Xaga Sushi
217 Merrick Rd, Merrick, NY 11566
Rock shrimp
This week, I went to Xaga Sushi and ate at the restaurant for the first time in almost a year. We had been ordering takeout from them, so it was nice to be able to have a sit down meal there again. It is a long drive, but it always seemed worth it.
The first thing we noticed was that the menu had changed drastically. The original menu had lovely pictures of the sushi dishes with the names underneath them, and was a few pages long. The new menu was only one page and like the take-out menu, had few pictures.
We started with the crabmeat and mango salad. Unfortunately, the mango did not seem ripe, and the crabmeat was cut so fine it was mushy. I only managed to eat it with the spring mix they put it on. This was not a good start to the meal. We even purchased a bottle of the Blufeld Riesling, which wasn’t chilled properly and didn’t taste good. Then, we ordered the rock shrimp. This was better than the salad but still lacked something, perhaps a little heat. I preferred (and miss) the rock shrimp from Monsoon Restaurant in Babylon, but they never opened back up post-COVID.
Our entrèe consisted mostly of uncooked rolls. We started with some of our favorites, like the Love Roll and Spicy Girl, then added new ones like the Red Head roll and the Snow Mountain roll. They all seemed lackluster; they were good, but not “wow these are yummy”. They missed the boat on presentation too. I mean, if I am eating out, I want the dish to have a nice presentation! Maybe I’m watching too many Food Network TV shows.
After that, there was tempura, which was also just okay. This meal was not worth the drive. I don’t think we will be going back anytime soon. We passed The One sushi restaurant on the way, and I love to go there. Maybe Xaga was having an off night, but everything about it screamed new ownership or new management, which is a shame because I used to really love this place. Whatever happened, I hope they get back to being a nice sit down restaurant instead of just a good take out sushi place.
My recommendation for this restaurant is to get your sushi to go and save your date night for a nicer experience.
-The Drunken Chef (Russ)
/https://www.xagasushi.com/merrick/
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