Feb 28

Mizu

3636 North Freeway Boulevard

Sacramento, CA 95834

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

 

Mizu was another rare opportunity to review a buffet. In comparison to my review on Fuji Sushi Buffet, Mizu has their own advantages. Unfortunately, Mizu does not have a sushi boat system, but they do have a plethora of sushi rolls, pre-cut, on many dishes ready for pick up. Unlike Fuji, people do not make special orders here. However, with the variety of sushi rolls and sashimi available, the lack of a special order does not really hurt Mizu. As for the sushi itself, taste is pretty good, to a point where I say the taste is better than Fuji. Visuals of the sushi are generally appealing too. Other than being more pricy than Fuji, Mizu does not only supply a greater variety of sushi, but also Mizu has a whole lot more Chinese food as well. Dishes ranging from fried rice, fried fish, teriyaki chicken, and smoked salmon exist down the buffet line. In addition, noodle soups can be made to order from the noodle bar. To end the meal, real ice cream finishes off a great buffet visit.

Overall, I would prefer Mizu over Fuji any day. If I was in the mood for delicious sushi, I would still opt to go to Arigato’s, but if I wanted a little sushi while still eating a bunch of Chinese food, I would end up at Mizu. Also, having a 10% off coupon + free drink helps push me to eat at Mizu.

Feb 21

Arigato Sushi

1608 Howe Avenue
Sacramento, CA 95825

Rating: ★★★★☆ 

Arigato Sushi is most known for their “50% off sushi rolls” promotion. Whether or not this promotion will ever end is up for discussion since the promotion has been ongoing for years. With that being said, the price per roll of sushi is around $6-$16 on the menu. They also have various meat dishes and bento boxes. Generally, I come to Arigato’s to order sushi, and lots of it (sometimes too much).
Every time I go, I need to order the Howe and the Lion King. Those two rolls are my absolute favorites there. On this trip, I ordered (on the pictures from left to right): Lion King, Red Dragon, Lucky 7, Howe, and California Roll. Every time I go, I usually order one or two rolls I never tried before in addition to the Howe and Lion King. In this visit, the Red Dragon and Lucky 7 awaited the trial run. Unfortunately, I figured out that was not really a fan of spicy tuna, which is present in both of these rolls. A failed attempt, but that did not harm my opinion about Arigato’s.
As an interesting note about their sushi, I have found that a lot of the rolls come with a peachy colored “special sauce” on top of them. The sauce itself is actually really tasty, and so I usually ask for a platter of special sauce to use a dipping sauce in lieu of soy sauce wasabi. Drenching sushi rolls in special sauce may sound weird, but it’s actually really good!
Overall, Arigato Sushi provides a variety of delectable rolls at a really good price. If you prefer something of higher caliber or of better quality, you are better off going to Mikuni’s, but if you are looking for good cheap sushi in a college restaurant atmosphere, then Arigaro’s is the place to be. If you are a person who really wants a lot of cheap sushi, you might just end up at a sushi buffet instead like Fuji’s or Mizu. For most people looking for the occasional sushi run, unwilling to spend over $13 for a roll, Arigato fits the bill. Also, Arigato’s recently expanded so hopefully the busy times won’t require a long wait anymore.

Feb 21

Saigon Restaurant

5304 Stockton Boulevard

Sacramento, CA 95820

Rating: ★★★★½ 

A plethora of pho restaurants exist in Sacramento. After going to quite a few of them, I found my favorite. Saigon Restaurant on Stockton Blvd is not be be confused with Saigon Bay on Stockton Blvd. You will be quite disappointed if you end up at the latter restaurant.

Pho Saigon offers up a variety of Vietnamese and Chinese dishes. Since this is a pho restaurant, I ordered some Pho Tai, which is pho noodle with raw beef. I prefer this beef noodle because thinly slicked raw beef because the meat cooks in the steaming hot broth at the table. Also, I am not really a fan of the tendons, flank, fat, etc. I decided to order a medium, when I should of really ordered a large. In comparison to other pho restaurants, Saigon offers a generous portion sizes. If you ordered a large, you will get a large. If you order an extra large, your bowl will be extra large. I would say that the large size at Saigon would compare to the extra large at Pho Hoa Viet.

In terms of taste, Pho Saigon has a very tasty broth. The noodles and meat absorb generous amounts of the tasty broth. I didn’t order any this time, but a side of egg rolls here would have been a very tasty addition. I also ordered a strawberry shake as well, which tasted delicious. This strawberry shake tasted much better than the one I ordered at Yummy Juice Cafe, and marginally better than Hoa Viet.

Overall, Saigon offers very good pho at great prices. The location may not be the best, but good food is worth it. Also, late closing times allows for some late night supper. Saigon continues to be my pho restaurant of choice in Sacramento, but that does not mean that it can top the pho restaurants of San Jose like Pho Nam. If you haven’t tried Pho Saigon before, you should definitely go!

Feb 21

Fry’s Electronics Cafe

4100 Northgate Blvd

Sacramento, CA 95834

Rating: ★★½☆☆ 

 

Since I walk by the cafe quite frequently, I felt that it deserved a little review. The cafe serves a variety of pastries, sandwiches, random food dishes, and drinks. My favorite menu item would be the club sandwich. I normally order the club sandwich combo, which includes a soda and a bag of chips. Customized to my tastes, this toasted stacked sandwich is able to fill me up during lunch, Although my expectations may be low, the cafe does fulfill a need. In comparison to sandwich shops, and maybe even Subway, the Fry’s cafe does a decent job. With that being said, Fry’s can definitely use more meat, more toppings, and more value in the sandwich. Overall, the club is a decent sandwich at a decent price.

 

Feb 17

Oriental Chinese Restaurant

1910 Fruitridge Rd

Sacramento, CA 95822

Rating: ★★★☆☆ 

When it comes to Chinese food, I set very high standards. Oriental Chinese Restaurant opened fairly recently in my neighborhood. Previous iterations of Chinese restaurants at this location failed after a couple years. After walking into this new restaurant, I know that this one should be here to stay. As we walked into the restaurant, practically every table was taken. In my opinion, the owners probably should have waited to open after they finished expanding into the next-door suite. With that being said, 30 minutes of wait allowed us to sit at a table.

Tea was of high quality, provided to us after having our table set. The menu was quite colorful with easy to understand descriptions in English as well as Chinese. In addition to the food menu, a drink menu filled with tea-house favorites was also available. The decor of the room was appropriate, including an abundance of lucky cats.

Today we ordered: Yanzhou Fried Rice, Honey Sauce Rib, Singaporean Style Rice Noodle, Beef with Veggies, and Sizzled Chicken with Ginger Sauce. The Yanzhou Fried Rice is a solid 4.5/5, where variety of ingredients and cook quality shine through. I will come back to the Honey Sauce Rib. The Singaporean Style Rice Noodle was tasty, and I would give it a 4/5, but the dish did not have enough curry taste or spice (I usually order this dish without any vegetables though). The Beef with Veggies was really good and meaty, scoring 4/5. The Sizzled Chicken with Ginger Sauce is not really my taste, and I found this one to be quite bony, and thus, giving it a 3/5. The only reason I give the chicken a 3 instead of a 2, is that the dish is served at the table thoroughly sizzling on a hot plate. Unfortunately, the Honey Sauce Rib failed the meal today. I give the Honey Sauce Rib a 1.5/5 because most of the pork was in the form of bones. At least 85% of the dish was bone, and the rest was meat. The only saving factor of the dish was that the honey sauce was really good. Oriental can really improve on the quality of this dish by providing more meat. At the end of the meal, fruits were provided for desert.

Overall, I would come back to eat here for convenience. With their hours closing at 12 midnight or 2AM on Fridays and Saturdays, Oriental becomes a reasonable late night option. I will probably review this location again, but not until they finish their renovation and expansion. I do not feel like waiting 30 minutes for a table again in a small cramped location.

Their menu is available online through Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oriental-Restaurant/308588689186100?sk=photos

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