Sushi Ai (°®ÊÙ˾)
Seats: 80
Add: 75 St. Paul St East, St Catharines, ON L2R 3M3
Founded Time: 2010
Tel: 905-397-7087
The restaurant types: Dine in Take Out
Owner: Nick
Introduction of the restaurant:
I have been to practically every "All You Can Eat" Sushi restaurant in the Niagara Region.
I have also had the chance to try many different Sushi restaurants around the United States
and in Quebec.
I would consider myself some what of a connoisseur when it comes to Sushi, as I have pretty much tried everything and anything there is in the world of ra-w fish with no fear.
After my experience at Sushi AI, I felt that this place deserved a detailed review.
I will start with the atmosphere. The moment I walked into Sushi AI I felt welcomed, not only by the staff but by the environment itself. The whole restaurant was very open, clean, and well decorated, it has a very upscale feeling to it.
We were seated near the back, at a table on a raised platform or stage like area, we were given the menu, and immediately asked for our drink orders. In this case we only ordered pop, refills are free. They did have an impressive local wine list for those interested.
I was already impressed when I saw the menu, it was so hard to make a first order because I was so excited. I will break down all of what we had throughou-t the dinner;
Since we are not really big on Tempuru veggies, I ordered the Baby Octopus Skewers, which is actually just a cuttlefish, I have had this before in other Su-shi establishments, but by far it was the best I have ever tasted, whatever sauces they cooked these in was phenomenal.
For our Sashimi selection we had; Salmon, Red Snapper, Surf Clam, Squid, Octupus, and Red Tuna. Let me first say, WOW! It was so fresh that it seeme-d like it was taken right from the water. Second, Sushi AI is the first place in the Niagara Region to offer Sashimi and Nigiri squid! This REALLY impressed me as it's rare to come by and I love the taste. The Red Tuna was another personal favourite of the evening. Our Nigiri selections were; White Tuna and Crabmeat. I would like to add, Sushi AI doesn't fill you on rice by any means. The rice on the Nigiri was 1/3rd the size of the fish, this really caught my atte-ntion and was a very pleasant surprise. They do not skimp on the quantity what so ever.
Next, we move on to the Specialty Rolls that Sushi AI makes. There was quite the selection but we ended up having, under the Legend Rolls section, the White Tiger. This was huge, it was almost the size of my arm and was very delicious. We also had the Spider Man under the Hero Rolls section. Which wa-s basically a Spider Roll, but carefully laid out on a web of Japanese Mayonnaise. Another reason we loved this place so much, the Sushi Chefs really tak-e pride in their art. Finally for Regular Rolls we had the Spicy Crabmeat, it was excellent, and of course we had to have Hand Rolls, we had the Spicy Tun-a and the Shrimp Tempura.
We were honestly too stuffed for dessert but they did offer the typical ice creams and the fried banana as many Sushi places do.
Sushi AI really does not feel like the typical "All You Can Eat" sushi restaurant. T-he sushi is made with pride, its fresh, and the quantities are enormous. The food is traditional, and the staff are friendly and courteous. The Sushi Chefs really take their time, and put a lot of effort into making your experience s-omething to remember. We couldn't have possibly asked for a better first impression and experience. If I had to give one con, it would have to be the lighti-ng, it's my understanding that they dim the lights for the dinner hours for ambiance. I would have been happier if it was just a little brighter. Kudos to the o-wner Nick Ni, and his staff! Don't change a thing!
After trying practically every Sushi place in the Niagara Region, Sushi AI is leaps and bounds above any of the c-ompetition! Mark my words, surrounding competitors will be out of business soon if they don't smarten up get up to par with Sushi AI.
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