fsford's Profile
Iowa City lunch -- sushi is good
I'm a huge Oyama fan. Their fish is always incredibly fresh, and they have fabulous signature rolls. The sweetheart roll is fabulous; I've made all of my friends try it and they all love it. Very friendly staff, excellent quality... I can't say enough about it.
I live right by Sushi PoPo and have had bad experiences there. Their fish quality is not excellent and they have horrible customer service. I once waited for an hour to get waited on. Not a great place...
Three Samurai has a fabulous roll with beef on top (I know it sounds weird, but it's delicious! Not for a pescetarian, though...) but sometimes their rolls are skimpy with the fish. Also, the fish quality isn't as excellent as Oyama. However, they have a great happy hour with very cheap rolls, so I'd try it at least once.
Takanami is great and offers free edamame (or at least they used to!) but a bit overpriced and parking is difficult. Their fish quality is very good, which is always the most important to me.
For value, freshness, and tastiness, go for Oyama. Plus, plenty of parking!
Best Brunch/Lunch on Southport
I have found the strangest spot for delicious eggs benedict in the Southport Corridor: Sopo, that clubby place right by the brown line. Their service is terrible for brunch on the weekends, just the worst I've ever encountered. But their eggs benedict with tarragon hollandaise is unreal, so I get it to go.
I also like Wishbone's brunch (Lincoln and School, just 2 blocks from Southport) - delicious crunchy french toast, breakfast crab cakes, and cheese grits. I could eat their cheese grits all day long.
Iowa City: The Chef's Table
I visited Chef's Table last Saturday and had the highest hopes. However, the restaurant fell very, very flat.
The best part of the meal was the bread course. Plenty of bread, delicious salted butter, and beautiful presentation.
I ordered the scallops in peppercorn sauce. I love scallops, but these were almost inedible - instead of a peppercorn sauce, they were doused in what tasted like straight vinegar. My potatoes were raw inside, so it was a hard dish to eat. However, the scallops were cooked perfectly and it was plated nicely. The short rib tortellini were hard and most of the flavor was lost while I struggled to chew them.
I ordered the "chocolate terrine" for desert, on my server's recommendation. It was basically two pieces of fudge, complete with nuts. They were just slabs of fudge, just sliced on a plate, with some white sauce on the place that tasted like nothing. It's a joke between me and my friend now, the "nothing" sauce - the ultimate palate cleanser.
It was too much to expect a real French restaurant in IC. I'd much rather have spent my money on Motley Cow, 126, or Atlas.
