Wasabi Tuesday at Sushi Samba Dromo
Sushi Samba has been promoting Wasabi Tuesdays, with New York’s DJ Ani, hosts Mykel Stevens and Carmel Ophir, and MC and self-described "singer-comedian" Rocco. Sushi Samba's selling point is the room--sleek, modern, colorful. The iced shellfish display at the forefront of the sushi bar is a nice touch, even if it is a bit touristy. With branches in New York and Chicago, Sushi Samba offers a melange of Japanese, Brazilian, and Peruvian fare, such as sushi rolls, churrasco, anticuchos, and ceviches. Is the mix effective? Not entirely.
The restaurant got off on the wrong foot by failing to honor the 9:30 reservation, and seating did not take place until 10:00. However, the staff was suitably apologetic, and service once seated was attentive and professional.
And then the menus came out. Ideally, the first review of a menu should excite; there should be dozens of appealing options with the only challenge being to narrow the choices. Sushi Samba's menu does not generate that effect. The bulk of the offerings were familiar and derivative. One positive sign was the availability of sawagani--flash fried Japanese river crabs. The river crabs, each about the size of a silver dollar, are dropped live into the fryer, quickly withdrawn, sprinkled with sea salt, and presented while still hot. They taste like potato chips, with a nice crunch. However, Sushi Samba's sawagani were not as good as Shoji's, where the crabs are taken from a terrarium on the sushi bar in full view of the diner, sent back to the kitchen, and then served quickly. Sushi Samba's crabs, at nearly double the price, did not come to the table piping hot and there was no way to be sure they were live at the time they were cooked. Nor were they plated with seaweed as they are at Shoji. Still, at least Sushi Samba has Japanese river crabs, which is more than we can say about other Japanese restaurants in the area.
The seasonal field green salad--better. Field greens with ginger-white soy dressing, shredded carrot, daikon, and taro proved effective and delicate. But then again, it's just salad.
The rolls were, well, fine. Hardly transcendent. The heralded Neo Tokyo roll consisted of tuna, tempura flakes, and aji panca. Not bad. The tuna was ruby red, the tempura flakes provided texture, and the roll was suitably spicy. Less satisfying was the crispy eel roll, which suffered, as many eel rolls do, from too much overly-sweetened eel sauce. Good eel does not need to be doctored with cloying sauces. Bond St. Lounge's hot eel dice is a better example of a well-executed eel roll. The yellowtail and jalapeno roll was satisfactory, but that's a hard one to botch, unless the yellowtail isn't fresh.
Another gripe centered on the sake menu, which did not have some of the Baron's favorites, like Momokawa Pearl and Ohyama. The Hitori Musume was fine, but Momokawa Pearl is a much better unfiltered sake, for those who like such things. At least Sushi Samba has unfiltered sake (in two varieties), so in that they are ahead of the game.
But perhaps the food is secondary. Sushi Samba is a scene, and that was the reason for this visit. The crowd was attractive, with a fair number of the young, attractive females which make South Beach worth visiting. DJ Ani spins with a deep and well-chosen repetoire of remixed '80s gems. Unfortunately, at around 11:15 "singer-comedian" Rocco broke into a song about not powdering his balls. The Baron did not approve. Nor did the Baron approve of the colossaly bad karaoke that followed. Still, a good crowd, and satisfactory food. A return visit may be in order to focus on the cooked fare. It may be the case the anticuchos and Brazilian mixed grill are stronger entries. It has also been reported that Sushi Samba's outdoor Sunday brunch pulls in the occasional celebrity, if you care about that sort of thing.
Sushi Samba has been promoting Wasabi Tuesdays, with New York’s DJ Ani, hosts Mykel Stevens and Carmel Ophir, and MC and self-described "singer-comedian" Rocco. Sushi Samba's selling point is the room--sleek, modern, colorful. The iced shellfish display at the forefront of the sushi bar is a nice touch, even if it is a bit touristy. With branches in New York and Chicago, Sushi Samba offers a melange of Japanese, Brazilian, and Peruvian fare, such as sushi rolls, churrasco, anticuchos, and ceviches. Is the mix effective? Not entirely.
The restaurant got off on the wrong foot by failing to honor the 9:30 reservation, and seating did not take place until 10:00. However, the staff was suitably apologetic, and service once seated was attentive and professional.
And then the menus came out. Ideally, the first review of a menu should excite; there should be dozens of appealing options with the only challenge being to narrow the choices. Sushi Samba's menu does not generate that effect. The bulk of the offerings were familiar and derivative. One positive sign was the availability of sawagani--flash fried Japanese river crabs. The river crabs, each about the size of a silver dollar, are dropped live into the fryer, quickly withdrawn, sprinkled with sea salt, and presented while still hot. They taste like potato chips, with a nice crunch. However, Sushi Samba's sawagani were not as good as Shoji's, where the crabs are taken from a terrarium on the sushi bar in full view of the diner, sent back to the kitchen, and then served quickly. Sushi Samba's crabs, at nearly double the price, did not come to the table piping hot and there was no way to be sure they were live at the time they were cooked. Nor were they plated with seaweed as they are at Shoji. Still, at least Sushi Samba has Japanese river crabs, which is more than we can say about other Japanese restaurants in the area.
The seasonal field green salad--better. Field greens with ginger-white soy dressing, shredded carrot, daikon, and taro proved effective and delicate. But then again, it's just salad.
The rolls were, well, fine. Hardly transcendent. The heralded Neo Tokyo roll consisted of tuna, tempura flakes, and aji panca. Not bad. The tuna was ruby red, the tempura flakes provided texture, and the roll was suitably spicy. Less satisfying was the crispy eel roll, which suffered, as many eel rolls do, from too much overly-sweetened eel sauce. Good eel does not need to be doctored with cloying sauces. Bond St. Lounge's hot eel dice is a better example of a well-executed eel roll. The yellowtail and jalapeno roll was satisfactory, but that's a hard one to botch, unless the yellowtail isn't fresh.
Another gripe centered on the sake menu, which did not have some of the Baron's favorites, like Momokawa Pearl and Ohyama. The Hitori Musume was fine, but Momokawa Pearl is a much better unfiltered sake, for those who like such things. At least Sushi Samba has unfiltered sake (in two varieties), so in that they are ahead of the game.
But perhaps the food is secondary. Sushi Samba is a scene, and that was the reason for this visit. The crowd was attractive, with a fair number of the young, attractive females which make South Beach worth visiting. DJ Ani spins with a deep and well-chosen repetoire of remixed '80s gems. Unfortunately, at around 11:15 "singer-comedian" Rocco broke into a song about not powdering his balls. The Baron did not approve. Nor did the Baron approve of the colossaly bad karaoke that followed. Still, a good crowd, and satisfactory food. A return visit may be in order to focus on the cooked fare. It may be the case the anticuchos and Brazilian mixed grill are stronger entries. It has also been reported that Sushi Samba's outdoor Sunday brunch pulls in the occasional celebrity, if you care about that sort of thing.
posted by TheBaronOnTaste at 11:03 PM
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