Shinbashi

Shinbashi oh Shinbashi. The menu has a label that states «all menu prices are 25 cents higher» so the price you pay in the end is a surprise. Annoying. My sushi was very fresh and tasty. My friend’s crab Rangoon were also tasty, fried well, and not overly greasy.
It was load. I could hear every other customers conversation. There were TVs playing g ads that looked like they were ripped off a 1999 Angelfire website. There is no need to try to sell me food when I’m already IN the restaurant buying food.
Anyway food is good, prices are a gamble, and the TVs try to sell you more of what you are already buying.

Was over charged on my bill on not one item but several. When I told them about it I was told they had raised there prices but we’re not going to get new menus and that I couldn’t have a refund. After several minutes of trying to explain to them that they wouldn’t go into a grocery store and pay more for what was on the price tag or buy a car that was priced one thing but charged more. They decided i could be refunded my drinks… Which was a kids milk… While I was over charges only 5 dollars what about the fact that this is being done to others who dont notice. And isnt that money unclaimed money… I’m pretty sure that illegal??? Weather or not the food is good or not you can not just make up prices when your advertising a much lower price! Please people spread the word that there doing this or make a complaint. This can not continue!!!

Where to start. Everything that could go wrong went wrong. I guess you shouldn’t go to a Chinese restaurant in Maine. We ordered blueberry martinis, the halibut tempura appetizer, miso soup, a house salad, Mongolian beef and the seafood tempura for entrees. You would think the drinks and appetizer would come out first but instead we got our salad and soup first then the entrees show up. We asked about our drinks and appetizer and the waitress says yes they are coming (when, for desert?). So she bring us out an order of halibut teriyaki. I said that isn’t tempura and she argues it is. Our blueberry martinis come out and what I got was a glass full of blueberries drenched in vodka. My seafood tempura was brought out without any accompanying rice or dipping sauce. The vegetables where dipped in tempura batter but the seafood was breaded in panko, sorry that’s not tempura that’s katsu. Didn’t matter anymore since I lost my appetite by then. We complained to the manager and he only offers to remove the appetizer from our check like it’s a big deal. AWFUL service and food! Save yourself the money and the aggravation and go have some lobster at a lobster pound.

We were driving by coming into South West Harbor for the week. Stumbled into this place because Unilocalers liked it. It did not disappoint. In fact, it was amazing. They had a daiginjo sake I’ve never heard of. It was quite good. Sashimi was perfect. Lobster stuffed egg rolls were perfect. Others in our party had noodles. They report they were very good. We got this huge spread of food and ate every last thing. Not really a destination spot but very nice for any time of the day. In high season here on MDI, it would be a great option to tourist places.

This is a usual spot we enjoy going for dinner. The food has always been consistently delicious. I would say, we got seated in a new servers station. It was quite obvious. I ordered my usual, House Combo, with general tso’s chicken, crab Rangoon and specifically asked for white rice. My boyfriend ordered two appetizers as a meal, chicken fingers and spare ribs. Our waitress took our drink orders and dinner orders at the same time, which was fine. She came and delivered our drinks within a few minutes. After waiting for our meal, longer than usual, the chicken fingers and spears ribs came out first. (Annoying) Over five minutes later my dinner came out. I had fired rice, instead of the white I ordered and my chicken was lacking, instead I got a dish filled mostly with sauce and huge pieces of broccoli… At this point, our waitress was nowhere to be seen, our drinks were empty and my order was wrong. The waitress did not come back once to ask how the food was, nor to refill our drinks. After twenty minutes or so, she returned and dropped the check. She did not offer us boxes for the obvious amounts of leftovers we had. After waiting for her to return, over five minutes passed, my boyfriend finally flagged somebody else down to ask for boxes and pay. This was a very disappointing night out, as this is a place we both really enjoy. The food was lacking, service was not up to par. It was a Wednesday so the business was not nearly as busy as other nights of the week. Sad.

Ate here for dinner last week with some family. Service was friendly, prices were reasonable, and the drink list had some good beers and wines. Food was all right, nothing bad, but not too exciting (or authentic, but that probably doesn’t need to be said).

Oh god where to start…
Came here on a date night back in November and the food was meh. BF and I each got a bento box and I was not at all impressed with my meal or service. Got seated at a large table that is actually part of the waiting room. I didn’t like not being in the restaurant but oh well.
I got the teryaki salmon which was supposed to come on a bed of noodles… instead it came on a bed of sliced uncooked onions. Ew. I also had a spicy tuna roll and that was not that great tasting… like the tuna was put into a food processor with spicy mayo then rolled up in rice. I can’t even remember what the boyfriend had but he said his wasn’t too great either.
Came here again on Jan 3^rd with my parents and BF. Well, Bob Marley was in town so the 20 min wait (BF called at 6 pm to make a reservation, but they said no reservations and it was only a 15 – 20 min wait) turned into a 45 minute wait. People were walking out left and right and it seemed that the hostess was super frazzled and the staff was as well. We ended up waiting it out and finally got seated, again at one of the large tables in the waiting room. It was so cold at the table that I had my jacket and my BFs jacket around me to keep warm.
Our server, Cameron, was the BEST. He was so apologetic, personable, attentive, and as fast as the kitchen allowed him to be. We got a bunch of appetizers and a sushi roll because we were starving.
Crab Rangoons: Good, typical of a chinese place
Steamed Dumpling Combo: Veggie, Shrimp, and Pork… weird thing was, you couldn’t really tell what was what and the texture was so dense and slimy that I had a really hard time eating a shrimp one. That was the least favorite appetizer.
Asparagus wrapped in Beef: Sauce over it was excellent, mom and BF both really liked it.
Sushi Roll: Can’t remember the name but it was huge with spicy tuna and avocado inside and tuna on the outside. It was alright, not the best I have had but not the worst.
After being sat we waited 23 mins before 1 appetizer came and then it was all super sporadic after that. Nothing came out at once and my BF’s dinner was grabbed by another server by mistake so that took even longer to come out. Cameron felt so bad that he brought us a salad and miso soup to tide him over until food came.
For dinner I ordered the Veggie Moo Shu and it was HUGE. It srsly was large enough for 6 people to eat. The food was ok, I’d give it 1 star alone, but what saved this experience was Cameron. He went above and beyond and he alone get 5 STARS. Ask for him if you go there, he’s wonderful.
In defense going on the night of Bob Marley was not the best idea and they were slammed. I will def try it again but will not have high hopes for the food as it is pretty standard and not too exceptional or outstanding.

Fantastic sushi place. Best in Ellsworth (may be the only one). Go here and order take out frequently when in the area.

Excellent service, food and atmosphere. A nice change of pace from nonstop lobster.

The chef seems to be trying to do too much with each dish. The vegetable spring rolls tasted off and were definitely frozen. The sexy jalapeños had so many flavors going on that you couldn’t really identify anything. The language barrier between us and the waitstaff seemed excessive for a restaurant that had been opened for 3 plus years. The salt and pepper chicken also had an excessive amount of varying flavors, and not well — balanced. Add us to the list of folks that were not impressed with the food or service.

We have eaten here around 4 – 5 times this year. This little gem of a place has never disappointed.
The sushi is very good (check the specials, and check out the CZ Roll, It’s awesome), the Chicken and/​or Shrimp Pad Thai is flavorful, and hearty, and the crab rangoon are the best I’ve ever had. They are made in house, (not any of that frozen stuff here)!
A special thank you to our waitress, Taylor, who was always attentive, made some great recommendations, and made our meal an even more enjoyable time.
One of the beat places in Ellsworth, and certainly the best Chinese/​Asian/​Sushi place for miles.
Recommended.

Very nice with lovely ambiance. Our first visit just after opening was disappointing, but we gave it another try. Sesame tofu combo lunch came in a cute bento style plate and was perfectly prepared. Fresh cantaloupe on the side with rice and a crispy egg roll. Attentive service capped off a great weekday lunch.

Sushi in Maine??? Why would anyone ever get sushi here… but good thing we did!
It was around 9pm and everything was closed… all the lobster places around the area. We Unilocaled this place because we kept seeing it on the way to Acadia. I was skeptical about it, but WOW!
Lobster tempura was so delicious. Better than the typical shrimp! Sashimi deluxe was soooooo good and so fresh. We couldn’t finish it. Bento box with unagi, roll of your choice (I picked salmon avocado), miso soup, gyozas, fruits, etc… so filling. Unagi and sauce were perfect.
Loved everything we had here.

Unique sushi rolls, nice décor, Chinese food was very tasty and authentic, I am Chinese and I have higher standards. My son likes beef chow foon, the beef was tender but asked for not spicy. The dish came still a little spicy and was difficult for my child. Mgmt gave us complimentary steamed shrimp dumplings. That was a nice surprise. Enjoyed all around experience. Surprised to find a restaurant like this here in Maine.

I was here for lunch and was surprised as to how good the sushi was what looked to be a little dive from the outside.
I sat at the sushi bar and ordered the lunch sushi which was on par with most sushi places I have been to.

Very nice and peaceful place. Great sushi, beautifully presented. Service was good too. I would have taken a pic of the tuna platter but couldn’t wait! It was so delicious !

Had been to this place several times before and always had good food and service, but dined here the other night with four friends and the restaurant must have really been having an off night.
Our first clue things weren’t normal should have been when our hostess led us to a table and just deposited a pile of menus on the table and left before we even sat down. After a longer than average wait, the waitress finally arrived and took drink orders in addition to our request to bring waters. Drinks came back for four out of the five us, but no water and no glass of cabernet for my friend. She acted as if she didn’t understand what cabernet was and after clarifying that it was a red wine she left again. She then returned to ask which cab would be preferred, my friend said the house cab was fine. She left again and returned to announce they didn’t have ANY CAB! What? Waters arrived long after the salads and only after we asked multiple times.
Four of us ordered sushi, and one ordered tempura. The tempura was served, eaten and plate cleared apparently before our fish was even caught.
While we waited, occasionally our waitress would stop by with a sushi order that she usually removed from another table (most likely because it wasn’t what they ordered) and then acted as if it belonged to us, which it didn’t and so she would then bring it to the next table. It appeared as if her serving procedure was a little game to just guess which table ordered which sushi, a little game she was not really that good at.
The leader of our group complained to the manager and had to outright ask for some compensation for our experience (she was not getting the hint). She offered $ 20 credit and an apology. We were told there was only one sushi chef on that evening and «everybody was ordering sushi». (Imagine that!). From where we were sitting we could clearly see two guys behind the sushi counter but maybe one was in training (is there such a thing as a sous sushi chef?)
It took over an hour and a half from the time we ordered for the sushi to finally arrive. Once it began arriving everything seemed to be in order but one friend who ordered two rolls was served one correct roll and one incorrect roll on the same plate. He pointed this out to our waitress, who tried to convince him that was what he ordered. After he finally convinced her otherwise, we suggested she just leave the plate with the one correct and the one incorrect roll and go get the other one, she announced she couldn’t leave it unless it was also paid for. Seriously? You would think at this point, she would be happy to throw us an extra roll — but no.
Once everything arrived, we really enjoyed it and had nothing but positive things to say about the quality of the food and the preparation.
When the checks arrived we thought the two hour ordeal was just about over, but no. First, only two checks arrived, when we had asked for four. Then we noticed the $ 20 credit that had been offered by the manager was not on either check. The waitress, clearly wanting us gone ASAP at this point, tried to explain that the computer just figured in the 20 and that although it didn’t appear on the checks it was in there. Huh? Some quick math proved this to be fiction, so we asked to speak to the manager. The manager explained that the $ 20 was taken off the total bill, but when the total bill was split the $ 20 didn’t carry over. OK whatever. Just give us our $ 20.
Two new checks came back with $ 10 off each. I asked to split my check with two credit cards (since we had asked for separate checks and didn’t get them) and the waitress said she couldn’t do that. I never heard that, so I asked her to try which she did unwillingly but successfully. She said it was a one time exception but the computer couldn’t do it again. I told her she figured it out once so she was going to have to do it again with the other check, which she grabbed in a huff and stormed off. Signed our checks, left a tip (still not sure why we left anything) and headed out.
True to fashion, whenever you have a bad experience at a restaurant, as we left nobody was there on the way out to ask us about our experience. Our waitress was on the phone, the manager was no where to be found, and the rest of the staff gave us a wide berth.
I would be remiss if I didn’t state the positives:
1. Great food!
2. We never laughed as hard as we did over the next couple of days as we recounted our experience to the fortunate ones who didn’t join us that night. It was a story you just couldn’t make up.
My rating of three stars is reflective of my multiple positive experiences here and taking in to account this most recent horrible one. Based on only my most recent visit, I would give it 1 Star! I hope they get it together and redeem themselves on my next try, which might not be for a while.

I’m a sushi fan — unabashed, unashamed. I’ve had sushi at the bet of the best in New York, Seattle, and Chicago. This is JUST as wonderful — on some ways even better!

I was not expecting a place this nice when I wanted some chinese food while staying up near Acadia last month. Grabbed take out and the interior of the place surprised me. It’s very modern and nicely put together, not what you’d expect based on the other establishments in the area.
It was a breath of fresh air for sure. The food was great too, had a few sushi rolls that really hit the spot. I’d definitely go back.

Really wish I checked Unilocal before trying this place on my way to Bar Harbor.
Granted, the only thing I had was the bento box but the rice was off and the pineapple was clearly canned.
On top of that, server was rude and slow. Took 20 minutes to get them to refill water…
Won’t be coming back.