Melkir "It's food!"

I can’t really speak to location as I don’t live in Vancouver, but it seemed easy to find. The decor was very good for the small restaurant. I would recommend asking for cushion seating as it made me envious sitting at a regular table.

We ordered the meat lovers platter for two, which consisted of lamb on the side, chicken and beef kabobs and some battered fried potatoes. All in all it was very tasty. The appetizer consisted of mixed veggies with feta cheese which was excellent, and a hummus and spinach spread for the bread serving. While I wasn’t blown away for the decor and atmosphere it would certainly be worth a visit for visitors to the city.

Anthony’s has been in a slow steady decline since I first started dining there a decade ago, while the quality of the ingredients may not have changed drastically I would say the quality of the recipes has. There is of course, the standard faire, salmon and halibut served in a number of ways, many fancy and others flaky. I’ve been for anniversaries, birthdays, family events, etc, but without occasion and specific request I don’t think I’ll be going back for this uninspired and overpriced experience.

Tonight my guest and I decided on the Pan Fried Beef appetizer which was pleasant, the server recommended how to garnish it and to our delight it well suited the dish. We followed this with the Dungeness Crab and Corn Chowder, lauded on the website as being the 1999 winner of the “chowder cook-off people’s choice award”. I’m quite sure the people voting were not eating the same dish as I was. The butter content was horrific. I think there may have been corn and there, and crab shaped butter pieces, but that is about all. Neither of us decided to finish the soup, and no one bothered to ask us why.

Finally, our main entrees. My guest ordered the Dungeness Crab Linguine, which while not remarkable was pretty good. Were this dish priced 5-7 dollars cheaper, it may have been passable, as it was it was around twenty-five dollars as is. I ordered the Pacific Ahi, rare. Which I was to understand from the waiter to be lightly grilled, more flipped briefly on the grill. It however was not, far from the bright red center I was expecting I was presented with a very pale consistency all the way through. Paired with white rice, a small smattering of ginger sauce and a “Asian Slaw”, which has always confused me about fish dishes in the NW. I’ve never seen this ‘slaw’ presented any where ever I’ve eaten overseas from beach-rendered snack boxes to five star dining. Neither of us ordered the house specialty, which was of course the Salmon or Halibut, but the other options on the menu should not be so outside standards.

I of course, should not fault them for their service. Walk-in seating 7:30 on a Saturday we were seated inside of 10 minutes. The water glasses and beverages were kept filled, presentation and timing were on par. Anthony’s usually has a premium on water-front dining in their locations, which is fine, their relative popularity requires you reserve and ask for specific tables for best effect. Their busser tossed a dish we requested be boxed, but they made us a new one, after a 15-minute wait.

In closing, I don’t necessarily count service high amongst my requirements, an occasional visit from the waiter and some attentive bussers is usually enough to satisfy me as I’m not a picky diner. However, paying inflating prices for service and a view does not replace the need for me to well enjoy my dining experience, I don’t believe Anthony’s Homeport fits within my expense/vs/reward scenario any longer. There are excellent individual dishes to be found in other restaurants.

I would like to first call out that the fourth star is purely for service and presentation. While I’ve had better sushi, at better prices, the service was really outstanding for this location.

The portions were also good, however the quality of the fish was somehow lacking. I can’t put my finger on it exactly but it was perhaps tougher than it should have been. We ordered the sushi combination plates, a gyoza, toro sashimi, and spider roll. The toro, while good was tough and less buttery than I was expecting, flavorful but timid. There was a great selection in combination plates but the same texture problem also was evident in those pieces. The tuna was bland, while the salmon was pretty good. Squid and Taka not too chewy, for a bonus. The spider roll was also good, my friend who was always perplexed why I ate them finally understood their potential.

I would go back here, but on an expense account.

Given the location of this restaurant I was expecting a bit more of a deal. Those who frequent the sushi world quickly come to understand the difference between the boutique and traditional places. The locale didn’t lend itself to a 60 dollar meal, nor did the décor but the quality of the fish made a reasonable attempt at justifying it.

We both selected the sushi/sashimi combo plate. The serving size was a touch larger than other places with similar combinations. The fish was fresh, well cut, and well arranged. In addition to salad and miso served I also ordered a Spider Roll. It came out as four pieces, this seems to vary depending on where I go, but I was expecting more. The rice was very very sticky, to the point that I managed to unravel the roll because it stuck to my lips. The rice was also unusually sweet, though it didn’t appear to be sugared, it may have just been that the vinegar and I didn’t get along.

Given the relatively large selection of sushi places on the east side I can’t think why I would make this a frequent stop for dinner (other than it’s a good location for you). You can get fish of similar quality at cheaper prices.

I could only say it is slightly better than Todai just due to it being smaller. The fish is "so-so’, perhaps a touch better than you may get at a kaiten place. It wasn’t that busy on Thursday, dinner for two was about 55 bucks. They put a ‘tip-guide’ on the bottom of the receipt, because it appears they expect 15% for delivering drinks. It wasn’t worth it.

I love Jamba, this location is quick and friendly. I’m rarely disappointed. Caution, parking lot can fill up rather quickly. There is additional parking behind in the Redmond Mall, or a couple of spots in the back of the gas station.

I do love my Kaiten sushi places, and so far there has been slim competition on the Eastside of Seattle. First, there is sushiland, which in Redmond is pretty abysmal Bellevue isn’t much better, and Southcenter is laughable. Next, there was Sushi Yama. For a good long time I was a staunch fan of Sushi Yama, recently they’ve made small changes to quantity but nothing major and I’m glad to see them getting a regular crowd.

However, Sushi-E has just opened up outside the main entrance of the Crossroads Mall. Previously Romeos, this stylish kaiten restaurant doesn’t disappoint. The portion sizes are good, the selection is large, and they offer other traditional Japanese dishes such as Udon and Chicken Katsu. Prices start at 1.50, and top out at 4.00. This is a touch higher than usual, but due to location, quality, and style I’m willing to shell it out.

I’ve been twice so far and both times service has been prompt and attentive. I’ve also started to see a lot of familiar faces from other sushi joints around the area. This tells me good things are happening here.