Battle Sushi - The Saga Continues

At the culmination of Battle Sushi a winner was crowned. Sushi Choice took out all other contenders to stand the victor on what was a battle field riddled with wasabi, pickeled ginger, and fish as far as the eyes can see; I had assumed that to be the final stand, that the battle was over. But I was foolish in my assumptions; a new contender has entered onto the field and I have been forced to choose whether to go forth and test this new competitor against my previous adventures, or simply submit to my past experiences. Though the outcome is always a risk, the decision to continue along this path never is.

Episode 4 - W.

Fergie, don't play that.

When I first heard that a new establishment opened up on Edinburgh S (in the plaza by the Woodshed and Beer Store) I knew right away that a feast would soon follow. I began my research into W Sushi by first stopping in during a known downtime for restaurants and I picked up a menu. My first impressions were good, decor seemed modern, clean and well-kept, and there were no off-putting odours as in some of my previous culinary ventures. Though it was aesthetically gaining points in my ranking system, I was admittedly a little disappointed that Guelph has yet another all you can eat sushi place to its name. It's an interesting trend to me, this insistence on binge-eating and opting to forgo the ordering from a la carte menus, it almost has me worried as to the direction our dining experiences are headed. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gorging now and then, but I don't fully understand why it's becoming so popular amongst specific cuisines; I think more research into this trend in Canadian dining is in order, but that's for another entry.

Now then, upon researching their menu I felt it high time I return to feast upon their offerings, and so on that note let me speak first of the one thing that turned me off of W: the television. See, I'm all for T.V.s in a bar setting; watching the game, having a few drinks and carrying on in conversation with a group. Televisions in a restaurant dining room, however, are not, by any means, conducive to conversation with your dining partner, and serve as nothing more than an unnecessary and, in my opinion, rude distraction. And what threw me a little more than the TV itself perhaps, was the video of Fergie which was playing at the time. I ask you to explain to me how Fergie sells sushi?

Anyway, putting first judgements on the motif aside, I move on to the star of the show, the food. As I mentioned earlier, it is an all you can eat establishment, but I wasn't quite in the mood for over-indulging, nor was I wearing the proper pants for such an undertaking, and so I pulled my options from the take out menu and anxiously sought out a seat by the prep station...which wasn't there. In fact, as I stood and waited for my food to be ready I realized quickly that I was in the way of just about every service person on staff, there simply wasn't room for anyone who wasn't prepared for the dining room. Now, I don't mean to make this out to be a bigger deal than it is, but it certainly solidified the fact that W is a dine-in experience only, marketing itself solely on their all you can eat option, so keep that in mind if you're thinking of stopping by for any other reason; but I digress, back to the food itself.

I ordered an array of items from the list in front of me, shrimp, crab, tuna, cucumber rolls, a pretty fair spread of food on which to place my assessments. So how did it rank? Well, honestly speaking, where W failed with menu choice and atmosphere, it was able to make up with quality of product. Flavours were well balanced and fresh, presented cleanly and in proper portion sizes. From where I awkwardly stood I was able to observe the sushi masters prepared their fare for a crowd, and from what I saw their skills were impressive, sanitary, organized and meticulous, and, to put it simply, yes, I would eat there again.

But was the food preparation and flavour enough to take down the crown from Sushi Choice? To be honest, I would say it was the closest contender in terms of flavour, but it still wasn't enough to tip the scales; and the TV still has me perturbed for numerous reasons (Fergie? really?) If I am in the market again for a feast of never-ending sushi offerings, I can guarantee my return to W, it's certainly a fun place to go with friends or in a social group, in fact for that it ranks extremely high, and it isn't exactly rough on the pocket book either; but for me, on this journey that I only now realize can never truly end, Sushi Choice has defended its title with prowess, until the next contender enters the ring that is...

Happy eating Guelph.

Phil

W Sushi

235 Edinburgh Rd S

Guelph, On