I went to Cathay last night. Overall, it was a very nice experience. I'm usually wary of Asian fusion restaurants, but this one is very nice. Sadly, they don't seem to have a website. They have separate Chinese and Japanese menus, which is different (I mean large, faux leather bound menus, two of them). The location used to be a Shoney's and later a Chinese buffet, but the owners spent a lot of money to give the building a unique atmosphere. The prices were about average.
I ordered the deluxe sashimi platter, a tuna/avocado roll, harumaki (spring roll) for an appetizer, and of course, Sapporo. The sashimi came with soup and salad. I never eat salad, but I love mushroom and onion soup. Unfortunately, the soup at Cathay wasn't very good, and I couldn't even finish it.
The tuna roll was incredible, both the flavor and presentation. Although I was seated in a booth, I had a clear view of the sushi chef, and I got to see a few of his other creations. My tuna roll was cut diagonally and stacked to resemble some sort of modern architecture. The sashimi was just as good, with part of it on the main plate, and part in a cocktail glass, along with the usual daikon (white radish) garnish. All of the fish was very fresh, and the cuts were thicker than most restaurants serve. Octopus was included in the deluxe platter, which I don't see often enough.
The two harumaki rolls were also cut diagonally, but laid flat in an X pattern with the open cuts facing upward. I've never seen that presentation before (they're usually just served whole, like egg rolls). Both the rolls and the sauce were great, but despite being cut open, the rolls required several minutes to cool off.
The service was great. My waitress and the sushi chef both took good care of me. There was a window in the wall beside my booth, and I got to watch one of the teppanyaki chefs put on a show for other customers while I was waiting on my order.
One odd thing was that the music was primarily 1970s disco. That's the first time I've ever eaten sushi while hearing "Get on up on the floor, Cuz we're gonna boogie oogie oogie, Till you just can't boogie no more (boogie), Boogie no more..." Then again, this is a fusion place.
I'm sure you've read that one isn't supposed to rub wooden chopsticks together in order to remove possible splinters, because it rudely implies that the restaurant uses cheap chopsticks. Well, Cathay does use cheap chopsticks. By contrast, the metal spoon and fork were very robust, and felt like they weighed ten pounds each. I didn't use the fork, and as noted above, I didn't use the spoon for very long.
So, if you want good soup or the best chopsticks money can buy, go somewhere else. If you want good sushi, sashimi, and harumaki, along with fast, pleasant service and an interesting atmosphere (including the music of A Taste Of Honey), go to Cathay Asian Bistro.
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