Service was a bit slow, but considering this was a new restaurant and there was only one waitress to look after the whole restaurant, we waited politely without hurrying her. To our surprise, our patience was kindly rewarded with a grandiose amount of complimentary items.
We ordered the Chef Special that came with the usual soup and salad...
7 pcs sushi
Were super fresh and not too chilled. Each slice of sashimi was thickly cut and placed delicately on top of a small amount of sushi rice--unlike other establishments where you receive a pathetically thin piece of overly refrigerated fish atop a fist-size amount of rice. Texture of the fish had a nice crisp on each bite.
Maki roll
Nothing too crazy about the roll, just that the cucumbers were thinly sliced instead of a large stick that's usually served in low-grade sushi restaurants. Again, not too much rice which was a plus.
Potato Croquette (Complimentary)
This was super delicious! Not drenched in oil with the right amount of moisture in the potatoes. Super good!
Crab Handroll (Complimentary)
It was good, but nothing too comment worthy. Was very nice of the restaurant, though.
12 pc sashimi
Super delicious; again, same freshness as the sushi. It came with a rarely served mackerel roe sashimi that's not usually served in a mid-range priced Japanese restaurant. Although there was some kind of mix up, we were given a couple more sushi after and was told by the waitress that she was sorry for the extended wait, and the extras were on the house...sooooo nice!
Lobster Tempura
It was nice and tender and not dried. Nothing extraordinary but still good nonetheless.
Beef Teriyaki
Didn't have any of it, but my friend said it was not bad. Unfortunately in the end it went to spoil--too full.
The bill came up to $32.77 after tax but before tips. We tipped more because we felt the waitress was super nice and gave us lots of free dishes for the wait. We ended up with more than we paid for.
Highly recommend this new restaurant, and do kindly excuse the wait if you do. They are still relatively new.
Thank you, Sushi Aoi for your great service and delicious food. We shall return to try other items next time :)