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| - Hands down the BEST JAPANESE FOOD in CLEVELAND!
Before I go on, I'll sum up WHY right now: quality & freshness of ingredients, expert & accurate preparation, and friendly interactive service with a smile.
Oh, and if you want that lame and overdone, overhyped "Asian Fusion" stuff, go elsewhere! Shinano is best for patrons who appreciate and enjoy TRADITIONAL Japanese cuisine.
So, I'm gonna kick myself for not writing a review long ago - but I had so much to say about this place that I kept putting it off and putting it off until I decided: just do it. So please forgive this wordy stream of consciousness!
Shinano doesn't do the steakhouse or hibachi (yakiniku) thing but is a good, solid, family-friendly Japanese eatery wet in a somewhat residential part of town. Family-own and run, Shinano has just about everything you'd expect on a traditional Japanese menu - sushi, sashimi, tempura, bento, donburi, sukiyaki, etc. Eat at the suhi bar or opt for waiter service at the tables. The sushi is fresh and wonderful. The tempura is light, airy and crispy. Everything in between is full of flavor - so much so I'm mouth-watering just writing about it.
Specials include raw oysters on the half-shell, soft shell crabs, and my favorite: unaju (broiled eel in teriyaki sauce).
Not inexpensive but certainly not overpriced. Shinano is nowhere near exorbitant like an "Asian Fusion" sushi restaurant nearby (which shall remain nameless) and yet the freshness and quality brought to the table is far better. Sushi runs $4 - $5/plate (2 pieces nigiri or 6 pieces maki) while some of the fancier rolls range upward from $6 - $8/wrap. Most bento dinners run $15 - $20, full sushi dinners range $20 - $26.
Dinners start off with sprouts with sesame oil, miso soup, and salad with Shinano's delicious signature dressing.
Alcohol options includes several brands of sake, plum wine, and Japanese beer.
Dessert options include mochi, mochi ice cream, and even some old school Japanese candies great for the kids (tomoeame, pocky, melon gum, etc.)
Call-ahead take-out service and delivery service (via an outside food-fetching vendor) are both available.
I have been patronizing Shinano for seven years, ever since I arrived in Cleveland. Up until 2008, Shinano was originally in Richmond Heights in a strip mall across from JC Penney's. Shinano relocated to a fresh, new location in north Solon on Miles Road (easily accessible from 271), right next door to Miles Farmer's Market. And although Shinano was closed for new construction for about a year, most of the original wait staff followed to the new location. That should say something about the restaurant!
Having spent three decades living and travelling in areas of heavy Japanese populations throughout Pacific Rim states and countries, I have been utterly disappointed in many of the restaurants that call themselves "Japanese" here in Cleveland. Shinano is the only Japanese restaurant I consider authentic, quality, and delicious enough that my sushi-loving friends & I visit at least once or twice a month!
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