Ginza Japanese Restaurant

9616 Reisterstown Road
Owings Mills, MD 21117-4139
(410) 363-4636‎

Today seemed like a good day to go out to lunch. I hadn't had sushi in over a month, so that was the obvious choice. Now the difficult question - which one? China Best? Yuki Sushi? Edo Sushi?

A friend suggested we go to Ginza for their lunch buffet. They have some fancy rolls that if ordered separately would cost about $13. Plus they have an assortment of other items to try.

The first thing I notice when I walked in was water dripping fairly rapidly through a recessed light fixture and into a bucket on the floor. The carpeting was soaked. I could not keep my eye off of the water running across the warped boards on the ceiling, growing heavy, before finally dripping downward.

I finally got the courage to get up and get a plate of sushi. I was then confused by the lack of utensils to get the sushi. There were about 10-12 plates of different kinds of sushi. And there were maybe 3 pairs of tongs - at the other end of the bar. So one had to use a pair of utensils for multiple plates. When I worked at Burger King in high school this was called cross-contamination. Perhaps cross-contamination is now tolerated.

A lot of the sushi was fried or had some creamy sauce on it. I couldn't make out what fish was in most of them. So I just held my breath and took my chances.

The sushi was average. Okay, sightly below average. Not a fan. It didn't seem very fresh - despite seeing the guy behind the counter making it. The pork skewer was good. But that was about it. The wasabi was not that spicy - and I had a lot of it. It was very bland.

I hate to say this - I had a very difficult time understanding the servers. I found myself just shaking my head yes. I know a lot of ethnic restaurants have family members working there where English is a 2nd or 3rd language. But I got the feeling that English wasn't even on the list for most of the servers at Ginza.

The meal was about $13 person. This is what I would pay at Yuki Sushi and more than I'd pay at China Best, so I was not impressed.

Additionally, I would not be surprised to hear that the health department had come in and shut that place down. Water dripping through a light fixture? I'm no safety expert, but I think I learned in first grade that water and electricity don't mix.

So if you're in Owings Mills and in the mood for sushi, you'd be doing yourself a favor and avoiding Ginza.

Yuki Sushi

I love sushi. When it's not volume that I want, but rather quality, then I will head to Yuki Sushi in Owings Mills. I'm not sure if it is pronounced "yuck-ee sushi" or "yook-ee sushi", but believe me, their sushi is not yucky.

I took a friend there this week. It is located 9419 Common Brook Rd, Suite 101 in the Common Brook shopping center just off of Lakeside Boulevard. The atmosphere is quiet and I don't think I've ever been there when there were more than 4 0r 5 tables occupied of the 10 or so tables available.

My friend and I were quickly seated and led past a busted Asian privacy screen. I found it odd that they would keep that near the front of the restaurant. We were seated in the rear corner, which I like because it allows me to scan the restaurant. You never know when you'll have to duck and run.

I ordered the lunch special of 3 rolls for $11.99. I got spicy tuna, spicy salmon, and crunch eel, though I think that is one that got lost in translation. I think it should be called crunchy eel. My friend the 2 roll special for $8.99 and got the Boston roll and the shrimp tempura. We both got the Miso soup. He ordered water and I got hot tea.

The drinks were quickly served and the hot tea was scalding hot. I couldn't even hold the ceramic/porcelain cup that it was in. The soup quickly followed and for Miso soup actually isn't that bad.

The rolls finally arrived in a reasonable amount of time. Presentation if very good at Yuki. The spicy rolls were definitely spicy, especially when combined with the wasabi and soy sauce. The crunch eel roll was a bit bland. My friend really liked his rolls. He ate a reasonable pace while I inhaled mine in the first two minutes. All in all - good food!

When we finally finished the waitress quickly cleared the table and brought our bill. I was a bit surprised to find that my small cup of hot tea cost $2. Most Asian restaurants do not charge for hot tea. We each offered our credit cards to split the bill. I don't think she liked that. She swiped the book from our table and tossed it onto another table making a loud thump and both of our cards went flying onto the floor. She cleared off an adjacent table and picked up the book and my friend's card, but left mine on the floor. I watched her go the front register and she again threw the book on the table creating a loud and noticeable "I'm irritated" sound. I then picked up my credit card and walked it up to her. She took it with unkind pleasantries.

She finally returned with the 2 receipts and gave us a very insincere 'thank you'. I will have to say that I was not too pleased with her behavior. It may be a while before I return to Yuki Sushi. I like good sushi, but do not have to tolerate bad manners.

China Best

As I mentioned in the Dave's Famous BBQ post, I asked my daughter what she wanted this week and the other was to eat sushi. She's never had sushi, though she thinks that California rolls are sushi, which they are not.

Not ever having real sushi, I thought it best to take her somewhere that serves a variety of food choices including several different kinds of sushi and some Chinese food. This led me to China Best in the St. Thomas Shopping Plaza in Owings Mills.

China Best has an all-you-can-eat lunch buffet, which in sushi world means crap sushi. It's not really crap, but it's not super great either. There were about 15-20 different kinds of sushi to choose, including several salmon, tuna, and white fish. There was one trey of shrimp sushi and one with octopus. However, about half of the choices were either shredded fake crab meat or whole fake crab meat. Most of the rolls included cream cheese or avocado. One tray had some hot melted sauce on top. I'm not sure what it was, but it was tangy, like a Thousand Island dressing, but at the same time slightly salty like a cheese.

My biggest complaint about the sushi is the size. These rolls are huge. I have a difficult time getting them in my mouth. My daughter didn't even try to get them in her mouth. She had to cut them in half. I've had sushi at several other restaurants and they are always smaller. But for some reason China Best seems to think they need to be the size of McDonald's hamburgers.

In addition to the sushi, we also had a cup of Hot and Sour soup. It wasn't too bad. I've had it before at China Best and it tasted like ass, meaning it was probably from the bottom of the 5-day old pot and slightly watered down. However, this time it was plenty hot and contained generous portions of mushrooms and tofu.

We finished the meal with our orange-flavored fortune cookie. Mine read, "Help, I'm being held captive in a fortune cookie factory."

The decor of the restaurant is old. I don't think it's been updated in 20 years. Maybe 30 years. It's very dark. The buffet is about $8 per person. Since it is close to work, we use China Best as the 'I'm hungry and want a ton of sushi' choice. On the other hand, if we want quality sushi, we will go to either Edo Sushi or Yuki sushi.

My daughter liked the sushi, so the next time we will try one of the other places.