All posts in: Reviews

09 Dec 2010

Japonessa

Tonight, Kevin and I decided to try out the new sushi restaurant Japonessa on First Avenue directly across the street from the SAM. It is very difficult for me to be a food critic because I love food especially the best kept secrets of this city, but I sometimes tend to be biased to my favorites. I will have a favorite sushi restaurant, a favorite dim sum joint, fast food etc until something better comes along, naturally.

Japonessa has been open for a few months and has a little bit of a Latin twist that is very noticeable in the restaurant. The decor is beautiful and the atmosphere is both lively and serene at the same time. The restaurant’s head chef, Billy Beach, has worked at a variety of restaurants in the area as well including Umi Sake House (a favorite!) and Kushibar.

Between us we ordered

  • Two bowls of Miso Soup
  • 4 pieces of Unagi/Eel
  • 4 pieces of Sake/Salmon
  • 4 pieces of Hamachi/Yellowtail
  • Seattle Crunch Roll – Tuna, salmon, avocado, cream cheese, tempura’d, drizzled with sweet chili soy glaze
  • Ultimate Dragon Roll – Snowcrab, avocado, cucumber, topped w/ half eel, black tobiko, drizzled with soy glaze

Overall, we kept it pretty simple tonight. In terms of pricing, rolls ranged from $12 to a whopping $20!  In comparison with my favorite places Wasabi Bistro and Umi Sake House, their rolls are nowhere near the $20 mark. However, though the rolls here might be slightly larger than the others and in the case of the Ultimate Dragon Roll, we practically got the whole tail end of the eel attached to one of our rolls, we still believe we could have gotten a better deal elsewhere. The nigiri was fine, but it didn’t blow me away. My one issue with the Ultimate Dragon Roll was that it was soaked in the soy glaze. If it had even just been a slight drizzle, the soy glaze would not have been as overwhelming. Also, because it was dripping in glaze, the roll would easily come apart, making it more difficult to eat.

It is hard to give the most accurate rating because I am not a food critic. I don’t get paid to review restaurants in Seattle and I choose items off of the menu based on my preference. Maybe there are other items on the menu that are much better, but I just didn’t know. Yelp has reviewed Japonessa and the 102 ratings have determined an average of four and a half stars! Not bad. Japonessa also has a fantastic happy hour! Looks like I’ll be testing out the restaurant again soon round two?

Based on my experience:

Price: Too expensive.

Presentation: Of the overall restaurant – fantastic!

Taste: At times, nothing special nor memorable.

09 Jul 2010

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7ZL3XjwL0E]

Last night, I caught the advanced screening of the new Disney film The Sorcerer’s Apprentice directed by Jerry Bruckheimer. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a Disney film [I have yet to catch Toy Story 3] and my friend and I decided that if it wasn’t a Disney animation film, sometimes it’s either a hit or miss. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice was a hit. Nearly everyone in the theater enjoyed it based on the positive reactions I received after the movie ended.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, starring Nicholas Cage and Jay Baruchel, is a film about magic, but not like Harry Potter magic. They aren’t always muttering spells, but their magic comes from a process that begins with “clearing the mind” and intense focus and concentration. Jay Baruchel is a student at NYU who is one day approached by Nicholas Cage who tells him that he is basically the only person in the world who can destroy the most evil thing in the world about to be released on Earth. Jay rejects the “magic” world at first because he’s just an average guy [so he thinks] who thought he was always meant to love physics and a girl he’s had a crush on since he was ten years old. After his first brush of being able to successfully produce something magical, he agrees to be Cage’s apprentice and take lessons from him. This storyline is actually pretty cute. I even found myself having a mini crush on Jay’s character “Dave” at the end because he was just so nerdy! I loved it! There’s also a very cool rendition of One Republic’s new single “Secrets” in the movie.

The film made me laugh. It wasn’t confusing or too complex and it’s perfect for people of all ages.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice comes out July 14th!

20 Nov 2009

John Mayer – Battle Studies

So I’ve had John Mayer’s new album Battle Studies for almost two weeks. Right when I got it, I listened through every single song not skipping ahead and giving each its deserved attention. My first thoughts: this album is really… weak. There was nothing that blew me away. The songs were nice yeah, but where was the raw John Mayer. Everything was so soft. Too soft. Too girly? What did Jennifer Aniston DO TO YOU?! I was disappointed because we all know that John Mayer writes loves songs and such, but he has so much potential to do more.

I let the album grow on me a little bit. If I would’ve made my review post then, I would’ve bashed it and become a hypocrite. While there are some songs that make me go wtf?! on the album, there are some that I like.

There are 11 tracks. I like about 7 so far. Meaning I rate this album 7/11

Best songs:

  • Assassin
  • Edge of Desire
  • Half of My Heart ft. Taylor Swift
  • Heartbreak Warfare
  • War of My Life

Tickets for John Mayer in Seattle go on sale tomorrow. I’m crossing my fingers that my brother will buy me tickets 🙂 I have yet to see him live and I would really love to.