A Food Post... Finally

You can find this picture here.

In my quest to satisfy my taste buds, I have ventured near and far for a new place to eat. Sure it's great that I have a set of restaurants that I order from again and again, but newness is always pleasing.



For example, ever since I got back from the Philippines, I've been dying for some sushi/sashimi. I was truly spoiled when I was over there. I didn't really have sushi there (minus a trip to a Japanese buffet in Makati... or at least I thouht it was Makati) but one of my cousins had lots of tuna sashimi and ceviche. I was in heaven... I am still praising ceviche even more than the ostrich that he cooked.

How does upstate New York compare when it comes to raw fish? Don't make me even try to explain it, but I'm happy with what I can get. And honestly, it's not that bad! My need for sushi led me to Clifton Park, and Sushi-Na.

Background info: There was another place I really wanted to go to, Tokyo Sushi, that I've heard good things about. My problem? Every time I went there, (and I mean EVERY TIME) it was dark and no cars in the parking lot. CLOSED. Each and every time. Including last night. That would make it 5 times now. And this was during the times they were supposed to be open. The door was checked for any explanation why they were closed (and make me less pissed off) but nothing. Thanks TS, you've lost two potential customers.

Fuming, dinner companion and myself kept driving along route 9.

Kept driving.

Driving at night in the pouring rain blows. Luckily I wasn't driving.

Then we found ourselves in Clifton Park. I had been there before to buy a new cell phone and spotted out future dining spots. I had seen the sushi sign the last time so I told my driver to slow down so we could find it. Sure enough, after I finished that sentence, we passed the place. After trying to find a non-existant short cut and an illegal left turn, we pulled into St. John's Plaza. It houses a tanning salon and a nail place, among other shops. Sushi-Na has one of the end spaces and seems very narrow. It was getting close to 10 so we ran in and hoped they would still serve us.

The eating area is small: four tables and a sushi bar that seats 5-6 people. When we walked in, two customers were on their way out and there was one at the bar. We grabbed the only clean table and waited for our menus. After a few minutes our waitress came out and took our drink orders while we looked over the menu. I'm a creature of habit, so I ordered my usual sashimi deluxe and 2 rolls (spicy tuna and shrimp tempura) and gyoza as an appetizer.

I must be a fatty, because I'm used to the sashimi deluxe being for just me. But here, it's stated it can be shared by two people... and they offer the same number of pieces are many other places. Our meal came with soup and salad of course, and I quickly devoured it. One day I would like to find a Japanese place that didn't use iceberg... or at least didn't throw the stem parts into the salad! The gyoza turned out to be an order of 7 dumplings, which were fried to a nice dark brown. It didn't look oil clogged as I have had before, nor did it look dried out. I'm guessing they did the traditional steam-fry method. They were good, as evidenced by DC who inhaled them. He loved the sauce that same with it and asked me what exactly was in it. There's soy sauce obviously, but I'm not sure what else. There's a little tang, so perhaps vinegar.

The food came out in quick sucession. When the last gyoza was taken off the plate, our rolls and sashimi came out. The plating was simple, each type of fish on their own bed of shredded radish. The sashimi wasn't bad. It is what it is, but not as much of the fatty fish other places love to give out. That really made me happy. The two rolls were put on the same plate, each distinguished by their sauce. The rolls are on the small side, but I think that isn't a bad idea, I don't have to disconnect my jar in order to put one piece in my mouth. The spicy tuna was indeed very spicy and they didn't skimp out on the tuna. The shrimp tempura was fried to a golden crisp and the brown sauce glazed on top made it so much better.

Needless to say... I was satisfied. Green tea ice cream finished the meal.

The bill came out to 42.80 after tax (25-sashimi, 4.50-spicy tuna and shrimp tempura, 4-gyoza, 2-green tea ice cream).

Sushi-Na
1683 Route 9 (St. John Plaza)
Clifton Park, NY 12065
http://www.sushina.com