Nad R brought us to Prince Sushi for July. I've heard it recommended before from a couple friends who enjoy going there. From what I had heard, the restaurant is an all you can eat experience in authentic Japanese fare. I was somewhat wary, having never been there, only because I know it to be a chain restaurant found in the AMC Theatre plaza complexes. But I was also prepared to be ambitious - a bottomless pit of Japanese food at one price....perhaps I could finally afford to be adventurous with this Asian cuisine.
Strike 1 - So first of all, when you go, don't plan on a long drawn out dinner - the kind we enjoy. There is a 90 minute limit on your table.
Strike 2 - This is not a traditional buffet where you get up and serve yourself as much or as little of what you want. Instead, you look at a menu, fill out an order card of what you want (1 card per table to begin with, not 1 card each) and then a server takes your completed card and brings you your food. The "all you can eat" part comes when you've finished your first round and want some more. And you can order as much as you want of whatever you want. But beware, these are full portions. So you can't order a couple pieces of sushi, you have to order the whole roll. With full portions, you end up with a lot of food. That would be ok except for the rule about finishing the dishes - you don't finish, you could end up paying the a la carte price of the dish.....in addition to the $23 buffet price that you've already committed to! We felt pressured to finish every bit of food and with the 90 minute deadline, we felt rushed and ended up eating way too much, way too fast.
Strike 3 - At the 60 minute mark, we were given a "last call for food". And I'll share this strike with the one where our server demanded that Nad B leave a cash tip on the table since she didn't include it on her card transaction.
Ok, so there must be some saving grace to this restaurant since the place was packed (small, but packed) and there was a line up at the door. I also noticed that most of the patrons were of Asian ethnicity. I don't want to assume all the Asians were Japanese, but that's supposed to be a good sign according to an Asian colleague of mine who says you know it's a good Asian restaurant when it's full of Asians! So of course there's a silver lining......the FOOD was AMAZING!Everything is fresh. The sushi chef is right out in the open, so you can actually see your food being prepared. And there was much more to choose from than sushi. Overall, we shared the following dishes:
Miso Soup
soya bean soup with tofu and wakame
Avocado Salad
green salad, avocado with house dressing
Tempura
2 pcs. shrimps and 4 pcs. vegetables
Mixed Mushroom
pan fried mixed mushroom with garlic butter
Yakitori Beef
barbecued beef skewers
Yakitori Chicken
barbecued chicken skewers
Green Onion Beef Roll
garlic and green onion wrapped in thinly sliced beef
Soft Shell Crab
deep fried soft shell crab with ponzu sauce
Gyoza
Japanese dumplings filled with chicken and vegetable
Ebi
shrimp
California Maki
avacado, cucumber, tobika and crab cake
Spicy Tuna Maki
tuna and avacado with spicy sauce
Katsu Chicken Dinner
deep fried chicken with tonkatsu sauce
I enjoyed all the food. I just wish I could have really taken my time and had smaller samples so we didn't feel pressured to finish; the portions, even for sharing, are generous. I love the ladies I was with, but I think if you're a first-timer at this restaurant, it helps to go with someone who knows more about this cuisine to guide you through if you're a novice like me. Bigger groups are also better so you can order more and sample more without having to eat large portions and pay the a la carte penalty for unfinished dishes.
Nad R had been here before and enjoyed it and we appreciate that she wanted to share it with us. This was a first and a last for Nad B - not a big fan of sushi and she was not impressed with the time limits or the service.
Even with 3 strikes, I wouldn't call this restaurant out just yet. I would go back because the food was very tasty and fresh, but I might opt for the a la carte take out menu instead of the time limited, cost-risk buffet.
Do you know where to get a good bento box? Let us know!
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