VvonV and I were looking for some place quick to eat yesterday before his band practice with Sparklejet (look them up on Google), and we decided we wanted something light, and an internet search suggested Mr. Sushi. It has been written up well in some local blogs.
724 E Olive AveFresno, CA 93728(559) 485-3978
The place looked very clean, but there wasn't a very cohesive decor/theme going on. I can overlook that if clean is abundant. It was about 6:15 on a Tuesday evening. Other that us, there was only one other patron.
There was an extensive menu, most of it not gearing towards vegetarians or vegans.
The waitress was pleasant, if not enthusiastic. She had a face piercing that was hard for me to not focus on. She did, however break 2 of my eating out rules-
Staff should know what is in their food
Staff should know what a vegetarian/vegan is
Her first suggestion on hearing we were vegetarian was a combo plate of vegetables, rice, miso soup, salad and gyozas. Problem being that the miso and gyozas were not vegetarian. They offered to give extra vegetables to make up for the miso and gyozas. She did ask the cook what was in what, after she said she had no clue- so we have to give her credit.
We ended up ordering this- An appetizer of tempura and one side of vegetables with rice, one sushi roll, and one dinner with vegetables, one small saki and hot tea. It ended up being that both of our vegetable dishes were exactly the same even though they had different names. And although VvonV's order should have had extra vegetables, it really didn't. And the variety of vegetables was slim. We were told the eggrolls were vegan, but we got the impression it was iffy, so we did not order them.
Although Mr. Sushi offers what looks like a million different sushi rolls, we were told there was only one for vegetarians- the avocado roll. Which is exactly what it was- rice, nori and avocado. Strange , since many of the other non-vegetarian rolls had vegetable ingredients that we were not offered. The dipping sauce given tasted like watered down soy sauce with a bit of sugar. It wasn't bad, it just wasn't memorable, and it did not take away from the fact thatg the nori was too chewy. I like pepper, but there was no pepper to be had. I had to ask for wasabi and some pickled ginger, which made it more palatable. The food was nice. Not good or great, but nice.
The tempura was ok- light and not too greasy. It would have been nice to have a flavourful sauce to dip them in, but it was the same watered down sugar soy sauce.
The saki was good. Hot saki is always good. The tea arrived in a large teapot, and was very good as well.
I would like to give the breakdown of what things cost, but I can't. Overall I can say that it cost about $35 before tip- I don't know because the cashier refused to give me the receipt that had the breakdown- I only got the end charge receipt.
Fit the rules-
Had vegetarian or vegan food
Fresh ingredients
Clean place
Moderately attentive staff
Fairly inexpensive
The servings were large
Did not fit the rules-
Staff did not know what vegetarians or vegans eat, and did not know the ingredients in the foods they were serving
Admission that at least one of their foods (the miso soup and the gyoza were pre-prepared and frozen elsewhere) were not made on site
Refusal to substitute or create new dishes even if paid extra for. There were many other items on the non-vegetarian menu that could have been added to our dishes, but were not. Those ingredients were onions, broccoli, yams and carrots and asparagus at the least.
I would rate this restaurant a 3 out of 5. There is not an extensive vegetarian/vegan offering, but the one vegetarian offering they have (the menu pretends there are more) was good. It tasted clean and fresh.
I will probaby not eat there again, but I will recommend the one dish that is vegetarian/vegan to others.
c
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