Review: Dancing Wasabi

We LOVE sushi and getting sushi together is one of our favorite things to do.  Kris and I are good at sharing food.  Some people hate sharing, my husband being one of them, which is why I love going out with Kris.  We often will order two things and share them because we want to try more than one thing!  So getting sushi together is great for us.  We order a lot of it and we have our "routine" when eating sushi too.  Dancing Wasabi is probably our favorite place to go for sushi.  It's awesome because all the rolls are half off all the time, you can't beat that.  Dancing Wasabi just opened a new location in Hyde Park on Edwards in the old Beluga location.  The location in Mt. Lookout just recently changed names to Cloud Nine Sushi, but I read that the food and the specials are the same there.  Kris, our friend Peppy, and I decided to try out the new location a couple weeks back.

I love that the new location has more seating.  Previously, there always seemed to be a wait at the Mt. Lookout location, but I really liked the coziness of the smaller location as well.  The new Dancing Wasabi has a front patio that has about 10 tables and the inside is very modern and clean.  There was a large bar in the center of the restaurant and long tables throughout the other rooms.  We sat in the front room right by the window which was nice.  We started with an order of edamame as we decided which rolls to order.

Dancing Wasabi has a nice selection of specialty rolls as well as more traditional rolls too.  We have been many times, so we had an idea of what we wanted.  We opted to share 6 rolls between the three of us and we went with Crunch Munch, Hot Mama Roll, Red Double Roll, Dynamite Roll, I think Spicy Tuna, and a spin on a Philadelphia roll that was topped with salmon with cream cheese, and asparagus for a nice crunch. My husband hates sushi with cream cheese, so I was excited to have something different since he wasn't there. This was delicious.

We all like a mix of spicy rolls and refreshing rolls with either salmon, tuna, crab, or yellowtail....we aren't into the eel.  It is really hard to say what was our favorite because they were honestly all delicious!!  Some of them seemed to have somewhat similar ingredients with just a bit different touch.   I loved the Crunch Munch  because of the tempura flakes sprinkled on top.  A table favorite were the Red Double Roll and Dynamite Roll.  I probably should have written down what was in all the rolls, but I didn't! Take a look at the picture and just know they were all delicious!

A small note about the service: it was fine but nothing special.  At Dancing Wasabi's Mt. Lookout location we always had the same servers who were great, but the service here didn't compare. Our waitress had to run and move her car and had asked other workers to keep an eye on us, which they hadn't.  So, we went awhile without refills, and when you're eating spicy sushi with ginger and wasabi, it can get kind of hot!  She did apologize though!

I haven't been to Cloud Nine yet, but I would like to go just to see if it's the same, and I do like the building it is in.  Many people feel it's tiny, but I like it!  We were all very happy, and stuffed, from our sushi.  It was all fantastic in my opinion.  Dancing Wasabi is a great place to go because all the rolls are half-off! It's a great place to go try sushi maybe if you have never had it before because you can get more specialty rolls and try a variety of items--plus they are open until 2am on the weekends.

~Kate

Food: 4
Service: 3
Overall Experience: 4

Review: Indigo Casual Gourmet Cafe

I have been to Indigo restaurant many times before.  I went a couple weeks ago with my husband on a Thursday evening because I had a Yo Deal coupon.  It started to rain, so we sat inside, but they have a great courtyard-like outdoor seating area looking onto Hyde Park Square on Erie Ave.  Indigo also offers half off bottles of wine on Wednesdays, which I have taken advantage of in the past.  I must say that Indigo has been one of those restaurants that has been hit or miss for me.  This visit was pretty good though!

The inside of Indigo is casual but nice.  There are booths along a mirrored wall and tables in another section of the restaurant.  We sat along the mirrored wall which was somewhat distracting for Ross. Our waiter greeted us and was very friendly.  He also pointed out that appetizers were half off.  Ross started with a beer and I opted for a glass of the house cabernet.   I did not like this house cabernet, I can't remember what kind it was, but I didn't like it at all really. 

Since appetizers were half off, we decided to share the bruschetta bread.  This was more like a garlic bread with cheese and topped with chopped tomatoes.  This was good, but very filling.  It was toasted just enough with a crunchy crust but soft in the center. 

Although this was pretty filling, Ross and I decided to share a salad and a pasta bake.  Indigo is mostly Italian food with a variety of pastas, bakes, calzones, pizzas, and sandwiches.  I have had the Spinach bake many times and love it, but Ross wanted to try the sausage bake.  This was baked with a red sauce, penne pasta, sausage, onions, and cheese.  There may have been more things but I can't remember.  This was very good!  We both loved this.  It was plenty to share as well.

We also had ordered a spinach salad topped with bacon, feta, chicken, and red onion and served with a balsamic dressing.  This too was a very good salad; however, I thought there was too much bacon.  I would have liked the bacon to have been chopped up more.  The spinach was fresh and there was just enough feta and red onion.  I also liked the dressing. It tasted house made and was very good. 

I ended up ordering a different glass of wine, the Zinfandel, which was much better.  Our service here was great. Our server was attentive without being overly zealous. 
This visit to Indigo was a great one!  I recommend sharing some things because many of the dishes are very filling.  The prices range from $8-$15 or so for entrees.  Like I said before, this has been a very hit or miss place for me, but I would give it a try. This visit was excellent for a casual Italian restaurant and the patio is really nice. 

~Kate

Food: 3.5
Service: 4
Overall Experience: 3.5