I have eaten at this place several times in the past and I always questioned whether or not the food was fresh. Sometimes I order Ton Katsu or Tempura. I ordered sushi the last time and was not impressed, but the worst experience was tonight. I ordered beef teriyaki and my friend ordered chicken teriyaki. This was the most disgusting thing that has ever touched my lips. The meat wasn't marinated and it was tough. I asked the owner how many people had tried to chew on it before it was served to me because neither of us ate our food and they had the audacity to charge us. Needless to say, I will not be returning and I hope to prevent anyone who reads this the same misfortune. Stay away unless you want parasites.

Hi there!

My name is Marisa, one of the owners of Chon Som. Chon Som is a family-owned Thai/Sushi restaurant up in the Wells Branch area. Some of you might have heard of our sushi chef/owner, Nat from www.NatInTheKitchen.com.

We are excited to be celebrating our 1 year anniversary this upcoming weekend. For more details on this weekend's event, you could visit our website, http://www.chonsom.com/ChonSomOneYearAnniversary.htm

For all of you that never try us, please come check us out.

Hope to share our joy with you!
Marisa
www.ChonSom.com

Happiness is to see smiles on customers.

I just found out I am pregnant, and my sister is coming to town this weekend. We ALWAYS go eat sushi together. She doesn't know I am pregnant yet. So, I want to tell her over lunch. I have read there are certain restaurants that make a 'pregnancy roll' with ingredients 'ok' for moms to be. Has anyone found these? It would be just the trick to order one.. and see the look on her face! =)

PS: Also.. what else can pregnant women eat at sushi restaurants? Im kinda clueless to this.

The (old) news that Austin may get a swanky "W" Hotel has heated up recently with news that their reps have been "talking" to various local sushi restaurants about partnering on the in-house sushi bar for the hotel. The "W" is expected to be built on Block 21 of the 2nd Street district.

And speaking of the 2nd Street district....that sign next to Taverna announcing the new Sushi Sake location is still in the window, but nothing seems to be happening in the space. Any ideas? Let us know.

Uchi is going to expand their current location with a sister restaurant (separate entrance, sushi bar, etc) that will be reservation-only and have about 40 seats. Name to be determined.

New sushi bars are here......

Tomo, at 4101 W. Parmer Lane (phone: 512-821-9472), and Maru, at 4636 Burnet Road (phone: 512-458-6200). Post your reviews in our forums.

The Austin sushi landscape is leveling out these days with some old sushi bars leaving while others are breaking new ground.

Mimosa and Jade are gone while Sushi Sake and Origami are expanding. Origami has opened Origami Express at the Northwest corner of Burnet Road and Anderson Lane, while Sushi Sake is opening a second loca

The August issue of Consumer Reports magazine exposes the treachery of salmon wholesalers who try to pass off farm-raised salmon as wild salmon. The article linked here cites both health and cost concerns, as well as mislabeling:

"Of 23 supposedly 'wild' salmon fillets we bought last November, December, and March, during the off-season for wild-caught salmon, our analysis found only 10 that were definitely caught in the wild."

Farm-raised salmon, it turns out, has higher concentrations of pollutants than wild salmon, so wholesalers want to pass off their salmon as wild whenever possible.

Still, America loves salmon, apparently, and it's good for you too:

I recently had lunch at Sushi Sake with three co-workers. I ordered the sushi special of the day and eagerly waited for its arrival. Everyone else received their food promptly, but I was informed that mine would quickly follow. One co-worker mistakenly received steamed rice instead of the fried rice that he ordered. This was quickly corrected. Meanwhile, I continue to wait for my food. Eventually everyone else at the table is finishing their large portions and it is almost time to return to work. At this point I am looking for the “server” so that I can cancel my order. I am ignored.

It is at this moment that we notice that there is a similar problem at the table next to ours. A lady is trying to cancel her hand roll order because her party had already finished eating lunch. Instead of canceling the order, a gentleman in a tie came to the table. He had a hand roll and told the woman that because it is already made she must eat it. We could not believe what we were hearing!

You got it right. Today, June 30th, 2006, at Maiko, 311 W. 6th Street, from 5:30-7:00pm, AustinSushi.com will have a little happy hour to celebrate our victory over the forces of evil. We've been busy re-creating the number one, totally free web site that exists solely to pimp sushi and Japanese food in Central Texas. Seemingly pointless, yet fun! Come hang out and enjoy Maiko's happy hour prices!

Does anyone out there know what's up with a possible new Japanese restaurant on Burnet, just across from the new Sampaio, north of 45th Street? That location used to be a Chinese restaurant that never seemed to have any customers. There's a big sign that says "Maru Japanese Restaurant" up, but construction seems to be taking forever. Rumors, gossip, or actual factual information welcome.

Hello, this is Mike from Uchi. Congratulations on the new design at austinsushi.com. I wanted to let everyone know that we are now open on Sundays for dinner from 5:30 PM to 10:00 PM. The bar opens at 5:00 PM.

We are redesigning our web site, www.uchiaustin.com . The new site should be up in August. Also, look for an Uchi extension coming in the winter of 2006.

As always, I'd love to hear any and all comments from austinsushi.com readers. Please PM me.