After being a successful restaurant known as TGI’s Sushi, this location changed its name to Monster Sushi, and this food is downright scary.

They increased the prices by $2, got rid of some of the menu items, and decreased the quality of the food.

My fiance and I ordered two rolls. The Volcano Scallop Roll (which used to be called the Johnny Luv) consists of a california roll, with scallop, tobiko, and a mayonnaise-based spicy sauce baked on top. I forgot the name of the second roll, but it used to be known as the Mr. Netscreen Roll (salmon and tuna around a California roll, with slices of lemon on top). The scallop roll had significantly declined in quality, using little 1/4inch pieces of scallop, instead of the full 1.5 inch round slices that used to adorn the top of each roll. The roll formerly known as Mr. Netscreen suffered a similar decline in quality—with the lemon slices being 1/4 in thick instead of the paper thin slices it used to come with. To top it all off, the ginger had dark spots on it, rendering it very unattractive.

This restaurant started out as a good restaurant, owned and operated by the same folks who ran the other TGI’s Sushis (in Campbell and Berkeley; Berkeley being the best one). They sold the restaurant to new owners, who ran it under the same name, but the portion sizes increased inversely proportional to the quality. As the final nail in the coffin, they changed their name to Monster Sushi, increased their Monster prices, and now serve appropriately Scary food.

decent sushi with good-sized portions. wide screen tvs that show sports.

monster sushi is just a few blocks from where i’m staying, so i headed over for a late dinner sunday night. located in a very small plaza, it’s easy to miss and very unassuming. when i walked inside, i was greeted and promptly seated, not feeling too impressed by the inside. it’s small and simple with a sushi bar on one side, and table seating on the other. a very strong mom ’n pop feel.

as for the food, monster-size rolls are the big specialty here and you have the option of getting a regular size (which is pretty large already) or an X-large size. w/these kind of options, monster sushi is ideal for groups or those w/big appetites. the quality is a whole other issue as some of the sushi looked discolored and suspect. but hey, with high quantity comes a downgrade in quality i guess.

would i come back? yeah, maybe.

If you’re there with a group, you should definitely try the Omakase…you get to try a little everything and you definitely won’t be hungry afterwards!