I'll review these two side by side because the are across the street from each, serve similar food and have opened quasi-simultaneously. They are on University (I forget the cross street, but, it's one street closer to UCF than Forsyth),
Sushi Cafe - The name is fairly eponymous since it is just your average sushi play. It's in a strip mall at the location of a defunct Italian place (Barducci's). It has been open for four months. I had a special (not sure if it was every night or just Mondays) priced roll (3) dinner for $10. Salmon, tuna and yellow tail in a cigar shape. The salmon looked fresh, but, tasted salted. The tuna looked like another portion of yellow tail and was tasteless/vinegary. The yellow tail was iffy. The rice was pasty and sometimes tasted like vinegar and sometimes did not (not mixed well). Their soy sauce was Chinese (thicker) and that may be the canary in the coal mine. The owners may be Chinese doing Japanese. The miso soup was also terrible. It tasted like Won Ton broth with some of the oldest/driest tofu ever experienced. The interior is pretty ugly. Mismatched blue and black booths with a black primary motif. It seats about ninety. There were two tables seated. The real (and only) draw here is an all you can eat option. If you want to gorge yourself on mediocre sushi then this is the place for you. They also have some hot items.
Besuto - This place replaces the horrible Thaitanic sushi. The new owners are from Venezuela and you get to experience their definition of sushi. I was just going to get one roll and mark it off the list, but, they had an intriguing (cheap) happy hour still available at 6pm. I sat down to try the duck hearts and got carried away. The first (salmon) hand roll I had for $2.55 started things off with a bang. Nice warm rice stuffed with fresh salmon (all the way to the bottom). Then I had a huge bowl of duck hearts with shitaki mushrooms ($4). A steal. I was full by then. Things went a little down hill after that. They served me rolls on a few items that were supposed to be nigiri. I had two yellow tail rolls (Red Bull sized circles) which were to be nigiri. They cost $3.45 a piece. The percentage of fish was laudable, but, it wasn't very flavorful although they say the buy small quantities frequently. The rice quality also seemed to deteriorate. I'm not sure if the stuff below the original scoop was older or they just played with it (corrupted/overworked it) too much. The grains showed signs of distress (the outer sheath becomes flaky). I also had a tuna roll (supposed to be nigiri) that was tasteless ($3.45) and some roll called something Colors for $4. It was tuna, yt and salmon mixed together. Kind of mushy. It would have been nice if they comped some of the cost of their mistakes, but, I felt as if they needed the income so I didn't complain. They have been open for eight months. They fixed up the place a little. It still isn't attractive, but, they say they will continue to improve it as finances allow. It seats about thirty. There was one other table eating with me. They have some interesting items like pizza (fried rice "dough" with fish on top, ramen, Japanese style hot dogs and fried mozzarella sushi rolls. The pricing is very competitive/cheap. They are nice and seem to care about their craft. If you like inventive culinary experiences then this is choice you have to make. It's unusual to have such a late (for CF) happy hour. It really bleeds into dinner time around here. Take advantage those prices. The name means "best sushi" or something like that.
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