| rev:text
| - Like many other reviewers on this site, I believe you have to go to a "new" restaurant several times before you can have a solid opinion. That's because the "growing pains" or "Training Anxieties" normally set the lasting impression which really isn't an accurate reflextion of a new restaurant's potential.
So here goes. OTA was a "Re-birth" of the Fantasy Eatery restaurant that I loved so much. The owners are the same, the wait staff is the same (though they had to hire more), and the value is even better now. The difference is, they have moved it from a common family restaurant into the level of a nice sushi AYCE resaturant. That move, was definitely for the better.
It took them less than 1 week to transform the restaurant...new decor, new staff, new menu, new chefs, and new uniforms. Very nice touches all around.
Since the opening (3 months???) I've been there at least twice a week. Yes...that would amount to about 30 times. That's how much I like it!
So before I go on to why I like it so much, please note I have only gone there for lunch, and have only ordered their lunch specials. I work in the area...so this is a great lunch place!
There are 3 main reasons for the 5 star rating:
1) Good food (you have a choice of about 24 lunch specials, from sushi & sashimi,to bento boxes, to rice & noodle dishes)
2) Fantastic Price: All lunch specials are $7.99-$8.99, and they have had a 15% off promotion for the last 2 months! This means your lunch comes to $9-10, tax and tip included!!!!
3) Nice clean environment (for a Chinese restaurant selling $7-9 lunch dishes, this is a very pleasant surprise).
With the lunch specials, you alwasy get a miso soup, a small salad, Chinese tea, and a choice of pop! yep...the free pop is just another $2 you didn't have to spend!
They automatically put on a 10% service charge, but that's OK....we usually tip 15-20%....so I personally think they are doing a dis-service to themselves by limiting it to 10%. But this is a Chinese area, so maybe they're just happy they get 10% ;-) The last few times my buddy and I ordered two $7.99 lunch specials and the bill came to just over $16 with tax and tip (accounting for the 15% promo, and the 10% service charge), we just gave them $20 and left happy. So maybe they're onto something...with actually getting a 30%+ tip this way!!!
I would recommend the "Salmon Lovers" lunch special. for $7.99 you get 4 pieces of Salmon Sushi, 4 slices of salmon sashimi, and a 6 piece salmon roll. yep...that's 14 pieces for $8!!! and with the 15% off, you're looking at less than $7, and you still get a soup, salad, tea, and pop!!! You can't beat this type of value anywhere! You can't even buy pre-made sushi at Michelangelo's at the end of the day at this price!!! And all this for a sit-down meal!
Other notable mentions are the Maki Box (you get 18 rolls total, and it's really a plate, not a box...but they call it a box), the Beef Ribs Bento ($8.99), the sirloin beef bento ($8.99), and the Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box ($7.99). The latter two come with 2 large pieces of meat...so it's very filling. Almost forgot...the Salmon bento is great too ($7.99) because you get two 1/2 inch thick salmon 1/2 steaks! That's a phenomenal deal!
The only thing I didn't particularly like was the Pork Cutlet bento box ($7.99). You get 2 pork cutlets...so lots of food...but it was a bit dry. by the time you get to the 2nd pork cutlet, your jaw is just plain tired. I found I had to dip it in sauce, or drink lots of tea/pop to finish off the dry cutlet. But to their defense...it is a breaded and fried pork chop...so how juicy could it be, right?
Also to note...all bento boxes comes with a 6-piece roll. And they don't cheap out and give you cucumber...they actually give you 3 salmon and 3 california pieces. So you don't have to give up sushi when you order a bento box...you still can get your fix!
Now about service....we particularly like 1 of the original waitresses from the Fantasy Eatery days...she's nice, and very pleasant. Also very attentive and quick. The new ones....well, let's just say they are above a typical Chinese restaurant, but still need to smile more. They are good servers, don't get me wrong, but they really don't engage in any converstaion or anything. They just take your order, bring you your food, and then your bill. maybe I'm expecting too much...but if they smiled more, that would be the icing on the cake. When they first opened, they were disorganized and very nervous....but now, they are like clock-work, so no more growing pains on the service side.
As I mentioned before....I have not tried the dinner AYCE, but they seem to be doing well because they told me they are packed with a line-up on weekends!
So if you're looking for a quick and fast lunch, and just need that sushi fix and you only have $10 in your pocket....this is definitely the place!!!
NOTE: It's Cash Only! So don't get caught off-guard!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)