Today it was my daughter's pick for lunch and she was in the mood for sushi,. I first suggested the new Robata restaurant in Maplewood (which I soon learned was not open for lunch) and then the fairly new Sushi Station restaurant instead in Webster Groves. It is located on Gore just north of Lockwood in the location formerly housing Fizzy's Soda Fountain and Grill. We arrived in two cars, and one vehicle was able to park on the street, and the other one parked in the lot of the Faith Academy Montessori school down the street where the parking was available on the weekends.
The dining area was small but not crowded and as a group of six we were given a large, comfortable corner booth with a custom crafted table for that spot. The menus were simple white sheets of paper in manila folders which included a lengthy menu on the left side and another substantial drink menu on the right side. Beverages were served in jars and were properly refilled in a timely manner. My wife and mother-in-law decided to split an order of shrimp tempura and also each order a vegetable tempura for themselves. My son ordered the salmon teriyaki bowl and the other three us decided to split several rolls: sweet potato roll, tuna roll, salmon roll, veggie roll, the cream cheese/spicy asparagus/eel sauce roll, and the eel avocado roll. That was a lot of rolls! My daughter and her friend also ordered an order of shrimp tempura to split between the two of them.
My son's salmon bowl included some salad, plenty of rice and a sizable portion of grilled teriyaki salmon on top. It looked and smelled quite good and I was later able to sample his salmon which was very tasty.
We started off with come crab rangoons as appetizers, but I passed on them since I wanted to save more stomach space for sushi. All of the rolls were well made with firm, fresh tasting fish and crisp vegetables and well balanced combinations of ingredients and sauces. The wasabi and pickled ginger tasted reasonably strong although they could have given us a little more wasabi for three people (luckily I was the only one who actually used quite a but of it.) I also sampled my wife's vegetable tempura (the asparagus) and I thought it was quite crisp and flavorful. It would have been nice if the appetizer tempura dishes came with some rice to make those more of a full meal. It was still a generous assortment of a variety of vegetables and the shrimp looked well prepared as well.
As we dined we noticed the background music was easy listening pop music, with some oldies but also including "Hello" by Adele, so their mix must be updated fairly recently. That was actually better than the weird Japanese music played at some sushi places, but my son would have preferred some hip-hop like they played at the Kitchen Sink a few weeks ago. With not much of a lunch crowd, the place was pretty laid back and quiet, making conversation easy,
Overall it was a good meal, although it was a bit pricey (as many sushi places are), but still a worthy place to occasionally enjoy some Japanese cuisine in Webster Groves. We did notice a SanSai nearby which offers a "fast casual" Japanese option as well and is usually a more affordable value. We will have to try that location of SanSai, for the one in Maplewood near Walmart does not seem to maintain the food quality and maintenance as it had in the past. Luckily we all like Japanese food, even my son who likes to claim he does not like Asian food when in reality,,, he does!
Food Quality
Service/Ambiance/Value
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