It's time to complain about Niwano Hana

"What?" you gasped, shocked at the title you just read. "Complain about Niwano Hana? Are you mad?"

Yes, yes I am, but not for that reason. The complaint I have about (nearly) everyone's favorite sushi bar is that it sets the bar so goddamn high it makes going to other sushi restaurants something of a problem. I have been to most of the other sushi places in DE and, frankly, I've never had better sushi than I have at Niwano Hana (or NH) as I shall refer to it from now on.

Now many restaurants (Kyoto, Utage, Mikimotos, etc) are prettier and have better bars. Kyoto especially is a gorgeous very Japanese styled building. NH is a cheap carpet, cheap chairs and tables, cheap Japanese-like styled place. But as unimpressive as the ambiance in NH is (I've heard music from FFX there for Christ's sake), the important part, that being the food, is fucking awesome.

This isn't to say that Kyoto's food is bad. In fact I can't say I've had a bad sushi meal at any other sushi place (other than Jasmine, but that's "Asian Fusion" or whatever the fuck). In fact at most sushi restaurants I get that same glazed-eye beatific look on my face as I savor every last bite of my sushi. The problem is that no matter where I go, I look at the price of what I want, wince, and then think to myself, "Wow, I could have gotten this exact meal for like $7-10 less at NH."

And it doesn't end at food! Green tea at NH is free, and the real drinks (e.g. beer) are surprisingly reasonably priced as well. They don't have a particularly impressive bar, but their beer is decent, their plumb wine palatable, and their sake isn't the radioactive draino that sake often is.

So basically my complaint is that, sans the atmosphere, Niwano Hana is the perfect sushi place! I've occasionally had bad service there, but I've had FAR worse service at other places. NH is just so chill, cheap, and flavorific that it makes it hard for me to want to go to other sushi bars! Curse me for finding the best sushi bar ever.