shredded carrots and accompanied by a bowl of rice.  Delicious!  I also found the decor aesthetically pleasing and the staff was very friendly.  Overall, a nice addition to the neighborhood.

We tried Tomo last night.  Serviceable sushi; we'll order from there again.  It's much better than Happy Kitchen.

I'm sure there are others, but Ariyoshi on Queens Blvd in Sunnyside is Japanese Japanese.  It's excellent and very reasonable.

But GregNYC is right.  More often than not, Japanese restaurants are owned by Koreans or Chinese.

For great sushi, try Yama on Houston Street in Manhattan.

But I am so glad Tomo is here, even if it's not as authentic as we all would hope for.

By authentic I meant owned by Japanese, with Japanese sushi chef's and a Japanese decor.

By authentic I meant owned by Japanese, with Japanese sushi chef's and a Japanese decor.

Understood.  But I don't know what this means with regard to the food, which is really the only thing that interests me.  My favorite sushi restaurant, which is in California, has a Japanese owner-chef who learned his craft in Japan, and has a very limited menu.  But invariably, there's UB40 playing on stereo.  Does inauthentic reggae music make this inauthentic sushi?

I have some idea what makes various Americanized cuisines "inauthentic," but in sushi I see only quality of the fish, quality of the cut, and presentation.  Of course, the fish themselves may be different according to what's fresh and available (I've seen some differences between CA and NY in this regard).

Shelby2 - I had a similar experience at Happy Kitchen, when the person taking my order didn't know what I meant by "Hamachi" (they don't refer to it as such on the menu).  But even authentically Greek restaurants in NYC will look at you funny if you order a "hee-ro" instead of an Americanized "jeye-ro".

I'm so glad I'm not a sushi snob. I used to eat it a lot and then just kinda lost my taste for it. Now I'm one of those people who like "nouveau sushi" like the fancy hand rolls at Bond Street with the curry dipping sauces etc.  I actually like Bond Street better than Nobu's fare.  I guess taste buds change with age.  Mine are going down hill.

I find there are varying degrees of sushi snobbism.  I, for example, am too snobby to eat the pre-pared sushi rolls that are prepared by the sushi chefs at the Hong Kong Market in Elmhurst.  But not too snobby for Whole Foods sushi (had it today in fact), or for Happy Kitchen (my not going there much didn't have anything to do with the acutal food), and I hope I'm not too snobby for Tomo because I do plan to go there once a week at least once I'm back in town.

You know between Tomo, Nanking and Mystic Planet - these are three major step ups instead of yet, another, chicken joint.

LOL, and here I was thinking that just once, today, I was going to give in and take a flyer from the new chicken joint across from the post office, because they trying so hard.   

Anyway, I've done the order in Tomo thing a few times, and been pretty much happy.  (I say I because my wife prefers Happy Kitchen, and Luc prefers Chinese food over everything else (Arunee Thai, Delhi Indian, La Boina Roja Columbian) we order or visit.)  And this $1 deal is really the way to get the Octopus and Squid I like so much, and not too many places have Red Clam (yay!).