Fish on Rice

The first and last time I went to Fish on Rice was around when they first opened.  I'm not really sure if they've improved since then, but my first impression didn't give me a reason to get a second.  The fish wasn't particularly fresh, the tuna was a shade of brown that resembled...well, let's just say it wasn't fresh.  You could tell because it was all dried out and had probably been sitting on a prep tray all day. 

The hamachi tasted like the Fraser River, the saba was over-the-top greasy, the ika was dried out (just like the tuna, not pictured here) and the the amaebi was....well, we'll get to that later.  About the only thing edible on this tray was the ebi.....and they just buy that as is from a wholesaler.  I seriously doubt there are many Japanese restaraunts that prepare their own ebi nowadays....maybe Tojo's, Yuji's an a few others.

I don't even remember what the heck this was.

I know a lot of AYCA places will serve amaebi this way nowadays.  Why even have it on the menu if it's going to be like this??

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The food looks a lot better in these photographs...and that's not saying much.

The rice lacked sushi vinegar when I went, it may as well have been regular steamed rice.  These cones were soggy by the time we got them, but you're always taking your chances with temaki because if you don't eat it within minutes of them being made, they will be like that.

Personally, I think it's a crime against humanity that AYCE sushi even exists, but they do. There was a time when some of these places actually tried to maintain some sort of a standard, and the food they served was actually edible (for example Richmond Sushi, Aji Taro, Tomokazu, Shabusen). But in recent years, I've noticed such a rapid decline in quality that you're really taking your chances with your health when it comes to some of these places. Fish on Rice is one of those places that concern me, because some of the food had definitely been sitting out, unrefrigerated for a long time.  I've seen fresher seafood at the nastiest, cheapest kaiten sushi places in Japan than this place.  As far as service is concerned, well, I suppose on par with any other AYCE place - less than mediocre.  I'd defintely steer clear of Fish On Rice.