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| - Located in a pretty unusual location, inside the Grand Theatre just in front of the doors to the Theatre itself, it's a pretty happening place. Decent music that's not too loud, hot decor, great staff and a vibe that rocks, UBU combined the feel of a nightclub with a great japanese themed bistro and does it well.
UBU has one thing though that really rocked the house for me... well, ok, 2 things. The first was that they have this awesome beer tap that looks like a samurai sword. That was pretty cool, especially to have Sapporo beer on tap. The next thing is 1/2 price sushi Thursdays!
Before 8pm, ALMOST all sushi is 1/2 price, which is a minor pet peeve for me. There are some exceptions, such as a beef sushi (one of their creations), but I didn't mind that at all. What I did mind is that the items on the sushi menu didn't list or mark what were the exceptions. Not knowing that, I found myself awkwardly scrambling for a new selection when I was ordering in order to not hold up the table of 11 I was with at the time. It's nothing earth shattering, but just sayin'
As for the food itself, this was a bit of a mix. My partner and I started with the chef's plate for appetizers, a selection of 6 appetizers that the chef decides on, which this night happaned to be steamed edamame, gyoza, yam fries, sake steamed mussels, lobster corn dog and chicken wings. The edamame and chicken wings was passable, but I did like the yam fries, crisp and sweet. The Sake mussels were well done with no liquor aftertaste, and the flesh was soft and tasty. The lobster corn dog is a bit of a mixed fish. Instead of say, a chunk of lobster meat that was then breaded, it seems to be more like diced lobster was mixed into a batter, turned into a chinese fishball, and then tossed into the fryer. You did get to taste the essence of lobster in the batter, but not really the lobster taste itself. It was a bit of a neutral note in the meal, as I was especially looking forward to trying it.
As for the sushi and sashimi, the fish was fresh and well cut. When having sashimi in this town, you tend to get used to the idea that an amateur is doing the cuts when you start getting massive slabs of sashimi instead of thin light cuts. While I appreciate the volume, it's more a matter that it's harder to really appreciate the delicate flesh of the fish in the spirit and way it's supposed to be experienced. Having a master cut of sashimi was quite a pleasant surprise. I also added a dynamite roll, a mango roll and a few others, all of which were done well if not a knock out of the park. I found the rice a little underdone though, so I'd have to state that this was good sushi, but just not especially memorable.
Overall I'd actually give the whole thing more of a 3.5 out of 5 stars, but I'll push it to 4 since they also actually have poetry jams and live artists in another strangely separated section of the Bistro just off 1st St itself. It's rare to find such venues with a community feel, and it's awesome to see.
#32 of Yelp's 30-Day Review Challenge
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