As horrible as my vision is, I have an eagle eye for sushi restaurants and things that are on sale. Sushi Turn House did not do a very good job at making itself look fancy, but it did an outstanding job at catching my attention with its "$0.99 Sushi" sign. How could I say "no" when I could fulfill my life's greatest desire for just $0.99?
Unfortunately, when I stepped in, I found that it was $0.99 for only one piece of nigiri and not $0.99 for as much sushi as I wanted. However, the food was still inexpensive, and there was a good amount of takeout traffic coming through during my visit. While examining the menu, I quickly noticed that the sushi chef and the waitress both spoke Cantonese. Although I am a fluent Cantonese speaker, I pretended not to know any Cantonese and see if I could possibly listen in on any of their secrets.
Red Dragon Roll - B
The first item to arrive was the Red Dragon Roll, which consisted of spicy salmon, prawn tempura, avocado, cucumber, masago, and teriyaki sauce. I didn't really agree with the presentation because it reminded me of those uncut rolls that T&T used to serve. The restaurant is named Sushi Turn House after all, so couldn't they at least turn the pieces around to make the roll look more appealing? Presentation aside, the prawn tempura was juicy and tasty, and although the batter was thick, it was not hard. The salmon had a nice creamy flavour, but the rice was warm and a bit mushy. The most hilarious thing about this roll was the teriyaki sauce, which tasted a lot like Chinese black bean sauce. Oh my Chinese goddesses...
Tuna Sashimi - C+
Salmon Sashimi - B+
Next up was the Appetizer Sashimi, which came with three pieces of tuna and two pieces of salmon. I was not particularly fond of the Tuna Sashimi because it was weak in flavour and quite sinewy. The cutting of the tuna into thick chunks did not exactly help. The Salmon Sashimi was cut slightly thinner and featured a nice smooth sheen.
Unagi Nigiri - B-
Tai Nigiri - B-
Toro Nigiri - B-
Of course, I had to try some of the $0.99 sushi, so I went for the Tai Nigiri (the Unagi Nigiri and the Toro Nigiri were $2 each). The unagi was savoury, but it lacked a smoky flavour and was overwhelmed by an excessive amount of sauce. The Tai Nigiri tasted slightly fishy, but at least it was not too chewy. The Toro Nigiri surprisingly came with too little rice, which made it hard to pick up. The cut of toro was very generous, but it would be nice it had more flavour.
Seafood Fried Rice - B-
Seeing that the restaurant was Chinese-operated, I decided to try a Chinese dish: the Seafood Fried Rice. I was startled to find that this fried rice did not stack up to Kadoya's fried rice, even though this one looked more elaborate. The rice felt crumbly and was of mediocre quality. The cooked salmon was also a bit dry, but I did enjoy the savoury sweet scallops among the mix.
I received friendly service during my visit, and the sushi chef often looked around at the diners and assisted the waitress in ensuring attentiveness. However, when I was half finished my fried rice and went on my phone to check my email, the chef looked at me and then said to the waitress in Cantonese, "Help him pack it up. How can he possibly finish all that food? He's just a child." I knew he was only trying to help, but seriously? Just a child?? I am old enough to say that my driver's license expired several years ago! I know that growing up isn't easy, but perhaps it is impossible for me after all.
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