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I knew sushi was going to Jump the Shark, a popular term for something, especially TV shows, that are past their prime, the instant it began to appear in supermarkets and hospital cafeterias.
During the past 10 years, sushi bars have been springing up all over town, replacing coffee shops, take-out places and storefronts. The city was in the midst of sushi madness.
Over the past year or so, Philly had been in a sushi lull – that is, until Goji Tokyo Cuisine opened in Fairmount a few weeks ago.
The pretty restaurant, with its hardwood floors, white linen table clothes, graceful glassware and soft lighting, sits inside the CityView Condominiums across from Long’s Chinese restaurant. Our server told us the Philadelphia Goji is the first one to open in America.
We were also informed the restaurant was out of Kobe beef and a signature lobster dish. Edward and I wanted to try the fried oysters ($16), but they were not available either. We sipped on our Chimay Belgian ale beer – which we brought because, as of this writing, Goji does not have a liquor license – and scanned over our options.
We decided on the Kasane Soba (something I had never tried), which are traditional buckwheat noodles "slurped" all over Japan. We ordered ours with shrimp and vegetable tempura ($17). Plain noodles are $15.
Edward and I were surprised to discover the noodles were cold and lacked flavor. They were nestled in three pretty enamel square stacked boxes with lids and served with a cold sauce that is akin to soy. One pours some of the sauce into a bowl and adds the noodles, which were easy to eat with chopsticks. The soba arrived with two shrimp tempura, a piece of eggplant tempura and a piece of carrot tempura. We thought the price a bit high for a small appetizer.
There are two sushi dinners on the menu. We opted for the Goji American Choice ($24), probably namedas such because it contains the Japanese perception of Americans’ favorite kinds of sushi. We received five or six plump California rolls filled with avocado, diced vegetables, crab and sticky rice.
The dinner also featured two pieces each of akami (red tuna), hamachi (yellow tail), salmon, unagi (broiled Asian eel) and ebi (lightly cooked shrimp). There was no doubt each fish was fresh.
Although served room temperature, the dish would have been tastier if presented a bit on the cool side. The rice was cool, however. We each were given a little plate for soy sauce, wasabi and ginger.
It was a bitter, cold night and our dinner up to that point had consisted of cold food. Edward and I decided to order something hot to warm us up. There are 20 items on the hot and cold food menu, but we opted to try a white fish and vegetable roll – one of the three deep-fried sushi rolls on special that evening.
The five small rolls were each topped with a sauce that tasted like mustard. But they were not deep-fried, nor were they hot and it had a funny taste.
Our server was polite and asked us if we would like another dish in place of the one she took back. (When we received our check, there was no charge for the roll).
Looking at the hot side of the menu, it was strange to see Peruvian-style spicy chicken skewers ($8) at a Japanese restaurant. Edward thinks he once read about a Japanese diplomat who grew up in Peru, hence the salute to the South American country. Regardless of the connection, we tried it.
A boneless breast of chicken was grilled, fired up with some mighty hot and spicy sauce and threaded on two wooden skewers. I was thankful for the glass of water by my plate.
During the two hours we spent at Goji, there were only three other people in the restaurant. CityView Condominiums is full of professionals in need of a restaurant in their building, but I wonder how many times a week someone would dine on shrimp tempura with the vegetable of the day for $26?
Portions at Goji were small and we thought it was too expensive. Prices in Japanese restaurants usually are on the high side because it takes trained and talented people to create sushi. Still, I’m pretty sure tempura dishes at Center City restaurants cost less and patrons receive more.
One-and-a-half tips of the toque to Goji Tokyo Cuisine.
Goji Tokyo Cuisine
2001 Hamilton St. in the CityView Condominiums
215-569-1667
Credit cards accepted
Restaurant is not wheelchair accessible
