Osaka Sushi Goes to Hell

Until today, one of my favorite places to eat lunch was Osaka Sushi & Coffee, which is right next door to my office in McPherson Square. They offer an odd blend of food--quality sushi, organic/health foods, and gourmet coffees. I would go there at least once a week for their #2 Special (1 tuna roll, 1 salmon roll, 4 pieces of sushi, and miso soup for $9.50). It was a healthy, filling meal, and it was consistently awesome. In fact, for a sushi lunch, it was pretty dirt cheap and perhaps the best deal in town. However, about 2 month ago, they came under new management, and the changes began. In that time, they have gone from a favorite to a banned eatery deserving of my wrath!

After consulting the manual on how to piss the Email Demon off, they have made the following changes since January 2006:

1. Management raised prices. This was understandable, given they were probably making next to nothing on every meal to begin with. Still, this was a $2 price jack. Very sneaky stuff. This move reeked of profiteering, and it irked me, especially as a Jew. Despite my better judgement, I continued to eat there 2-3 times a month. After all, good sushi close by is good sushi close by...

If that were the end of things, I wouldn't be so angered right now.

2. They put up a completely new menu and eliminated their standard specials in favor of smaller portions at the same price. Within 2 weeks after the price hike, they were offering smaller portions for the same high price. Now, instead of being a great deal, it was standard fare: slightly above market price for good sushi. At that point, what would keep me coming back? Heck, I can overpay for decent sushi at Cafe Asia. At least they offer surprise "prizes" in each roll. And by prizes, I mean little shards of plastic that will cut your mouth open. Seriously, why should I show loyalty to an establishment when I'm getting a raw deal (no pun intended)?

3. They stopped including miso soup with the special menus. This was annoying, but bearable, as the weather is getting warmer. Free miso is awesome, but having to pay extra is BS. In the end, when you can please your customers by giving them soup that costs probably 10 cents to make, you keep offering the soup. It's just common sense!

4. Two weeks ago, they dropped another bomb: No more little plastic cups of soy sauce for customers to take and use. Instead of getting the exact right amount of soy sauce, they now offer tiny packets. It is not only enfuriating to open these little things, but you NEVER get enough soy sauce. You think 6 packets is enough, but when you get only 3 drops per unit, it is a woeful time. Trust me, it is a total disappointment to have to eat sushi without soy sauce. I know there are limits to "the customer is always right", but this is total BS. Making me struggle with an impossibly small amount of soy sauce is punishable with death. They truly are playing with fire here!

5. The last straw came today. They opted to no longer make their own wasabi. Thats right, a sushi restaurant served me wasabi in a little soy sauce-esque package. When I combined the over-processed wasabi with the maddeningly meager amount of soy sauce, the whole mixture tasted contrived and without heart. My meal was totally ruined. What kind of sushi restaurant would do itself and its customers the disservice of offering wasabi in packet form? Where is the honor in paying some Japanese company a pittance to perform a service you can do yourself. That would be like owning your own cracker factory and going out and buying boxes of Triscits to serve to your guests at a party... Part of the charm of any japanese restaurant is that almost all of its sauces and ingrediants are prepared in house. This is an absolute disgrace, and I cannot allow it to stand!

Bottom line: I cannot imagine the cost savings they are realizing by making the soy sauce and wasabi changes, but it is not worth the loss of quality that their product has suffered. I have now placed Osaka Sushi & Coffee on my banned restaurants list. Of course, in 4 weeks, I will go back there and get pissed off again (ala Subway), but perhaps this post will serve as a strong enough reminder that I won't fall into the trap!