Taste Test - Aisuru Sushi

Tel: 9328 8578 (they don't take bookings)

Last night I had dinner with Mr and Mrs Jae and Mrs and Mr Jay, yes I was the fifth wheel but I am used it.  I've wanted to try Aisuru Sushi even before it opened because (1) I love Japanese food, (2) it's new and (3) before it was even operating I was sticky beaking through the window and they waved at me.  

We originally planned to go there last Friday but as they don't take bookings and we couldn't get there til after 7pm, we decided to postpone to this week.  We arrived at 6pm (this was the time recommended by the person I spoke to on the phone) and there was already a crowd waiting to go in (they weren't open yet), when the doors opened everyone got in line and waited to be let in.  They were quick to show us a table and the waitress asked for our drinks order once everyone had arrived.

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The selection of sushi available at Aisuru Sushi was tremendous, I got confused because I wanted to try everything.  In the end, Mrs Jay and I ordered the ones with the stars next to it (we assumed they were the recommended dishes), we ordered 2 entrees and 4 different types of sushi (round 1).  We weren't full yet so we asked Mr and Mrs Jae to order some more food so they ordered 2 more entrees and 1 more sushi (round 2) then we had round 3 which was dessert.  We ended up ordering way too much food but it was worth it.

Our order 

Drinks

• Green tea x 5 $15 ($3 each)

Round 1

Entree

• Soft-shell crab salad (Lightly battered and fried soft-shell crab with mixed mesclun salad and Aisuru mayonnaise dressing) $15.50

• Creamy popcorn shrimp (5 pieces of crispy tempura served with tentsuyu sauce) $15.50

Sushi (we ordered the main size - 8 pieces)

• Plum flower roll (Chicken teriyaki and avocado wrapped in nori and shari.  Wrapped again in tamago egg wrap, and drizzled with special plum sauce) $16.50

• Black velvet roll (Tempura prawn, seared tuna, cucumber, crab stick and spring onion, wrapped in nori and shari. Topped with avocado and black caviar. Drizzled with chilli mayonnaise) $22.50

• Grilled scallop and avocado roll (Avocado and crab stick wrapped in nori and shari.  Topped with seared scallops and drizzled with Japanese mayonnaise) $18.50

• Salmon skin and unagi roll (Crispy tempura salmon skin and crab stick, wrapped in nori and shari.  Topped with unagi eel and crunchy tempura flakes.  Drizzled in unagi eel sauce) $18.50

Round 2

• Salmon sashimi (5 slices of salmon served with gari ginger and wasabi) $10.50

• Tuna sashimi (5 slices of tuna served with gari ginger and wasabi) $10.50

• Sunburn roll (Spicy tuna, avocado and cucumber, wrapped in nori and shari.  Topped with seared tuna and dollops of spicy sauce) $18.50 

Dessert

• Green tea ice cream x 3 $15 ($5 each)

• Banana split maki x 2 (6 pieces of fried banana. Topped with fresh druits and whipped cream.  Sprinkled with icing sugar and drizzled with chocolate and rasberry sauce) $24 ($12 each)

Food and presentation - 4/5

The food at Aisuru Sushi was fresh and tasty.  The combination of ingredients of each sushi we ordered has been well thought through and the flavours just go well together.  I can't decide which sushi I liked best because they were all yummy.  The creamy popcorn shrimp is a must have though! Presentation is simple and nice but nothing special because you can find this type of sushi presentation at other sushi places around town.  The green tea ice cream is the best in town,  I haven't had such awesome green tea ice cream for ages!  It was so creamy and packed with green tea flavour.  The banana split maki is also worth trying.

Creamy Popcorn Shrimp $15.50

Soft-shell crab salad $15.50

Plum Flower Roll $16.50

Black Velvet Roll $22.50

Salmon Skin and Unagi Roll $18.50

Grilled Scallop and Avocado Roll $18.50

Salmon Sashimi $10.50

Tuna Sashimi $10.50

Sunburn Roll $18.50

Green Tea Ice Cream $5

Banana Split Maki $12

Service - 4.5/5

Apart from not being able to book and having to get there early to get a table, I was really happy with the service.  We were given menus as soon as we sat down, they took our drinks order when everyone had arrived, our green tea was refilled periodically (you may probably tell by now that automatic refills are a bonus points item for me), the waitresses were polite and friendly, there was the right amount of staff, the waitresses asked whether you have been here before and do you need suggestions, the owner, Ken was friendly and observant (he noticed and commented on Mr Jae's awesome blazer when he entered the restaurant, he also noticed that I was forever taking photos of the menu and gave me a copy of the menu to take home...how embarrassing...but kudos to him! And he let me press send on their iPad ordering system (yes they take orders on iPads!) when we ordered dessert, he chatted to us and let us take a photo of him which I promised not to post up) and the food came out quickly. Need I say more?

Atmosphere - 4/5

Casual, friendly atmosphere.  Seats were comfortable, the tables are spaced out enough so you can't hear the conversation at the next table but also not too far so that you can't talk to the next table if you wanted to (we offered our dessert to the table next door because we were so full and they seemed so fascinated with the amount of food we ordered).

Value for money - 3.5/5

For around $40 per person we were so full our stomachs were about to explode.  However, you can find similar sushi for a lower price or bigger servings at the same price.  $3 per head for green tea (tea bag) was a bit hefty but the fact that they topped it up periodically made it worthwhile.  

Green Tea $3 per head

Will definitely go back to try out the other sushi on offer and also for the green tea ice cream!

Taste Test Total Score 16/20