2 posts for Dr. P

After learning we actually have someone who reads this besides us and the dogs, we decided to reward our throng of fan with a double post.

Taca Sushi & Japanese Fusion

Cuisine: Japanese

Price: $4-22

Separate bar: yes

Takeout: yes

Coke or Pepsi Products: Coke

Address: 513 E Oglethorpe Ave, Savannah, GA‎

Phone: 912.232.8222‎

Website: http://www.tacasushi.com/

He says: Great atmosphere with the food to match!

Taca is definitely a bright spot in our quest to find good sushi in Savannah. This is by far the best out of all the places we've tried thus far. The best part about it? The owner was on hand. You'd be surprised how much better your service is when everyone's boss is on the floor. You're drink never hits the bottom of the glass and you're always well taken care of.

The atmosphere of the restaurant is amazing. Very modern with sleek lines and fantastic local art on the wall (they allow a new artist to hang whatever they want on their walls each month). I ordered the teriyaki chicken and an order of crunch rolls (spicy tempura fried shrimp and cucumber).

The chicken came out first in about 10 minutes. It came with a soup, salad, fried rice and vegetables for around $12. The chicken was lean and cooked just the way I like it. The soup was also a bright spot. It was a simple beef broth with some chopped scallions and about a tablespoon of beef with a slightly sweet flavor on the bottom.

The sushi took about 20 minutes, which is a little long in my opinion. But my entree was so good I had forgotten I had even ordered sushi until they put it in front of me. The sushi was fantastic. Tightly wrapped, very clean and simple. Another thing I was impressed with was what I'm going to call "spice control," which is the ability of the chef to give you a spicy dish (in this case my crunch roll), but not make it so spicy that I'm reaching for my drink after every bite. Some places seem to get carried away with the heat and you tend to lose the flavor of the dish itself. Another aspect I liked about my sushi was the fried shrimp was hot. I knew it was fresh out of the fryer rather than sitting at the sushi counter waiting on someone to order it.

My only complaint about our experience at Taca is one of my pet peeves - when I order a tea, PLEASE make sure there is ice in it! I'm sure you probably filled the glass with ice before you poured my drink, but when you pour a fresh batch of hot tea all that ice melts. I hate getting a glass of sweet tea with three halfway melted ice cubes left in it.

Other than that I was very pleased with the food and the wait staff. I give them extra kudos because they did all of this while handling a packed house of customers. This place definitely gets my vote for best sushi in Savannah so far! I'd definitely recommend it!

Taste: Five noms

Plating/Appearance of Food: Four noms

Service: Four noms

Cleanliness: Five nom

Atmosphere: Five noms

Overall Noms: 4.6 noms

She says: When Couple Meets Savannah Sushi

Located on the corner of Price and Oglethorpe is quite possibly the most perfect shopping center in Savannah. In one corner, is Screamin' Mimi's, a Jersey pizza parlor that packs a lot of flavor in every slice and a lot of Jersey charisma (minus the fist pumps) in every worker. In the other corner is Taca.

On a typical Friday night, you'll find Taca packed (but not so full that you feel getting a table would be like asking for health care reform). It's decor is warm and inviting, with local art on every brightly colored wall, modern chairs and bar stools, sleek white tables to match, and candles on every table.

When Will and I sat down, we were immediately greeted by our waitress and our drink orders were taken (I think anyone who orders a beer after a long, hard work week can mark this as a plus). The waitress even brought out the bottle of beer I ordered to make sure it was what I wanted. As someone who loves tasting beers at random, then can never remember what I drank at that burger joint in Atlanta, this made my night. I didn't even need to order food after that.

But I did, and I had trouble choosing what I wanted. Taca has an extensive sushi menu with traditional, just-the-fish-and-rice sushi and fusion sushi (the sauce lover's sushi). It's really the perfect place for all different types of sushi lovers to go and get exactly what they want. I ordered what I normally order at sushi places: a spicy tuna roll and red snapper nigiri. The sushi took a little longer than I'd like, but since I date Will - a non-salad eater - I spent the time it took for my sushi to get there to eat the fresh, house salad that came with his meal.

When the sushi did come, I was ecstatic. It looked fantastic: the red snapper was firm and the spicy tuna roll had a huge piece of whole, dark red tuna in the middle of it. While the taste didn't disappoint with the red snapper, I couldn't say the same for the tuna. The tuna itself was delicious, but there was so much spicy sauce in the roll, that I could only eat three pieces out of the six before my mouth was on fire. As someone who has had a difficult time finding a tuna roll that has a whole piece of tuna in it instead of left over, chopped up pieces, I would totally try this sushi roll again, because the fish was beautiful . . . I'll just be ordering the sauce on the side next time.

Overall, Taca had the whole package, minus what I call "bad night flops": the atmosphere was sleek, the food was good, and the service was exceptional. Going to Taca was like going on a blind date that turned out well. We dated Taca, found out she wasn't a creeper and (more importantly) her outside matched her inside. Now that's something to toast to.

Taste: Four noms

Plating/Appearance of Food: Five noms

Service: Four noms

Cleanliness: Five noms

Atmosphere: Five noms

Overall Noms: 4.6 noms

Lulu's Chocolate Bar

Cuisine: dessert / bar

Price: $2-15

Separate bar: yes

Takeout: yes

Coke or Pepsi Products: Coke

Address: 42 Martin Luther King Junior Boulevard

Phone: (912) 238-2012

Website: www.luluschocolatebar.net

She Says: Mmmmm . . . mmmmm, good!

There's nothing better in this world than stuffing your face full of sweets after a long day. Oh wait, there is; it's called Lulu's Chocolate Bar, a small bar off of Martin Luther King Blvd. that has killer sweets and drinks to match.

Lulu's has a refined retro look to it. Exposed brick decorates the walls, while a swanky chandelier hangs from the ceiling. But it is the large cabinet on the back wall with Jetson-like designs painted on it that is really the focal point of the joint. I'm not one for bar hopping, but with the eclectic mix of Johnny Cash, Aretha Franklin and Modest Mouse booming in the background, I felt like I was the cool kid in high school sitting at the bar with Will (also known as the hunky football player boyfriend in this scenario).

Before we were greeted by a waitress, we were welcomed by a massive display case in front of the bar, showing off every goodie on the menu and then some. Once at the bar, I ordered two chocolate covered strawberries for Will and I. By the time we inhaled the perfectly ripe berries and the rich, crispy chocolate, my other order had arrived: a piece of chocolate strawberry suspension cake.

If you're not drooling by the name of the cake alone then you will be after I tell you it was a piece of chocolate cake, filled with mascarpone cheese and fresh strawberries that was about five inches tall. Each layer was complimented with a little bit of dark rum. Oh, and did I mention the chocolate ganache covering, raspberry puree, and the chocolate sauce that decorated the cake?

It tasted just as good as it looked. The light mascarpone cheese balanced out the chocolate cake and ganache, and the puree on the side added the perfect sour bite to the sweetness. I'm not one for rich desserts, so this was perfect for my palette.

As an amateur cake baker, I can appreciate everything that goes into the desserts at Lulu's. So I didn't mind paying $8 for a slice of cake that took hours to prepare. But if you have a problem paying more than $4 for cake, then Lulu's isn't the place for you. At least it isn't on days other than Sunday. Every Sunday, after 9 p.m., Lulu's has 1/2 off desserts. And they run lots of other deals too. For you drinkers out there, happy hour is everyday, from 5-8 p.m. . They are currently running a special called "Champagne Thursdays," where you can get mimosas, belinis, kar royals, and anything else you can mix with champagne for $5.

Even if you aren't a fat kid, you'll love Lulu's cake. I did, and I'm sure I'll love their panna cotta, cheesecake, and all the other goodies they offer in their shiny, glass case.

Taste: Five noms

Plating/Appearance of Food: Five noms

Service: Five noms

Cleanliness: Five noms

Atmosphere: Five noms

Overall Noms: 5 noms

He says: It's like the Playboy Mansion for fat kids.

Lulu's is one of my new favorite late night stops. I feel like there should be someone handing out smoking jackets, slippers and cuban cigars at the door. It is what I would expect a dessert bar to look like somewhere in the Playboy Mansion (unfortunately I don't think Hef, Bridgitte or Holly will be walking in there anytime soon). I can easily sum up this restaurant in two words - Art Deco. Funky geometric patterns on the walls with funky art and funky chandeliers add to the decor. I guess you could add "funky" as a third word to describe it.

When you first walk in you are greeted with the most glorious junk food counter you've ever seen, with delectable cheesecakes, brownies, truffles and tarts each more delicious looking than the last. It's really hard to choose, but fortunately there really is no wrong answer.

I got the Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Tart. It should have come with an insulin shot. It's basically a Reese's Cup in cake form. As soon as you put it in your mouth you go into Homer Simpson mode. Granted, they aren't the cheapest dessert option, at around $5-8 depending on what you pick, but they are on a totally different level than anything else you could find in the historic district.

This place would be a great place to go end date night or take someone from out of town for a very memorable experience at a place they'll find nowhere else.

Taste: Five noms

Plating/Appearance of Food: Five noms

Service: Five noms

Cleanliness: Five noms

Atmosphere: Five noms

Overall Noms: 5 noms

Sushi Time Towa

He Says: great service for all the wrong reasons

Sushi Time Towa was yet another notch in our belt in our search for a good sushi restaurant in Savannah. More than one of the reviews online said this place had "the best sushi in Savannah" so I was hoping I had found our holy grail. It was actually quite an adventure finding the place. I Unfortunately it fell short of our expectations, much like the rest of the sushi places here.

It started out poorly right off the bat. It's not the nicest looking place from the outside. From the parking lot you can see their trash out back, along with some beer bottles and cleaning supplies. But hey, don't judge a book by its cover right? Look at every barbeque restaurant in America. They all tend to look like a shed from behind the house in Deliverance, but the food is amazing. Well...that rule doesn't apply to sushi joints. When we walked in the door the first thing I noticed is that we were the only ones in there. Uh-oh, never a good sign.

We sat down at our table (covered in a lovely plaid vinyl picnic table cloth) and began to look over the menu. Their menu was pretty extensive, so my hopes were raised a little.

My go-to barometer for how good a restaurant will be is if they make good sweet tea. Any restaurant in the south worth their grits knows how to make good sweet tea. Nine times out of ten if the restaurant has really good sweet tea there is a direct correlation to how good the food will be. The tea here was pretty good, so I thought maybe we were onto something. Too bad this turned out to be that one time out of ten.

We ordered our favorite, the crunch roll (or whatever we find that's closest to one - tempura shrimp and cucumber), and I also ordered the Unagi. Our order came to us very quickly. I could tell right off the bat something didn't look quite right. When you've eaten as much sushi as we have you can pretty much tell just by looking at your plate whether you have fresh ingredients in front of you. Sushi should also have a modern look - very sleek and minimalistic. The first thing I noticed was the cucumber in the crunch roll was diced up and seemed to be stuffed in the roll. This led to it spilling out when I picked it up and an overall sloppy look to it. The unagi wasn't terrible, however it was definitely on the mushy/slimy side. My piece of crab wasn't looking as rough as Licia's, but it had a strange aftertaste as if it had been touching a piece of the unagi or teriyaki chicken.

But aside from the sketchy looks outside, the lame atmosphere, and the below mediocre food, I will say that our service was fantastic. Probably because we were the only ones in there, but fantastic none the less.

We left feeling defeated. Let down by yet another sushi place. I'm not ready to throw in the towel yet, but I wouldn't recommend this place.

-Will

Taste: Two noms

Plating/Appearance of Food: One nom

Service: Five noms

Cleanliness: One nom

Atmosphere: Two noms

Overall Noms: One and a half noms

She Says: if it sounds bad and looks bad, it probably is.

Located On Montgomery Crossroads right in between the LaQuinta Inn and a very classy car wash is Sushi Time Towa. You would think, as intelligent human beings, Will and I would immediately walk away from a sushi place that sounds like Team America's Kim Jong Il named it. But no, we didn't.

See, Will and I are what some would call sushi fanatics. If sushi were a pop star, we would be the fans crying hysterically behind red carpet ropes, before deciding that jail isn't THAT bad and lunging at sushi's ass as it strolls by. This love affair started at Nikko's in Statesboro, Georgia while we were both in college.

The 'Boro (as locals refer to it) doesn't sport a lot of really superb restaurants, but it does have quite possibly the best sushi I've ever had (not to mention the best Mexican place, but that's another review for another time). Will and I used to have date nights at Nikko's, sharing the best eel nigiri and toasting crunch roll bites at least one Friday per month. What Nikko's sushi has that makes it so superb is . . . well nothing. It is simple, clean, fresh food that is well executed. No elaborate sauces, no ginger roses, no gimmicks: just true flavors. Nikkos is where I fell in love with sushi, where Will and I started bonding over food, and where my standard for quality sushi was set.

When Will moved to Savannah, we were intent on finding a great sushi place to continue that date night tradition. We assumed finding a sexy sushi place on the Coast would be easy. We assumed wrong. After trying out every historic district sushi restaurant religiously almost every weekend, we realized our small mission was turning into an all out food-quest to find decent Savannah sushi. It was as if our superstar had gone into hiding. But we are dedicated fans who aren't distracted by look-a-likes. Thus, we continued our search at Sushi Time Towa.

Appearances can sometimes be deceiving. That homeless looking guy in the corner of the bar can sometimes turn out to be a multi-billion dollar superstar. So when we pulled up behind the restaurant and saw buckets of beer bottles and dirty kitchen rags, we weren't deterred. On the outside, Sushi Time Towa looks like one of those hole-in-the-wall type places that serves killer cuisine to those who are brave enough to come through the front door. Will and I love these types of places, so we went on in.

On the inside the restaurant looks like it came straight from the 80's, with its Karate Kid-like decor. So while our waiter was taking our order, I was imagining him as Mr. Miyagi. And he was fast (although we were the only people in the joint), getting our teas promptly out to us before taking our order.

In a wam-bam-thankyou-mam type fashion, our food was out before we could even fully comprehend that the mom who came in with her kid after us was wiping down her entire table and seats before allowing her child to sit down. Because of the fast service, my hopes were high that we'd found a new date-night place.

But when the waiter set the sushi plate in front of us, my dreams were dashed. I'm a visual person - you know, the if-it-looks-nasty-I'm-not-putting-it-in-my-mouth girl. So when the crabstick nigiri I ordered looked like Jaws himself took a gander at one end of it, I wasn't exactly thrilled to take a bite. Nor was I excited to try the spicy tuna roll I ordered, which had a pale, pink hued tuna piece in the middle - odd for a fish that should have a deep, red tone when raw.

When I tasted the fish, it was just as I expected: gross. Sushi should have a fresh, clean taste and this sushi did not. The red snapper nigiri tasted as if the fish had been frozen and thawed before plated and the tuna wasn't firm, but soft and slightly mushy. Sushi should also have rice that is slightly sticky and tightly rolled. But all of the nigiri I ordered fell apart as soon as my chopsticks touched it, which made it very difficult to eat. To make matters worse, I could hardly even toast the crunchy shrimp roll we ordered because the mustard/mayo sauce they put in it was too distracting. Rarely do I leave sushi on a plate, but I had to leave a half of the tuna roll and the red snapper behind and passed off the majority of the crunchy shrimp roll to Will.

Sushi Time Towa was just as disappointing as thinking you've spotted Lady Gaga, only to find out it is just some amateur look-a-like who enjoys sporting bubble dresses. The quick service and arrival time of the food was merely a distraction from the poor food quality. Maybe if the chefs took more time to order fresh ingredients, roll their sushi properly, and present it in a half-way appealing way, then the restaurant could be Savannah's new hole-in-the-wall place to go. But until then, I won't be going back.

-Alicia

Taste: one nom

Plating/Appearance of Food: two noms

Service: five noms

Cleanliness: two noms

Atmosphere: two noms

Overall Noms: 2.3 noms

Other Info -

Cuisine: Japanese

Price: $$

Separate bar: yes

Takeout: yes

Coke or Pepsi Products: Coke

Address: 54 West Montgomery Crossroads, Savannah, GA 31406-3434

Phone: 912.920.2788

Website: N/A

In the Beginning

Take One: She Says

Oh How I Love Thee . . .

There are a lot of reasons why I'm with Will:

• He's tall, so if we ever decide to have something other than dogs whatever it is may stand a chance of not being midget sized (don't get your hopes up mom, you won't be having any grand-babies besides 'Nook and Lola for quite some time).
• He approves/accepts my nerdome and ridiculous antics (see: obsession with writing, cake decorating, and changing my hair)
• But most of all, he constantly blows my mind by doing things I would never imagine him doing.

Case and point: Monday, November 30, 2009.

Mondays are never exciting. Especially Mondays after Thanksgiving. And most definitely not Mondays after a whole week off of work. To ease Will's Monday working blues, I decided to go have lunch with him downtown. Over green curry chicken and beef stew (we each brought our own lunches), we chatted about what all couples chat about: nothing. Then, Will had a blow-'Licia's-mind-type-thought.

"Hey," he said, "you know what I think would be fun?"

I stopped stirring my curry and cautiously looked up, "I'm afraid to ask."

"I think we should both go buy notebooks, then go to restaurants around town and do food reviews together."

Mind. Blown.

"I love you," was all I could say.

We immediately went and bought notebooks at CVS and decided to start a blog for our reviews. In the Savannah Mall later that evening, we came up with the blog name based on the fact that Will always asks, "Are you gonna eat that" whenever he sees leftovers on my plate. And sitting outside of Sushi Time Towa, we decided that we weren't allowed to share opinions until we both wrote our reviews.

Truthfully, we've been unofficially reviewing food ever since we started dating. It is kind of like sex to us. I mean our idea of a good time is to have an amazing meal, critique the the amazing food while eating the amazingness, then talk about how amazingly amazing it was to eat amazing food hours, days, and (if it's really spectacular) weeks afterwards.

So, here's our attempt at critiquing food, and (insert tear here) just another reason why I love a man who still collects baseball cards at age 23.

- Alicia

Take Two: He Says

I Only Eat the Finest Meats and Cheeses

I've always enjoyed food, in so much as I've always enjoyed shoveling food in my mouth. When I began dating Alicia I began to gain a deeper appreciation for what all goes into it and the art behind it. I guess you could say most of her Foodie tendencies rubbed off on me. 2+ years of eating out and watching the Food Network with her later and I think I've developed at least a respectable palette, at least for a guy fresh out of college. Granted, I still love Spaghettios (only the kind with meatballs) and a trip to Steak and Shake gets me all giddy, but I know a good foie gras or piece of sushi when I taste one.

In fact, sushi is kinda what spawned this whole idea. I moved down to Savannah for work back in June. When I lived in Statesboro (about an hour away) there was a great restaurant there where we would alwaysgo for date night. It's one of those places where the food is always good and the price is right. Moving to Savannah, I just assumed that there would be a good sushi place. I mean, we are on the coast after all. Unfortunately, we've tried a new place just about every weekend since I moved here and none of them hold a candle to our place in Statesboro. In fact, most of them are just downright terrible. Some so bad, I question the people who posted positive reviews on Google about these places. So instead of trusting Tom, Dick and Harry with their 3 sentence review, I thought it would be fun if we did a more in depth review of restaurants here in the Coastal Empire and any other place we eat on our travels.

-Will