Japan

It felt like a seafood weekend so a little sushi seemed to be in order.  Representing Japan for the Culinary-Passport was Red Bowl Asian Bistro in Rock Hill.  To be precise they are an Asian fusion restaurant and have multiple cuisines represented on the menu so they aren’t solely a Japanese place but they do have a pretty extensive sushi menu as well as hibachi options.  There are at least 4 Red Bowl restaurants in the area so their offering certainly provided a level of success.  I’m pointing this out because my experience wasn’t the kind a culinary empire is built on.

I was greeted by a nice lady who directed a young lady to seat me.  She didn’t sigh but it sure felt like I was interrupting her leaning time.  The waitress was Jenny on the spot and was at the table and ready to take my drink order before I even got the menu open.

I decided to start with a crispy chicken egg roll and for the entrée went with the lunch sushi which is a “pick two” from a limited selection of rolls or 3 pcs of chef’s choice nigiri plus either miso soup or salad.  I chose the Fantasy Roll, the nigiri and miso soup.  The egg roll arrived so fast my Kindle app had not even loaded yet.  It was warm and tasted pretty decent, nothing exceptional.

So next my sushi came and I had to mention I was supposed to get miso soup and was told “oh, it’s on the way”.  I guess the soup comes after the entrée here.  I waited the couple of minutes it took to get the miso and really shouldn’t have bothered.

The soup was mediocre and I didn’t bother finishing it.  The fantasy roll (crab, roe, spicy mayo) was good but I’ve had better from a Publix grocery store.  The nigiri was the high spot as the fish and shrimp looked good, had nice textures and tasted fresh.

Overall this was a disappointing experience and I couldn’t recommend them based on this visit.  Even my fortune cookie arrived broken and the fortune was something about how great my wife was.  Having said that, a number of years ago I went to the Red Bowl in Fort Mill and it was excellent so I might give them another try once the memory of this trip fades.

If you didn’t visit it last time check out Tell Me More – Japan