Field Trip: Yabi Sushi

Welcome to the newest installment of Sanford-Centric Field Trips! This week, the good boys and girls of the Sanford Supper Club ventured to one of Sanford's only sushi spots, Yabi Sushi.

Yabi Sushi  

 Number of Visits: Between 10-15
(a few times dining in, a few takeout, and once with the Sanford Supper Club)

Distance from Chez Sanford-Centric: several MILES down 17-92, which I consider almost outside the confines of decency.

Best Described As: the best place around to quell your cheapie sushi fix

Expectations
Let me preface by saying that I used to work at Orlando's very first Japanese restaurant (note: not "steakhouse", not "sushi place", not "hibachi grill"...restaurant.), which has been open for 30 years, and whose parent location has been open Tokyo's Ginza district since 1947. So, believe me. I know good Japanese food. The beauty of the culture's cuisine is the balance, precision, and simplicity of its preparation and while working at Rangetsu, I learned to truly appreciate the excellent quality of the meat and seafood and the subtle, complex flavors involved in Japanese dishes.

Here's the thing. Americans don't really do subtlety, and most of them don't care where their food comes from. As a result, most Japanese places specialize in "sushi", meaning "some tempura fried stuff wrapped up in some rice and seaweed and shit" or "hibachi", meaning "some chicken and shrimp grilled up and served over rice with some white sauce and shit".

Here's the other thing. That stuff tastes awesome. And I love it. But I would like it known from the onset that I don't endorse this type of Japanese-ish food as "good Japanese". I just endorse it as delicious.

I've been to Yabi many many times, and I've always liked it. They've been reasonably consistent over the years, and I pretty much jump at any opportunity to go there. Even Sada likes this place.

Impressions
Man, the location sucks. 1) I hate getting in the car to go anywhere, 2) you have to make a U-turn to get into the parking lot from our direction, 3) the parking lot is tiny. Also, the exterior of the building is a little scary. The building itself is tiny, so I was somewhat impressed that they managed to create a long table for 30 of us. The decor is typical for a small sushi place, and all the guys noted that the urinal is surprisingly high.

But the food definitely makes up for any aesthetic caveats. The rolls and dinners are plentiful, picture worthy, and cheap! We started with a round of miso soup, and a few of us had salads. Oddly enough, this is the only context in which I enjoy iceberg lettuce. Something about a ginger dressing just makes it all okay. Next, we had a Sanford roll, scarlet roll, and spider roll. The Sanford is my favorite (of course), but I like that all of the rolls are inexpensive enough for us to order several to try. I did notice that they were all well rolled, which is sometimes an issue at cheapie sushi places, where the rolls often fall apart. Rob ordered a shrimp and scallop dish over rice and noodles, which tasted delightful, but was probably packed with MSG.

The server was very curt and probably irritated that so many of us (around 30) were there at the same time. However, he was probably thrilled when he discovered that most of us tipped on top of the gratuity that was automatically added to our checks. You're welcome :)

Bottom Line
I love this place. I think it's great for takeout, a little less so for dining in. I would love it if they decided to have some nabe dishes for guests to cook on the tables, like sukiyaki or shabu shabu, but I doubt their menu will ever change, and I'm still okay with that. I would recommend Yabi as a bit of a guilty pleasure, for the tastiness and price, even if it's not "good" Japanese food. Until someone opens a sushi restaurant downtown, that is. (Ahem.)