THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 24, 1996 TAG: 9603260486
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Restaurant review
SOURCE: BY DONNA REISS, RESTAURANT CRITIC
LENGTH: Long : 239 lines
A LITTLE MORE than a year ago, owner-chef Mitsunori Ebigasako, closed Kyushu's 5-year-old full-service dining room and converted his popular restaurant to carry-out only. Many regular patrons were disappointed.
Fortunately, within a year he brought back the sit-down sushi bar and table service. Now the small room is again crowded with fans of his fresh raw fish, lightly seasoned rice and delicately coated tempura vegetables and shrimp.
The sushi bar stretches along the left side of the dining room; a small, curved section is in front. Occasionally, waiting guests crowd the tiny foyer hoping for a space. The tables are so close, you practically rub backs with the diners at the next table. But most of the 38 people the room can accommodate are so pleased to have the table service they are willing to squeeze in.
Servers are gracious and good-natured, no matter how busy. This bustle is part of the casual mood of Kyushu. Here, there are no distracting videos
on large-screen televisions. Attention is directed as it should be: on the food.
Our group of five was happy with its meals, which began with a warm towel to cleanse the hands and soothe us toward warm sake and cold Sapporo, a tall can of Japanese beer. Japanese salads splashed with sesame oil made satisfying starters, the seaweed served in crunchy-gelatinous strips and the spinach dotted with sesame seeds. Traditional miso soup was richly cloudy with the soybean paste that is its base.
Along with combination platters and a la carte selections of raw fish as rice-wrapped sushi or plain sliced sashimi, Kyushu serves a number of cooked dishes. Gyoza, for example, were fried dumplings with ground meat filling and a gingery soy dipping sauce. Bathed in a brown sauce, negimaki was especially popular with our carnivores; thin slices of beef came rolled around chunks of scallion for a soft-and-crunchy complement.
The tempura starter of vegetables and shrimp that we split five ways would have made a small meal for a single restrained appetite. This version had all the best features of the dish: lightly crisped, ungreasy batter surrounding vegetables that keep their crunch.
As a cooked dinner, the evening special of a whole flounder dusted with flour and deep-fried to a crisp gold and served with a bowl of gingery-hot dipping sauce was a hit. We shared it, using our forks to scrape the pearly fish from the bones on one side and then flipping it to repeat the process. Other options included noodle dishes, teriyakis and sukiyaki.
But the uncooked meals were our main reason for choosing a sushi restaurant. Along with heaping trays of sashimi and sushi, we ordered a variety of rolls with nori (dried seaweed sheets), wrapped around rice and fish in handrolls or encircling the fish and/or vegetables in cylindrical maki rolls. New to us was the large American roll, packed with tuna, salmon and tempura squid plus carrots and roe. Vegetable rolls contained cucumber, spinach, a touch of radish and okra. An eel hand roll was a cornucopia of rice and smoked eel in a sweetish sauce.
Simplicity has always been a hallmark of Kyushu. Serving platters, for example, are straightforward wood or lacquer platforms. The rice for the sushi sticks together just so, its seasoning light enough to be almost indistinct to complement the distinctive flavors of fresh fish. Salmon, flounder, tuna, snapper, octopus and shrimp appear on most platters, their varied colors and textures highlighted by a few threads of white radish, a few leaves of lettuce, a nut of lime-green wasabi horseradish, a flower of pickled ginger.
Fresh fruit is the most refreshing way to end such a meal, and Kyushu offers a generous combination as dessert. Red bean ice cream is a sticky sweet blend of the beans plopped on inferior vanilla ice cream; green tea ice cream is interesting primarily because it tastes like green tea. We didn't sample the cheesecake, which seemed somehow unsuitable.
Unlike a big city where people pass drop-in-take-out restaurants on their walk home from work, a strip shop on Newtown Road is not conducive to spontaneous stop-ins. Therefore, the return of Kyushu to full table service seven months ago was welcome.
Expect little in ambience but a lot in food and service, and you too will be satisfied.
RESTAURANT CRITIC
A LITTLE MORE than a year ago, owner-chef Mitsunori Ebigasako, closed Kyushu's 5-year-old full-service dining room and converted his popular restaurant to carry-out only. Many regular patrons were disappointed.
Fortunately, within a year he brought back the sit-down sushi bar and table service. Now the small room is again crowded with fans of his fresh raw fish, lightly seasoned rice and delicately coated tempura vegetables and shrimp.
The sushi bar stretches along the left side of the dining room; a small, curved section is in front. Occasionally, waiting guests crowd the tiny foyer hoping for a space. The tables are so close, you practically rub backs with the diners at the next table. But most of the 38 people the room can accommodate are so pleased to have the table service they are willing to squeeze in.
Servers are gracious and good-natured, no matter how busy. This bustle is part of the casual mood of Kyushu. Here, there are no distracting videos
on large-screen televisions. Attention is directed as it should be: on the food.
Our group of five was happy with its meals, which began with warm towels to cleanse the hands and soothe us toward warm sake and cold Sapporo, a tall can of Japanese beer. Japanese salads splashed with sesame oil made satisfying starters, the seaweed served in crunchy-gelatinous strips and the spinach dotted with sesame seeds. Traditional miso soup was richly cloudy with the soybean paste that is its base.
Along with combination platters and a la carte selections of raw fish as rice-wrapped sushi or plain sliced sashimi, Kyushu serves a number of cooked dishes. Gyoza, for example, were fried dumplings with ground meat filling and a gingery soy dipping sauce. Bathed in a brown sauce, negimaki was especially popular with our carnivores; thin slices of beef came rolled around chunks of scallion for a soft-and-crunchy complement.
The tempura starter of vegetables and shrimp that we split would have made a small meal for a single restrained appetite. This version had all the best features of the dish: lightly crisped, ungreasy batter surrounding vegetables that keep their crunch.
As a cooked dinner, the evening special of a whole flounder dusted with flour and deep-fried to a crisp gold and served with a bowl of gingery-hot dipping sauce was a hit. We shared it, using our forks to scrape the pearly fish from the bones on one side and then flipping it to repeat the process. Other options included noodle dishes, teriyakis and sukiyaki.
But the uncooked meals were our main reason for choosing a sushi restaurant. Along with heaping trays of sashimi and sushi, we ordered a variety of rolls with nori (dried seaweed sheets), wrapped around rice and fish in handrolls or encircling the fish and/or vegetables in cylindrical maki rolls. New to us was the large American roll, packed with tuna, salmon and tempura squid plus carrots and roe. Vegetable rolls contained cucumber, spinach, a touch of radish and okra. An eel hand roll was a cornucopia of rice and smoked eel in a sweetish sauce.
Simplicity has always been a hallmark of Kyushu. Serving platters, for example, are straightforward wood or lacquer platforms. The rice for the sushi sticks together just so, its seasoning light enough to be almost indistinct to complement the distinctive flavors of fresh fish. Salmon, flounder, tuna, snapper, octopus and shrimp appear on most platters, their varied colors and textures highlighted by a few threads of white radish, a few leaves of lettuce, a nut of lime-green wasabi horseradish, a flower of pickled ginger.
Fresh fruit is the most refreshing way to end such a meal, and Kyushu offers a generous combination as dessert. Red bean ice cream is a sticky sweet blend of the beans plopped on inferior vanilla ice cream; green tea ice cream is interesting primarily because it tastes like green tea. We didn't sample the cheesecake, which seemed somehow unsuitable.
Unlike a big city where people pass drop-in-take-out restaurants on their walk home from work, a strip shop on Newtown Road is not conducive to spontaneous stop-ins. Therefore, the return of Kyushu to full table service seven months ago was welcome.
Expect little in ambience but a lot in food and service, and you too will be satisfied.
RESTAURANT CRITIC
A LITTLE MORE than a year ago, owner-chef Mitsunori Ebigasako, closed Kyushu's 5-year-old full-service dining room and converted his popular restaurant to carry-out only. Many regular patrons were disappointed.
Fortunately, within a year he brought back the sit-down sushi bar and table service. Now the small room is again crowded with fans of his fresh raw fish, lightly seasoned rice and delicately coated tempura vegetables and shrimp.
The sushi bar stretches along the left side of the dining room; a small, curved section is in front. Occasionally, waiting guests crowd the tiny foyer hoping for a space. The tables are so close, you practically rub backs with the diners at the next table. But most of the 38 people the room can accommodate are so pleased to have the table service they are willing to squeeze in.
Servers are gracious and good-natured, no matter how busy. This bustle is part of the casual mood of Kyushu. Here, there are no distracting videos on large-screen televisions. Attention is directed as it should be: on the food.
Our group of five was happy with its meals, which began with a warm towel to cleanse the hands and soothe us toward warm sake and cold Sapporo, a tall can of Japanese beer. Japanese salads splashed with sesame oil made satisfying starters, the seaweed served in crunchy-gelatinous strips and the spinach dotted with sesame seeds. Traditional miso soup was richly cloudy with the soybean paste that is its base.
Along with combination platters and a la carte selections of raw fish as rice-wrapped sushi or plain sliced sashimi, Kyushu serves a number of cooked dishes. Gyoza, for example, were fried dumplings with ground meat filling and a gingery soy dipping sauce. Bathed in a brown sauce, negimaki was especially popular with our carnivores; thin slices of beef came rolled around chunks of scallion for a soft-and-crunchy complement.
The tempura starter of vegetables and shrimp that we split five ways would have made a small meal for a single restrained appetite. This version had all the best features of the dish: lightly crisped, ungreasy batter surrounding vegetables that keep their crunch.
As a cooked dinner, the evening special of a whole flounder dusted with flour and deep-fried to a crisp gold and served with a bowl of gingery-hot dipping sauce was a hit. We shared it, using our forks to scrape the pearly fish from the bones on one side and then flipping it to repeat the process. Other options included noodle dishes, teriyakis and sukiyaki.
But the uncooked meals were our main reason for choosing a sushi restaurant. Along with heaping trays of sashimi and sushi, we ordered a variety of rolls with nori (dried seaweed sheets), wrapped around rice and fish in handrolls or encircling the fish and/or vegetables in cylindrical maki rolls. New to us was the large American roll, packed with tuna, salmon and tempura squid plus carrots and roe. Vegetable rolls contained cucumber, spinach, a touch of radish and okra. An eel hand roll was a cornucopia of rice and smoked eel in a sweetish sauce.
Simplicity has always been a hallmark of Kyushu. Serving platters, for example, are straightforward wood or lacquer platforms. The rice for the sushi sticks together just so, its seasoning light enough to be almost indistinct to complement the distinctive flavors of fresh fish. Salmon, flounder, tuna, snapper, octopus and shrimp appear on most platters, their varied colors and textures highlighted by a few threads of white radish, a few leaves of lettuce, a nut of lime-green wasabi horseradish, a flower of pickled ginger.
Fresh fruit is the most refreshing way to end such a meal, and Kyushu offers a generous combination as dessert. Red bean ice cream is a sticky sweet blend of the beans plopped on inferior vanilla ice cream; green tea ice cream is interesting primarily because it tastes like green tea. We didn't sample the cheesecake, which seemed somehow unsuitable.
Unlike a big city where people pass drop-in-take-out restaurants on their walk home from work, a strip shop on Newtown Road is not conducive to spontaneous stop-ins. Therefore, the return of Kyushu to full table service seven months ago was welcome.
Expect little in ambience but a lot in food and service, and you too will be satisfied. MEMO: Reviews are based on a single, unannounced visit by a party of two or
three, unless otherwise noted. The Virginian-Pilot pays for the
reviewer's meal and those of the guests. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ROY BAHLS
Sushi & Sashimi at Kyushu includes tuna, eel, whitefish, octopus,
shrimp and salmon.
Photo
ROY A. BAHLS
Chef Mitsunori Ebigasako prepares a specialty of the house at Kyushu
Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar in Virginia Beach.
Graphic
BILL OF FARE
Kyushu Japanese Restaurant Sushi Bar, 400 Newtown Road, Virginia
Beach. 490-1177.
Cuisine: excellent sushi, sashimi and rolls; various tempura,
teriyaki and noodle dishes.
Atmosphere: casual neighborhood mood with tightly spaced tables,
curved sushi bar, friendly staff.
Prices: lunch averages $5.50; dinner starters from $1.25 to
$7.50; main dishes from $9.75 to $26 (average $12); desserts from $2
to $3.50.
Hours: lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday;
dinner from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 to
10:30 p.m. Saturday, and from 5 to 9 p.m. Sunday.
Reservations: recommended for dinner.
Smoking: none.
by CNB