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Yes, I AM a fan, a BIG fan BUT- We have a monthly lunch with friends at the Shinju on Glades Road in Boca Raton, Florida. In early July, 2019, our group had our monthly lunch there. We like the cleanliness of the restaurant, the efficiency and courtesy of the Wait Staff, the selection of Sushi, salads, the hot and cold foods, the Wok station and the dessert selection. Unfortunately, on our last visit, those of us who selected items from the steam table all agreed that the food in those trays was NOT hot. One of our group said one of the items he selected was cold. I mentioned this to the hostess at the front desk. She did go back to check and returned to tell us that the steam table was as it should be. We didn’t want to argue as we were close to having dessert. However, without question, the food on the steam table was, as best, warm. None of it was HOT. Most of us start our meal with the Sushi and salads before we start with the hot food (Wok station, Steam Table). Food in those steam table trays should be kept hot. We decided the next time we visit, which we will, we will first check some of the items on the steam table. If we are not satisfied those trays are as hot as they should be, we will leave. We suggest you consider doing the same.

Mac’s Sushi – Menu with Prices – Erin Mills Town Centre, 5100 Erin Mills Pkwy, Mississauga

I was struggling with whether I should give this place 3 stars or 4 stars, but in the end, I went with 4 stars and I will tell you why. Overall, the sushi is just ok – very underwhelming when compared to the sushi you get at a restaurant. However, this isn’t a sit down sushi restaurant where food is made to order. It’s a “fast food” sushi takeout place in a mall food court. The sushi is made throughout the day and kept in pre-made trays that you just grab and pay for at the cash register. It’s very quick, easy, and convenient. Anyways, the sushi is not the greatest, but when compared to other pre-made to go sushi trays (like the ones you may pick up at like a Metro, Sobey’s, or Loblaws), this sushi is much better than those. The rice is sometimes dry but the fish is ok and the whole meal is acceptable – even borderline good, but not quite there. The main reason I keep coming back is it’s cheaper than going to a sit down sushi place, and if you catch the End of the Day Special, you’ll get a lot of sushi for a good price. The special usually begins a few hours before the mall closes. In addition, they have given me free food at this location as a thank you when I would buy a lot of sushi all at once. Tonight, I took advantage of their End of Day Special and purchased two trays of sushi for $14 that would have easily cost $20+ if I got it at a restaurant. So, in spite of the mediocre sushi, I must admit the End of Day Special, the great service, convenient location, and the fact that it’s better than other pre-made sushi places makes this location one of my regular places to grab sushi. So for me, this is a 4 star place (but barely).

My China Kitchen – Menu with Prices – 2180 Harbor Blvd ste a, Costa Mesa

Looking for a quick and cheap bite to eat I stopped by this Chinese fast food shop in an old strip mall with a 99 cent store in Costa Mesa. They offer a mix of Vietnamese and Chinese food. The real deals here appear to be the 1, 2, or 3 item specials being offered in their steam trays. 2 items ($6.80) – This came with half fried rice and chow mein noodles. For my 2 items I went with a yellow curry chicken and orange chicken. The orange chicken had a nice crispy batter and a tangy orange flavor. It wasn’t bad and the yellow curry chicken was tender as well. The other items in the steam tray didn’t look that fresh and had probably been sitting there for some time. The server was extremely generous with portions, so much so that I was surprised that the container was able to close. There was enough food in there to feed 2 people. Overall the food is extremely cheap here and the portion size is enormous! I really think they should have only 3 or 4 dishes maximum in the steam tray here so everything is fresh, instead of 10+ dishes. They also offer some made to order Vietnamese dishes and freshly made Chinese dishes, but both are priced much higher.

Parkview Cafe – Menu with Prices – 11115 Parkview Plaza Dr, Fort Wayne

Parkview’s cafeteria is impressive. Every moment, every day of the year you can expect exceptional service from a friendly face. Made to order sandwiches or salads. Freshly rolled sushi. Three different soups, made fresh everyday. With a pizza, a taco/burrito, a gelato, a “home-cooked” station, there is something for everyone. There is also a refrigerated section for premade salads, snacks, and sandwiches. Plus all the sodas, chips, and treats you can imagine. It’s really neat for a hospital to have this kind of selection and service.

New York Butcher Shoppe Menu with Prices 465 Highland Ave, Augusta

First I have to send a giant thank you to one of our Yelp community members (Ron F.) for telling me for months that I needed to make it out to the monthly wine pairing hosted here. I finally took his advice and I have no regrets from the evening. For anyone local, it can be found in the middle section of the Surrey Center, all the way at the far left end, across from Finch & Fifth. So parking and shops to check out are a plenty. The wine pairing event is after hours (7 pm) so you have the place to yourself and it is only $20 a person (as a guest). Now let me go ahead and mention that if you become a monthly member ($40) it includes this wine pairing event as well as a selected bottle of white and a bottle of red wine. Plus 10% off wine purchases. That pays for itself. Back to this event. You walk in and a Greeter is being served. Pace yourself here. There will be two small plates, a main entree, and a dessert served. All of these will be paired with a different wine. And don’t worry about your glass going empty. Their pours are heavy and the team is walking around with the bottle, making sure no glass goes dry. Separately, the dishes and wines were amazing. The pasta, meat, and baking skills were top notch. Everything was plated beautifully as well. The wines each had their own personality and made me mad at myself for not being a member. But the two of them together, pure joy to the palette. A bold Cab with a dense chocolate cake, that is a capstone pairing if I’ve ever seen one. I will point out that this is a deli by day. That means there are meats, side dishes, tomato pies, of course bottles of wine, and much more available for purchase. That also means there is very little seating. So plan to stand for the entire event (about two hours in all). But due to the nature of the group there and the curiosity to see everything there, you probably won’t even care about standing (especially around that third or fourth wine pairing). I am in love with this place and look forward to returning soon (aka, next month). Attend this event, go grab lunch one day, and stop by if you are needing a quality yet affordable bottle of wine.

Little Tokyo Sushi & Grill Menu with Prices 5815 Windward Pkwy #209, Alpharetta

I would not eat here. I have been a frequent customer of this sushi restaurant for the past 5 to 6 years. I used to come here for lunch 2-3 times a week, and sometimes for dinner. It was our “go to” sushi restaurant. The place changed ownership about a year or so ago, and it has slowly, but steadily deteriorated. The food and service under the old management was fantastic (especially the sushi), and I used to often refer friends and family to this restaurant. The sushi was always fresh, tasty, and creatively prepared. We never had a service issue. Today, three of us were seated with just one menu. We waited 15 minutes for our waitress to greet us (the owner had only 2 waitresses serving the entire dining room), so as such, I had to get up from the table and ask for 2 more menus before she arrived. Once we ordered, it took 45 minutes for us to get our salads, and we had to ask for the salads after asking twice before “where’s our food?” It wasn’t hard to see that our waitress completely forgot about our salads. Then she served our salads at the same time as our food. When our food arrived, the food that was served was not at all what we ordered. We told the waitress this when she served it. She said she’d go and check, but she never came back for the rest of the meal. As such, we were left to eat what was served to us or we wouldn’t have eaten at all. Second, the sushi was neither fresh, nor creative, nor prepared the same way it has always been with the identical menu ingredients, notwithstanding that the menu under the new ownership is identical to the menu under the old ownership. Bottom line, the sushi was bland to nasty (some of it soggy). We never received napkins nor chopsticks nor soy sauce bowls (I had to go fetch all of those myself off of empty tables), and we had to flag another server down to get our water glasses refilled. We waited for 15 minutes after eating to ask for our check, but the waitress never came back. We then walked up to the counter and waited another good 15 minutes for someone to show up so we could pay our bill. Finally the owner showed up. I shared with her our experience, and she couldn’t care less. She wrote it off to “yes, we were busy.” Then she surprisingly said to us, “if you don’t like it you don’t have to come back.” I guess the new owner completely misunderstands what it is to run a hospitality type business. It’s a real shame because I used to love coming to this restaurant, but I will not be back. If you know of any great sushi places in the area, please drop a post. Thanks.

The Portofino Restaurant Menu with Prices 526 23rd St S, Arlington

We recently went with a group of 10 on a Saturday evening (with reservations) for a special birthday celebration and were seated next to (in?) the bus station and a very large group. The large group clearly took priority with most attention given to them. Workers were taking pictures for them etc while we sat with empty water glasses and dirty dishes in front of us. A waiter gave us the specials however was very difficult to understand. The manager (owner?) took our orders without introducing himself or asking if we had heard the specials. Questions about the menu were difficult for him to hear as it was so noisy with the large group. All items on the menu are a la carte. No one asked us how our meals were after they were served. The food was marginal with basic Italian food and pasta is not offered with most meals! Side salads were mostly made up of lettuce and were very skimpy. We will not go back to Portofinos and were disappointed with the food, attitude of the management and atmosphere.

Scenic Hills Country Club – Menu with Prices – 8891 Burning Tree Rd, Pensacola

My husband and I were without the family this year and thought to try out Scenic Hills as he had eaten lunch previously, and thought it was great. However, our Thanksgiving experience did not quite end as well as his lunch did. It started with the hostess trying to sit us right at the front where all the traffic was coming in and out… When my husband spotted a table by a window and requested seating there, she rolled her eyes and made noises, however, she made the switch, but clearly was unhappy about it. We then proceeded to the buffet where the offerings were sad and cold. Cranberry sauce, was just that, a sauce. The beans, dressing and macaroni and cheese were cold. We then proceeded to the meat table, where the woman behind the counter confessed to never having sliced a turkey before and was clearly having a tough time hacking it apart. The turkey was severely dry, but along with the cold dressing, beans, and other assorted items… it went along well. Then onto dessert, which we figured, who can mess up dessert?? Well the bread pudding, which should be served warm, was ice cold because the burner was never turned on. Suffice it say, we will NEVER eat there again. The price was ridiculous for the mediocre meal we suffered through. If I could give them a negative rating, I would. PS. It was my husband’s idea to go to Scenic Hills, and he actually apologized afterward for the quality or lack thereof of the meal. I am thankful it’s over.

Seafoods Station – Menu with Prices – 4795 N 9th Ave, Pensacola

My family and I enjoyed a wonderful Father’s Day dinner here last night. We absolutely loved this place! The food, service, time to table; all of it made for a fantastic dinner. We’re locals and we notice when a new place comes to town, so we had to come check this place out. It did not disappoint! The service was so incredibly friendly and memorable. Smiling, sincere servers took care of us throughout the night. They even brought us complementary egg rolls in celebration of Father’s Day which was a special touch. The owner brought out all of the hot dishes, serving them with a jolly smile and ensuring we were happy all along the way. The prices are phenomenal here! The fried rice and noodles were hearty in size and portion and priced very fairly. They were packed with flavor and not heavy and oily in any sense. The sushi itself was delicious…and FRESH! I’m a sushi fanatic and honestly this rivals my favorite sushi joint in town. It was refreshing to see reasonably priced sushi when it is often up-charged highly. The seaweed and squid salads were notably fresh and the sushi itself so yummy. We were so content with all that we ordered and had plenty to take home. Overall, we had such a lovely experience and can’t wait to return. I think we’ve found a new local “go to!” Thank you Seafoods Station for such a memorable first experience and making Father’s Day all the more happy!

Sushi Takatsu – Menu with Prices – 733 S Marquette Ave, Minneapolis

This place competes with Orient Express as my favorite lunch spot in the skyway. In fact, I usually just alternate between the two to keep things interesting. First of all, the price here is extremely reasonable. $6.95 for a sushi bowl with plentiful of tuna and salmon? Yes please. Gyu Don for the price of subway? Even better. You know what’s the beta thing here is though? They have oshizushi aka pressed sushi. It’s sooooo good, especially since their sushi rice is actually exceptional. My favorite is definitely the saba. Furthermore, for popular items like the sushi bowl, they have these rolling out at lunch so, even with the huge lunch line here, you’re rolling through it quicker than even Chipotle. Anyway… If you work in the area and need a reasonably priced but delicious healthy lunch option, do not miss Sushi Takatsu.

Roma Palace Banquet Hall – Menu with Prices – 4550 W Buckingham Rd Suite D, Garland

I used to come here when it was in the banquet hall next door but it has now moved inside the Subzi Mandi grocery store (back left). It’s slightly cheaper than it used to be ($7 now), but with the change has come cheap styrofoam trays, cups, and plasticware. You have to get your own water and dispose of your used trays. I would say the size of the buffet has decreased by 30% as well, but most the staple items remain and the food tastes about the same. It’s not best Indian food out there but it’s still way better than my company’s cafeteria. I will say the kheer (rice pudding) here is the best I’ve had at *any* Indian restaurant – very milky with the perfect low level of sweetness and refreshingly cold. Despite the downgraded experience and food variety, I’m still keeping this place in my rotation for a cheap workday lunch. Cons: The parking lot is constantly littered with stray shopping carts. I’m afraid to park here for fear of dings.

Sushi Sakana – Menu with Prices – 4435, 3000 Custer Rd # 110, Plano

My favorite spot for Sushi in Plano, TX! The restaurant is smaller than some but I like that. It’s more cozy and intimate for a date night and never ridiculously loud. You can have a nice conversation here over a fantastic dinner. Their selection of rolls is great and there always seems like there’s something new to try. I haven’t had all of them, but my main go to is the crunch roll (pretty basic of me, I know :P) and each one I have tried has been very good! Their ramen is excellent, especially on cold nights when you want something to warm you up. I haven’t tried the bento boxes or other entrees because I really just love to either get sushi or ramen from this place, but I hear good things! The staff is very friendly and accommodating. Refills come in a timely manner and they know just when to check up on you without ruining an engrossing conversation or spoiling a mood. Very clean dining room, sushi bar and bathrooms. Go check them out, they do not disappoint!

Sumo Sushi and Japanese Restaurant Menu with Prices 3174 Tilghman St, Allentown

Came here with friends for lunch. There were about 10 of us, and service is commendable despite the large group. We were able to return to work timely. . . Two of us had the bento box. I had the salmon, my favorite bento, and it is comparable to others, but nothing extraordinary. The shrimp tempura though was crunchy; I could hear the crunch from across the table. Everyone was pleased!. . The best part? Sumo gets A++ for presentation. Even simple sushi was well presented. Someone in our group ordered the fire dragon sushi which came with very attractive open flames!. . The restaurant appeared clean with enough open space in between tables. There appears to be a couple of rooms at the back of the restaurant also.. . canâ??t wait to go back!