I’ve lived in South Florida for quite some time, and I feel that the more time passes, the more disappointed I get with the general state of Japanese cuisine in this area. There are precious few restaurants that have high-quality Sushi, and some of the better places seem to have gone downhill in the last few years. One of the few that was still great last time we went was Mikan (reviewed here), but I haven’t been back in some time.
Fortunately there is one place that I’ve been to recently that still has top-quality Japanese food, at least Sushi-wise. It’s called Zuzu, and is in Davie, Florida.
This restaurant is one of the few kaiten-zushi (回転寿司) places in SF where there are sushi-bearing plates moving around on conveyor belts that pass by each table. If you seen something you like, you can open the window and grab it, and you’ll be charged at the end based on the colors of the plates you’ve eaten from. This style of Sushi dining is more popular on the West Cost (like in California), and of course in many areas of Japan.
But what makes this restaurant great is not that the flashy conveyor belts–it’s the amazing freshness and taste from the sushi.
Though I don’t generally consider myself a food connoisseur, not only have I made Sushi myself several times from fresh, hand-picked ingredients, but I’ve had it made for me by a master sushi chef with several decades of experience. So I’ve learned to distinguish the good from the not-so-good
The main things I enjoyed at this restaurant this time were JB rolls and salmon sashimi. These were of very good quality, based on the flavor, scent, texture, and color.
Try to smell the seaweed of a sushi roll next time you eat one out somewhere. I bet in most of the places you visit there will be no smell, and conversely the fish may have a slight fishy smell. Top-quality sushi is the opposite: the nori should have a strong smell, and the fish little to no smell, and it should also not be too cold.
As an interesting note – the tap water at this restaurant was also surprisingly good, one of the best sources of tap I’ve tasted, though when the ice eventually melted the taste dropped a little. The miso-soup was also above average, with all the ingredients noticeably fresh.
I can’t vouch for every item on their menu, but overall I think you have an excellent chance to dine on magnificent Sushi at this place. The prices are also pretty reasonable, with a meal for three around $40.
The only real disadvantage (if you can call it that) is that I am not sure if any people who work here are actually Japanese. Usually I treat this as a bad sign, but in this case the food is so good it doesn’t really matter. But if you are looking for someone to practice your konnichiwas with, you may not have much luck here.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/yuzu-kaiten-sushi-davie