So I'm not quite there (on Cloud 9 if you follow) after dining at the new restaurant in the former Dancing Wasabi space but I was pleased with the experience. Katie texted me in the early evening to finally catch up after numerous failed attempts and re-scheduled dates and sushi just sounded right. I'd been wanting to see the new place but was also curious because their sign outside reads, "Half price! Same menu as Dancing Wasabi!" It didn't make much sense to open a new restaurant and keep it the same so it didn't excite me, but it was worth checking out. Of course they offer "half price" which has been the gig for at least two years now. They keep the prices high and you do the math to see how "cheap" it is - wow!
Cloud 9 doesn't have any of the tacky art work and junk on the walls that Dancing Wasabi had. They do have two small white boards that state that they offer toro (richer, fatty tuna, harder to find and pricier) on the weekends. The menu has expanded non-sushi options with more appetizers and entreé options. The sushi menu offers all of the rolls that Dancing Wasabi did, but features quite a few new options. Katie and I struggled with determining which to choose because so many sounded similar. Almost every roll was wrapped around shrimp. It was hard to find five different rolls that were enticing and not repetitive, and neither of us are picky, we do it all - eel, uncooked, veggies, tempura, spicy, etc.
We ordered:
Orange County (sushi shrimp, cucumber & crab topped with spicy tuna, eel sauce & spicy mayo)
Dynamite (California roll topped with torched Hot Mama - mix of chopped tuna, salmon, tilapia, white tuna, yellowtail, garlic, red pepper paste, sriacha & green onion - eel sauce & spicy mayo)
Red Double (tempura shrimp, avocado, crab, eel sauce, spicy mayo, tempura flakes & wasabi sauce)
Caterpillar (eel & cucumber inside with layers of sliced avocado and eel sauce on top)
Tempura (tuna, salmon, tilapia, white tuna, crab stick, asparagus, cream cheese - deep fried)
Ultimately, the Orange County was the only new one for us. The Dynamite has changed a little and it was very similar to the Red Double, which we enjoyed much more. Red Double, Caterpillar and Tempura are always easy wins. We joked that they need a chart of spreadsheet comparing the rolls since many are so similar, it's hard to compare (so much for leaving work at the office, ha).
A friend from work was also there and mentioned they had really slow service and their plate of sushi sat on the counter for a while before it was noticed and delivered to their table; not a great experience but I've had this happen before. I think I'll go back - the atmosphere of Dancing Wasabi in the old Beluga space has better ambiance but I'm so sick of ordering maki from the same menu over the past few years.
Their full menu is available on their urbanspoon page.
(As always, I'm not a restaurant critic. Just a foodie sharing my experiences.)
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