Before I begin, a quick disclaimer: this was by no means my first experience with Wild Chef. I had intended to post a review of their sushi several months ago, but it was right around the time that I reviewed CitySen’s Sushi Night and I didn’t want to review from a comparative point of view. Plus, I wanted to include a picture and the camera on my BlackBerry was wretched, and now I’ve got my Evo with it’s magnificent camera. Even I look good now.
Anyways, Wild Chef is a Japanese steak house that’s tucked into the highway-facing side of a strip mall. It’s about one step above hole in the wall, and from the outside it doesn’t look like much of anything spectacular. Even once you set foot in the door, it can still be a bit underwhelming. Until they bring out the sushi.
Wild Chef is, hands down, the best sushi you can get in Holland. One of my more cultured friends who’s sampled the Grand Rapids sushi offerings considers this place to have the second-best sushi in the area, right behind a place in Grand Rapids that I’ll have to try sometime.
Wild Chef’s sushi is rolled fresh, as all good sushi should be, and most of it seems to come rolled in a layer of toasted sesame seeds which add a delightful degree of crunchy to the sushi. I’m a huge fan of the spicy salmon and spicy tuna rolls; they’re packed with flavor and are spicy without being obvious about it. The rolls aren’t as big as you’d find at CitySen, which is actually a good thing, since most people don’t like to have to choose between choking down the roll or biting it in half. A half dozen sushi run around $4.50 to $5.50, which is about double what you’d pay at a grocery store, but it’s still a fantastic deal.
Perhaps the best deals Wild Chef runs is their two roll lunch special, which includes salad and soup. With tip and no beverage, it’s about $11, but it’s well worth it.
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