Brush Sushi Izakaya

The new high-end-ish, upscale-ish, ultra pricey sushi and izakaya joint is now opened for business in downtown Decatur, next to Sapori and steps from the Square. Looking through the menu before they opened was quite interesting and eye opening... The menu items read fine but the prices were out of this world for this area. I know people who live in Decatur make decent loot but c'mon, this was Buckhead expense account type of pricing... To the likes of Umi, Tomo and MF... And no one is taking clients to Decatur for a business lunch or dinner. There are a couple of pricey restos around the square but shit, those prices are for a full entree, not snacks... The lofty prices here were for small plates or shared plates. And the shit adds up real quick without you even noticing it because I'm a fat fuck that can't stop ordering dish after dish. An order of miso cod for $27? Umi's heavenly version is $20. Hamachi kama for $17? Grilled whole squid for $13? Many of the same izakaya items could be had for half the price at Shoya and their shit is real guud. And let's not forget about the premium pricing on the omakase. Since, I'm a fucking retard, I don't care about the prices at the beginning of the meal... But I always get fucked at the end because I never leave satisfied. It never fails, it's like clockwork. Shit, I talk too much... Let's just get to it, dickhead. Ok, this place is a nice addition to the square and the more restos and bars that pop up in this area, the better... For da pouch.
They did a good job on the interior, it's simple and open but you know it cost a pretty penny to transform the raw space into a Japanese dining/drinking den. I like how they separated the booze bar and the sushi bar on either side of the space... I don't want to be near some gaijin who can't handle their sake while I'm in mid stream of a premium omakase course. Speaking of which, they only had the pricey $125 Brush omakase available on a recent weekend night because they were short a sushi chef but I kept picking at Jason like a pecker to see if he could do a sushi/nigiri omakase for da pouch since I didn't want to eat or spend that much on an unproven spot yet... So, while he thinks about appeasing the pouch on his request, I'm gonna get some other bites for now...

Jidori Chicken Tatsuta-age, yuzu aioli. You know how much Popeyes I can get for $10? But what do you expect from an upscale Japanese joint in Decatur... They were breaded nicely and evenly, had a nice crunch to the thin crispy crust, it wasn't seasoned as well as it should be but the lemon juice helped. The Yuzu aioli sounded very foreign and exciting but did nothing for me except that it reminded me of a chain resto's cheekan tenders' dipping sauce. This would be more inline at $7...And I don't care if it's claimed to be a Jidori chicken. We all know there are no real Hinai-Jidori chicken in the states, just like there are no real Kobe beef in the states, either... If there were real Jidori cheekan here, everyone would be serving them sashimi style.

Ankimo. When I saw this monkfish liver for $5 on the special menu, I thought it was a mistake since everything else was so damn pricey. But it was true, it really was $5, this was prolly the best deal on the entire menu. It was pretty damn good, not as silky and creamy as it could have been but I ain't complaining for $5. I shoulda got 2 more orders. Stupid stupid pouch...

Grilled Japanese Squid, chili miso sauce. I ordered the Japanese Squid Karaage but they upcharged me $4 instead for the grilled squid which I have had this dish all over the place. I like the grilled squid at Japanese restos but not for $13, that's why I wanted to try the squid karaage instead. But I didn't make a big fuss over it because it was already plated and placed in front of my snout before I had the chance to even notice it. It's a pretty standard grilled squid, it was tender but not very flavorful, even with a few squirts of lemon juice. The tiny dab of chili miso helped a lil but there wasn't enough of it to cover the entire squid. It was fine to try once for a new resto opening but I wouldn't order this again... Especially, for $13

Kushikatsu, chef choice of breaded and deep fried skewers of 2 meat (cheekan lollipop, pork belly), 1 seafood (shrimp), veggies (avocado, shiitake, eggplant). All this can be had for $18 and more... The more part was a special order of infused hair fried within the crust of the shrimp. Naturally, that shit was sent back. Everything else was decent, nothing really stood out as craveworthy... Ok, the cheekan lollipop was pretty good since it contained fwied cheekan.

Pork belly and salmon was sent back out sans pube. The pork was sizeable but it was 86% fat underneath that golden crust. The salmon ball was much better than the shrimp. $18 is still kinda suspect for the selection on this dish. I guess it's fun for the whities since they love anything on a stick... Just like Jesus. Yeah, I went there, so fucking what... Not like my one reader will have the energy to complain about it.

Crispy Wings. From the robata grill, you can have these two tiny flats for $5.50... They tasted like any other backyard BBQ wings from the grill. They were pretty decent but for $2.75 a piece, they were the most pricey wings I have eaten in this town. I would save the money and put it towards something more overpriced that you don't make often in your backyard.

Stir Fry Mentaiko Udon, poached egg, karasumi (mullet roe). They're worms... Don't! They're only noodles, pouch. I thought this was gonna be more exciting in presentation and flavor but it was kinda boring... The soft egg made it a bit more fun to eat since I like to play with my food. Even with the poached egg, it didn't add much to overall experience. Totally not worth the $12 spent, I would skip this and save the loot for the ramen when it's available.

I didn't have any damn rolls but this made me laugh... Hand made rolls with the finger prints to prove it. I wanted to get the soft shell crab (spider) roll because I'm a sucka for them but after seeing this, I don't know if I wanted to shell out a hefty $17 for a hand crush roll... Pass.

Sushi Omakase... I finally got Jason to do it. $78 is a decent price to preview what they can do with their inventory... A lot better than paying $125 and taking a gamble. I'm not gonna go into detail on every piece because I would be here till next week but you can look at the purdy pictures, instead...

Otsumami. Oyster, firefly squid, octopus, bamboo shoots.

Hirame, fluke.
 

Sumi Ika, cuttlefish.

Kohada, gizzard shad.

Daikon.

Maguro.

Chutoro.

Otoro.

Shima Aji, stripe jack.

Hamaguri, marinated cherry stone clam.

Sawara, spanish mackerel.

Uni.

Tamayoyaki.

Negitoro Hand Roll.

Chawanmushi.

Manilla Clam Miso Soup.

The sushi omakase was not bad at all, most of the pieces were pretty good and had nice texture... You can tell they were quality pieces. Were they the finest grade of sushi found in Atlanta... That's a flat no but it ain't no chum bait, either. I would say they would be in the top 7 for this town. The clam miso soup was very good but the chawanmushi was too watery and needed to set a bit more. I would wait a couple months before I do another omakase here... Let them stabilize their fish source and supplier a bit first.

I like what they're doing here and I think Decatur needs a quality sushi joint like this. The talent is there (the execution on the omakase needs to be cleaned up a bit), the right menu is there, the service is kinda there but getting better, all that's missing is the booze... They still don't have their booze license, so that may keep me outta there until then. Oh, and the ramen is available after 9pm on the week days... No, they need to make it available after 9pm everyday. But I have yet to see it with my own eyes. With a little more work and finesse, this joint may yet get my full attention and approval as a destination sooshee spot in this one horse town. For now, it's a bit overpriced for what it is.

316 Church St
Decatur, GA 30030
http://www.brushatl.com/