Red Miso Soup
Cherry blossoms bloom in Spring, and Ann Arbor's newest Japanese restuarant is no exception. Cherry Blossom Japanese Restaurant opened two weeks ago in the former Chi Chi's location on State St. past I-94. The owners are not new to the restaurant business. They also run the original Cherry Blossom restaurant in Novi, and this experience shows in both menu and service.
The spacious restaurant has been remodeled with beautiful warm tones. Behind the sushi bar, a pair of sutble waterfalls send water sliding down stone walls while the sushi chefs work their art. You can choose Western seating, or, if you like, ask about seating in one of the traditional tatami rooms. Just remember to remove your shoes before entering the room.
We started our sampling with the tempura appetizer and hiyayakko -- cold boiled tofu. Joe declared the tempura dipping sauce the best he's tasted in a long while. The hiyayakko came with finely sliced scallions and shaved bonito and grated ginger, creating an interesting mix of tastes between the plain tofu, the seafood flavors of the bonito, and the ginger's sharp spiciness.
(If you're new to Japanese cuisine and tofu in general, I recommend starting with agedashi tofu rather than hiyayakko. Agedashi tofu is cubes of deep-fried tofu with a very light dusting of cornstarch served with in a hot savory and very tasty broth. These are both old, traditional dishes with culinary histories going back to the 1700s.)
Dinner plates come with a small salad and miso soup. Miso paste comes in several types, of which white miso and red miso are probably the most common. Just about all of the miso soup you see at Japanese restaurants in Michigan is made with the white miso paste. Cherry Blossom also offers a red miso soup, with tiny button mushrooms and cubes of tofu in a richer broth. We loved it. It costs extra, but it is definitely worth a try.
We ordered only a small selection of sushi. The spicy tuna roll was really well prepared. (Cherry Blossom also offers a triple spicy roll, which uses wasabi, wasabi tobiko and jalapeno for a unique combination of spicy flavors. That was recommended to us, and we'll try it next time.) The tamago was not too sweet and we thought it had a nice complex flavor. I also enjoyed my piece of anago (salt-water eel). Most sushi-eating Americans are familiar with unagi, or "BBQ" freshwater eel. Anago is unagi's ocean-dwelling cousin, and it's less fatty than unagi. Most anago I've had has had a strong ocean-like flavor, sometimes almost too strong, but my piece at Cherry Blossom had a more delicate flavor that I enjoyed greatly.
Saba Shioyaki
Cherry Blossom offers a full menu with all of the standard dishes normally found on Japanese menus in the States, but they also offer a selection of home-style dishes that are difficult to find elsewhere -- and these are interesting and cheaper. At the hostess's recommendation, we tried the Saba Shioyaki -- salted grilled mackerel -- and received a large mackerel fillet beautifully grilled and served with grated radish and a side of potato salad (potato salad is very popular in Asia for some reason, by the way). The fish was a delight. Mackerel has a naturally strong flavor, and I was a bit concerned that I would find it too strong, but I didn't have to worry. The flavor was full and savory and not the least overpowering -- the sign of a fish kept at sufficiently cold temperatures. (Mackerel is very perishable and develops an overly strong fishy flavor if not properly chilled.)
The skin had been cross-hatched to make it easier to pull apart with chopsticks. I ate half plain and half with the grated radish spread on top. Both ways were delicious. The radish offered a fresh contrast to the salted mackerel flavor, making for an interesting flavor combination.
Tatami room
Cherry Blossom is so new that they are still waiting for their liquor license, so if enjoying a beer or sake with your sushi is imperative you may want to call and ask as they are expecting their license "any day now". But if that's not an issue, take advantage of stopping in now and enjoying a leisurely meal because once they get their license this place is going to be packed. The place is quiet right now, as they've chosen a "soft opening" until the license is sorted out.
Cherry Blossom Japanese Restaurant1776 S. State St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48108
734.332.8750
That first picture of the restaurant itself is gorgeous - they must have put in a lot of work to convert Chi-Chi's to that! I sense another restaurant visit with your recommendations in hand... (as on our trip to Taqueria La Loma!)
Posted by: Tricia | May 11, 2006 at 12:14 AM
Darn you, Kitchen Chick!! I was content with passing that place and pretending like it wasn't open yet!!
I have never noticed saba on a restaurant menu before. I lived in Japan, and this was a very common feature in every convenient store and lunch takeaway bento box, I always (and probably erroneously) have always equated it with the Japanese version of a little dollop of mac-n-cheese for that reason.
I bet Japanese people eating here would find it cute on a menu. (Unless it's commonly featured on menus of Japanese restaurants...that would've required me to actually learn Japanese while living there and I am far too dumb for that!) :))
Thanks for this post!
Posted by: Sarah | May 11, 2006 at 07:36 AM
Tricia: they've done a great job with the remodeling, but to be completely honest if you're familiar with standard Chi Chi's interiors there are some things that simply can't be changed without rebuilding. The faux-stucco walls, for example. If you're at a loss of what to try, I do recommend asking the hostess for suggestions. She's lived in Japan and loves talking about food.
Sarah: apparently Japanese business people love finding homestyle items on the restaurant menu here in the States because it's nearly impossible for them to find such dishes here. (You'll find the place a bit devoid of Japanese business people at the moment because of the lack of liquor license.)
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | May 11, 2006 at 08:24 AM
Nice review, KC. Very timely too for me, because I've been waiting for CB to open in AA. My Google search last weekend came up empty. I was too lazy to drive by and check. Definitely will go there in the next couple of weeks. I've always enjoyed the original CB in Novi, which if I remember correctly was started by the one of the owners of Akasaka in Livonia. So, a good pedigree.
Akasaka is still one of my favourite Japanese restaurants in the Detroit Metro area, even though I haven't been there in a year.
BTW, if you crave excellent ramen at some point, go to Matsuchan in Canton (www.matsuchan.com). You will not regret it.
Posted by: Francis | May 13, 2006 at 12:45 PM
We've been to Matsuchan and agree with you. It's a great place for noodles or a rice bowl, and usually packed with Japanese families looking for homestyle food.
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | May 14, 2006 at 07:43 PM
I went to CB for lunch soon after it was opened. The food didn't impress me, perhaps the dinner is better. I usually go to Saica or Miki for their maki and Sadaiko or Totoro if I want a quick Japanese lunch. I had the most boring robotlike waitress in CB. She was overly polite and formal as in "I am terribly sorry but we just served our last lunch special of the day" or "I am really sorry, do you mind me move this soy sauce dish to the side" :shudders: You have to be there to understand it.
Posted by: Anna | June 19, 2006 at 11:27 AM
That's very weird. Our waiter wasn't like that at all. He had "new restaurant nervousness", but was otherwise unobtrusive.
(My personal favorite local Japanese restaurant is Yamato. Miki has also held up well over the years. Sadaiko is pleasant, too, though I thought the menu was rather limited.)
Posted by: Kitchen Chick | June 19, 2006 at 06:13 PM
My wife and I went to CB last Saturday for dinner. The service was excellent. The young waitstaff were very attentive in a very unobtrusive way. It wasn't crowded at all, so maybe that helped.
But the food - average at best. The sushi was poorly constructed, which for me is a good way to get the measure of a Japanese restaurant. The rolls (salmon skin and california) looked they hadn't been subjected to enough pressure so the grains of rice looked really untidy. The flavors were dull. The broiled mackerel was quite good. The ten zaru (soba) was average.
We'd gone to Yotsuba a week earlier and all I can say is CB has some work to do to catch up, which I hope they do.
Or, when CB gets their liquor license, I'll come away happy, regardless.....
Posted by: Francis | June 21, 2006 at 07:20 PM
This place is great! I worked for Musashi in Southfield (best in Michigan by far if none of you have heard of it or tried... highly recommend!) but Cherry Blossom does come very close! Now that I'm working in AA I make it a point to stop here at least once a week for lunch. Wonderful service and the owner is always around asking how everything is... brings back Musashi memories and I absolutely LOVE it :)
Posted by: Kristen | January 25, 2007 at 10:38 AM
I visited there with some friends when they first opened. I hope things have changed since then, because when we went -- although I found the redecorating nice and an improvement to the old chi chi's decor, the food price was outrageous! 5 of us for lunch 135.00! The servers seemed new and unfamiliar with the menu. They forgot sauces for our age dash tofu dish that is standard. Our waitor seemed apologetic but got the normal excuses that they must be trained to say. Lastly, one of my major annoyances was we went there around 1:50-2:00 PM ... by the time our food came around, it was close to their closing time for lunch. The manager came by and asked if we could pay our bill so they could close out lunch and was past 2:30 PM. Was not very happy about that! I hope things have changed over there because first impressions mean a lot! And mine left some "green wasabi" in my mouth. PS -- and that is not a good thing.
Posted by: Jeanie Lee | February 10, 2007 at 07:58 AM
We need to go back there for a followup visit, actually...
Posted by: Joe | February 10, 2007 at 08:28 AM
I thought the lunch was pretty good (just got take-out). I love Miki as well, but have really enjoyed Yotsuba (both in Farmington Hills and Ann Arbor). I'm not a total food expert, but have eaten lots of Japanese food (my mom is Japanese and we go there quite a bit). My taste may be particular--in the Detroit area the most popular restaurant is one of my least favorites (Little Tree--they can't get the rice right) and a bunch of my friend like Nami (also not one of my faves).
Posted by: Cecilia | March 14, 2007 at 11:18 AM
they are not doing so good now. believe me, they only focus on their "Japanese" customers, who eat and drink a lot. I got internal information, thats all they care. not so smart.
Posted by: Bryan Wilson | June 05, 2007 at 02:55 PM
Found your review in searching for info about Cherry Blossom, my favorite Japanese restaurant in Ann Arbor. I tried going over the summer and they were closed, I believe it said for renovation. I know what that is often code for, and sure enough, on their website there is an announcement that the Ann Arbor location has closed. You may have discovered this already, but I thought it was worth commenting on it here so that others who go looking see it.
Posted by: Alex | November 11, 2009 at 05:21 PM