Well, here I am again on another sushi adventure. This time my travels take you to Caldwell to Nori, right on Bloomfield Avenue. Nori has been around for several years and has been reviewed by the paper and is also apparently a hit with Zagat reviewers. We went for dinner on a Friday night, got right in, and enjoyed.
Nori is a small establishment with a small sushi bar in the back and small square tables. Small. Not terribly small, but I can't imagine it being packed because you might have a problem having any kind of privacy in conversation. Anyway, there are the usual Japanese adornments with shoji screens, geisha pictures, and other types of pics and paintings. What's kind of interesting are the blowfish and puffer fish that have been "preserved" and find their new home hanging from the ceiling. There's a kind of quirky vibe to the place despite the standard Japanese decor.
The menu is easy to read and the list of rolls (maki) is looooooong. This excites me, I always like to see a sushi joint take their maki to the next level. There was plenty of variety for anyone. Their menu also includes traditional hot dishes, as well as other pan-asian fare. To see the menu, click here. One drawback that I noticed were the prices. The sushi is priced at 1 per order, and many of the pieces were at least $2.50 each. The menu online does not match the menu on site.
Service was very quick and on point. One thing I was skeptical about was the soy sauce. I asked for low sodium just as my dinner was arriving, and she pointed to the decanter on the table. I asked to confirm that it was low sodium and she said yes. One taste and I knew it wasn't. I don't know any low sodium soy sauce with that kind of flavor. I could be wrong, maybe they spring for some high end stuff that has a roasty full-bodied flavor?
The miso soup was actually hardy...lots of greenery and tofu, and the salad was okay. The sushi was pretty damn good. The California roll wasn't all that impressive. Believe it or not some are good but this was just eh. The remainder on my plate was almost perfect. Perfect amount of rice, perfect amount of fish, perfect texture. The rice didn't have that much flavor though. The most impressive of the night was the unagi (eel). This was by far the best tasting piece of eel that I've ever had. Slightly charred around the edges and warm and buttery everywhere else, it had the perfect amount of sauce to accompany as well. After eating this and almost dying from the enjoyment, I told my partner that I could have ordered an entire entree of just eel. And I think next time I will!
Food: ****
Ambiance: ***
Service: ****
Overall: ****
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