Sushi Summer

There is a chic little eatery right in our very own NJ, like something out of a Chelsea city bistro, where Eugene and I have had the pleasure of having many of our dates this summer. Though its name does not do it justice, U-Yee Sushi/Hibachi in Iselin off Route 1 is one of the best sushi/sashimi joints around. It's not some hole-in-the-wall either. It's art deco shininess gleams with Chinese characters that line the walls, and expert chefs cleverly chop hords of tuna, yellowtail, and other assorted delicacies (think eel, squid, octopus, just to name a few)

But the best thing about this understated dive, is not its bar and dining hall set up nor its hibachi style tables in the back room but more the fact that every Sunday to Friday, all sushi half price. And so Eugene has turned me into a sushi aficiniado and we both like to gorge ourselves on Russian (with caviar and spicky tobiko sauce), Philadelphia (with cream cheese and avocado), spicy tuna, and shrimp tempura rolls often among many others. We have had the delight to pay only $30 for the two of us almost every single time (normally a $60 meal, Eugene can pack a lot into his system). Unfortunately, there was this one time when we ordered plateloads of sushi along with many of the regular priced items including octopus, squid and the like and ended up paying a whopping $75 for the meal. Our stomachs were bulging, our bank accounts exploded and it was worth every delicious bite.

This sushi place comes to mind because we decided to parade on over right after my Hebrew lesson (its called a hop, skip and a jump away from Menlo Park Mall---well, more like a 10 min. car drive down Route 1 and a U turn.) And who we do we meet, walking in a measly 5 minutes later but Tony, Nina and their crew there to devour their own delicious morsels. We sat with them and a weekly date for two turned into a 9 people free-for-all (where Eugene and I definitely ate the most.) It was really fun and a great way to spend a Wednesday night.