East Japanese Restaurant: So So Sushi Experience

I’m a little delayed with this entry, but alas, here it is.

Sunday afternoon, I ate one of the great guilty pleasures in life – movie theater popcorn –while watching Ocean’s 13. (Though this isn’t a movie blog, I will give a brief overview: funny writing, good comedic timing, cute flick. You don’t see an Ocean’s movie without knowing how it will end. However, the one-liners, delivered in a charming deadpan by attractive people in great clothes…good stuff!!)

But I digress. It’s been so long since I had the popcorn that I can’t recall when they moved the butter to a DIY operation. And DIY I did. Not too much, just enough to get a taste of that so-bad-for-you buttery goodness. Hey, we all have to venture down the truly unhealthy path once in a while.

After the flick, my girlfriends and I made our way to East Japanese Restaurant, a kaiten (conveyor belt) style sushi restaurant at 366 3rd Ave, between 26th & 27th. Review: Eh. The experience is great…attentive wait staff constantly refill your water glass and tea cups, and there is a never a lack of ginger or wasabi, as small vats sit on the table. An array of nigiri and maki, as well as dessert items, roll past on a conveyor that goes by the tables and the sushi bar. As my friend Charlotte mentioned, it’s a fun place to take a sushi newbie.

The rolls are by far better than the nigiri pieces. California, Spicy Tuna, Philadelphia, etc etc etc. Just grab and go. However, the pieces of sushi were on the less fresh side on this particular Sunday afternoon. Not to the point of making me or one of my dining companions ill, but definitely not the crisp flavor that you can find up the street at my favorite sushi joint, Choshi. The best nigiri piece I had was the wasabi masago, which was delightfully, sinus-clearing spicy. I just love the feeling of the little masago-thingamajigs popping in my mouth!!

Price range from $2.25 - $4.50 and the variety is impressive. You end up with a stack of plates that are color coded to reflect the price, so when you’re done, the waitress picks up the plates and quickly calculates your bill. It’s similar to the dim sum method, and nearly as cheap. For three of us to eat until we were pretty darn full, we only rang up a $40 tab…far cheaper than I can rack up myself at some of the showier sushi places. (Note: the do special Tuna and Salmon nights on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, where the fish of the day is even cheaper. If only I lived closer…)

So, for a quick bite, fun little experience and OK, if not great, sushi, stop on in.