What's the sushi scene in Providence?

[CapeCodGuy]

I don't see a lot of sushi discussion in Providence. What's good? Anything truly special? All I've really seen mentioned is Ten Prime and Sakura.

[rebeccavee]

The only sushi place worth going to in Providence is Ran Zan. Tokyo does not stock very fresh fish and their sushi chefs don't know how to properly slice; Haruki frequently serves on warm plates, etc.

The service at Ran Zan can be slow, and the space is small, but it's head and shoulders above the other local options.

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Ran Zan Japanese Restaurant
1084 Hope St, Providence, RI 02906

[Garris]

The "only" place worth going to may be a bit of a stretch, but it's OK, and competitive with other offerings.

Slow service is an understatement, though. We went this past winter and waited over 15 minutes just for the waitress to take our order (she always kept saying she'd be right there) before we gave up and left, the only time we have ever done anything like that. Our earlier visits were only marginally better...

[Tunia]

Has anyone tried Wasabi Sushi Bar on Route 6 in Johnston? Haven't been there in a while, but plan to go back someday soon. I'm no sushi expert, but did enjoy their offerings. My original CH inquiry about Wasabi was in July '09 - no responses received at that time. Opinions?

[Gin n Tonic]

It's better than eating at the Burger King next door.

Honestly, I'm not sure what you're asking. You say you enjoyed it, and plan to go back. If you enjoyed it, that's good. Plenty of people also enjoy, apparently, sushi from the supermarket, if you read this thread. That's good for them and for the supermarket. But, you know, there really is a world of difference between that and high-end sushi.

It would probably be helpful in some of these questions/discussions if people were to be more explicit about their level of knowledge, experience or expectations. Are you interested in traditional sushi, or are you after avocados and cream cheese and inside-out rolls? What is your budget and where have you eaten that you consider good?

[Tunia]

OUCH! And I did say "I'm no sushi expert..." I merely asked a question.

[CapeCodGuy]

I've had Omakase at O Ya for $$$, and the $13.95 lunch bento at my local joint. My point to starting this thread was to see if I could find something in between in PVD. Clearly, I cannot.

And repeating "go to NYC" is not helpful in the least, so please don't.

[CapeCodGuy]

I have taken a little "time off" so I thought I'd just throw this in as a means of clarification. Here's two pics from recent visits to one of my local sushi joints, Misaki in Hyannis. Both are shots of their fine, and ever changing, chef special lunch bento. Although terrific, I was hoping that I could find something in PVD that was a step above next time I'm in town for provisions ( regualr visits to Venda and the Hill)

Unfortunately, it appears that I can't do better than this unless I head to Worcester, Boston, or god-forbid, NYC.

[kiki47]

I know this is a typically RI response but I still miss New Japan. These days it's Haruki.

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Haruki Restaurant
1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, RI 02920

[Garris]

Can you equal the photos of what you posted? Sure, at one of several mid-range sushi places already mentioned. But as many of us have said, Providence sadly doesn't have a high-end, "destination" sushi establishment. For that, it's Boston, and just barely.

Regarding New Japan, I more miss its role as a downtown sushi outpost than I miss its food, which I felt was always just passable. However, Sura is now open downtown I believe (on Westminster) and they could fill that role. They do Korean and sushi. If I remember the history, I think they used to be on the East Side near Thayer some time ago, then opened in Johnston (and have a good reputation there), and now have the downtown branch.

[CapeCodGuy]

I assumed I could equal as there's nothing extraordinary in the bentos, although they are quite good and nice value for 13.00. I was really looking for a significant step up. I don't know what you find lacking in Boston ( O Ya, Osushi, Toraya, and Uni are all quite worthy of destination designation.)

[Gin n Tonic]

I think the Sura on the East Side had a fire a few years ago, and never reopened. The Sura on George Waterman Road in Johnston is, in fact, a good Korean restaurant. I've always enjoyed my meals there. I have no idea why one would want to eat sushi at a Korean restaurant, though, and I have never done so.

To CapeCodGuy -- seriously, if you want good sushi, go to New York. This has been said any number of times. The stuff you show in your pictures you can easily get at Haruki in Providence or Cranston. But none of that is "terrific", to use your term.

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Haruki Restaurant
1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, RI 02920

[CapeCodGuy]

I can get good sushi in Boston, and that's much closer so that's what I'll do. I guess you missed that I was looking to do better than what's in my pics as I know it's nothing special.

[digga]

There is a RI Meetup sushi group...they might be a good resource. I have enjoyed both Haruki East (PVD) and Ichiban (Cranston). I find Ten Prime rather obnoxious.

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Ichiban Restaurant
146 Gansett Ave, Cranston, RI 02910

Haruki East
172 Wayland Ave, Providence, RI 02906

[AikiLou]

For anybody who occasionally enjoys sushi and wants to enjoy it at home with a martini and a good movie, Whole Foods at Garden City is your place. They make it fresh all day, and, the variety is fantastic. I would match the quality of Whole Food's sushi to ANY sushi restaurant. They also sell chicken and vegetarian dumplings which are quite good.

[CapeCodGuy]

Lou, Lou, Lou...supermarket sushi as good as ANY sushi restaurant?...tsk, tsk, tsk....you need to get out more my good fellow. Not even close.

[AikiLou]

Hey, Hey, Cape Cod guy...first of all I am not an MLou, I am an FLou; but, anyway, have you tried the Whole Foods at Garden City?...I cannot speak for their other markets, but, it is good, honest. I do eat sushi often. I live in the Berkshires, but, my family is in R.I., and I grew up there and am there every couple of weeks. I have had sushi at Haruki many times and at Kon...out here, there are two very good places to get it; that said, SOMEtimes, one just wants to sit with take out, a martini, and a good movie. And, Whole Foods IS the only market from which I WOULD buy it.

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Haruki Restaurant
1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, RI 02920

[CapeCodGuy]

Sorry about the gender mixup my good ma'am, but I'll stand by my post. I'm not saying it's not nice to snuggle in and have some sushi at home. I do that rather often as my local go-to place offers take-out. I'm not even saying your WF does bad sushi. By many other's admission, the RI sushi scene is rather dismal, so it MAY even be true that WF's sushi is better than most RI restaurant sushi. (But brown rice ...really? THAT'S not sushi, but I digress). What I CAN say without any doubt whatsoever even though I've never even tried it is that there is no way WF is better than ANY sushi restaurant (or even most!). Pure hyperbole, FLou, IMO.

[Bob W]

CCG -- our local WF (Fairfax VA) is considered to have good sushi
(which you should expect at least in terms of the freshness of the fish) and even good barbecue. I wouldn't rule it out -- maybe not as good as "any" sushi restaurant, but certainly worthy of discussion and especially in a city like Providence that is not a great sushi town.

[AikiLou]

Where is the Whole Foods in Fairfax? I lived there many years...taught school in the Fairfax County system.

[Bob W]

It's in Fair Lakes -- about a mile west of the Fair Oaks Mall. It's a beautiful WF. Some of the other WFs around here, like Tysons and Reston, were Fresh Fields stores that were converted to WF. This one is much newer and was built as a WF store.

This store has a sushi bar AND a full-service seafood restaurant. It's quite a store.

[AikiLou]

The one in Cranston, R.I. does not have the seafood restaurant, but, they do have a really good fish department. Back in the day, as it were, circa early '70s, ones worst nightmare was to be posted to Herndon High...times has changed, huh.

[AikiLou]

I have never HAD brown rice sushi...I was unaware that Whole Foods even sells it. Dave's boasts it; but, I have no interest in brown rice sushi. And, I stand by my posts that Whole Foods, Garden City, has beautiful, fresh, visually appealing, and very tasty sushi (and I should add that I am not really fond of most of their prepared foods). Tell ya what...CapeCodGuy: sometime, just go LOOK at it. Okay?

[Alica]

WF and Dave"s both have pretty good sushi. They make it fresh daily and have interesting choices, nice spicy sauces, edamame, etc... I like to get brown rice sushi because it is a healthier option. It is very good.

[Joltingjoey]

I agree that WF sushi is pretty good. If the chef's aren't too busy, they'll custom make a roll. What I especially like are the ginger, which has no chemical preservatives or coloring, and the wasabi (actually it's horseradish) which is freshly grated rather than reconstituted from powder. I always stash about half a dozen packages to use at home.

[AikiLou]

Thanks for validating...come on, CapeCodGuy, jus' go take a look...

[CapeCodGuy]

I'm sure it's okay for supermarket sushi, but that's all it is. Sushi is more than raw fish and cold rolls you know. How about something topped with warm eel, or a roll with hot tempura soft shell crab, or maybe some surf clam or perhaps Uni with quail egg. Not gonna happen. I also want my sushi and sashimi cut and made to order, not sitting in a cold chest for several hours before I eat it.Lastly, I prefer the skill of a Japanese trained chef. No self respecting sushi master would ever work behind the counter in a supermarket. The mere fact that they even offer brown rice "sushi" is all the proof I need that's it's not serious sushi.

So, if the best sushi to be found in ANY restaurant in RI is at Whole Foods, I'll respectfull pass and go for a NY System weiner or maybe a stuffie instead.

But I do want to thank you Lou, for answering my question of what is the sushi scene in Providence. The answer apparently, is it sucks.

[Gin n Tonic]

Indeed, as I tried to point out early in the thread. The fact that there is a serious discussion of the relative merits of different supermarkets' offerings, or of brown rice sushi, answers your original question better than I could have hoped to.

[AikiLou]

Okay, I concede...Fin in Lenox where I can eat my Santa Cronica and JRollsis always my FIRST choice...however, sometimes, I feel like eating in, and, a ten minute ride into town to pick up my take-out order affords me that opportunity; in R.I., it is not always the case.

[harryharry]

+1

Sorry to say this harshly - it is pathetic that there is a discussion about "best" sushi and pre made supermarket stuff has been argued to be the best.

[Bob W]

I think there is some confusion (maybe on my part). Perhaps the WF in Cranston only offers pre-made sushi, but the WF I've been talking about in Fairfax VA has a full sushi bar with several chefs. I was in there on Saturday and checked it out just to be sure I wasn't imagining things. Yes, they have premade sushi in the case, but if you sit at the counter you will get sushi made to order. They even have a grill so they can make the eel that CCG craves. 8<D

[Joltingjoey]

Guess you haven't read very carefully. This thread is not about the best sushi and no one is arguing that supermarket sushi is the best. Several of us have written "pretty good". That hardly means best.

[CapeCodGuy]

Actually, before you accuse anyone of having not read the thread carefully, perhaps you should re-read it yourself. AikiLou posted " I would match the quality of Whole Food's sushi to ANY sushi restaurant." That sure sounds like a claim that its the best to me.

And to Bob W, please excuse me but what does the WF in Fairfax VA have ANYTHING to do with the sushi scene in Providence? So they have a grill. Do they do tempura? How's the toro? Surf Clam with quail eggs? Oysters? And if that's the best you can do in Fairfax, then the sushi scene there is pretty lame as well.

[Alica]

As for great sushi in RI, we really do not have it. If I want a quick lunch, I love Wf sushi. I would never get Stop & Shop sushi but wf (in Cranston) has Japanese Chefs right there who make the sushi. If you want something other that what they have in the case you can ask them. You can't say you do not like it if you have not tried it.

[AikiLou]

I am not claiming Whole Foods is the best...my claim is that the quality and freshness is top notch. Also, I never claimed they are extremely creative. What I said was that if you want to have good sushi that you can eat at home and tipple on a martini, Whole Foods is the place. I think they even do have eel, but, since reading THE TIN DRUM by Gunther Grass about 40 years ago, and the chapter about the eels in the drowned horse they pull out of the water, I cannot even look at eel. I have been in Italian fish markets in R.I. around Christmas, and, I cannot even look at the case of eels. (But, I DO love fish roe)

[LMWW]

I'd vote Haruki overall, but for me, Tokyo gets the slight edge in terms of variety.

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Haruki Restaurant
1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, RI 02920

[Gin n Tonic]

Haruki and/or Haruki East are passable. Nothing else is worth eating, if you want sushi. If you want "sushi" novelties and overpriced drinks, go to Ten Prime.

For good sushi in the Providence area, go to New York.

[kmetzaholic]

Kaizen in Sturbridge has had good reviews. On Rte. 20 in the antique strip. 40 minutes from Providence, granted, but no need to drive to NYC. Baba Sushi in Worcester just won major accolades this year - the other end of the 'barbell" for the Blackstone Valley.

[CapeCodGuy]

Thank You! Baba Sushi looks pretty exciting to this eye and quite a bit closer than NYC.

http://www.babasushi.com/gallery.asp

[Garris]

I think that's a *bit* harsh but accurate overall. While Haruki is the best it's by no means exciting, and we have no truly excellent, transendental sushi here. The restaurant sushi here is a step above supermarket in my opinion.

There are one or two very good places in the Boston area, but for life altering sushi, its indeed NYC.

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Haruki Restaurant
1210 Oaklawn Ave, Cranston, RI 02920

[02903]

I have to agree. We have not had sushi in prov in over 2 years (first stop in nyc)

[invinotheresverde]

We also always go to Haruki East, but like Jenkins, I'm no expert.

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Haruki East
172 Wayland Ave, Providence, RI 02906

[Frobisher]

I second Haruki East. For a much more low key and slightly less expensive option, we enjoy Uncle Sushi in Cranston.

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Haruki East
172 Wayland Ave, Providence, RI 02906

[Jenkins]

Haruki East seems to be very good, at least according to my sushi loving friends. I like it too, but am no connoisseur.

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Haruki East
172 Wayland Ave, Providence, RI 02906