Great Sushi in Bergen

[dodge621]

Is Wild Ginger known for its excellent cooked dishes or is the sushi far superior to other places.   I saw a takeout menu which showed the tuna rolls at $6 a roll.  Seems high to me. Is it this good?    

- I have found the sushi quality to be very good at Kiku in Paramus, although I only go during non-peak hours.

Any other very good sushi places in Bergen or any where else in NJ besides Nikko

[ngatti]

Hiro, Teaneck

I eat sushi, but am not a maven.  More like an ignorant Oenephile(sp?).  You know...  'I don't know much about sushi, but I know what I like' .  Anyway.  People who profess to know (i.e. both my sous chefs) and whose opinions I respect say they like Hiro.

Cedar Lane, just west of Degraw Ave.  Teaneck

YMMV

Nick

[Rosie]

Shumi in Somerville.

[dodge621]

Used to live in Teaneck.  The sushi I had at Hiro was below average.  

Shumai too far for me.

[dodge621]

In fact, Ngatti, I had some of the worst Sashimi I ever had at Hiro.  While the sushi used fresh tuna, etc, it was obvious that they used the older fish, far less fresh fish for the sashimi.  I never really liked the old East (when you had to take your shoes off)  but I will say East was far superior to Hiro.

[Rachel Perlow]

How do you like the new East (1405 Teaneck Rd, Teaneck, (201) 837-1260) with the kaitan sushi conveyor belt? I find it good for when you are with friends who aren't foodies and you just want to relax & have fun. But when it is just the two of us we don't go there.

Here are our current places to go for sushi, but we still haven't found a real regular place for us yet:

By far the best quality is at Fukada, 3 S Summit St, Tenafly, (201) 227-2020. This is a very small place with three sushi bar seats and one larger communal table. It is mostly take-out. They have a small cooked food and sushi menu. Their selection of fish is limited, but it is very fresh and expertly prepared. However, the size of the place and early hours (they close at 7:30 PM on the dot) restricts when we go there.

We've been to Wild Ginger once, and it is excellent, however the cramped seating and price make this a place for rare visits from us.

We used to go to Kaname, 783 Palisade Ave,Cliffside Park, (201) 886-0080, all the time when we were dating and Jason lived around the corner, and when we lived in Fort Lee. We haven't been there since we moved back to the area, but have heard from others that it is still good. We should go back and check it out.

We've tried Kuma (both the Englewood and Paramus locations) and found them OK, but better for Chinese than Japanese food, as seems to be the case with most fusions.

Oh, I nearly forgot Yamaguchi, 2165 Rt 4 East, Fort Lee, (201) 947-3456. Excellent sushi, slow service, relatively expensive (half-price Sushi happy hour from around 5-7 PM on Fri-Sun). In fact the service is so slow that last time we were there we determined to only sit at their sushi bar from now on.

When we go to Ichiban or Kiku (both in Paramus) it is usually for Hibachi rather than sushi.

We have had good sushi at Tawaraya, Forest Ave & E Bergen St (near the Bergen Mall by Chuck E Cheese), Paramus (201) 843-0944, but there's been a lot of discussion about it on eGullet, along the lines of "it usually seems so empty how can their ingredients be fresh?" Tawaraya near Bergen Mall/NJ forum.

Also, a lot of the Korean and Chinese places in the area also have sushi, so we may get some as an appetizer when we go to those places. And there are several Japanese restaurants in Fort Lee, Cresskill and Dumont that we have not been to yet.

[Jason Perlow]

East is sort of a quandry. It can either be very good or mediocre depending on the night. If the conveyor belt is getting replenished quickly like on a weekend it can be very fresh and good. Otherwise, if they are not replacing the items as often its not as good.

Wild Ginger is excellent but very expensive. I happen to like Yamaguchi in Fort Lee, but their service can be slow and restaurant's climate control is lousy.

We've had a few other threads about this on this board, you may want to scroll down the topic list a few pages and find some of the others.

[jsibley]

I ate at Umeya in Cresskill a couple of weeks ago, and forgot to write it up. I thought it was quite good. It was a mixed crowd, and not that busy on a Saturday night, but there were a few tables of Japanese there. We had a combination of sushi and small dishes (probably my last Chilean Sea Bass for a while, now that I've read a number of articles about overfishing).

[dodge621]

I have been to Miyoshi in Hackensack where the slogan is eat more, pay less. I find it to be Quantity over Quality.  Do not recommend.

[ngatti]

In fact, Ngatti, I had some of the worst Sashimi I ever had at Hiro.  

That's cause I told Hiroshi you were coming

Seriously tho', I don't doubt you.  Bad fish is pretty hard to fake.  I hope you threw it back at the sushi chef.  Let him know man.  Squeaky wheel gets the grease and all that...

Hiro is a reputable guy.  I'm sure he wasn't behind the sticks the night you were there.  In fact he'd be mortified.

The quality of the fish I've had has always been impeccable.  But that's the only thing I'm qualified to comment on.  As I said, don't know much about sushi. Though I eat it fairly often.

Nick

[dodge621]

The quality of the fish at Hiro was very inconsistent never reaching above good (on a few occassions), with poor sashimi and yes it was prepared by Hiro himeself.

[jhlurie]

I've been to Kaname recently.  It's as good as ever, although since I only eat three or four types of sushi I was mostly relying on the person I was eating with to fill out my observations.  Also, Kaname has superb cooked dishes.

[ngatti]

Corcoran reviewed East in the Times this past Sunday.  Seems like he liked it.

Nick

[Hank]

Anyone's criteria for sushi and sashimi restaurants should be first and foremost the freshness of the fish. Because of their huge turnover I have always experienced only the freshest of fish at the Wild Ginger. And, their preparations are beautiful. Yes, they are more expensive than most sushi restaurants in the area but quality does come at a price. Compared to some sushi restaurants in New York though, they are a bargain without having to compromise as to choices including Toro, Salmon, Eel, and etc. Also, and I hope that you are listening Rosie, they are BYOB and a nice German reisling kabinett or spatlese will go perfectly unless you are a fan of Saki. A votre sante to all.

[Rachel Perlow]

I ate at Umeya in Cresskill a couple of weeks ago, and forgot to write it up. I thought it was quite good. It was a mixed crowd, and not that busy on a Saturday night, but there were a few tables of Japanese there. We had a combination of sushi and small dishes (probably my last Chilean Sea Bass for a while, now that I've read a number of articles about overfishing).

I agree with everything jsibley said. Jason and I went to Umeya tonight. We found the price ($100 incl. tax & tip, no drinks) to be somewhat more than what we'd spend at some of the other sushi places mentioned in this thread, but certainly less than we've spent at Wild Ginger. The quality of the fish was impeccable. I asked the waitress where they got their fish and she said it was flown in from Boston and Japan.

We wanted to sit at the sushi bar, especially as it was obvious the sushi chefs were actually Japanese (not usually the case in NJ sushi restaurants), but the seats were reserved. However, the banquette seating was very comfortable. The decore soothing with elements from nature, such as an irregularly hewn plank of wood (I'm sure I'm not describing it right) as a valance around the sushi bar and along the windows.

I also started with the Chilean Sea Bass appetizer on the specials menu (BTW - the regular menus are charming, handwritten and bound between beautiful covers), followed by the Omakase Sushi, which consisted of unagi, toro (2), maguro, fluke, surf clam, tamago, uni, ama-ebi, and yellowtail, plus a toro/scallion maki, and included miso soup and an above average green salad. Uni and amaebi, I've had before and not liked, but these were good and fresh, so much better than previous experiences. I have to say the uni, I still didn't love, but the ama-ebi (two of the sweet shrimps on one piece of nigiri) I would order again. In fact when Jason saw them on my plate (he ordered a la carte), he ordered 2 pieces and agreed they were excellent.

Jason had the seaweed salad (typical seaweed salad part, but served on top of a green salad, interesting), scallops and spinach special appetizer (delicious sauce, I wished for some rice to top so it wouldn't go to waste), and maki a la carte. I think he had Alaskan King Crab and Avocado, Spicy Tuna and a half order of Futomaki.

The service was friendly, but when they got busy I had to keep waiving them down to get my water refilled (boy was it hot today). But since they accept the Discover Card I forgive them. They offer an omakase dinner (starting at $45 per person), but it must be ordered by at least two people and you have to call in advance. Since there were people waiting to be seated when we left (on a Wednesday night at 8:15), I would recommend reservations for the weekends.

Umeya - Japanese Gourmet Restaurant

156 Piermont Road

Cresskill, NJ 07626

201-816-0511 phone

201-894-1073 fax

BYOB

Lunch: weekdays only 12-2:15

Dinner: Mon-Sat 5-10; Sun 5-9; Closed Tuesday

[Rachel Perlow]

Here's a link to Corcoran's review of East, better late than never.