Fin Japanese Cuisine- June 16, 2014

June 16, 2014

Fin Japanese Cuisine

1682 Clarkson Road, Chesterfield, MO 63017

(636) 536-4228

http://www.finstl.com/

Fin, located in Chesterfield, is by far the best sushi restaurant we have visited to date.  Although it is located in a strip mall between a Scottrade and Krieger’s Bar Grill, once inside, the atmosphere was very pleasant, with friendly service. While many sushi restaurants provide a generic "picture" menu, Fin had a similar menu displaying its specialty rolls-- another reason for its awesomeness.  Specialty rolls are a complete mystery in terms of what one orders, so to see it ahead of time was another illustration of Fin's customer-centric atmosphere.

Jorge and I both asked for our usual green tea; an ample supply was promptly served in a traditional tea pot with cups.

We ordered the following items:

-  Miso soup

-  Edamame

-  Rainbow Roll – Crab meat, cucumber, avocado, topped with avocado, tuna, salmon, white tuna, smelt eggs and red tobiko (flying fish roe)

-  Sumo Roll – a deep fried roll with eel, white tuna and avocado, topped with mayo, eel sauce, smelt eggs, tobiko and scallions

-  Warrior Roll – a spicy salmon roll topped with salmon, spicy mayo, eel sauce and scallion

-  Banana Roll (for dessert) – a banana rolled in phyllo dough and deep fried, served with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and caramel sauce

The bowl of miso soup was flavorful, a bit of tofu and spinach, and served at the perfect temperature.  The edamame came out piping hot but quickly cooled, and was perfectly cooked.

Then came the most amazing sushi:

The Rainbow Roll contained an absolutely delicious crab salad that made you crave for more.  The fish was wonderfully fresh and flavorful, though surprisingly, there was no shrimp used as a “topper” (this is just an observation—it was included in the Rainbow roll for the other restaurants, but we didn’t find its absence to in any way detract from the roll).

The Sumo Roll was deep fried heaven—there were two kinds of roe on the top, and an amazing mayo and eel sauce combination that made us sad to eat the last pieces of this delicacy.

The Warrior Roll’s salmon, eel and dollop of sauce on top added a pretty look to a delectable roll.  Were I to ascribe a feeling to the roll as we ate it, it would be “happy.”

The rice used in all the rolls was very tasty and had a terrific sticky quality to it, helping the rolls keep their form nicely.  None of the pieces fell apart when we handled them.

We finished off our meal with a dessert item, not something we usually do, but after such a wonderful meal so far, we couldn’t resist ordering the banana roll.  And we were not disappointed!  The combination of banana fried in phyllo dough along with the ice cream caramel and whipped cream was the perfect way to finish off a perfect meal.

Overall, on a scale of 1-10, we rate Fin a 9.5.  The only negative was its location in a strip mall (if it was on a nice city street with outdoor seating, its rating would have been an “11”), but the drive to Chesterfield from Saint Louis is absolutely worth the trip to dine at Fin.

RFT's 2014 Top 10 Sushi Restaurants

Here is RFT's Top 10 Sushi list for 2014:

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/gutcheck/2014/06/10_best_sushi_bars_in_st_louis.php?page=3

1. Blue Ocean (U City)

2. Central Table (CWE)

3. Tani (Clayton)*

4. Wasabi (Clayton)*

5. Prasino (St. Charles)

6. Drunken Fish (CWE)*

7. SubZero (CWE)*

8. Cafe Mochi (Tower Grove)*

9. Kampai (CWE)

10. Chop Shop Food Truck

I'm proud to say that we have visited and reviewed five of these (see the * items above, with links to our reviews!)

Nobu's - University City

Nobu’s – University City

We visited Nobu’s Japanese Restaurant in U City (8643 Olive Blvd.) based on the stellar review it received from Riverfront Times (RFT) in 2012, which ranked it the Best Sushi in St. Louis.  According to Nobu’s web site, the restaurant has won RFT’s People’s Choice Award for Best Sushi more than 10 times, plus numerous other accolades.  Wanting to see what all the hype was about, we decided to taste for ourselves.

Our first surprise was Nobu’s physical site.  The restaurant occupies a run down building on a busy section of Olive Blvd. off I-170.  The peeling exterior paint and faded blue awnings give the place a dismal, shabby feeling.  The interior décor was a slight improvement, but still could have used updating.

Service at Nobu’s was attentive and quick.  We ordered miso soup, which was richly flavored with ample tofu and large seaweed slices.  The edamame was prepared well, too, and was not so hot that it burned our fingers when we picked it up (a problem at many places!)

We ordered three rolls, the spider (softshell crab and asparagus), rainbow (tuna, yellowtail, salmon, fluke with shrimp on top) and tempura (shrimp and asparagus).  

All three rolls were sprinkled with smelt roe, giving them an oddly uniform appearance.  In general, we were not impressed.  The crab in the spider roll was warm and crunchy, but buried in too much rice.  Likewise, the tempura shrimp was hard to find and disappointingly limp.  The rainbow roll, which did not have a generous portion of fish, was slathered with a thick, lemony sauce that overpowered the dish.

Given Nobu’s glowing reviews from RFT, we were disappointed by both the setting and the food.  To top it off, our meal was surprisingly pricey given the portion sizes and location.  [Nobu’s did not make RFT’s Top 10 sushi list this year – we agree!]

Overall:  5.0

Mizu Sushi Bar- Downtown Saint Louis (May 7, 2014)

 May 7, 2014

Mizu Sushi Bar

1013 Washington Ave

St. Louis, MO 63101

http://www.mizu-stl.com/

Our next stop on the Saint Louis Sushi Roll tour took us to Mizu in downtown Saint Louis.  We arrived a few minutes after opening, and were seated immediately.  The staff was very friendly.  We immediately ordered and were promptly served hot green tea.    

We chose the following items:

-  Miso soup

-  Edamame

-  Spider Roll—Softshell crab, Masago, Avocado, Crab Meat

-  Las Vegas Roll—Shrimp Tempura and Crab Meat topped with Eel and Avocado with Special Sauce

-  Rainbow Roll – California roll topped with tuna, salmon, whitefish and Avocado

The miso soup was good, containing a bit of tofu and spinach as well as a piece of fried wanton, which made for a nice touch.  It was served at the perfect temperature.

The edamame was tough—a bit hard to eat and very hot.

The spider roll was tasty, and probably the best roll we ordered.  The rainbow roll was disappointing.  The fish was bland—there were no distinctive flavors among the tuna, salmon or whitefish.   And there was very little eel in the Las Vegas roll, much less than one would expect on a roll that claims it as one of the key items in it.

Overall, on a scale of 1-10, we rate Mizu a 6.5.  While the service was great, the taste of the rolls left much to be desired.

NPR Reveals why we like sushi so much!

Here's a fun article from NPR that discusses the reasons that sushi is so tasty and enjoyable:

RFT's Top 5 St. Louis sushi restaurants in 2012

I just came across Riverfront Times's Top 5 Sushi Restaurant ratings from Apr. 2012, and am glad to see that they rate Tani Sushi Bistro in Clayton #1 (it also received our highest rating to date).

It looks like we will need to check out their four runners up in the coming months and judge for ourselves!

Cafe Mochi - Tower Grove Park

We visited Cafe Mochi in Tower Grove Park (3221 S. Grand Blvd.) on a beautiful spring day in late April.  The outdoor seating was pleasant and well-attended by the wait staff.

To start, we ordered a bowl of edamame, which was cooked to just the right level of softness and separation from the shell.  The miso soup that came next was nearly perfect, with small cut seaweed and tiny chunks of tofu, served pleasantly hot. 

We ordered several rolls, which were uniformly good.  The rainbow roll and eel roll came out together.   Both were visually appealing.  The rainbow roll, in particular, had a good variety of fish, all of which was deliciously fresh.  The eel was also nicely prepared, though a bit heavy on the cucumber.

The highlight of the afternoon was the volcano roll, which was not really a roll at all, but an ingenious combination of crab, avocado, scallops and roe arranged in a circular configuration with a tasty and not-too-spicy sauce.  The crab was especially notable, as there were plenty of large, succulent pieces, all warmed to a pleasing temperature.

Overall, the food at Cafe Mochi was excellent.  Our experience was somewhat marred, however, by service that was spotty.  Perhaps it was because we were seated in the patio area, but our soup order was forgotten (until we reminded the waitperson), and she did not come by during our meal.  The menu was also somewhat confusing, as the specials (including the volcano roll) were not listed on the separate such ordering sheet.  Of course, we managed to overcome all of these minor inconveniences and have a wonderful meal, but Cafe Mochi will be hard to beat once its service matches the quality of its foot.

Overall rating:  8.0