Asian food in this town always leaves me feeling empty. No stellar place to get a spicy Korean jjigae for hangovers, Chinese food is Mongolian Beef and Sesame Chicken and sushi is "express" $1 specials. ValPal and I went to Utage after a brutal PK test (class average of 60% with no curve - ouch!) to destress and find good food.
I'm not a big fan of writing negative reviews so I'll keep this short and just hit the main points. There's a plethora of crazy rolls, teriyaki meats, noodles, Japanese curry and sashimi/nigiri on the menu. Unfortunately, everything we ordered was below average but in all fairness - I came here expecting such results.
There are 2 main problems at Utage with respect to the sushi. Fishy fish (not fresh) and terrible rice. Aside from being thrown around like a rag and mistreated by the itamae, the quality of fish is low...which explains their low prices. Each fish is absolute mush when you bite into it and even before tasting it, it smells fishy. The rice is missing the vinegary/slightly sweet flavor and dry.
The Japanese curry tastes like it's made from a premade roux and although not stellar - it was the best thing we had at Utage. It comes packed with onions so I would avoid it if you don't like onions. Get the tonkatsu curry if you're gonna order this from Utage. The katsu is under the curry - promise!
My experience at Utage left me with more to be desired and a greater longing for good Asian food in my college town. I often think about investing in a place after graduation that will only serve awesome tonkotsu ramen and soondubu. Anyone want to beat me to it and open up shop? I swear I'll be there at least 4 times a week.
Tips:
- Check the local newspaper for daily/weekly specials
8 comments:
Haha what about throwing away your pharmacy plans, and opening your own tonkutsu and soondubu place...I'm sure it'll be more rewarding than dealing with cranky patients complaining abt insurance.
Wow, this place sounds awful. I guess I'll avoid it - AT ALL COST! LOL!
Ugh . . that fishy fish sounds awful! Bummer there aren't better options nearby!
Ok, how do you not get the vinegar in sushi rice? Did they take it straight out of the rice cooker?
Oh, I bet you totally would make a lot of money opening up a tonkotsu ramen shop! This place looks so sad.
This place is amazing, you are just jelious because you don't have your own and when you do it will never be as good as Utage!!!!!!
Utage Athens Sushi Bar has the best sushi in town. Guess you haven't been to Shokitini or Grilled Terriyaki. And of course, sushi is fishy. It's raw fish.
Actually, I've been to Shokitini and I would never eat sushi at a place called Grilled Terriyaki. This place may be "amazing" to people who've never had how sushi should be prepared but it's not good.
Oh and for the Athens people who don't know about this "Japanese" restaurant, it's actually owned by Koreans. The "chefs" handle fish like dirty rags throwing them in and out without care and are not trained properly.
So tell me again why this is the BEST SUSHI PLACE EVER.
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