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After moving to Ocala six months ago, we have been exploring Gainesville since we dine out nightly and tire of our local restaurants. We have had good results by selecting restaurants based upon Internet reviews. Until last evening.
Despite the glowing reviews and an excellent home page with lovely photos, Chop Stix is shabby and sad with wobbly, uncomfortable chairs and torn upholstery exposing the stuffing on the lounge furniture. Even the water view that is touted by many, including newspaper critics, is marred by a dirty, sorry deck strewn with debris that looked permanent.
My companion (a former resident of Japan town in San Francisco and an expert in Asian food) ordered sushi (salmon, red snapper and yellow tail) and a bento box meal while I selected two of my favorite specialty rolls: soft-shelled crab and eel. My friend's Miso soup was excellent so we were hopeful that the food would compensate for the shop worn decor and dismal view directly outside our window.
Alas, the soup was the only highlight of the meal. My rolls arrived next. The soft-shelled crab was in such minute quantity that it was almost undetectable but still managed to taste slightly *off*. Although there was only a modicum of cabbage, that was the prevalent taste so I cannot be certain that the crab was spoiled. I have NEVER seen such a small amount of filling in a specialty roll. The eel roll looked more promising since it was well filled. It was difficult to observe what the filling was, however, since it was so heavily sauced that the abundant sauce ran down the sides of each slice. One overly-sauced taste told me that it was the worst eel roll I have ever encountered. Not feeling reckless, I decided it was prudent to push my plate away.
In the meantime, my friend's bento box and sushi were delivered to the table. The red snapper was laid flat atop the bullet of rice, instead of being draped, because it was frozen solid. When advised of this the server took the box away and returned with the frozen snapper removed (perhaps to be returned after it defrosted...she didn't say). A subsequent whiff of the salmon yielded an unpleasant pungent aroma. The yellow tail was nearly as strong. As all seasoned sushi fans know, fish should NOT smell *fishy*, but should be almost scent-free except for the slightest smell of the sea.
There was an item in her box that I did not recognize. It was dark brown (the color of tree bark) and resembled a chunk of petrified wood. My friend said it was supposed to be the fried wonton. It should never have reached the table after being fried to the point of rendering it so hard as to be inedible.
We made our sushi complaints known to the server. She said I had not dipped my rolls in soy sauce so that was why they did not taste right, despite the fact that no soy saucers had been provided. At any rate, I never use soy with sauced rolls like the eel. Soy would NOT have enhanced the lack of crab or improved its freshness; likewise, it could not have neutralized the flavor of the bizarre sauce on the eel roll. A soy saucer was produced later for the bento box meal and sushi. Enough soy sauce *might* have masked the taste of the less-than-fresh salmon and yellow tail for a patron who did not sniff the fish first but it would not have defrosted the red snapper.
We did not bother complaining further but asked for the check and left the food on the table. We will issue a charge-back with the credit card company.
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