ru san's

boy, do i have a lot to catch up on! so many places i've eaten at, so little time to review! i'll try to write at least 1 review per day. well here goes...

apparently this restaurant has about 8-9 locations around georgia area (?). correct me if i'm wrong. the only location i've gone to a few times is "the tower place", which is located in buckhead. it's right down the street from lenox mall. the price ranges for their food is not even "upper scale" prices for a restaurant in the buckhead area. it's actually cheap compared to its neighbor restaurants. the interior decors are kinda modernized. the music is definitely not japanese at all! they play r&b, hip hop, and pop. moving on to the food. lemme give you a fair warning tho. whatever you order that day....will never be the same. the food here is very inconsistent. i'm not sure if its due to the variety of chefs? also, their ratings are 2 out of 5 stars anyways. 3 stars in certain areas. but anyways...bryant & i love yakiudon (jap stir-fried noodles). the very 1st time we went to ru san's..we ordered exactly that. we had gone with a big group so we kinda ordered lots of dishes just to share with the table. out of the diff. fried rices we ordered, appetizers, & such...we still favored the yakiudon the most. so many months pass by & we decided to go back for more. IT TASTED TOTALLY DIFFERENT! not even close to similar either!


here are the pics &; my ratings (5 star scale - 5 being the highest, 3 being average):

spicy yakiudon (it wasn't spicy at all!) also, you can choose your meat
★★★★
due to the inconsistancy, 4 stars for the the times they really did try

assorted nigiri &; california roll    ★★★

cucumber salad &; seaweed salad    ★★
was kinda salty =/

rice ball ★★★
can't rmb'er what sauce they poured on top, but it was decent

seafood fried rice
★★★
not dry like other restaurants, but yet still lacked some flavor

chicken fried rice
★★
same as the fried rice above, the chicken was nothing special

tiger beef   ★★★
i've had better, but points for the beef.
was medium rare so it came out soft, also the ponzu sauce might be a bit strong

eel roll; &; (?) can't rmb'er...sorry :(   ★★★
typical..the unagi sauce is just what makes it good

scallop roll   ★
scallops are raw, the scallop is about a dime size;
also, it just tastes awful!

spider roll; &; (?)    ★
not even close to decent tempura

nigiri platter - eel, tuna, salmon, california roll (clockwise)
★★★
typical sushi, wouldn't say it's the freshest seafood
p.s. good quality sashimi pieces are s'posed to melt in your mouth~

teriyaki beef [did not eat - no rating]

katsu pork [did not eat - no rating]

bishoku

you guys kno me, i'm always on the hunt for great bites again when we stumbled onto this hidden restaurant. okay so i kinda exaggerated when i said "hidden"..but it was really in the back of a strip mall tho! when we saw the name, we knew it was a jap joint. so why not try? WE LOVE JAP FOOD anyways! as we walk in to view the menu, we were greeted by the owner, jackie. she shook our hands & welcomed us in. lemme tell you. this place is SMALL! although it does have a nice feel and soothing atmosphere. it wasn't like any typical jap restaurant either. it was a tapas restaurant. for the interior, i would give it a 8.5 out of 10. food quality is 8.5/10 as well. food quantity would be 7/10. i understand it is a tapas place..but the portions a tad smaller than typical tapas. well anyways, i kno you all are wanting to kno what we ordered.

bryant ordered asahi. they served us draft. so thumbs up for that.
as for food, we both love unagi don (bbq eel on top of sushi rice) and agedashi tofu.. so of course, we ordered those 2.. along with rice balls too.
we couldn't try a lot of dishes since the both of us weren't so hungry; but anyways
here are some pictures of the table settings & food:

 

rice balls

 ehh. not thing special. was disappointed. i've had MUCH better. this one was literally only rice & pan friend or smthing..there was no flavor or anything. 

agedashi tofu

it was decent. this was a very small portion. they basically cut half of a normal portion! the also didn't put enough sauce (which is what makes the flavor!)

unagi don

this was the best out of the 3. although i don't really like restaurants that use the "bone in" unagi. also, bishoku unagi was kind of slimy. too much skin =/ i would have to say their rice was good tho. it wasn't like typical rice that rests. normally serve with this certain dish. it had great flavor to it. i noticed they had dry seaweed or smthin mixed. so perhaps they mix their own seasonings of some sort with the rice. 

brio tuscan grille

brio tuscan grille is an italian restaurant. i've drove past it & noticed its' exterior. looks nice. they have a nice outdoor patio that overlooks their very own little pond/lake (which i did not have the chance to take a pic of, but the pic i have of the front will do). i finally decided to give them a try one day for a friend's bday. all i have to say is.. beware of portions & it might be a bit pricey for a typical, casual dine out. other than that, the dishes we ordered were DELISH! :)

they give you this flat bread tray (taste kinda like pita chips) when you dine in; it taste great! even better with the dip below!

roasted garlic, spinach & artichoke dip


calamari fritto misto; it was so tasteful. the calamari was seasoned very well. it was crispy & NOT oily! thumbs up for that. also, this aptzr came with 2 choice of sauces; i believe it was tartar & some sort of marinara/tomato sauce? correct me if i'm wrong.

[entrees]










last but not least...when you're finished with your meal, the waiter/tress comes out with a tray of all the desserts they have to offer. i don't have a pic of all of them, but we did order 3 of them. they're very similar to little dessert shots, minus the alcohol..that is. i apologize that i cannot rmb'er all the flvrs that we tried, but the one with the raspberry is the ny cheesecake shot.

starbucks

one of the best damn frappes you can order @ starbucks!! (besides the mocha). i personally believe that the best made green tea frappes you can get in atlanta area is @ perimeter mall. they make it so rich & creamy tasting. you can def. taste the green tea flvr. (tastes almost just like häagen-dazs's version). the more whip cream they put; the better it tastes!!


also the passion lemonade is great. you have the options of doing passion with green tea or black tea, but the passion flavor's a bit tarty. you can pay a few cents more & get it w/ lemonade! yum~

it's also very easy to make at the convenience of your own home! the recipe are as follows:

> tazo passion tea (you can get it @Target, online, etc.)
> lemonade
> sugar syrup (boiled sugar + water)
> ice
> cocktail shaker (not really required but the bubbles make any drink taste better than stirred!)