Ru San's

[insectrights]

After about 2 months of experimenting with sushi all over North Carolina, I finally stumbled across this place in Charlotte. As loud and crazy as Ru San's can get, I still found it to be one of the most fun places to eat and well worth every penny.

Their nigiri and tempura a la carte starting at $1 is by far the best deal there. The fish is fair quality, but when most of their rolls are cooked, it's easy to overlook it. The only complaint that I've heard from people is that it's not traditional. However, there is only one real traditional japanese restaurant that I've ever come across in NC, which is Mai in Charlotte.

I'm by no means well eaten all over NYC, but after living here for almost a year and working in a japanese fusion restaurant in Jersey City, I've not been able to find anything that can hold a candle to Ru San's in terms of value and flavor.

Anyways, that's my opinion, I was hoping to find some others in the south who might have eaten here and may or may not have been impressed.

[tryska]

wow - i didn't know ru-sans was all over the place. that it was jsut an atlanta thing.

i like it, but i'm not a sushi snob - in that i don't much care how authentic a place is, and i'm a maki fan - so it doens't have to be sushi grade tuna only for me to enjoy it - i can accept a lower grade, provided it's fresh quality.

in any case i do like them alot - both the lunch buffets,a nd their veggie friend rice and tempura.

[Gifted Gourmet]

from CuisineNet.com this brief note:

Ru San's is basically a sushi bar with stunningly loud rock music, an impenetrable menu, and harried service. It is also nearly irresistible; the clientele puts up with the ambient drawbacks either because Ru San (local wits call him Ruth Anne, but never out loud) and his minions behind the bar turn out wonderful offerings along with the attitude, or because they're there to hang out with a Gen-X crowd. This restaurant concentrates on a Japanese menu.

[bleachboy]

My wife and I both love Ru Sans. Their menu is vast, and there are indeed a few duds on there, but the yakitori and tempura make a great snack with a beer, and their tuna offerings are by and large excellent.

Sure, it's noisy and crowded, and the service sometimes sucks, but it all seems to sort of add to the charm of the place. After enough beer and sake, you don't care anyway.

[tryska]

See it's never struck me as loud and crowded when i've gone. i mean yeah there's music, and lots of people, but not so much that it made me crazy being there. but my idea of loud and crowded might be by NYC standards.

[bleachboy]

Well, the Ru San's in Nashville may just be that way because it opened up in a marginally trendy part of town, right next door to a "hip" bar. It's packed pretty much every night of the week. Maybe once the newness wears off it will quiet down a little bit. The guy with the megaphone when people are doing sake bombs doesn't help much, either. ;)

I have also noticed that it seems to be a popular hang out for folks in the Nashville restaurant industry -- chefs, cooks, bartenders, servers, etc.

[tryska]

what is it about restaurant folks and after-hours sushi? it's like programmers and sushi. i just don't get the connection.

and yeah - i must admit - no megaphones at my local. only the yelling when you enter and leave.

[chefseanbrock]

ru san is my hero, i want to be just like him when i grow up!!!!

[bleachboy]

ru san is my hero, i want to be just like him when i grow up!!!!

Now you're talking! :D

[greenoilcook]

Absolutely the best place to go and have a great time with your fellow cooks and friends. I love the microphone “Haaappy birrss day to you” And don’t forget the beating of knives, sauté pans, and the plastic cups by the guys in the back.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Had lunch today with a friend who had been to RuSans in Atlanta just last evening and he absolutely raved about the sushi! He even mentioned having something he found quite unusual: anchovy sushi ... anyone familiar with this type of sushi?

[therese]

Haven't been to Ru San's in a while, but didn't like it and it doesn't sound as if I need to go back. Frenetic environment, sushi leaning heavily on fried/mayonnaise-y sorts of things. I could see going for drinks after I'd eaten somewhere else.

[Milt]

I have thought about visiting RuSan's on Windy Hill Road in Cobb County many times, but it is less than a block from Umezono - which is excellent. Umezono is so enjoyable, that RuSan's always comes in second.

[TheFoodTutor]

I have heard that the Ru San's in Charlotte is particularly good, and my boyfriend liked it a lot when he lived there.

However, the one by my apartment serves what I'd describe as cat food on rice.

One day, after a workout, I was desperate for a protein meal and I sat at their sushi bar, choosing a combo from their list of post-workout specials. Every piece of sushi in this assortment was not only poor-quality, slightly off-tasting fish, but it was topped with a very mayonnaise-y sauce or some other kind of goop. It's just really unappetizing.

The really funny thing is that I must have completely forgotten about how awful it was, because another day, also post-workout, I found myself starving again and I ordered the very same dish. I didn't realize until it came out and I saw all the little piles of goop, just like before, that I'd made the same horrendous mistake twice.

The service is pretty nice, though, and they remembered me when I came in after the first time. I wish that I'd told them how much I didn't like it, so they could have warned me not to get the same thing again.

[chefseanbrock]

ru san is highly creative, one time he served me fluke sashimi with seared foie gras, very tasty.....right up my alley.........he also does fun stuff with kobe beef, i

don't think there is a chef in the world who can consume as much sake as ru san and still work...........pretty impressive.....he is the man.......easily one of the coolest people i have ever met.......can't wait to go back and have some sake bombs.......to much fun

sean

Edited June 16, 2004 by chefseanbrock (log)

[Gifted Gourmet]

Very nice tribute, chefseanbrock, and most meaningful because it is one chef to another. I will most definitely try his creations in the near future based upon your glowing recommendation! Thank you for your input.

[Lawen]

I too thought RuSans was an Atlanta exclusive chain. I've been a few dozen times but it doesn't stand out as anything special. The sashimi is mid-quality at best, they put spaghetti noodles in their miso soup (wtf?), and the best things on the menu are so Americanized to not even count as sushi like the Firecracker roll, tuna in a rice roll, flash fried and served with a mayo and spicy tomato sauce. The spinach sauteed in sesame oil is pretty good too but hardly enough to make a meal. The service has always been great though and the Sake selection is nice.

I stop in every now and then with coworkers for the <$10 all you can eat sushi lunch which isn't a bad deal and has a high enough turnover that I don't get sketched out by raw fish sitting on a buffet table, but if I want real sushi I can think of a dozen better places in Atlanta. Can't comment on Charlotte though.