Austin Sushi News  #14 December, 2001

Welcome to Austin Sushi News, a friendly by-product of
the sushi website for Austin, Texas, www.austinsushi.com

Once every month or so, we bring you the latest scoop on sushi bars and related
matters in Austin, Texas. 

CONTENTS:

0. RECAP: the year in sushi
1. NEW sushi openings NOW -- Go, Go, Go!
2. Can you trust your sushi? Fish Fraud in Texas
3. Zamfir sucks! Disco night at Seoul Sushi Bar
4. Sushi nights at the Lemon Grass
5. Sushi Christmas Ornaments

===============================================

0. RECAP: the year in sushi

2001 started with the remodeling of Musashino and the
opening of Kenichi (our number one and two rated sushi bars, respectively),
and now finishes with the opening of Austin's first full-scale, all-you-can-eat
sushi buffet, Oishi Sushi House (see below).

Overall, not only did ten new sushi bars open in the past
18 months, but your favorite tree-eating media
outlets, the Austin Chronicle and the Austin American-Statesman,
both jumped on the sushi bandwagon and started seriously
looking at the sushi phenom in Austin.

======================

1.  NEW sushi openings NOW -- Go, Go, Go!

No less than two new sushi establishments have just
opened their doors.  Midori Sushi and Oishi Sushi House both opened
on December 18th and it's time to check'em out.

Oishi Sushi House, which is located in the
former Mason Jar restaurant building in the
parking lot across from the General Cinema 10 theatre,
has a 20 foot long sushi buffet (yes, that's 20 feet of assorted sushi),
a 20 foot long buffet of hot (mostly seafood) dishes,
and a 10 foot appetizer buffet. The cost for this
all-you-can-eat banquet?  $24.95 at dinner, $11.95 at lunch.
While a bit pricey, this is all-you-can-eat *sushi*, though
it remains to be seen if this sushi is worth the trip.

CALL FIRST to make sure they're open (especially for lunch).

Oishi Sushi House
6718 Middle Fiskville Road
Austin, Texas
(512) 302-9811 (call 302-9800 if no answer)

Midori is a snappy new sushi bar that has a
tidy interior with high ceilings.  We dropped by to
check it out but didn't have time to eat.  We'll
review it soon.

Midori Sushi
13435 U.S. Highway 183 North, Suite 301,
NE quadrant of 183 and Anderson Mill Road,
next to the Albertsons.
(512) 257-1411

======================

2. Can you trust your sushi? Fish Fraud in Texas

"Who regulates fish sold by Texas restaurants? The short answer is: no one,"
writes food critic Robb Walsh in his revealing Houston Press
article about the seafood industry in Texas.  Among his findings are the
fact that some restaurants have knowingly substituted less expensive
or less desirable species of fish in their dinners served to customers.
"Restaurants are outside our jurisdiction," says an
FDA spokesperson quoted in the article. "We can only regulate wholesalers
and retail
stores -- businesses engaged in interstate commerce [not the restauranteurs]."
The full story is here:
http://www.houstonpress.com/issues/2001-11-01/feature.html/1/index.html

======================

3. Zamfir sucks! Disco night at Seoul Sushi Bar

Disco and sushi anyone?  Every monday night at Seoul Sushi Bar,
the Pipes of Zamfir play back seat to 70's disco tunes.  Dancing and
sake bombs are the norm, and they're even planning on adding disco karaoke
in January.
It's a pretty small restaurant but I've heard this gig is fun.

Seoul Sushi Bar
6400 S. 1st Street
(Between Stassney and William Cannon)
(512) 326-5807

======================

4. Sushi nights at the Lemon Grass

Ped's Lemon Grass Asian Grill, which
has two locations in Austin, recently
started a sushi nite at their newer
downtown location.

Sushi nite is every other thursday at
their downtown 6th Street location, and every other
saturday at their Lakeway location.
No details on the quality yet.

Ped's Lemon Grass Asian Grill
601 W. 6th St
(512) 457-1233

Ped's Lemon Grass Asian Grill
1310 Ranch Road 620
Lakeway
(512) 263-2221

======================

5.  Sushi Christmas Ornaments

If you're one of the many, many........MANY mono-cultural celebrants of
the birth of Jesus, there's still time to pick up your sushi Christmas
ornaments!

http://www.freecfm.com/e/electramax/fd/category.cfm?categoryID=37
(Note: this link seemed to have stopped working, but hopefully it will come
back soon)

==============================================