My dad invited me to eat sushi, but not the usual all you can eat we always go, he wanted to try a fancy place with "real good" sushis. Once we finished, he told me "How was it?".
What I never told him about this place:
Honnestly it taste 90% like all you can eat sushi
It's way overprice (You kinda pay for the experience).
The waiting for each piece was driving me insane!
You have to eat what they serve you, not what you like to eat.
Overall, I would rather go at a all you can eat sushi than somewhere serving "real good" sushis. I like to order 30 pieces and eat them like a pig.
Anyways here are some photos, we can all agree they look incredible!
by fluttermapp
25 Comments
You are free to stick with AYCE places if that is what you prefer.
I don’t have the world’s most sophisticated palate.
But I recognize that’s a me thing.
You like what you like. Sounds like you had an omakase. I can’t speak for where you are but the quality of fish at omakase around me are leagues better than all you can eats. And usually all you can eat places near me don’t even have nigiri as an option. They usually serve rolls, and usually it’s mostly imitation crab based.
To each their own, but if you’re palate is developed enough you can absolutely taste the difference.
Most American sushi omakase counters cater their food heavily to more western palates. Imo, if you get the chance to try actual edomae-style sushi, you’d be surprised. It’s generally “punchier” because of the techniques and fish used that most Americans are not used to (lots of silver-skinned fish like kohada, mackerel/shime-saba, akagai, hamaguri, etc.).
All sushi deserves love! Just eat what u like, it’s ok
You generally have to develop your palate more to appreciate the nuances, not dissimilar to wine. For some people with a more sensitive palate, the difference is immediately obvious. Also depending on how old you are, our preferred taste profile tends to change as we age. Nothing wrong with enjoying Barefoot or cheaper sushi if that’s what you like.
The other factor may be, if you went to an omakase where the chef is very light on sauce brushings (seems to be the case here), it may not be enough if you regularly eat a lot of salty foods. Not every upscale sushi place is amazing either. Can range from super underwhelming to mind blowing. Maybe give a different place a try in the future.
ETA – since I guess there is some misunderstanding, what I mean by develop your palate is learning by exposure. Being able to tell and perhaps appreciate the differences between a bottom barrel vs well prepared sushi by repeatedly eating and learning. Not making up BS about telling what part of the Pacific Ocean a fish came from by its flavor from what it ate or tasting the terroir of the ocean floor it swam by.
> sushis
Sushi is plural just FYI.
I prefer a slightly cheaper place than upmarket, it’s just personal preference (and value is a big thing for me at the moment and it’s a subjective thing).
It’s like people drinking coffee for the buzz or to wakeup over people looking for a barista that can make a decent brew.
A good happy hour at a nicer place can be a good meeting point.
Ayce sushi by me is low quality and they just put out tuna and California rolls basically. Nothing interesting. I would love to try a better place
This post is like bait for this subreddit to give condescending opinions. Enjoy what you like and consider yourself lucky you can also save money in the process.
I agree but you got to look around. Sushi mon is the buffet I go to in central Virginia, it’s on par with higher end places I’ve been to. I’ve went to all the other popular buffets here though and they taste bland, lack the flavor.
Fuckin lol at these people talking about refined palate. Yeah that’s bullshit, been to the top end and low end sushi in Japan and all through the states. No amount of “small batch single origin soy sauce” rubbed on the fish nipples is gonna upgrade your palate.
You could put these dudes in a blind taste test and they’d be lost.
Nice bud! I’m right there with you only I worked for a two star Japanese place that charged 375 a person (not including drinks) maybe cause I was eating expensive fish for family meal everyday, but there is a difference in taste.The fish and rice is better quality, cooked, and prepared differently. Now would I spend that money on the “show” aspect of it? No…AYCE all the way for me or just make my own myself.
I totally agree with how you feel OP. I had that same exact thought and experience when I tried omakase for the first time. I’m so glad you posted this!
I see a lot of comments saying you need to have a more sophisticated palate and appreciate the nuances. It’s not that I can’t experience and enjoy the better quality, I notice the difference. But for the drastic price point and we have good quality AYCE near me, I’d prefer AYCE.
Had a lot of high end omakase in Japan and grew up eating raw fish
Ayce is the best value if you want to eat sushi as a regular meal (one meal a day even)..
Some people here only want to eat sushi as a treat and such omakase might be better value for them – or they don’t eat much so they don’t get their value from ayce
But ayce is still my default go to, since the quality isn’t much different from similarly priced sushi places. The only time yo ull notice quality differences is when you’re spending more than ayce for less fish
You should be thankful that you can’t tell the difference. This will save you a lot of money. Or maybe the omakase you went to just wasn’t that good. I went to a two star Michelin sushi place and it ruined regular sushi for me.
Pearls before swine
Ayce usually never has yellowtail or unagi which is pretty large part what I’m trying to smash..
Is the last one trout? I had trout sashimi on a tasting menu and that’s what it looked like.
You clearly didn’t have kinmedai or anything in that category during your omakase.
I recommend watching the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It may help you understand the omakase experience and the price. By all means, get down on AYCE sushi! Everyone can like what they like and should indulge in what they enjoy. But that documentary is really well made and opens your eyes to the passion, skill, and heritage that goes in to making high-quality sushi. Since you enjoy sushi so much, you’ll really enjoy this documentary!
You’ve never had omakase?
Lol not everyone is suited for eating expensive things
You need to try more and more sushi and broaden your palette. You need to have bad sushi and mid sushi many times to appreciate the good stuff. You could also go your whole life only eating low and mid quality sushi, which most people do, there’s nothing wrong with that. High quality sushi, and having it enough times to be able to appreciate and differentiate is a luxury that most can’t afford.