Beronberon opened where the old beloved East Village staple Sapporo East used to be. I had walked past Sapporo East a million times and each time it was packed with people and I always told myself that I should check it out one day. Alas, it shuttered back in January so I never got that chance, but I noticed that it had re-opened but under a different name and they had also re-done the interior so that it was bit more fancy. I wasn't in the mood for a sit down meal so I decided to get take out on the way home from work. I know that sushi take out is generally more expensive than ordering Thai or Chinese but I was taken aback by how much I spent and sadly the quality of it didn't match up.
I was scouring the menu for some kind of roll combo that came with soup/salad because it was a cold and rainy night and while their menu was certainly very extensive, I didn't see what I was looking for. So I opted for a spicy scallop roll ($7.50), a spicy tuna roll ($6.50), the moriawase appetizer ($12) and a miso soup ($2). It honestly didn't sound like a lot of food and I know sashimi is pricier, but there's just something about getting a bill for $30+ for take out that just doesn't seem right. But I knew the prices going into ordering, so I guess I shouldn't really have been that shocked.
I'll start with the basics and say that the miso soup was your standard miso soup. I mean, 9 times out of 10, most places are using the same miso package and hot water, so it's hard to mess that one up. I tried the moriawase which was a sashimi appetizer that came with 1 piece of tuna, 2 pieces of salmon, 2 pieces of octopus, and 2 pieces of white fish. My question is, why is there only 1 piece of tuna when everything else is 2 pieces?! The sashimi was not very impressive - it didn't taste fishy or not fresh but it didn't really taste like the melt in your mouth type of sashimi either. It was very bleh, especially the octopus. I would have preferred that they just stuck with tuna, salmon and white fish. Next I moved on to the rolls and again very unimpressed. The spicy scallop was chunks of raw scallop with spicy mayo - which is the way I like it but it seems like the spicy mayo only made it to half of the pieces, not all of them, so the first few bites I had were just bits of scallop. Plus there was way too much rice on the rolls and it just made for a very heavy roll. Next I tried the spicy tuna and this is where I actually thought something tasted off - it tasted fishy and good sushi should never taste fishy. It didn't smell bad and luckily I didn't feel sick afterwards, but something was just not right about it.
All in all, I was really disappointed by my food and I know take out is different from eating in the restaurant but it shouldn't be too different. With so many other amazing Japanese options in the city (cheap and expensive), I just can't really justify going back here again. Total bill: $35
Photo Credit: Bedfordandbowery.com
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