I had heard so much about this restaurant before trying it that I truly had great expectations -- and was not disappointed! Margaret Kuo is known nationally and internationally as an outstanding chef and has produced a restaurant on the prestigious Mainline that can hold its own against other up-scale restaurants on Lancaster Avenue!
The downstairs features more of a Chinese-oriented menu while upstairs holds a sushi bar and a Japanese-inspired menu. Service was competent and very friendly. The decor is modern-Japanese and was austere yet trendy.
Our meal was heavily sushi based, but the six of us loved it.Even though Kuo's establishment features a full bar, we started with Sappora beers, and glasses of a nice Pinot Grigio. Having decided on the "Love Boat" -- a sushi/sashimi combination which was just perfect as a sampler for those unfamiliar with sushi, we were amazed at the elegance with which it was presented. The Love Boat was prefaced with an order of Lobster Roll and Spider Roll (deep-fried soft-shell crab wrapped in rice and nori). We requested the special "hot" wasabi that is not the same as the regular "house" style. We are big wasabi fans, but this brought tears to our eyes and burns to our sinuses! We loved it!!! The Love Boat included both hand-formed and rolled sushi as well as sashimi (raw fish) such as whitefish, yellow tail, ahi tuna, octopus, squid, salmon, and several others. It also featured a maki roll, cooked clams, and small octopus. The rice was exceptionally full-flavored. It was lots of fun to eat as a group . . . Several members of the party still had enough room for dessert and choose lemon sorbet and peach sorbet to top off the meal, followed, of course, by the ubiquitious fortune cookies. The coffee was the best I have tasted anywhere!